As he also poured oil on David and anointed him in the midst of his brethren, so that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him from that day forward;.
So Mary of Bethany, in the home of Simon the leper, as guided by the Spirit, poured costly spikenard from her alabaster box upon the head of Jesus, and also anointed his feet, so that, the next day, the ten thousands of Israel might acclaim him King and shout Hosanna to his name.
We see Jesus thus anointed and acclaimed, heading a triumphal procession into the Holy City. Jesus was prefigured in the offices of prophet, priest, and king by three pivotal figures in the Old Testament.
The office of priest is represented by Melchizedek. The lives and ministries of these three individuals—Moses, Melchizedek, and David—provided types to help those in Old Testament times who did not know the details of the future life of the Messiah to understand the mission of the Messiah even before He came in the flesh.
The following will explore the Old Testament prophecies of the coming of the Messiah, the Anointed One, in terms of prophet, priest, and king and discuss how the Savior fulfilled each of these offices in His mortal ministry. The central mission of the prophets in the Old Testament was to be the mouthpiece of the Lord to call people to repent of their sins and to come unto the Lord. In short, the role of prophets is to bring people to Christ. One function of all prophets was to teach the people about the coming of the Messiah.
One of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament was Moses. He taught of the coming of Christ in two ways—by his actions and through his words. First, his life stands in the Old Testament as a type of Christ in many ways. Moses stands as a type of deliverer, redeemer, lawgiver, miracle worker, and mediator.
Moses also fulfilled the prophetic role of mouthpiece for the Lord as he called the children of Israel to repentance and prepared them to enter the promised land. The children of Israel understood that they would recognize in the Messiah one like unto Moses, one who would be a prophet, one who would deliver them, teach them, manifest great power, and mediate with God for them.
Thus, the Savior would come to His people in the anointed role of prophet. The Gospels give us many examples of Jesus in His role as a prophet. Jesus was likened to Moses. For example, both were miraculously saved from death: Moses as an infant in the basket in the Nile see Exodus 1, 2 and Jesus as an infant taken to Egypt see Matthew 2.
In Matthew 4, Jesus is tempted in the desert for forty days and nights in preparation for His ministry. Moses was the mouthpiece through which the Lord delivered the law at Mount Sinai see 19—24 , while Jesus delivered His law in the Sermon on the Mount see Matthew 5—7.
Moses performed many miracles—the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the water from the rock, bread and quail in the wilderness. Jesus healed the sick, fed the five thousand, walked on water, and raised the dead. Moses officiated at the first Passover meal in Egypt see Exodus 12 , while the Savior presided at the last Passover celebrated at the Last Supper see Matthew Jesus was recognized as a great prophet risen up among Israel Elijah was another great prophet of the Old Testament and one to whom the Israelites looked to return.
He did indeed return with Moses at the Transfiguration and yet again to the Kirtland Temple to deliver priesthood keys. During his ministry, Elijah confronted the priests of Baal, sealed the heavens, and raised the son of the widow of Zarephath. Similarly, when Jesus entered a small village called Nain, He was met by a widow whose only son had died. The news spread all about the region, for the people recognized one who manifested the power of God as did Elijah and the great Israelite prophets.
Jesus acknowledged Himself as a prophet. Jesus followed in the tradition of the prophets. Moses passed along his prophetic keys to Joshua by the laying on of hands.
Elijah had anointed the prophet Elisha to follow him and also passed his mantle to Elisha. Jesus followed the prophet John the Baptist.
Jesus, at the outset of His ministry, began with the same message, and later His Apostles were given the same message. Just before announcing that He would give unto Peter the keys of the kingdom, the Lord provided Peter with the opportunity to declare his faith.
And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Jesus Christ was indeed a prophet but he was even more than a prophet. Just as the prophetic role of the Messiah was prefigured in the Old Testament by Moses, so the priestly role of the Messiah was prefigured in the Old Testament by the great Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God see Genesis Through the power of this priesthood, Melchizedek had the same power as Enochpower over the elements, power to defy the armies of nations, and the power to be translated and taken into heaven see JST, Genesis — The God Jehovah came to earth and officiated with the Melchizedek Priesthood.
Jesus was not born of a Levitical lineage but came through Judah, the royal lineage. He fulfilled the prophecy, being the priest after the order of Melchizedek, since the lineage of Levi was not required for the higher priesthood see Hebrews — While there is little information in the Old Testament about priests holding the Melchizedek Priesthood, there is much about the Aaronic Priesthood, and the mission of Jesus Christ is largely explained in the New Testament after the model of the Aaronic high priest.
The anointing of the Aaronic priests is recorded in Leviticus 8. Moses anointed Aaron with blood upon the tip of his right ear, upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot—probably symbolizing the anointing of the whole body. Finally, Moses anointed Aaron with oil and sprinkled the oil and the blood on his garments see Leviticus Thus, the priests were washed, clothed, and anointed with blood and oil. In the scriptures, this entire process is called consecration, and it symbolized purification—by water and blood—with a setting apart by oil.
In the Old Testament, the priests had many functions. Their duties can be summarized under three categories: 1 to bless the people see Numbers —27 ; 2 to offer sacrifices and offerings for the people in order to bring about the forgiveness of their sins and transgressions see Leviticus 1—6 ; and 3 to be a mediator between God and His people see Leviticus It is possible to trace how Jesus fulfilled each of these three priestly functions in His ministry:.
The high priest and the priests would formally bless Israel. Twice each day after the regular sacrifices at the temple, the priests would bless all of Israel with a blessing called the Priestly Benediction, found in Numbers — Priests offered sacrifices and offerings on behalf of the people in order to obtain forgiveness from their sins and transgressions.
Through the system of sacrifices and offerings, the priests under the law of Moses facilitated the final stages of repentance by offering on behalf of the children of Israel their sacrifices at the temple.
Throughout His ministry, Jesus Christ exercised the power of His priestly office as God in forgiving sin.
The high priest was a mediator and represented the people before the Lord, and the Lord before the people. The high priest bore upon his chest the breastplate which contained twelve stones—one for each tribe see Exodus —21 —and upon his shoulders two onyx stones, each bearing the names of six of the tribes of Israel see Exodus — Thus, he represented Israel before the Lord at the tabernacle and the temple see Exodus On the Day of Atonement, under the law of Moses, the high priest would first make sacrifice on his own behalf and then enter into the Holy of Holies bearing the blood of the sacrifice, which he would then sprinkle onto the mercy seat.
He would do this once a year to bring about a remission of the sins and transgressions of the people, for which they had repented and to bring at-one-ment between the people and God see Leviticus In the final week of His life, the high priestly ministry of the Savior became apparent.
At the Last Supper, Jesus presided over the Passover meal, at which He introduced the symbols of the new covenant—the bread and the wine. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He began the process of expiation for the sins of the world by offering Himself, before His Father, as the blood sacrifice. On the cross, He continued His suffering until He died. The book of Hebrews explains that Jesus, through the Atonement, was fulfilling the symbolism of the high priest on the Day of Atonement see Hebrews 8— Symbolically, Jesus entered the Holy of Holies, or presence of God, one time.
He did not have to make sacrifice for Himself because He was pure; He brought to God the sacrifice of His own blood, offering one sacrifice—an infinite and eternal sacrifice—for the sins of the world. The rending of the veil symbolized the fulfilment of the old covenant and that through the power of the Atonement and the Melchizedek Priesthood all are invited to repent of their sins and enter into the presence of God. The most prominent imagery in the scriptures of the coming of the Messiah is the imagery of the Messiah as the anointed king of Israel.
In ancient Israel, the king was God—Jehovah, the God of heaven and earth. During the time of Samuel, the people clamored for a king, and with a warning the Lord allowed them to have one. The anointed king was to represent God on earth. We can learn both from the prophecies concerning the Messiah and from the kings of Israel, particularly David, what the future king was to be like and what characteristics the messianic king would have:. The Davidic covenant was an unconditional promise to the house of David that a descendant from his seed would rule forever.
One of the titles by which the messianic king became known and was often called was the Son of David. The Gospels present Jesus as the fulfilment of these prophecies.
The Gospel of Matthew, for example, begins with a genealogy of Jesus, tracing His royal lineage back to David. David is mentioned five times in the seventeen-verse genealogy so the reader will surely be aware of the divinely decreed lineage of David from which Jesus is descended. The anointing of Saul, David, and Solomon helps us to understand that the king was called upon for special responsibilities from the Lord and given special gifts in connection with those responsibilities.
Anointing was like being set apart with an invitation to be filled with the Spirit. These tensions were aroused in the seventh century, and their clash, especially in Jerusalem, with renewed expectations about the rebuilding of the Temple, sheds important light on the early development of Islam.
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