YOU HAVE BEEN ANOINTED BY THE HOLY ONE

YOU HAVE BEEN ANOINTED BY THE HOLY ONE

By Fr. Felix (African Times Guest Writer)

In the 7th Day within the Octave of Christmas:

A Reading from the First Epistle of John

(2:18-21). In Judaism of the first century there

was considerable speculation about the future,

shown in writings which have survived or been

re-discovered recently in the sands of Egypt.

It was felt that the end of the world was

imminently approaching, and that all kinds of

forces, mostly personified, were about to be

released and that there would be great battles

in the heavens between forces of good and evil.

Such language occasionally found its way into

Christian writings, such as the Book of

Revelation.

The ‘Anti-Christ’ here, and the ‘Enemy’ in 2

Thessalonians 2.4 are examples of the

threatening personalities which embody the

expected evil forces. The author joins to the

personification of the evil force some members

of the community who have deserted, calling

them too ‘Anti-Christs’. This is no more than the

standard language of controversy at the time.

Had those deserters not been anointed with

chrism at the time of their baptism, or does the

author imply that the anointing had taken no

effect? In either case, it is a valuable hint that

such anointing was already part of the

Christian initiation.

Anointing with oil had been a sign of

empowerment from the Lord, seen already in

the anointing of Saul to be king (1 Samuel 10.1),

conferring strength and the scent of authority

on the Lord’s representative. It is as the

anointed king of the line of David that the

‘Messiah’ receives this name.

The Word of The Lord teaches us that the

forces of evil have surrounded our servants, by

winning over a good number.