Anointing. This is a term that means that the Holy Spirit is with you, that the Holy Spirit has come upon you. When you are “anointed,” you are not only empowered but commissioned into action.

The word comes from the Greek word echrisen, to anoint from the root chrio, also related to christos, anointed one, the word we call “messiah.” Jesus has been “contracted” by God with the power of the divine Holy Spirit to impart “good news” of God’s favor and grace.

And what good news it was!

This inauguration of Jesus’ ministry occurred after his baptism, at that time when we are told that the Holy Spirit came upon him in a big and powerful way, christening him into a ministry of mercy in order to fulfill God’s vision of bringing humanity home to its original state of relational harmony with God…