THE ANOINTING OF CHRIST
[p. 147] THE ANOINTING OF CHRIST
JT I think the thought is to review the chapters from chapter 20 in connection with this one.
The anointing by the woman in Simon the leper’s house serves as an indication of what those who love the Lord may come to by appreciating Him as presented in this gospel. Evidently she anoints Him in relation to the feature of the truth presented in the gospel; and inasmuch as it is in the house it seems a fitting response to what the Holy Spirit presents in the ministry of the Lord, for the idea of a householder is prominent in this gospel. The institution of the Lord’s supper following in this chapter, and being also in the house, indicates, I think, that those who partake should know what householding denotes spiritually. It says in the Psalms, “He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children” Psalm 113:9, and I think this gospel teaches us how to keep house spiritually so that in result there should be a generation according to God.
AMH Would you say a word as to how this gospel in general bears on the thought of keeping house?
JT You will agree that government has a great deal to do with housekeeping. We have the idea of householding here, as we have already mentioned, also in chapter 13, and then again in chapter 20, where the householder is brought in in connection with service; and later still in chapter 21, the same idea is again introduced. It is a feature of the truth that perhaps the Lord would emphasise, if there is to be further gathering. It is said in the prophet that those who joined themselves to the Lord God.
[p. 148] who took hold of His covenant, and kept His sabbaths, should be made joyful in His house of prayer; He would accept their sacrifices and their burnt offerings, and then it is added, “The Lord God which gathereth ... ..saith, Yet will I gather others besides those that are gathered”, Isaiah 56:8. I thought perhaps the Lord might help us on that line because there are many being gathered, but in order that others may be gathered, God looks for house conditions, and it is quite evident that house conditions are largely dependent on the government of the house — on the rule that is there.
In the anointing here the woman’s name is not given, nor is it given in Mark, and yet the memorial of her is to be kept, so that it is not so much the person herself, inasmuch as her name is not given, but rather what she represents, and in these two gospels the memorial of her is to be continued. Evidently it cannot be continued unless there are present the principles that she recognised, for she anointed the head. The head was anointed in both gospels. Matthew refers to the administration of the Lord.
AMH Do you think that would be the Lord getting His place in the house as Administrator amongst the saints?
JT Yes.
AMH So there would be room in that way for what He would bring in of God?
JT If conditions which God can recognise exist amongst us, He would gather others; because I think the word in the prophet is to faith, “Yet will I gather others to him besides those that are gathered”. Isaiah 56:8. There are many to be gathered, but the great thing is to have the conditions.
Ques What are the conditions?
JT That is a large question, but an understanding of this gospel would help. There are other features [p. 149] of course that enter into the house, but certainly the will of God is a great feature to be recognised. The Lord insists that those who are to be recognised as His brother, or sister, or mother must do the “will of my Father which is in heaven”. Matthew 12:50 I think you suggested last time that those conditions began to express themselves in chapter 2.
JT Well, I think the wise men from the east begin the line of instruction by way of example, they find the Lord in the house.
Ques Is the anointing here the climax on that line?
JT I think so; and then the Lord intends it to be continued in the institution of the Supper, which is also in a prepared house. We have nothing like that really in the gospel; we have many houses mentioned and the Lord serving in houses, but nothing of this character.
ER Do you consider that the anointing precedes the Supper in that way?
JT The anointing signified that she appreciated the Person through whom the principle of rule came in. This woman would be a good housekeeper; she represents the result of the teaching. She committed herself to Him, and the memorial of her throughout the dispensation is intended to maintain the principle of rule, so that the memorial precedes the Lord’s supper, hence 1 Corinthians was written to assert the rights of the Lord in connection with His supper.
MWB How would the thought of the house in Matthew support the thought of the house in Luke?
JT What predominates in Matthew is the truth regarding the kingdom of the heavens: “the will of my Father which is in heaven”. Matthew 12:50. I think he emphasises the rule of the house, so that in his gospel it is a king made a marriage for his son, but in Luke it is a certain man made a great supper. Matthew emphasises the rule and the authority of the kingdom.
[p. 150] Luke has the house in view, but it is rather that it should be full; all things are ready, but there is nothing about the king’s discrimination. Matthew carries the thought of government right to the end, so we see in chapter 25 the completion of it in regard of the nations — the goats go away into everlasting punishment and the righteous into life eternal. He pursues the thought of rule to its final end. Luke is more concerned about bringing in souls; God would have His house full.
PL God’s majesty and glory are referred to at the beginning of chapter 2, “We have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him”. Matthew 2:3. Would that be what the woman appreciated in the Lord?
JT I think that is very suggestive.
ER The appreciation of the woman showed that the end — the object — of that gospel had been reached.
JT Yes. If you take the four anointings in the gospels, you get the complete thought of Christ femininely —the thoughts presented in Christ reproduced in the woman. There are four anointings, one in each gospel, and taken together they represent a blend which God can anoint — the Christ. “So also is the Christ”. 1 Corinthians 12:12 There is that brought out subjectively in the saints to which God can commit Himself.
Ques How do you take the thought of “she has done it for my burying”, in regard of what you are saying?
JT He was on His way to die and she indicates divine instinct as to the situation.
AMH Do you think the effect of this kind of action is what you get in Corinthians, one coming amongst us and saying, “God is in you of a truth”? 1 Corinthians 14:25.
JT I think that is right. What the apostle is aiming at in the first letter is to bring about conditions necessary to the Christ — the anointed vessel. They were not there as yet, but he is aiming at it, and the second letter would show that he has reached it,
[p. 151] because he speaks about the communion of the Holy Spirit.
Ques Would you say what you had in mind with regard to the four anointings?
JT This anointing refers to the kingdom of God in the house — the house of God. I do not say exclusively so, because other features necessarily enter into Matthew, but in anointing His head the woman intimated that she recognised that He was the Vessel whom God had anointed for government. Anyone corresponding to her would not submit to a bishop or archbishop or anything of that sort, and thus deliverance would be realised from the hierarchical system; they cannot exist together. The memorial of this woman is a rebuke to all that, and delivers the people of God from it.
Ques Do you mean that if we are to take part in rule in the house of God, we have to be formed according to the model set before us in Christ in Matthew?
JT That is what I was thinking, and this woman indicates that she has apprehended the thought because she anoints the head. In Luke and John it is the feet that are anointed, but this refers to His initial function in the house of God. There is for her no other person able to exercise rule save this Man. Of course, elders and those who take part in the rule of the house of God would reflect this.
Titus was to ordain elders in every city, but he would require to know the teaching of Matthew in order to determine the qualifications of an elder.
AMH Receiving direction from Christ would work out in great unity amongst the saints.
JT It would indeed. Do you not think the need for elders is very great?
AMH Yes, I do; and to recognise what the Lord might raise up in that way.
JT [p. 152] Yes.
Ques Do you suggest they have their place today?
JT Elders as formed by this gospel are greatly needed in the house of God. “Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars”. Proverbs 9:1. Now an elder would be according to that; he would be wise. The elders in Revelation 4, I suppose, are symbolical of what all elders should be. They are around the throne; there are twenty-four of them with golden crowns. That would indicate a knowledge of God and divine approval. Then when the living creatures praise and say, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come”, Revelation 4:8 the elders fall down and worship; that is, they see that the creation is secured for God and they give a reason for their worship. They say, too, that God is entitled to this because for His pleasure they are and were created. So that elders among the people of God involves the intelligence acquired by experience with God, and God knows how to give the golden crowns indicating divine approval. It is not what one takes on or assumes, but what God provides and the saints recognise that; they recognise these crowns as of God.
SJBC It is remarkable the intelligence the elders display in Revelation.
JT Yes. Then the elders give an account of things; they always have intelligence. Who are they? Whence came they? The elder knows: “My lord, thou knowest”. Revelation 7:14.
HFN Is that why so much is made of the elders in Acts 20? Paul sent for them and they fall on Paul’s neck and kiss him.
JT They evidently represented there the affection of the assembly.
RB Do you mean that the memorial is preserved in the house of God by persons who are morally like this woman, and they would answer to the [p. 153] elders?
JT I think that is how it works out.
Rem So the woman and what she had are not separated. It is not something she had to get. It is a “woman having”.
JT What she had is not separated from her; I think that is right. I do not see how we can have the memorial of the woman without the conditions.
JJ Do you mean that each gospel would produce the kind of person you have indicated?
JT Mark also records this incident, and he also says that the woman anointed His head. There I think she refers to service — levitical work as set forth in perfection in Christ. Of course, the rule of the assembly and the levitical service are combined in one Person, but in Mark the memorial is also to be continued and would refer to efficiency in service.
MWB Would you link Matthew with what is local and administrative, and Mark with that which is levitical and therefore universal?
JT Yes, I think that is right.
SJBC I thought the anointing in Mark is put in connection with His prophetical character. Mark presents Him in the prophet’s character, does he not?
JT Well, that is so; in Mark it is the Servant-prophet; it is the Levite’s gospel. The Lord did things well and promptly. We get things combined both as to government in the house of God and service carried on there. These two features were to be carried down by memorial to us. Matthew and Mark bear largely on the public course of things in the house of God.
Ques Would you connect the idea in Matthew with the end of chapter 11, “Learn from me”? Matthew 11:29.
JT That is a most important passage as introducing the new thing. That which relates to the assembly begins there. We have to learn everything from Him.
[p. 154] Ques I was thinking of the way He ordered things among the disciples. Would that be His rule and headship?
JT Yes, and now we have in chapter 20 the householder employing servants. We have to take account of the principle set out there, that things are not to be entered upon on the line of a bargain. Those who come in at the last obtain the same as those who came in at the outset, and the householder says that he had a right to do what he pleased with his own. “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will in my own affairs?” Matthew 20:15 It is a question of the Lord’s rights amongst His people.
Ques Although outwardly a day of ruin, would you look for eldership amongst the saints today?
JT Certainly.
Ques. And recognise it?
JT I would look for the “golden crowns”. Revelation 4:4.
JJ The qualifications must be moral.
JT You do not want anyone recognised officially; it is a question of what is moral.
JJ Would it be right to say that the kingdom and the house are interwoven in Matthew?
JT The kingdom of the heavens is worked out in the assembly, but the public history of the church is taken account of in Matthew in the parables, and those of us who are acquainted with Matthew will never ignore the public history of the assembly, because the Lord is judging now in the midst of the assemblies as He was at the beginning, and His judgment extends to the whole area of profession.
Ques Is that why it is Simon the leper’s house?
JT I think the house here would involve a certain reproach. There is no reproach attaching to a cathedral, but there would be to a leper’s house. One has to accept that; we have to accept the conditions in which the Lord is pleased to be found. He was in the house of Simon the leper.
[p. 155] Ques Would you say that that was like Micah in the prison?
JT Well, quite. The kings of Israel and Judah were each on his throne in the open space; it was a show day, and Micah was sent for to prophesy concerning the Syrians, and he says, “I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him”, 1 Kings 22:19 and that really is Matthew. The prophet was put into prison for his testimony, but he was in the light of the position. The government of God goes on, but what is to be observed in regard to the present position of Christ in heaven involves that all the dispositions of God in connection with the nations have reference to the testimony. There is no other concern with God now. There is the gospel and there is the assembly, and these are the chief interests of God today, and all His dispositions on the earth (and He is in supreme control of everything) have the furtherance of the testimony in view. Evil is allowed to go on, and it is coming to a head, but it is allowed on God’s terms, within the divine limitations, as I think these parables show. The kingdom of the heavens implies that God is in supreme control of things and that He carries them to an issue. Hence we see in the parables in chapter 22 not only the destruction of Jerusalem, but that the one unsuited to the marriage scene is cast out into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth; that is, what is unsuitable in Christendom is dealt with finally. The parables pursue things to their final issue, so the more we understand Matthew the more stayed and restful we can be, knowing that everything reaches its final issue under God’s hand.
Rem So Jezebel is eaten by the dogs in Jizreel.
JT Exactly; the ten horns shall eat the harlot’s flesh and burn her with fire.
JJ What is the meaning of the king of Babylon taking king Jehoiachin out of the prison and giving [p. 156] him a portion at his table? What is the idea of that kind of government?
JT That would show divine consideration for one who had had a place among the people of God. You will find that often in Scripture; God comes in at the end of a man’s days, even although he may have turned aside, and signifies His mercy. He does not turn him aside on the dungheap. He is very considerate of those who have served Him. Some of us were dwelling on the last chapter of Leviticus. A man might not be worth fifty shekels, but he is worth something. We have to determine the value of people; it would save us from being too severe or harsh in dealing with brethren.
AMH Do you think all these parables which precede this have a bearing on present conditions?
JT I think they have. There are parables which deal directly with Jewish conditions, and then there are others which deal both with them and also with the history of Christendom. Parables that are specially called similitudes of the kingdom of the heavens take account of the history of the assembly, and chapter 20 is of great importance, showing that the Lord will hold to His rights to do what He will with His own. So if you come in at the last He will make no bargain with you, but you will get the same amount as those who came in at the beginning.
Ques Does chapter 25 deal specially with Christendom?
JT The virgins do. Chapter 22 is the king making a marriage for his son; it is God asserting His dignity in the gospel invitation. Then chapter 23 deals almost entirely with conditions at Jerusalem; chapter 24 is the Lord’s mind about Jerusalem and its destruction, and the testimony that will go on after the assembly is taken away; and in chapter 25 the parable of the ten virgins refers entirely to the assembly — and the talents too; but the parable of [p. 157] the sheep and the goats is evidently the future thing having reference to the final judgment of the nations in regard of the testimony that will go out to them through the Jewish remnant. We are in possession of all that light, and the issue of the judgment of the Son of man — the goats going away into everlasting punishment and the righteous into everlasting life. Conditions on earth are fixed, and thus we see the history of the kingdom finished. And now we come to intelligent affection. How do we regard all this light as to Christ? What is all this to you? The normal effect of it all would be that all is carried down in connection with love. These verses suggest first the anointing of the woman and then the prepared house where the Lord’s supper is partaken of.
MWB The Lord, being brought before us as you have indicated, would make Him have a very large place in our hearts as the One who can take entire control of everything. We would anoint Him in that sense.
JT Yes; everything is made of those who have affectionate regard for Christ. That is the great end of it all.
Ques I should like to ask why the Lord’s burial is brought in in connection with the anointing.
JT It emphasises the affection shown. If a loved one is going to die, you have that immediately before you.
Rem Because anointing as a rule was for a course of service here on the earth.
JT Yes; but she discerned He was going to die, and the bearing of her act would be taken up by the Spirit and applied to us. The Lord is not going to die now, but He is on His way in another sense — He is on a journey — for His present position is really a provisional one; it is a question, therefore, of how we regard Him. He greatly valued this action of [p. 158] hers. Her act stands over against the hatred and folly of those who put Him to death.
PL Would it not suggest the bearing and conduct of such an one in the house of God?
JT Yes. She was not yet in the light of resurrection: “she hath done what she could”, the Lord said. She acted according to the intelligence she had, but she acted in love.
Ques Is it the same thought in Psalm 45:1 “I speak of the things which I have made touching the king”? The woman here had learned to appreciate the King.
JT That is right; she expressed her own estimate of Him. She is in agreement with God. God had already anointed Him. Now, in regard of Luke, he records the anointing at the beginning almost of the Lord’s ministry, and it is the feet of the Lord that the woman there anointed, meaning that she discerned in those feet that grace had been carried to her. She anoints Him in regard of what He had brought into the world, in the sense of the grace of God in Christ. She loved the One who had brought it to her.
WCG Is this the service of the Son of God who is the minister of the true tabernacle? Is it expressive of the character of the last days?
JT Surely. And then John records also that the feet were anointed. Mary had discerned that He had come in in life, and those feet were carrying Him to death. He was going to death Himself; He was laying down His life of Himself. He was not being carried. He was going to die.
Ques Would the anointing in John touch the thought in Joshua, when the priests’ feet touch the water?
JT I think it does.
MWB In the gospel of John would it be our appreciation of Christ in the way we express that towards the saints?
[p. 159] JT It would work out in the way we act toward: the Lord’s people. If He laid down His life for us we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. That act of His is really the foundation of the position. So that strictly we begin with that; we begin with John because it is only in life that all these other features are sustained.
Ques Would all these features be available to the Lord at the Supper?
JT I think so; He would look for them. These four anointings really represent the beautiful blend that God anoints; as we get in 1 Corinthians 12:13 “for also in the power of one Spirit we have all been baptised into one body, and ... have all been given to drink of one Spirit”. One is what the Spirit does for us, and the other our committal to it.
RB Is your thought that what God anoints goes on to the world to come?
JT I think so; God would anoint what is according to Christ.
JJ You were speaking about the Lord’s supper in Matthew. Would you say a little about the feature of it in that gospel?
JT There you have a prepared house. The other gospels make more of the furniture, but here it is, “Where wilt thou that we prepare?” It says, “Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?” It is the thought of preparation. Now Luke tells us that the Lord sent Peter and John to prepare, meaning that Luke has more in view the furnishings than Matthew has. The Lord took the initiative in Luke and He sent Peter and John to prepare, because I think He intended that the features represented in these two — in the one the rule of God, and in the other family affection — should be the furnishings. But Matthew does not go into that, he simply records [p. 160] that the disciples thought of the preparation and that it should be in the house.
SJBC What about the man bearing the pitcher of water?
JT Matthew does not emphasise the thought of ministry so much. Luke brings in the furnishings and Mark introduces the thought of the man with the pitcher of water because he is concerned about ministry. Luke tells us that the Lord sent Peter and John; he is supporting Paul’s ministry.
MWB Will you say a little more about the distinction between the furnishing in Luke and the house being prepared in Matthew?
JT I think Luke has in view what we are going on with now, that is, what the Gentiles are to have, and hence he does not say anything about the evening; the others do, they speak about the evening. The time is not so defined. Luke says, “When the hour was come”, Luke 22:14 which, I think, means that the time is left for what Paul prescribed, that is, that the Lord’s supper is not added on to a meal; “When the hour was come”; and then Peter and John represent, as I have said, the one, the government of the house of God, and the other family affection.
AMH Do you mean that Luke gives the preparing?
JT I think Luke gives the furnishing more. Here it is, “Where wilt thou that we prepare?”
MWB And then is the moral position suggested in the woman’s action, the state or preparedness that Matthew brings before us?
JT I think that is it, and supposes that all is gathered up in those who partake of the Lord’s supper.
MWB You would have no difficulty in speaking of the Supper in connection with Matthew.
JT Not in one sense, but in Matthew it is the woman that is to be remembered; he is concerned that the woman’s act should be remembered; “told for a memorial of her”. There is nothing said of memorial in the Lord’s supper in Matthew.
JJ Would the Supper here be something like in the early chapters of Acts?
JT It corresponds with that.
PL And the fact that not the two are mentioned but the disciples, “And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them”, would that suggest the element of response as bearing upon all?
JT I think it does, and the memorial of the woman is what Bethesda ignored — that is, the order and government of the house of God. That is the important thing to have before we have the Lord’s supper.
PL It says in regard of Jehoiada, every man stood to his guard, and then there is the crowning of the king, answering to Matthew, and then the testimony is to be announced. Would that answer to the memorial in character? And then Athaliah is slain; that would come in in regard to the final issue.
JT And then another thing that comes out in Matthew and Mark — the hymn at the exit. It is a very beautiful finish. They went to the mount of Olives. That is what is available to love — the outlet. There is a connection with heaven in the mount of Olives.
Ques Does that suggest an upward movement?
JT I think it does; they sang a hymn. In both gospels that touch is recorded. There is the outlet. The point is, the outlet is in the Spirit. It is the Spirit that is the outlet — the mount of Olives.