THE ANOINTING
THE ANOINTING
DLH Will you give an outline of the chapter?
FER The great point is the anointing that is in chapter 4. In chapter 5 we have the “new wine”, and chapter 6 the “new bottles”. The anointing is the beginning of everything. It is not the anointing for the kingdom; there was that, but here it is anointing for ministry. The Lord was anointed, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me”.
M Where is the anointing for the kingdom?
FER David was anointed with holy oil for the kingdom, and even David’s son takes up the kingdom in the power of the anointing. The tabernacle was anointed with oil. Anointing gives character to the whole system, and it begins with anointing; but the point here is, there is One here suitable to be anointed.
JSO Is it connected with chapter 2: 32?
FER Quite so, and the Lord takes it up in chapter 4; “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”. It is something of a totally different character to anything that had gone before. A prophet spoke by the Holy Spirit; but He was anointed by the Spirit.
WB What is the force of the word “anointing”?
FER Anointing gives character; it is not like the seal, it is ‘character;’ “Ye have an unction from the Holy One and ye know all things”. The Lord was suitable for the anointing, and the anointing was suitable, in that sense, to Him. He took character from the Spirit, and the character of the Spirit was according to Himself.
DLH So He says, “If I by the Spirit cast out demons”, etc.
FER Quite so, The Spirit of [p. 220] the Lord was upon Him.
Ques Where does the temptation come in?
FER The Lord enters into everything which had come upon man. The devil had come against man, and the Lord enters into the temptation of the devil to bind him and spoil his goods.
JE When is the anointing “with the oil of gladness above thy fellows”?
FER That is in regard to the Church; it may have application in the future.
Ques Was not Elisha anointed?
FER Yes, the priest was anointed, but Elisha was the only prophet anointed, I think.
Ques In what sense are believers anointed?
FER As John puts it, “Ye have an unction from the Holy One”. The Holy Spirit gives character to us. All real knowledge, and expression of communication of that knowledge, is by the Spirit. The “oil of gladness” in Hebrews refers to the future, but it is true in principle in regard to the Church. It says, later on, that all are become companions of Christ.
JB He must be pre-eminent.
FER Yes, He is Head.
Ques Is there more than one anointing in regard to Christ?
FER Oh no, He was anointed when the Holy Spirit came upon Him. The figure of it is in the meat offering. It was mingled with oil and anointed with oil; and, really, what you get here is the texture of Christ. It was not a prophet speaking the word of the Lord, but the texture of Christ comes out.
DLH He comes out as the Christ here.
FER It is not only the anointed Man but the Christ. It is a wonderful chapter because Christ is refused by man and recognised by Satan; and, after all, He goes on with His work, and, as Mr. Darby has it, He is neither elated nor discouraged.
Ques What is the texture?
FER The texture is you see what He is. He was [p. 221] here in the ministry of grace to man, but He is refused by man and recognised by Satan; but He silences Satan and goes on with man.
JSO When you say recognised by Satan, do you mean “If thou be the Son of God”?
FER Twice in the chapter you find there are the devils; they say “What have we to do with thee”, etc., and “The devils came out of many, crying out ... Thou art the Christ the Son of God”. What really can be more deplorable than having come to man to be refused by man and recognised by Satan?
Ques What is meant by not giving the Spirit by measure in John?
FER There was no measure with Christ, but with us there must be measure. We cannot know the power of the Spirit beyond our measure. The Spirit is great enough, but we are so small and we cannot make use of the Spirit beyond our spiritual measure.
ER The glory of the Person comes out in John 3?
FER I think so; it is a great thing to apprehend the spirit of this chapter and see what the character of the ministry is: that is the point here, we see the greatness of His work afterwards — healing the sick and casting out devils, and yet the Lord is not elated; that comes out at the close of chapter 4.
Ques Is there any objection to speaking of two anointings of Christ; one in Matthew and the other in Acts 2?
FER In Acts He received it to communicate. In the economy of grace the Father is the source of everything, and Christ Himself came forth from the Father. Christ goes up and receives the promise of the Father in order that He may communicate it.
JSO And in connection with redemption?
DLH And is He now the administrator of the blessing?
FER Quite so, and it flows out from the Father.
WB And necessarily from the Son.
FER Exactly.
DLH Is the new wine the joy of the kingdom?
FER It comes out in the service of Christ. In the next chapter (5) man can be before God apart from defilement — sins and guilt. We get that coming out in the leper and the paralytic. That is the testimony which Christ gave.
DLH That could only be in figure here.
FER Everything in the ministry of the Lord is figurative; but there is the character of it.
DLH All that is a point of interest in reading the gospel.
FER All the gospels anticipate the gospel. So Mark’s gospel is “the testimony of Jesus Christ”.
WJ What is the teaching of Peter’s conversion?
FER It represents the position of Israel. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 refer to Israel. Chapter 7 introduces the Gentile. Christ could have given to Israel the wealth of the seas, but they could not hold it. It would have inflated them and made matters worse. Peter has come to his bearings that he is a sinful man in the presence of the Lord. The presence of the Lord tested everything, while, at the same time, He formed new bottles and was at issue with the scribes and Pharisees on every point.
WJ What [p. 222] is the difference between the garment and the new wine? Is the wine joy and the garment righteousness?
FER It may be, but He came here in the ministry of divine righteousness and so to bring in divine joy. But divine righteousness was not to patch up human righteousness; and divine joy would have burst earthly bottles. New bottles are necessary.
Ques Would you explain why new wine is brought in in chapter 5?
FER It is in connection with the testimony. The leper and the paralytic were raised up, in the way of testimony, to the virtue which was here on man’s [p. 223] behalf. What has come in in Christianity is that the Christian is before God apart from defilement, sins and guilt: as the hymn says, “Cleansing from its guilt and power”, (396:1) and new wine is the result of what has come in. “The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit”.
WJ In Levi you get a new object; he was drawn away from old associations.
JSO It applies to Israel literally; what Christ will provide for them.
FER They will be cleansed from defilement and guilt, and they will carry their beds. In principle it applies now. It is important to see that in these chapters you have not got beyond the range of Israel when this testimony comes in. The important point is, Christ takes His own course; He is at issue with the scribes and Pharisees on every point, and He goes to eat and drink with publicans and sinners, and so on; and finally the question of the sabbath comes in. When the Lord had given testimony to the leper and paralytic then He takes His own course. The Lord is at issue with the scribes and Pharisees and He joins issue with them. He will not follow them and He will not accommodate Himself to them. He will not put a new patch on an old garment, nor new wine into old skins. Their religious system was the worn-out garment, it was threadbare; but the very presence that tested the scribes and Pharisees — the self-righteous — really formed the new bottles.
JMcK Peter’s boat could not hold the fish, nor the old bottles the new wine.
FER Exactly; “No man having drunk old wine straightway desireth new, for, he saith, the old is better”. They were on the line of establishing their own righteousness, and they cared not for what was new. There is nothing more important than to see how the Lord Jesus joins issue here with all that was there; He first gives testimony to what He brought, then He joins issue [p. 224] with all that was there. He intended them to see Him eat and drink with publicans and sinners, and in going through the cornfields, too, the Lord allowed His disciples to eat, to call attention to the moment, in that way. Another expression of Mr. Darby’s is “a rejected Christ made all things common”. That was the principle of it; nothing could have holy character when Christ was rejected. It was on that principle that David ate the shewbread. Holy things ceased to have holy character.
JSO The whole system must stand or fall together.
FER The crown of it had come, and if they rejected the crown the whole system must collapse.
JB What is the second sabbath after the first?
DLH It was in connection with the wave-sheaf.
JB I wondered if there was a moral order in it. When the Lord proclaimed Himself anointed by the Holy Spirit, that was the first sabbath.
FER I think it was an expression understood among the Jews.
DLH I think it was the harvest which was for man’s food, but until the wave-sheaf was waved nobody could touch the harvest. The ‘first sabbath’ was the first sabbath after the waving of the sheaf, and the ‘second sabbath’ was the second after that order of the sabbath. I think that is how Mr. Darby puts it.
JB You mean that that makes it lawful for the people?
DLH God had had His portion in the wave-sheaf, and now man could enjoy the harvest.
Ques What about the man that had the withered hand?
FER We learn the use which Christ could make of the sabbath; He gives its own proper character to the sabbath. It was mercy to man, and characterised by mercy. There was no real rest for God while man was suffering under the disability of sin. God could have no pleasure in law while man was suffering, and [p. 225] thus man was really a trial to God in connection with the sabbath. The motive that animated the Pharisees was really covered up under the regard for the sabbath. To them the sabbath was but a legal institution, and man might suffer whilst they could lead their ass or ox to water.
DLH Man would take good care of himself, but it was a poor sabbath for the man with the withered hand.
Ques Where do you get the new bottles?
FER They conspired together to kill the Lord, but He goes up into the mountain and calls His disciples, and then He pronounces the Beatitudes; “Blessed be ye poor for yours is the kingdom of God”. But what had brought that about, that there should be those characterised by being poor, hungry, and suffering reproach, was the presence of Christ Himself. It was a suffering Christ, and they took their character from Him on account of their attachment to Him.
DLH He Himself expressed that character in perfection.
FER And they took character from Him.
Ques Is there anything special in the Beatitudes here as compared with Matthew?
FER I suppose things are taken up in Matthew in connection with what had been. It is a general principle in Luke, because man, not the Jew, is in view. It is wider than Matthew, which connects itself with the remnant.
Rem There is a woe upon the rich here.
FER Riches are a man’s idol; “How hardly shall they that have riches enter the kingdom of God”. The great point in Luke is, Christ in relation to humanity. Another thing here, is, you get the title “Most High” brought in, which indicates the supremacy of God. It is the name of God in regard to the world to come. The Beatitudes are put in relation to the Most High. The Father is the Most High, and Christ, it is said, shall be called Son of the Most High.
[p. 226] Ques What is the relation of all this to the kingdom of God in chapter 6?
FER The Lord here indicates the character of those in the kingdom. Matthew is more dispensational. It opens out the transition from Israel to the Church which comes into view in a special way in Matthew. Luke is more moral in character.
Rem You get God’s attitude towards man, “love your enemies”, etc.
JMcK Is that why evangelists preach more often from Luke?
FER I think so; Luke is more pervaded by grace.
WB Grace which carries salvation with it.
FER Exactly; it hath appeared to all men. So it is at the end of chapter 24, “Thus it behoved Christ to suffer”, etc.
Ques Is it true that repentance is the ground of blessing in Luke and not faith?
FER Repentance gives you joy in heaven because it is the first movement in man for God; but for God the first move is as good as the last. Repentance leads to blessing, but faith is always the way of blessing. I cannot conceive how man can be brought into blessing apart from faith. God commands men to repent; it is right and proper in its place, but it would be difficult to understand how it could be the way of blessing directly.
WB If a man does not believe anything of God’s testimony at all what is there to work repentance?
FER Quite so, but at the same time, while the call and preaching of God may produce repentance, that is not coming into the blessing. When the prodigal repented he had not come to the father. The publican in the temple had not come to blessing; he found himself to be the sinner. You must connect the thought of blessing with the establishment of the kingdom in the Lord Jesus Christ. The kingdom connects itself with the Lord Jesus Christ — faith in Him.
[p. 227] Ques Have these beatitudes a special application to the King; the Lord on earth?
FER I think so; it is the character of those associated with Him; those who were associated with Him in the light of the kingdom. Another very important thing connected with the King is teaching. The Lord says, “I say unto you which hear”, etc. You get the teaching for those who hear. There are two sections in the latter part of the chapter; the blessing to those who hear, and the parable to those who do not hear. The Lord takes the character of instructor, and afterwards speaks a parable to the unbelieving mass — those who judge other people. You rarely find the Lord using a parable except to people who would not hear.
DLH Would you say a word about verse 40?
FER It is always the case with a disciple: if you have come to the point of perfection you are like your master, except that you may surpass him, in a sense, sometimes. The scribes and Pharisees made a man twofold more the child of hell than themselves. The Beatitudes show you the character of those who are blessed. If you get genuine Christians they are marked by being poor, separate, and reproached. The idea of children is, that you are in the place of reproach of a rejected Christ, but in the Father’s love.
DLH Say another word about the disciple as regards the connection of it. It comes in after “can the blind lead the blind”.
FER You could not say that a disciple is beyond his teacher, but everyone that is perfected shall be like him. It applies on both sides: if you follow the blind you become blind, and if you follow Christ as the Teacher you become like Him. There is only one safe teacher to follow; I pity the people who trust any teacher on earth.
Rem You get the gift of teaching.
FER That is an expression of Christ; it is real gift. All real power of gift is the Holy Spirit: “If so [p. 228] be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus”. It would be very beneficial to souls generally if they were in the attitude of Mary, sitting at His feet. It is very humbling, but safe to sit at His feet and hear His words. What Mary got from Christ was carried out into practice, and it did not simply add to her stock of knowledge.
DLH That is how it always works; what we get from Him becomes affection.
FER Everything you get from Christ increases your knowledge of God. Christ leads you there and you are affected by the knowledge of God. The more a man knows God the more he is affected, and that is the teaching of Christ. He leads us into the knowledge of God. Christ teaches us to pray. After the parable of the good Samaritan He is the ‘Revealer’ and then He teaches to pray. All prayer is really by the Spirit of Christ — the Spirit of God’s Son. You cry “Abba Father” and He teaches you to pray.