Chapter 1 - The Ministry of Jesus.

After His Baptism and Anointing with the Spirit: 
"Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching In their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people" (Matthew 9:35). 

Everywhere he went he preached (proclaimed) the same basic message. This was His work as a preacher or evangelist. (As a teacher though He had many teachings). Preaching focuses on the gospel of the Kingdom (that Christ has come to save us and will come again to reign). Teaching is expounding the whole Bible. Jesus unlike us had the fullness of anointing: "For he whom God has sent (Jesus) speaks the words of God: for God gives not the Spirit by measure unto him" (John 3:34). The main work of the preacher is a simple proclamation of the gospel and challenge to respond. The main message of Jesus' preaching would have been well-known to the apostles for they heard him preach it many times. They preached it in Acts and it formed the basis of the further New-Testament revelation.

What was this message of Jesus? We could call it- 'The Anointing Message'. It's the sermon he preached at Nazareth. (Luke 4:14-32; Mark 6:l-6)

After his Baptism, "Jesus returned In the POWER of the SPIRIT Into Galilee and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about, and He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all" (Luke 4:14,15, also Mark 6:1). Notice SPIRIT is likened to POWER.

"and he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, (churchgoing should be our custom also) and stood up to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where It was written (see Isaiah 61:1,2): 'The SPIRIT Lord Is UPON ME, because hehas ANOINTED ME to PREACH the GOSPEL to the poor, (notice SPIRIT = ANOINTING = POWER) He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and (to preach) recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable (Jubilee) year of the Lord (see Leviticus 25)'" (Luke 4:16 -19).

It was Jesus' custom wherever he was, to open to the prophecy of the Messiah (The Anointed One) in Isaiah 61 and read it as the text of his sermon. 'And he closed the book, and he gave It again to the minister, and sat down (to teach), and the eyes of all them that were In the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began to say unto them. THIS DAY is this scripture fulfliled in your ears'(Luke 4:20,21).

He did not just say this sentence, but this was the summary of his message, for 'he began to say' it. In fact they did not let him finish his message! He probably started with what happened at His baptism. His sermon focused on himself as the carrier of God's supernatural, anointing power to heal, save and deliver. He preached this word so they would believe and receive this power into themselves, for faith comes by HEARING the Word (Romans10:17)

Jesus was the Son of God but did not minister as God but He ministered as a man, a prophet under the anointing of God. "How God ANOINTED Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy SPIRIT and with (healing)POWER: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for GOD WAS WITH HIM" (Acts 10:38). Read Philipians 2:6-8; John14:12, John 3:34, Mark 6:5 as proof of this fact. 

To anoint means to smear with or rub on. So Jesus proclaimed that God's anointing power was rubbed all over him- God was with him, over him, around him and on him! The purpose of this power was to: destroy the works of the devil (1John 3:8) for the Yoke (of bondage) shall be destroyed because of the ANOINTING (Isaiah10:27). It is the bondage-breaking, yoke-destroying power of God. He preached the good-news that the power was on him NOW ('this day') for their freedom, healing, deliverance from poverty and forgiveness. Whatever they needed, God was on Jesus to give it (it was Jubilee time !) He preached that it was here NOW, they could receive NOW: "THIS DAY is this scripture fulfilled." So that those who HEARD (believed) were healed. That's how the anointing works - it must be preached and those who hear and believe, receive it. Thus it is fulfilled in your EARS. This is the main way Jesus healed.

We see this in Jesus' ministry: "...a fame spread abroad of him and great multitudes came together TO HEAR, and to BE HEALED healed by him of their infirmities" (Luke 5:15). 

"...a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem,and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, came to HEAR him, and to be HEALED of their diseases" (Luke 6:17).

What did they hear? It must have been on healing. It was the message: 
"The SPIRIT of the Lord IS UPON ME, because He has ANOINTED ME.."

"They came to the land of Gennesaret and when the men of that place had KNOWLEDGE OF HIM(they had heard him preach 'the Anointing Message') they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased (why? - because he preached God's healing power was on him and they believed it) and besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment (he had preached that the power was on him to heal so they wanted to get some for themselves) and as many as touched were made perfectly whole (the power flowed Into them, through their faith)" (Matthew 14:34-36). He made it clear that the anointing was for them so they were not wrong in reaching out to claim, take and receive it.

Mark 5:25-34 tells of a woman, with a bad issue of blood, who when she had 'HEARD of Jesus', came came through the crowd and touched his garment, "For she said, If I may touch but his clothes , I shall be whole."
What did she hear about Jesus to cause her to do this?: 

"The SPIRIT of the Lord Is UPON Me,-because He has ANOINTED ME.. to heal." Power flowed out of Jesus and she was healed. Jesus said to her, 'Your faith has made you whole'.

At Nazareth they did not come to hear but to see a show of miracles. They did not listen or believe. They were Impressed by his speaking but then rejected his claims because they had seen him live an ordinary life with his family for 30 years without doing miracles. They were so immersed in the natural world, they could not see spiritual realities. This is unbelief. They even interupted his message! (Luke 4:22; Mark 6.2,3). 

Jesus told them the problem - they were rejecting him as a prophet and thus also His anointing to help them: A prophet Is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin.. And he COULD there do no mighty work (he wanted to help them and be successful there, but couldn't), save that He laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them and he marvelled because of their unbelief (which stopped the flow of anointing)." (Mark 6:4-6). These poor results compared to those at Capemaum so they were upset (they wanted a show) and he told them again that it was due to their lack of cooperation (Luke 4:23,24). Their unbelief meant that miracles could only now happen by a sovereign gift of the Spirit, which was outside Jesus' control (though he was 'God in the flesh' he was operating as a man (prophet) ministering by the anointing of God - Acts 10:38). Jesus compared himself to 2 other prophets who could only do special miracles when led by the Lord (Luke 4:25-27). 

But anyone could have received their answer by receiving the anointing. By now they were so mad at Jesus they tried to kill him! (Luke 4:28-30). He went on teaching everywhere to build up faith to receive and his word was with power (Mark 6:6, Luke 4:31,32).

Proof that Jesus preached 'the Anointing Message' everywhere is from Peter's sermon in Acts 10 (at the Gentile Pentecost).

First he realises God wants to bless the gentiles with the same anointing (Spirit) that He gave the Jews. (v34,35) So he preached to them the same Anointing Message that Jesus preached to lsrael (and which he preached to Jews on the day of Pentecost):

"The WORD (message) which God sent unto the children of Israel, PREACHING PEACE (wholeness, forgiveness) by Jesus CHRIST ('the Anointed'): (He is Lord of all - both Jews and Gentiles), that WORD, I say, you know, (it was so well-known Cornelius had heard about it) .... was published throughout ALL Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism whicti John preached (it started when Jesus was anointed at His baptism) (v36,37).

What was this Word or message preached everywhere? 
It was: "How GOD ANOINTED JESUS of Nazareth with the Holy SPIRIT and with POWER: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him" (Acts 10:38).

Peter then says Jesus died and rose again and now they were anointed to preach that Word. (v:39-43) I'm sure they had heard of the anointing flowing at Pentecost from the resurrected Christ. They believed Peter as he preached that Jesus was the Christ (the Anointed One) and that the anointing was for them also and"while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost (the Anointing) fell on all them which HEARD the word, and the Jews were astonished.... because on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost" (v44-46).

Jesus preached He was anointed and those who heard were healed, they received their need met from the anointing. The Church today has the same message. Jesus is the same today, he is the CHRIST, He is anointed with God's power to save, fill and heal. We are to preach that he is the CHRIST (i.e.- he is Anointed to meet your need whatever it is.) True preaching exalts Jesus as the Christ anointed for man's salvation. It focuses on the Person of JESUS and his complete ANOINTING for all man's needs (i.e. that He is the CHRIST) This was the message of the early-church. (See Acts 8:5-8 where Philip 'preached CHRIST unto them' and they heard and were healed). 

We should preach: Jesus is Anointed for you - just believe the gospel (good-news) of CHRIST and touch Him by faith (call upon his name) to receive forgiveness, salvation, the Holy-Spirit. 

Say: 'I believe I receive that power now to set me free, to heal me, to cleanse me, to save and deliver me.'