Jesus in the grain, the wine, and the oil
Facilitated, as usual, by Dox
Many parts of the Bible mention the grain, the wine and the oil together, Psalm 23 being one of them.
The grain is crushed into flour. Grapes are trodden upon, and the juice is aged into wine. Olives are crushed for the bitterness of the oil to come out.
But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil.
My eye also has seen my desire on my enemies; My ears hear my desire on the wicked Who rise up against me.Psalms 92:10-11
The oil is fresh as the new covenant is fresh and new. The oil of the new covenant also reveals victory to our sight and our ears… And we have victory over the wicked who rise up against us.
In remembrance of the new covenant, and as we reflect on Christ and His finished work, we give thanks because, indeed, He fights our battles, and we have the victory.
It shall come to pass in that day That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder,
And his yoke from your neck, And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.
Isaiah 10:27
The yoke back then was the Assyrian Empire. Today, the yoke is sin and the devil’s casting burdens upon us. The anointing oil is representative of the Holy Spirit, and we use it in remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice and victory – so the yoke of the enemy is not just broken, but destroyed beyond repair.
38 “You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locust shall consume it. 39 You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off. 41 You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity. 42 Locusts shall consume all your trees and the produce of your land.Deuteronomy 28:38-42
23 Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you— The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month.
24 The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
25 “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.
26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame.
27 Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.
Joel 2:23-27
The former rain represents a teacher of righteousness. The new wine and the oil come as we remember the new covenant – outpouring of righteousness.
Our lost years are restored by the Maker of Time.
Discussion that followed was regarding how all of this (anointing oil and observance of Holy Communion) was more perceived as religiosity.
Shared that it gives us cause to remember why we do any of ‘this’ in the first place – Do we still push for ‘excellent’ worship for the presence of God to ‘come down’? Do we still observe Holy Communion believing that the bread magically becomes Christ’s body, and the wine/juice miraculously turns into His blood?
Consequently, do we anoint people with oil (as we used to during certain creative, evangelical outreach presentations) for ‘protection’ and ‘authority’?
No, we lead folks and congregations in musical worship FROM the truth of Christ’s finished work guaranteeing that we are in Him, and He is in us, and nothing separates us from Him.
We observe Holy Communion ‘in remembrance’ of Christ, FROM the truth of His body and blood offered once and for all for our redemption, reconciliation and righteousness.
…and apparently, we would do well to anoint people with oil FROM the overflow of appreciation of the truth – that we are promoted (exalted), that the yoke of the enemy has not just been broken but completely destroyed, and that the years that have been wasted (eaten by locusts) have been restored to us.
That last item is what is absolutely screaming at me right now, especially since it’s been easy for me to cave in to this certain flavor of condemnation weighing down on me as of late.
Sure, life begins at 40 as they say… and that probably explains the sudden increase in game difficulty. And it doesn’t stop there – there’re also those reminders of how much money I used to have but lost, the opportunities I had with this relationship but compromised and lost, and the chance I could have had with this other relationship but lost because I was still hoping on that last relationship, and, really, just all these years I wasted consuming over creating, choosing comfort over challenges.
Call it self-condemnation or me just calling it out for myself before anyone else sees it and consequently laughs at me. I mean, I GET it. You can see them as lessons but I’m DONE receiving lesson after lesson.
Now I’m not about to go ahead and anoint myself with oil just so that I can ‘receive’ vindication or a shallow ‘peace’ that will make me feel better about all this – No, apparently, just as in everything else, I’m going to double down on the truth of the matter: That, by Christ and the New Covenant He established, the years have ALREADY been restored.
Sure as we’re brought to believing before we declare (prioritized over the other way around), so I’m brought to labor to enter His rest (on the matter of how He handled our ‘wasted’ time), and in celebration, we anoint ourselves and others with oil.
Something else that was interesting was brought up – Does it mean to say that we can take in any meal and call that Communion? I didn’t have time to chime in on that but to that I say what I’ve considered for a while – is there anything wrong if each and every meal reminds you of Christ’s body and blood offered up for our salvation?
And with that in mind, is there anything wrong if, each and every time we bathe ourselves and ‘anoint’ ourselves with oil rosemary extract, we’re reminded of our exaltation following Christ’s glorification, the heavy yoke of the enemy destroyed, and the restoration of all the years devoured?
…Because I’m going into every bath from now on, in remembrance of these three things… that last one, in particular.
Pass me the coconut oil.
Amen.
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