From Luke 4 –
Priest He was anointed to be Priest, a merciful High Priest, which meant He was to sacrifice on behalf of the people and to intercede for them. Because of His sacrifice on the cross, the people of God would be clothed like a bride ready for her husband and their unworthiness would be covered by His righteousness. He would be sacrificed on the cross because God so loved the world, it is what He sent His son to do. He would be sacrificed on the cross, and because He was, the sins of the whole world have been forgiven. And He would rise again from the dead, and because of His rising, we would have peace with God.
Think of this: if you pay attention to your Bible, a lot lot of people rose from the dead or were believed to have come back from the dead. Some thought Jesus was a prophet brought back to life. Some thought John the Baptizer was a prophet risen from the dead. A widow’s son was raised from the dead. An official’s daughter was raised from the dead. Lazarus was raised from the dead. Half the municipal cemetery of Jerusalem was raised from the dead on Good Friday. Yet none of these resurrections were considered Messianic by anybody! None of those resurrections turned the world upside down. But when Jesus was raised from the dead, it became the mark of salvation for the whole world. It was Jesus who “was raised again for our Justification.” Because Jesus was raised from the dead the Kingdom of God was established forever.1 Why was He different? Why was He special? Because He was anointed.
