Of horns, oil and a title

If you've already taken some time to read over the scriptures for this coming Sunday, you've seen this verse in the first lesson:

Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand,
anointed David in the presence of his brothers;
and from that day on, the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David.

The "horn of oil" was a ram's horn (below) in which sacred oil was kept for the purpose of anointing.



The image at the top of this post depicts David's anointing with oil flowing from the horn -- and you can tell from the brothers' scowls that they're a bit jealous.

Of related interest for us is that the familiar Christ, by which we often refer to the Lord Jesus, is less a name and more a title and the title means, the Anointed One. Thus, in last week's gospel (John 4:5-42), the Samaritan woman at the well says to Jesus:

I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ...

and to her neighbors:

Come see a man who told me everything I have done.
Could he possibly be the Christ?

In both cases, the translation might well have read, the Anointed. Jesus is, indeed, the Christ, the Anointed, the One who now gives us the Spirit of the Lord.



 
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