What does Acts 10:38 mean?

God's anointing of Jesus is clear. Matthew records Jesus' baptism: "And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice form heaven said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased'" (Matthew 3:16–17). Somewhere around the age of thirty to thirty-three, the time when Jewish men were considered mature enough to teach, God publicly ordained Jesus' ministry. He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 61:1–3, accepting God's anointing to bring us good news.

How and why God the Father anointed Jesus with power is more confusing. Jesus is God the Son who "took on" the flesh of humanity so that He is fully God and fully man. He had to do this to be a suitable sacrifice for our sins. Philippians 2:7 says Jesus "emptied himself." The theological term for this is kenosis. The big question is, what did Jesus empty Himself of? Certainly not His deity, holiness, or righteousness. He did set aside His privileges as God—His right to be worshiped and to rule creation. We know He took on human limitations, like hunger, fatigue, thirst, and pain. What's less clear is His perfect knowledge and power. He did not know when He would return (Matthew 24:36). He claimed His power was from the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:28–30). What, exactly, that means is unclear.

Peter might have given some examples of the "good and healing" Jesus did, but either he cut his narration to Luke short or Luke only covered the basics. Throughout His ministry, Jesus blessed the vulnerable and held the powerful responsible (John 2:1–11, 13–16; Mark 10:13–16), He healed the demonically oppressed (Mark 1:23–26; 5:1–13; Matthew: 17:14–18), and brought the dead to life (Mark 5:39–43; John 11:38–44). Most importantly, not only was God with Him, He is God with us (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23).