If the grain offering speaks of the life of Christ, why would they need to add anything to it?
Recall the three items not in the grain offering: no blood, no leaven, no honey. Now let’s take a look at the added ingredients: “And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it” (Lev 2:1); “And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt” (v 13). So there it is: olive oil, frankincense, and salt. We’ve spoken before about the oil being a picture of the Holy Spirit’s ministry, and He was certainly a crucial part of Christ’s life on earth. From the moment of His conception by the Spirit (Lk 1:35), throughout His life He could say, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me” (4:18). Notice the three words used for applying the oil: “pour” (v 1), speaking of the fullness of the Spirit, for the Spirit did not come “by measure” to Him (Jn 3:34); “anointed” (v 4), suggesting the fitting of the Spirit for His ministry (Isa 61:1-3); and “mixed” or “mingled” (v 4), pointing to the fellowship of the Spirit, because He was always in perfect harmony with Him. The second item was frankincense. Remember that ALL of the first offering was burnt up. Now here is the word ALL regarding the second offering. A priest was to “take from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all the frankincense” (Lev 2:2). The frankincense, picturing prayer and worship in the Bible, may speak of the fact that Christ’s life was lived ALL for God’s pleasure in sweet communion with Him. As to the salt, it is called “the salt of the covenant of your God” (v 13)—the pervasive and preserving influence of the covenant promises of God. He is the Man of the open Book (Lk 4:17; Rev 5:5; 20:12). So we have added the Spirit of God, sweet communion with God, and the Word of God—the three active ingredients in Christ’s life, as they should be in ours!