26: Jesus and the Holy Spirit

^{Matthew 1:18} Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

^{Luke 4:1} Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

^{Luke 10:21} In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

^{Matthew 12:18,28} Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations…But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

^{John 14:16} And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, ¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

^{Acts 1:1} In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, ² until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. ³ He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. ⁴ And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; ⁵ for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

^{Acts 10:38} how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

Jesus’ whole life was lived by the power and leadership of the Spirit. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He was full of the Holy Spirit and filled with the Holy Spirit, that is, submissive to and characterized by the Holy Spirit.

We are told by Jesus that, while here on earth, he did not know the time of his return, only the Father knew (Mark 13:32). That means that while on earth, Jesus was not accessing his infinite knowledge. When he knew things (like that the Samaritan woman at the well had had five husbands and was now living with a man, John 4) that were beyond human ken, it must have been the Holy Spirit making this known to him.  Jesus also tells us that he cast out demons by the power of the Spirit. He was not accessing his omnipotence, either. Jesus did not access his deity while living here on earth. He depended on the Holy Spirit for supernatural abilities.

He was “anointed,” as Peter says, with the Holy Spirit, meaning that he had “the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit” (John 3:34). As Jesus said when he proclaimed that the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled in him, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18).

Jesus lived and served God the same way we are able to, by the help and power of the Holy Spirit. He has become our example of dependence on the Spirit for everything. This is living with kingdom power before the kingdom actually comes, a tiny taste of what life in the kingdom will be like.