The Holy Spirit was present in the life of Jesus throughout His earthly ministry. Several times, Jesus made mention of the fact that He did nothing by Himself. Everything He said and did came from the Father through the Holy Spirit.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 3:16
“After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him”
In this message, we seek to show how the Holy Spirit endorses the ministry of Jesus, but deeper than that, in keeping with His works, we see the Holy Spirit’s anointing and leading on His life as evidence in Luke 4:14 “Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region.”
It is biblical to conclude that Jesus performed no miracle as God, during the course of His ministry, but instead He performed all the miracles as a man whom the Holy Spirit has anointed. This fact is evident by His own confession in Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see.”
Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus demonstrated complete dependence on the Holy Spirit for leading and guidance in His preaching, teaching and miracles. Miracles were merely signs, which establishes that His words were from the Father and that He came from the Father. We recognized and identified five main fields of operation of the Holy Spirit in the life and ministry of Jesus. These fields of operation sanctions and endorses Him as the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah of God.
The Spirit of God descended and rested on Him in the bodily form of a dove.
“One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy Luke 3:21-22” The Holy Spirit manifested Himself in the form of a bird, a dove, representing gentleness. Those who were around saw it and heard the voice of the Father from heaven endorsing the launching of His public ministry. The resting of the Holy Spirit on Jesus brings into focus the Divine Trinity and its role in the redemption of humanity. Jesus just baptized and came out of the water, the Holy Spirit rested on Him and the father spoke from heaven. It was the most powerful coordination of divinity on the earth.
Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1)
“Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led into the wilderness by the Spirit” The second field of operation has to do with an infilling. To have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, living in us and manifesting Himself in various gifts and fruits of Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20, the apostle Paul tells us that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and that He is in us and he was given to us by God. Luke tells us that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit. This means that His life was fully under the control of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the Wilderness ((Luke 4:1)
“Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.” To be led by the Spirit implies complete submission and rendering one’s life to the full control and direction of the Spirit. However, in this particular case, Jesus was led specifically into the wilderness for the express purpose of seeking the will of the Father for His public life and ministry. On the promptings of the Spirit, Jesus went into the wilderness where He fasted for forty days, during which time also He had many confrontations with Satan who sought to divert his attention and to bring Him under his control and submission. In every temptation, Jesus demonstrates defiance of Satan and his mission.
Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit’s power ((Luke 4:14)
“Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region.” The wilderness experience not only sets the foundation for His ministry but also provides the power and authority to execute His agenda under the anointing of the Holy Spirit’s power. The ministry of Jesus, which involves preaching, teaching, disciplining, healing and deliverance, was executed perfectly due to the power release from the Holy Spirit on the life of Jesus.
Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit to execute His ministry (Luke 4:18-19)
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come” Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit to execute His ministry. Luke, in his Gospel records the events following the return of Jesus from the Wilderness. Luke explained that on a Sabbath day Jesus went into the synagogue in Nazareth and read a portion from the scroll of Isaiah 61, which provides a menu of ministry involvement for which the Holy Spirit anointed Him to carry out.
The Holy Spirit was present in the life of Jesus throughout His earthly ministry. Several times, Jesus made mention of the fact that He did nothing by Himself. Everything He said and did came from the Father through the Holy Spirit. The Human side of Jesus made Him completely dependent on the Holy Spirit while he was on the earth. This collaboration of divinity for the redemption of Humanity was carefully planned and powerfully executed by the Holy Spirit, even as He anoints Jesus and becomes responsible for the regeneration of those who put their faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus on the Cross.
Paul Mursalin from Guyana is a member of the International Board of Barnabas Fund
Photo by Ferdinand on Unsplash
