Holy Spirit : the Ministry of Jesus
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Intro
Intro
We continue this week in our month long study of the HS
Last week we discussed:
The importance of such a study as we seek to better understand the God we worship.
As ignorance regarding the HS has led to His being misused, and lied to and about in numerous different ways.
We laid the scaffolding last week of our study by first understanding that the HS is not some impersonal force, but that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Being described as with the personal pronoun “he”
That He can be grieved
that he has a mind
that he makes choices
and that He is a member of the divine Godhead
As such He ought to demand our fullest attention as much as the Father or the Son, and we should not be quick to dismiss our study of Him on the basis that His ways are too mysterious to understand.
To be certain, as I said last week, there are things about the HS that we simply are unable to understand, but there is enough in my belief to keep us on safe ground.
Our aim for today is to recognize the HS role in both the life and ministry of Jesus, and the role of the Holy Spirit in the early church.
The Prophesied Messiah of Spirit
The Prophesied Messiah of Spirit
Often reminded of the prophesied spirit to be poured out on all flesh as we often read from and recall the prophecy of Joel in
28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
We often talk about how Peter proclaimed on the day of Pentecost how this prophecy was fulfilled in their hearing, but this was not the only prophecy regarding the HS.
There was also prophecy regarding the coming of a king, a messiah from the line of David,
speaks of a servant that will become a shepherd over the house of Israel
24 “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.
Hosea as we’ve been studying refers to Judah and Israel uniting under one head.
We could spend all morning in Isaiah looking at the references of one who is to come.
A suffering servant
a prince of peace.
a wonderful counselor of God
A Stone, a cornerstone, a sure foundation
and the list goes on and on.
And it is with these prophecy in mind that the Jewish people endured what we know as the 400 years of silence between the close of the OT and the coming of Christ.
Illustration, how much things can change in 400 years
The US is not yet 250 years old.
and look at how much things have changed, can we earnestly say that we hold the same values and beliefs as dearly as they did?
But this is an ancient people, a storied people, a people with an incredible and rich history of being God’s chosen people, and unlike us they knew all too well the words of the prophets and how they spoke of a reconciled kingdom under the headship of one that came to be known as the Messiah, or God’s anointed one.
But over the course of that 400 years, there was an expectation of a coming kingdom where the spirit of God would be poured out on all flesh, AND there was an expectation of a Messiah on whom the Spirit of God would be upon as He led the people of God.
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.
1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
Isa 11:1-
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. 4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law. 5 Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. 4 They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. 5 Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;
Isa
1 “But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen! 2 Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. 4 They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams. 5 This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s,’ another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’ and name himself by the name of Israel.”
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
So for 400 years the people have been looking for the day when all this would be fulfilled.
They’ve been longing for comfort, for justice, for mercy, for God’s spirit to be poured out on a dry and weary land, to heal them and to reign in righteousness, and they were looking for the messiah whom God’s spirit would be upon.
And so what I’m trying to relay to you this morning is that while we often focus on the Spirits work in the early church, we need to understand that the spirit was also very much involved in the life and ministry of Christ.
So with our remaining time lets’ look at the ways that the HS was involved in the life and ministry of Christ.
And after 400 years of silence the silence is broken and the God begins to set in motion the plan that existed before the ages began.
Conception
Conception
In Luke chapter 1 you will recall that… Gabriel, Mary, Joseph, and tells her
You will conceive in your womb, and have a son, and his name will be Jesus, he will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
Now all that is quite a statement.
But as you can imagine, of utmost importance to Mary is the means by which this is going to happen.
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
Luke 1:35
HS role in giving life, the breath of God, the Ruach the Pneuma of God brings the spark of life to the elements that make up our bodies.
And here again the Holy Spirit is able to make life outside of the natural ways in which life has been designed to come about.
Baptism
Baptism
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke 3:
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 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; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
We often read the accounts of Jesus’s baptism and come away asking some pretty strange questions don’t we?
Did Jesus need to be baptized? - I mean what did he need to repent of? Did he need any sins forgiven? If not why was he baptized?
Well the answer to that is plainly given in , that it needed to be done to fulfill all righteousness, and Jesus being born under the law needed to obey the commandments of God, especially those of the HS inspired John.
But what we often miss is the connection, and the fulfillment of what we have read about in Isaiah.
The Gospel writers want us to understand that here at the beginning of Jesus ministry, that the HS descended like a dove and came to rest upon him, and John says, the HS remained on Him.
Recall back to the Isaiah scriptures we read earlier
- the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him
- I have put my spirit upon him.
- the spirit of the Lord is upon me.
The connection is unmistakable, God is showing us through this event at the beginning of Jesus public ministry that the HS is going to empower Jesus for the work that lies ahead of him. That they are united, and that the messiah which has been long prophesied is now here.
To this effect, Luke goes through great lengths to help us to understand the fact that Jesus was in fact being led by the Spirit in his ministry.
Ministry
Ministry
1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
Where he is tempted for by the devil after fasting for 40 days.
Where Jesus withstands the temptations and Luke records in 4:14
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Does that scripture that Jesus read in front of the synagogue sound familiar? It should, because it’s from
lUKE 4:16-
And Jesus by reading this wants everyone to know that He is the one they have been waiting for. He is the one upon whom the Spirit of the Lord is upon, it is He who will throughout the course of his Public ministry carry out the will of God.
He will do this by:
not judging by what his eyes see or his ears hear, but judge with righteousness.
By giving sight back to the blind, by freeing those held captive by evil spirits, by touching the untouchable, loving the unloveable
Healing those whom had been in slavery by their paralysis, or by their years of bleeding.
Jesus proved that he was the long awaited Messiah by his public ministry, of which Peter said in
36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 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. 39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
Here’s the point.
It can be often overlooked that the HS played a huge role in the life and ministry of Jesus himself.
It was the HS which brought about the Virgin birth, bringing life from a seemingly impossible situation.
It was the HS which descended and remained on Jesus at his baptism.
It was the HS which led him out into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan.
It was the HS that anointed Jesus for his ministry, by which he fulfilled all which had been prophesied about Him.
The HS led and empowered Jesus, the son of God in His ministry.
So my question is this, if Jesus needed the HS to fulfill His ministry, who are we to think that we can fulfill ours without the HS?
I asked you last week to pray throughout the week, to give thanks for the HS. I hope that this morning we have come away with a better understanding of what exactly we’ve been thanking him for. We thank God, which includes the spirit, for the birth of Christ, for the life of Christ, for the fulfillment of His ministry, and for the gift of grace and forgiveness that we receive through his blood that he shed on that cross.
Yet of course that is not the end of the story.
Johns Prophecy of baptism of the HS
Jesus promised the comforter, the one who would reveal all truth.
We will talk more about the HS role in the early church tonight.