The Bible gives every clear evidence that the Holy Spirit acted on and interacted with Jesus during his whole stay on earth.
To start, the spirit had much to do with Jesus’ birth. Notice Luke 1:35 and Matthew 1:18-20 that talks about the Holy Spirit “coming upon” Mary and causing her to conceive a child who was to be the Son of God. By any measure, this is unusual, especially when we bring to mind that the mother was a virgin. Such a conception is beyond the ordinary into the realm of the supernatural.
Those who do not allow for the supernatural disallow any miraculous element to Jesus’ birth. By doing so, they break the link between God an man. The link that freights salvation to us. This very significant happening was engineered by the Holy Spirit. It inaugurated Jesus’ life on earth.
At Jesus’ baptism, He was anointed by the Holy Spirit at which time the Spirit descended on Him like a dove. This marked the beginning of His work, a work the Spirit played a major role in.
Jesus was guided by the Holy Spirit, first into the wilderness to be tested by temptations similar to Adam’s. Then, on many occasions, the Bible indicates that Jesus was led by the Spirit to various places and in the doing of various deeds.
Some texts to look at:
It is also true that the Holy Spirit had to do with Jesus’ death and resurrection. To be sure, He did not act unilaterally, but the Spirit, who withdrew at the cross, “quickened” Jesus at
the resurrection.
1 Peter 3:18,
Romans 1:4,
Galations 1:1
Clearly, the Holy Spirit interacted with and prompted Jesus all along His way. We are left with the clear conclusion that the role of the Spirit played was vital.
Questions for Discussion:
- If the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit was vital to Jesus, what can be said of us?
- Does the Spirit play a role in ordinary things, or does He work only (primarily) with the spectacular?
- Can we be led and can we do as Jesus did?
