Jesus in the Power of the Spirit

The Holy Spirit and the Incarnation

When the time came appointed by God for the Messiah to come into the world, he sent an angel from heaven to a town of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin whose name was Mary.

He came with an extraordinary message: “Rejoice, O highly favored daughter…You have found favor with God. You shall conceive and bear a son and give him the name Jesus.”

As Mary wondered: how can this be? The angel explained: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; hence, the holy offspring to be born will be called Son of God” (Lk 1:26-35).

At that moment, Mary conceived the Son of God, become a man, by the power of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 1:18, 20). The miracle of the Incarnation is the great work of the Holy Spirit.

The whole mission of Jesus was later to be carried out similarly in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Baptism of Jesus by John

Mt 3:16: “After Jesus was baptized, he came out of the water. Suddenly the sky opened and he (John the Baptist) saw the Spirit of God descend like a dove and hover over him…” Luke tells us that “Jesus was at prayer” at that moment (Lk 3:21), when the Holy Spirit came down upon him, like the Apostles on Pentecost day. They too were gathered in prayer.

Why did Jesus Receive the Holy Spirit?

As a man, he needed the “power of God” and the “gifts of the Holy Spirit” to carry out his mission.

We must understand here that Jesus was God, but he was also a man, a man with the same human needs we all have. He needed to be equipped with divine power in his humanity. He needed the Holy Spirit to do the work of God, just like us. That makes him close to us, doesn’t it?

But wasn’t he God as well as man? Yes, indeed. But the point is that his divine nature, endowed with perfect knowledge and infinite power did not spill over, so to speak, upon his human nature. And this is what most people don’t realize. Some explanation here can be very helpful to understand Jesus.

Jesus had two natures: a human nature and a divine nature.

We have only a human nature. But we have a body and a soul. With our body we can do certain things: we eat, talk, walk, etc. With our soul we can do spiritual things, like thinking, reasoning, desiring, loving, etc. We cannot eat with our spiritual soul, or think with our feet.

Likewise, our body has many organs, each one with a specific function. I hear with my ears and see with my eyes. But never will I see with my ears or hear with my eyes. All those organs are in my one body, but they don’t mix together.

This will help us understand how it is in Jesus. With his divine nature he knows everything, he is all-powerful, can make all sorts of miracles, he has created all things, etc. With his human nature, he can eat, sleep, walk, experience pain and suffering, he can even die, as he did. His divine nature did not suffer. Nor can his human nature create, heal the sick, raise the dead, multiply loaves and fishes, etc.

Now it was as a man that Jesus was our Savior. Not as God. He was always God but he became a man precisely to save us, by identifying with our human condition. Only as man could he take our sins upon himself and atone for them, by dying on the cross. His human nature makes him mediator between God and sinful humanity.

To adapt his human nature for the mission given to him by his Father, he needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit and his divine gifts. That’s what happened after his baptism by John. The Holy Spirit came upon him with power. Then, he began to preach with power and great wisdom, he began to heal the sick, cast out demons, forgive sins, read the hearts, the secret thoughts of men, etc. He was led by the Holy Spirit, and inspired by him, just like you and I can be, but with greater frequency and power because of the unique mission that was his.

That’s why Jesus needed and received the Holy Spirit.

Now, see what happened after he was filled with the Holy Spirit

This is how Peter describes the change in Jesus to the Roman Centurion Cornelius: “God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good works and healing all who were in the grip of the devil; and God was with him (the power of God, the power of the Holy Spirit)” [Acts 10:38].

• He was led by the Spirit. Like us. We need to be led by the Spirit to live as children of God and carry out our mission. Paul says in Rom 8:14: “Those are truly children of God who are led by the Spirit.”

• He was first led into the desert as we read in Lk 4:1-2: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was conducted by the Spirit into the desert for 40 days, where he was tempted by the devil.” He resisted victoriously the temptations of the devil by the power of the Spirit.
• Right after those 40 days in the desert, Luke tells us that “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee…He came to Nazareth, his home town. “ Always he is led by the Spirit.
• Jesus was aware that something had changed in his life.

• As he entered the Synagogue of Nazareth on the Sabbath, he was invited to do the reading. He opened the scroll and read from Isaiah (read Lk 4:18-22): “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…Today the Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
• We too know our life is changed when we open up to the Holy Spirit and let him lead us.
• The people of Nazareth saw a difference in Jesus too. They are surprised, amazed to see how he can preach and do works of power: heal the sick, etc. Obviously, he had never done any such things in the 30 years he had lived in Nazareth before going to the Jordan to be baptized by John. And they commented, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (Lk 4:22).
• Works of power: miracles, healings; he expels demons by the Spirit of God; he forgives sins (who but God can do that?). He changes water into wine; stills the winds and waves; miraculous catch of fish, multiplies loaves and fishes, etc.
• Uncanny wisdom to rebut and disarm his adversaries.

• Where did he get this wisdom? They asked. Is he not the son of the carpenter? (Mk 6:3; Mt 13:55).
• Rebuttals: Jesus always has a clever and quick answer for those who seek to catch him in a trap. Ex. Render to Caesar (Mt 22:21) - Let him who is without sin cast the first stone (Jn 8:7) - How Jesus rebukes Satan in his three temptations with an appropriate Scripture (Lk 4:1-13).
• Jesus promised his disciples this special assistance of the Holy Spirit. “When they bring you before synagogues and rulers and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves. The Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment all that should be said” (Lk 12:11-12). He first had that help of the Holy Spirit.
• Jesus promised he would give us a “Paraclete”, that is, one to be at our side to help us in all our needs. “He will teach you everything” (Jn 14:26 Cf. Jn 15:26; 16:7; 14:16). “With him we can be clever as snakes, innocent as doves” (Mt 10:16).

Jesus offers us an example and a model of how we, in turn, are to "live by the Spirit."

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