CP 225 OK then, how was he able to do it?

CP 225 OK then, how was he able to do it?

Hi people, Fred here, getting back into the swing of things after a hectic few weeks. On the 3^rd weekend of October here in NSW we had what we termed “The Gathering” at Warrambui. Maybe a bit like an indigenous corroboree, to take stock, listen for His voice, and rethink and re-own what we know from scripture. In the back of it all there was a constant searching about how the Holy Spirit empowers those he calls to do his work. Our Bishop here, Mark Lieschke, has nominated that search / question as high priority for us. I agree. But it won’t be easy. It is never easy when deeply-held assumptions are challenged. Today I’m going to mull over the presence, and impact, of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ own ministry.

At the age of 30 Jesus came to John the Baptizer at the Jordan. John was baptizing all who repented. He was deeply troubled when Jesus presented himself as well. Here is the record in Matthew chapter 3:

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

¹⁵ Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Then John consented.

¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Why was Jesus baptized? Did he have sin which needed forgiveness? Manifestly not. So why was it necessary to ‘fulfil all righteousness’? And why does the Holy Spirit suddenly drop into/onto his life in such a special way?

First question first. Jesus came to be the Messiah and Redeemer. That required a perfectly pure and holy life – a fulfil-all-righteousness life. Messiah also necessitated full ‘payment’ to enable forgiveness of sins. So he came to live and he came to die. Complete holiness would be followed by Calvary horror. Perfection in life followed by perfect sacrifice, an atonement for the sin of all others. There in the Jordan the sinless one, the representative Son of Man (sum of Man) stepped into the water and identified himself with humanity in all its sin and brokenness. And if he would faithfully stick with that identification his crucifixion was inevitable. He would make a perfect-without-defect Passover Lamb.

So where does the Holy Spirit come into this? Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit so did he not he have the Holy Spirit anyway from birth? The angel told Mary his mother, “The holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 2:35) There’s a clue in his age…

Jesus was 30 years old (Luke 3:23) when he came to John that day. That was the age at which a man could become a priest and serve in the Temple. (See Numbers 4:3, 23) To be a priest he would need to be anointed, and that anointing needed to be performed by a priest. And John was from a priestly family, (and declared to be a prophet of the Most High!) Jesus came to be more than a priest. Again words from the angel: “The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign… (Luke 2:32-33) The King was to be anointed as well. John the B was on the spot as a fully qualified, authorised anointer! So read Peter's words when he rose to speak at Cornelius’ house:

^“You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. ³⁷ You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— ³⁸ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” Acts 10:36-38
Have a good look at the words I’ve put in italics! Anointed! With the Holy Spirit and power! He did what he did, and was able to do it, only because God was with him! It’s fascinating to read what happened when Samuel the prophet anointed youthful David as King of Israel: “…and from that day the Spirit of the Lord came on David in power.” 1 Samuel 16:3 Both Jesus and David had the Spirit of God in them before that anointing. They both had faith in the God of Israel. The anointing was to empower them with the Holy Spirit for their coming work. God was with them…
A passage to finish the day:

Luke 4:16-21

¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
¹⁹     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. ²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

I hope I’ve started to answer that question / search. Where are you and I in this picture? More next time! Also have a look at Philippians 2:6-8 and tell me if you think it’s relevant to our processing.

Fred