The Holy Spirit seems to be the most nebulous of the Three Persons of the Trinity. It struck me as fascinating how Luke unfolds an understanding of the Spirit in his gospel. There is a sequence in Luke chapters 3 and 4 where the Holy Spirit is considered in four distinct ways. I believe those are distinctions that are worth exploring. I invite you along with me, to agree or disagree with what I am seeing in the text.
The first mention of the Spirit is
in 3:21-22. It is the baptism of
Jesus. “…Jesus was baptized too. And as
he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in
bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I
love; with you I am well pleased.”
This is the
moment when the Spirit comes upon him.
It might be referred to as a ceremonial or a liturgical moment, because
it is accompanied by the voice of God, acknowledging God’s beloved Son and giving
God’s evaluation of Him. “With you I am
well pleased.” I call it a ceremonial
moment because this action marks the beginning of Jesus’ active ministry in the
gospel.
The second (a dual reference) is in 4: 1-2. First, we
recognize that the Spirit has filled Jesus, from its descent upon Him at His
baptism. But now, there is direct action
in the Spirit. “Jesus…was led by the
Spirit into the wilderness…” he was led
into his confrontation with the devil, into the First Temptations of Christ. It is not simply a ceremonial presence, but a
directive presence.
We can argue
about free will or not, but that is beside the point. The point is that the Spirit is active with its filling our Lord Jesus with its presence.
The third
reference is in 4:14. Jesus has
completed his time of temptation and news of him spreads through Galilee on his
return to the region where he grew up.
But this time, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,
and news…” went out from there. This time, Jesus' actions are not tied to the direct action of the Spirit. It is a fine point, but I believe a significant
one. Before, the Spirit led Jesus. Now Jesus returned (from the wilderness) in
the power of the Spirit. To me, the language
reads of the Spirit being an enabling presence.
The focus is not Spirit, but power of the Spirit, as Jesus 'wields' that power.
So Jesus has received
the Spirit, been filled with the Spirit, led into the wilderness by the Spirit,
and now returns filled with the power of the Spirit. It is as if in the temptations of the devil,
Jesus came into His own to use the Spirit as sent by God.
The final
mention of the Spirit is in 4:18. In his
return to Galilee, Jesus has returned to Nazareth, the town where He grew up,
and He is sharing from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue on the
Sabbath. “The Spirit of the Lord is on
me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news…” In this moment, there is fulfillment in the
Spirit. The Spirit was prophesied to come
down and come down with a purpose. It is
“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, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
To me, this
connects what all the Spirit has already done, coming onto Jesus, filling Him,
directing Him, empowering Him. It is not
a new thing, but a promised one. Then he
did a one-line sermon, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
As near as I
can tell, direct mention of the Spirit in connection to Jesus’ ministry disappears
in this moment. The ministry goes
forward, its context in the Spirit has been established, and the proclamation
of the year of the Lord’s favor goes on.
(metaphoric year, we figure Jesus ministered for about three years).
While this is
interesting for understanding the unfolding of Jesus’ ministry, it also seems to
set the pattern for how the Spirit works in our own lives. But more on that in this Sunday’s sermon.
Peter Hofstra
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