Session 2: The Holy Spirit in the New Testament
We have examined the work of the Spirit in the Old Testament. We discovered that in the Old Testament, the Spirit was known mostly as the power of God.
But there were developments in the understanding of the Holy Spirit. We examined 3 prophets who saw the Spirit as more than the power of God.
Isaiah – saw the Holy Spirit in connection with the Messiah.
Ezekiel – saw the Holy Spirit in connection with the life-giving force such as the resurrection.
Joel – saw the Holy Spirit coming down all people.
The prophecy of these three prophets were all fulfilled in the New Testament.
But there was a gap between the Old Testament and the New Testament. For 400 years, there was no prophet. A period of silence.
Then John the Baptist came and Jesus came.
This morning, we are going to study the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. We will focus mainly on Luke’s books.
In the Old Testament, they saw the Spirit only as God’s Spirit. Ruach Elohim. The Spirit of God.
But when it came to New Testament, the understanding of the Holy Spirit was quite developed. They saw the Holy Spirit not just as God’s Spirit or the Spirit of Jesus. They understood the Holy Spirit as an independent person.
In the Old Testament, they used the word Ruach. But in the New Testament, the word Pneuma was used. Same meaning. As I said yesterday, Ruach or Pneuma = Wind, breath, and the spirit.
Many people think that the Holy Spirit started working after Jesus left the world. In fact, even before Jesus came, the Holy Spirit was very active.
He had dreamt about the new world and initiated the new beginning. We can see that clearly in Luke.
The Spirit prepared the coming of Jesus.
The Spirit worked in Elizabeth. Who was Elizabeth? The mother of John the Baptist and Mary’s cousin.
Who was John the Baptist? He paved the way for Jesus. Forerunner. The Spirit prepared John the Baptist to pave the way for Jesus.
You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:14-17)
When John the Baptist was in his mother’s womb, he was already filled with the Spirit.
We often think that you receive the Spirit after you receive Christ. But here the Spirit came upon John the Baptist even before he had consciousness.
So, it is important for you to pray for your children. Even though they may not completely understand God and the Spirit, the Spirit may fill them.
Who sent Jesus Christ to the world?
Yes, it was God who so loved the world that he gave his Son, Jesus Christ. But it is the Holy Spirit who made it happen. The Spirit initiated the birth of Jesus.
Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to 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 holy; he will be called Son of God.” (Luke 1:34-35)
Before Jesus came to the world, the Holy Spirit prepared and paved the road for the coming of Jesus.
As soon as Mary heard this from the angel, she went to Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” (Luke 1:41-45)
Elizabeth was filled with the Spirit. When she greeted Mary, John the Baptist in her womb recognized the baby in Mary. Her baby, John the Baptist leaped for joy. It was all the Spirit’s doing. No human will or decision or planning.
They didn’t plan this; it was the Spirit who did all this. Life is not all about our planning. A big portion of your life has nothing to do with you.
That’s why the Proverbs said,
The human mind plans the way,
but the Lord directs the steps. (Proverbs 16:9)
So, it is important that you leave that big portion of your life to the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to direct your steps.
The Spirit also came upon Zechariah and he prophesied about the work of his son, John the Baptist.
This is how the Spirit works. The Spirit does not just work on you. The Spirit uses many people to do his work. Around the birth of Jesus, so many people were involved. The Spirit used them all.
Even after Jesus was born and was still a baby, God used Simeon to prophesy about Jesus.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:25-32)
God used Elizabeth, Zechariah, John the Baptist, Mary, and Simeon. All worked together to make it happen.
You are not alone. The Spirit does not work only in you. The Spirit uses events, people, and circumstances to make things happen for you.
Individualistic thinking about the Holy Spirit is wrong. Don’t think that you are so spiritual that the Spirit comes upon you. It is purely by God’s grace that the Spirit empowers you.
After preparing all these things and people, the Spirit finally came upon Jesus.
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:9-11)
Now the Spirit came upon Jesus. This event declared publicly that Jesus is God’s Son. God opened the new beginning with Jesus.
It said, “the heavens torn apart.” This word “torn apart” is the same word when Jesus died on the cross. The curtain that divided the holy and the holy of holies was torn apart.
God, who was hidden behind the curtain, now came out, tearing apart the curtain. God is fully revealed.
Then the Spirit laid down the ministry of Jesus.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18, 19)
This was the passage from Isaiah. Isaiah saw the Spirit in connection with the Messiah. We see that here.
It was Jesus’ inauguration speech.
(Isaiah 61:1-2, 58:6)
The Spirit revealed what Jesus came to do. Jesus understood what he came to do through the help of the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not do his work with his own strength. Jesus depended on the Spirit to do his work.
That’s how we should live. When you try to do everything with your own power and wisdom, you get tired and burnt out. We don’t have the strength and wisdom to take care of everything that is happening in your life.
When you are filled with the Spirit, you will have confidence, confidence not in your ability but the confidence that the Spirit is with you and helps you. Even when you don’t know what to do, the Spirit guides you.
This was what St. Paul said.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words. (Romans 8:26)
The gentle Spirit who came down on Jesus like a dove came to Jesus this time like a strong, violent wind. The Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus didn’t choose to go to the wilderness. It was the Spirit who drove him out.
We don’t choose the wilderness. Nobody wants to go into the wilderness. Rather, we try our best to escape the wilderness. But my friends, we cannot.
Without the wilderness, there is no promised land. Only through the wilderness, you go to the promised land.
So when you go through the wilderness, don’t worry. Don’t think that something bad happened when it should not have happened. You will not be destroyed. You will come out stronger. Your identity will be clearly affirmed.
And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tested by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts, and the angels waited on him. (Mark 1:12, 13)
Here, the word “drove out” is the same word used when Jesus drove out demons. Sometimes the Spirit is gentle like a gentle breeze, but other time, the Spirit is like a violent wind.
Matthew and Luke elaborated on the wilderness scene. Temptation.
What was Jesus’ temptation? About his identity.
On baptism, God said You are my beloved Son. But in the wilderness, Satan kept asking, if you are the Son of God. Satan tempted Jesus to doubt his identity.
When you go through hard times, you may doubt who you are. If you were the precious child of God, why these things happen, you wonder. If you are a child of God, prove it.
Through the wilderness experiences, I hope that your identity becomes stronger and clearer.
When you look at the Lord’s Prayer, you see this. Lead us not into temptation. Then why did the Spirit lead Jesus into temptation?
The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, where temptation occurred, but the Spirit’s purpose was formation, not destruction.
Running away from the wilderness will not help you. You become powerless and useless. Fear will take away your meaningful existence.
You need to face your own wilderness. That’s what the Spirit does. The Spirit helps you face your own wilderness. To make you stronger. To make you firm about yourself.
This was what St. Paul taught about temptation.
No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
Jesus experienced both the highs and lows of life. There was a time Jesus was really popular. People tried to make him a king.
When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. (John 6:15)
That was a temptation. Jesus did not fall into it.
There was a time when Jesus was all alone, weak and vulnerable. He needed friends, but his disciples could not be with him. He was all alone.
He came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. When he reached the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me, yet not my will but yours be done.”Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground. (Luke 22:39-44)
That was a temptation. But Jesus did not fall into it.
You will have highs and lows in your life. Both can be a time of temptation for you. Ask the Spirit to overcome your temptations. Temptation is not about your mistakes. Temptation is about who you are.
The same Spirit who strengthened Jesus in the wilderness is with you today.
Discussion Questions:
- The Spirit used many people, Elizabeth, Zechariah, Mary, and Simeon for the birth of Jesus. Have there been people, experiences, events or difficult times that helped you be who you are now? Can you detect traces of the Spirit in these things?
- The Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness. Wilderness is a place where you are most weak and vulnerable. How did you feel when you went through your wilderness? What should you do when you are in the wilderness? How have you come out of your own wilderness?
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