ASIA PACIFIC THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

THE SPIRIT IN THE LIFE AND THOUGHT OF JESUS CHRIST

A PAPER SUBMITTED TO
DR. GALEN F. HERTWECK
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS OF
BNT 690 LIFE OF CHRIST

BY
ARLANO R. AQUINO

BAGUIO CITY, PHILIPPINES

AUGUST 2010
 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………...1

THE SPIRIT IN THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST………………………………………………...2

THE SPIRIT IN THE THOUGHT OF JESUS CHRIST…………………………………………6

The Spirit is personal……………………………………………………………………...6

The Spirit anoints and empowers servants for ministry…………………………………...8

The Spirit is the giver of life……………………………………………………………..10

The Spirit is the truth-revealer and community-maker…………………………………..11

The Spirit fights darkness and forms the Jesus community……………………………...12

CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………….14

BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………………….16
 INTRODUCTION

The person and role of the Spirit in the life of Christ is very significant for both the

impartial historian and theologian in studying the historical, biblical Jesus. The fact cannot be

denied. For Jesus and his first century AD disciples, an account of his person and activity that

does not take seriously the Spirit’s person and activity is incomplete and distorted. Essential to

the biblical Jesus’ consciousness is the Spirit’s active presence. We cannot have this Jesus

without accepting his teaching on the Spirit.

In this paper, we shall first briefly survey the work of the Spirit in the life of Christ. We

will discover that the person and ministry of Jesus Christ, in the deepest and most comprehensive

manner, is the Spirit’s “creation.” What does this mean for the search for the historical Jesus?

We can only suggest possible lines of thought.

Secondly, we shall examine what our Lord teaches concerning the person and work of the

Spirit. The Lord’s teaching explains and illumines features we gleaned from the first survey. It

also emphasizes the community-forming role of the Spirit.

A by-product of this paper is the observation that Jesus’ humanness is the Spirit’s work.

This has significant implications in how we live and relate in community. Much spade work

needs to be done in this area.

 THE SPIRIT IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST

The Gospels inform us that the Spirit was active in the life of Jesus from the latter’s

conception in the womb of Mary up to his public ministry. From other New Testament

witnesses, we also learn of the Spirit’s role in Jesus’ death and resurrection, and in Jesus’

ongoing ministry since his ascension to the right hand of God. Let us briefly take a look at each

of these significant historical points.

Conception. Matthew mentions twice that the baby conceived in Mary is “of the Holy

Spirit” (1:18, 20 emphasis ours), explicitly specifying the Spirit as the “source of Jesus in Mary –

ek pneumatos hagios.”1 This Spirit-originated baby is “God with us” and Savior from sin.

Mary knew that conception follows sexual intercourse. Because she was a virgin, “not

knowing a man”, she asked the messenger-angel how she will conceive. The answer given her

was that it will be through the creative power of the Spirit. As a result, the baby will be “holy”

and “will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:26-35).

Luke’s use of “overshadow” echoes Genesis 1:2, where the Spirit hovers over the

unformed creation. He also in the genealogy (found in chapter 3 of his Gospel) goes back to

Adam, “the son of God.” Perhaps Luke is making a theological point that the coming of Jesus in

flesh is a new Genesis, a new creation of the Spirit.

Putting these together, we may say that the Savior-King who starts and shapes God’s new

creation was the Spirit’s gift to the world.

1
Frederick Dale Bruner, The Christbook: A Historical/Theological Commentary: Matthew 1-12 (Waco:
Word Books, 1987). Brunner draws the theological conclusion that “it is the Holy Spirit and not human initiative
that brings Jesus into historical and personal life (then of Mary’s, now of ours)” [21, emphasis his].
2
 3
Baptism. All our four Gospels mention the baptism of Jesus by John in their narrative.

Each records that in the baptism the Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove. The Synoptic

accounts include the heavenly voice, while John’s Gospel had the Baptist declare that the One

who received the Spirit-dove is the Spirit-baptizer. In going through the baptism of repentance

offered by the Baptist, Jesus was identifying with Israel and with sinners.2 This is what it means

to be Messiah and God’s beloved Son. In this context, the voice and the dove manifest God’s

approval on Jesus’ action and decision.3 Gerald Hawthorne argues that it is by the Spirit – not

just here in baptism, but throughout Jesus’ earthly life – that Jesus, who was truly human, was

“made aware, made conscious, of the fact that he was indeed the Unique Son of God.”4

The Spirit remained in Jesus. The fullness of the Spirit was to abide in him continually,

totally and undividedly, making him different from other God-sent prophets whom the Spirit

visited but did not permanently indwell.5 The judges, kings and prophets of the Old Covenant era

were equipped by the Spirit. In his baptism, Jesus too was Spirit-equipped for the ministry that

lies ahead.6 Every aspect of his life and work is to be carried out by the power, direction and

presence of the Spirit. Even Jesus’ rejoicing is in the Spirit (Luke 10:21). Later on, as the Baptist

indicated, Jesus himself will be the agent, and probably source, of Spirit baptism. In the words of

Gary M. Burge: “Jesus is the Chosen One precisely because he possesses the messianic

2
Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975).
3
Ibid., 321.
4
Gerald F Hawthorne, The Presence & the Power (Dallas: Word Pub, 1991)..
5
Vos, Biblical Theology, 321-2.
6
Peter said, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing
good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38).
 4
endowment [that is, the Holy Spirit]. Through this possession he will be able to anoint in power

those who believe.”7

Temptation. It was the Spirit, not Satan, who instigated the confrontation with Satan in

the wilderness.8 Matthew, Mark and Luke are unanimous on this. The initiative and leadership of

the Spirit in Jesus’ messianic work is clear. The Spirit is attacking. He is on the offensive. We

should highlight this essential reality of Christ’s sacrificial, victorious life, in concert with, not in

expense of, Jesus’ personal active submission and initiative.

Ministry. Luke 4:14 tells us that “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and

news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.” Note that this relates intimately with

our Lord’s reception of the Spirit in His baptism9 in the Jordan. Peter also teaches that God

“anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good

and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38). We do

not doubt that the Spirit gave Jesus’ teaching and preaching their powerful and authoritative

effect on the hearers.10 We will discuss this further below when we look at what Jesus taught of

the role of the Spirit in his ministry.

Death and Resurrection. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus offered himself on the

cross to God “through the eternal Spirit” (Hebrews 9:14). Some exegetes take the phrase to

“refer to the spiritual nature of Christ’s sacrifice, or more specifically to Christ’s own

7
Gary M Burge, The Anointed Community: The Holy Spirit in the Johannine Tradition (Grand Rapids,
Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 1987).
8
Everett Falconer Harrison, A Short Life of Christ (Grand Rapids: W. B. Eerdmans, 1968).
9
Ibid., 94.
10
Ibid.
 5
11
spirit.” We follow those exegetes who see it as a “reference to the Holy Spirit, who anointed our

high priest for every aspect of his ministry, including his sacrificial death.”12

The Scriptures also sees the Spirit active – at the very least, involved – in the resurrection

of Jesus Christ. Paul teaches that Jesus was “born of the seed of David according to the flesh”

and, in his resurrection, was “declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of

holiness” (Romans 1:3-4). Paul reminds Timothy that Jesus, in his resurrection, was justified or

vindicated in the Spirit (1 Timothy 3:16). The Bible is explicit that God (the Father) raised Jesus

from the dead. He did it through the Holy Spirit.13 The Spirit is both the instrument in the

resurrection of Jesus Christ and the producer of the powerful, glorious resurrection life now

present in, embodied by and surrounding the Lord Jesus.14

We see then the pervasive presence and influence of the Spirit in the whole life of Christ,

from conception (birth in the old adamic world) to resurrection (birth in the new realm of the

Spirit). But that is not all. Peter announces in his first sermon that the Lord has received the

promised Holy Spirit from the Father in order that the ascended Lord might pour the Spirit as gift

to all who believe (Acts 2:33). In our Lord’s teaching, to which we will now proceed, he sees

that his ministry to his people after his resurrection is by the Spirit.15

11
George H Guthrie, Hebrews, The NIV application commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998).
12
Ibid. At the end of the day, the latter interpretation would hold theologically though the former might
turn out to be exegetically correct.
13
Richard B Gaffin, Resurrection and Redemption: A Study in Paul's Soteriology, 2nd ed. (Phillipsburg,
N.J: Presbyterian and Reformed Pub. Co, 1987).
14
Ibid.
15
Craig S Keener, The Spirit in the Gospels and Acts: Divine Purity and Power (Peabody, Mass:
Hendrickson Publishers, 1997).
 THE SPIRIT IN THE THOUGHT OF CHRIST

Without claiming to be exhaustive, and for space reasons, we survey here five teachings

from our Lord concerning the person and activity of the Spirit. The five are: the Spirit has

personal existence, the Spirit anoints and empowers for ministry, the Spirit is the giver of life,

the Spirit is the revealer of truth, and the Spirit fights against darkness and forms the new

covenant messianic community.

The Spirit is personal

In the thought of our Lord, the Spirit is not a mere divine force. Our Lord refers to the

Spirit using deeply personal terms. First of all, the Spirit speaks. This is how Christ encouraged

His disciples: "But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or

premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not

you who speak, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11). Speech is an attribute of personality. In the

parallel verse in Luke, the Spirit teaches what the disciples will say (Luke 12:12). Only a

personal being do teaching functions. Matthew’s account have Jesus refer to Him as the Spirit of

the Father (Matthew 10:20).

The personal subsistence of the Spirit may be deduced as well from our Lord’s dreadful

warning on blaspheming the Spirit. Blasphemy is always against God.16 Yet the Lord Jesus

claimed that blasphemy can be committed against Him and the Holy Spirit, with blasphemy

16
W.W. Wessel, “Blasphemy,” in New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition (Downers Grove, Illinois:
Intervarsity Press, 1996), 142.

6
 7
against the latter receiving the penalty of eternal damnation (Luke 12:10). Such utterance

boggles the mind, unless both the Son of Man and the Spirit possess divine and personal status.

Here our Lord holds not only a high degree of divine consciousness of Himself but also a

sublime respect for the Spirit.

Our Lord also speaks of the Spirit in very exalted personal terms in the Gospel of John

(chapters 14-17). He is the “another Helper” (or another Comforter), with the Lord Himself as

the first Helper. He will teach the disciples and guide them in all the things of Jesus. He will

indwell the disciples, and His coming into them will also mean the coming of the Father and the

Son into them to dwell. He will speak of what he hears, and these are personal actions. Whose

conversation will he hear? In the immediate (chapters 13-17) and the whole context of John’s

Gospel, that can only refer to the conversation between the Father and Son. The implication of

all of these is that the Spirit is an intimate participant in the Divine Life and Communion. The

portrait painted here by our Lord forms one of the strongest bases for the Scriptural Christian

doctrine of the Trinity.17

The doctrine of the Trinity receives dominical significance in the “Great Commission” of

our Lord (Matthew 28:18-20).18 The statement was like a lightning out of the blue, bolting out so

suddenly to unsuspecting and unprepared hearers and readers. “Baptize them in the name of the

Father, Son and Spirit.” How did the Trinitarian thought get up there? Matthew did not prime us

up for it. The abrupt intrusion of the idea strongly suggests that it indeed came from the genius of

our Lord, from His deep awareness and consciousness of the Triune Relation at the heart of

17
Robert Letham, The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R
Pub, 2004).
18
The Protestant Reformers used this Matthean passage more for its Trinitarian contribution rather than its
missions thrust. See David F. Wright, “The Great Commission and the Ministry of the Word: Reflections Historical
and Contemporary on Relations and Priorities,” in Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology (sample article)
available at http://www.rutherfordhouse.org.uk/downloads/other/sbet-the_great_commission.pdf.
 8
reality. Such a magnificent thought cannot come from lesser minds, either from His immediate

disciples or from the early church that followed them.

Our Lord then puts the Spirit at the highest and deepest center of all existence and

meaning: that of the nature of God as Father, Son and Spirit.

The Spirit anoints and empowers servants for ministry

Luke includes the following account in his Gospel:

14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him
went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He taught in their
synagogues, being glorified by all. 16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had
been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the
Sabbath day, and stood up to read.

17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened
the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 "The Spirit of the LORD is
upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has
sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And
recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To
proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."

20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And
the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began
to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. (Luke 4:14-21)

We have here our Lord’s personal conviction that the power and efficacy of His

ministry flow from the anointing of the Spirit. On this theme, James Dunn’s words cannot

be improved upon:

[Jesus’] consciousness of a spiritual power so real, so effective, so new, so final

was the well-spring of both of his proclamation of the presentness of the future
kingdom and his authority in deed and word. This consciousness is summed up in
the word ‘Spirit’. His awareness of being uniquely possessed and used by the
divine Spirit was the mainspring of his mission and the key to its effectiveness.19

19
James D. G Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit: A Study of the Religious and Charismatic Experience of Jesus
and the First Christians as Reflected in the New Testament (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975).
 9
In our Lord’s perspective, the Spirit is indispensable for ministry. This is true for Him.

How much more would this be true for His church that will have a share in His ministry to the

world. Without the Spirit, the witness of the disciples will be powerless. They needed the

equipment and empowerment of the Spirit. The Lord was not negligent in instructing them to

wait in Jerusalem for the Spirit’s coming upon them. The Spirit does not just give power, but he

defines the kind of power that will be unleashed, as John Stott’s comment on Acts 1:8 helpfully

points out:

It is important to remember that [Jesus’] promise that [the disciples] would

receive power was part of his reply to their question about the kingdom. But
power in God’s kingdom is different from power in human kingdoms. The
reference to the Holy Spirit defines its nature. The kingdom of God is his rule set
up in the lives of his people by the Holy Spirit. It is spread by witnesses, not by
soldiers, through a gospel of peace, not a declaration of war, and by the work of
the Spirit, not by force of arms, political intrigue or revolutionary violence. At the
same time, in rejecting the politicizing of the kingdom, we must beware of the
opposite extreme of super-spiritualizing it, as if God’s rule operates only in
heaven and not on earth. The fact is that, although it must not be identified with
any political ideology or programme, it has radical political and social
implications. Kingdom values come into collision with secular values. And the
citizens of God’s kingdom steadfastly deny to Caesar the supreme loyalty for
which he hungers, but which they insist on giving to Jesus alone.20

Stott mentions that God’s kingdom is “his rule set up in the lives of his people by the

Holy Spirit.” We are reminded of our Lord’s word that the kingdom has come with Him,

evidenced by casting out of demons by the Spirit. No other concept in the Bible is as

comprehensive as the kingdom of God. This implies that the Spirit’s work is equally

comprehensive. We cannot limit him to our subjective feelings or Sunday fellowships. Indeed,

we must allow all dimensions of life to be pervaded by the Spirit’s presence and power. The

20
John R. W Stott, The Message of Acts: The Spirit, the Church & the World, The Bible speaks today
(Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994).
 10
21
“experience of and dependence on the Spirit was pervasive in early Christianity.” The same

should be said for us at the present historical moment, considering that we have been made to

partake of the full Spirit-baptism of the first century church.22

The Spirit is the giver of life

Our Lord told Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and

the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that

which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:5-6).23 The kingdom here refers to the new covenant

form of the reign of God established through the death, resurrection, ascension and present rule

of Jesus Christ. Entry into this kingdom is by water and Spirit. The Lord expected Nicodemus to

know this, the latter being a teacher in Israel. We are thus pointed back to First (Old) Testament

prophecies concerning the work of the Messiah and the Spirit. Prominent among these

prophecies are the cleansing of people by water and giving of a new heart and of the Spirit

(Ezekiel 36:25-27), and the giving of life by the breath of the Spirit and coming of the Davidic

Messiah (Ezekiel 37).24

“That which is born of the Spirit is spirit” and “that which is born of the flesh is flesh.”

The one born of the Spirit does not live in his former fleshly way of life. We take “flesh” in its

negative moral sense.25 The Spirit has subdued him, and he does not live anymore in fleshly

21
Keener, The Spirit in the Gospels and Acts.
22
The early post-biblical church saw Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan with the Spirit as involving many motifs.
For instance, it was thought to be an icon of our salvation, that is, “that what was fully realized in Christ is fully
realized in us.” See Kilian McDonnell, “Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan,” in Theological Studies, vol. 56 (2): June,
1995.
23
We also note John 6:63.
24
D. A Carson, The Gospel According to John (Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1991).
25
Carson argues against our stand on this one point. See footnote 24.
 11
rebellion against God. His existence now and the direction of his life are in the kingdom set up

by Christ the Lord, through the Spirit that He gives from His ascension throne-room.

The Spirit is the giver of creation life. From the words of our Lord here, the Spirit is also

the giver of Kingdom life, a life lived in right relationship to the Father. The Father delights to

pour generously the Gift of the Spirit to whoever who asks (Luke 11:13).

The Spirit is the truth-revealer and community-maker

The Lord Jesus believed that David spoke by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Matthew

22:43). We may safely infer that He believed that the Holy Spirit inspired all those who wrote

the Hebrew Scriptures. That can only be the case since He believed the Scriptures to be God’s

personal and authoritative word, quoting their authority against Satan and the Pharisees and

scribes. In the “Upper Room” discourse, our Lord encouraged His friends that the Spirit will help

them remember His words and guide them into all truth. Jesus’ promise provides solid reason for

our trust that the Spirit also inspired the Second (New) Testament authors and writings.

Our Lord calls the Spirit “the Spirit of truth” three times (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13),

indicating the crucial importance of the designation. We take our Lord to mean that

apprehending, appreciating and embracing the truth about Christ and all that He represents come

only from the personal operation of the Spirit.26 It does not stop there. Wisdom, which is the

application of Christian truth, also comes with the Spirit’s aid.27

The context of the Upper Room discourse does not permit to view the Spirit’s work of

revealing truth in an individualistic fashion. There is a social dimension, which is not a mere side

26
The Spirit will help the disciples remember. Burge quotes Cullmann: “This ‘remembering’ is not merely
a remembering of the material facts, it includes alongside of this that understanding of the facts which is first
granted through the Holy Spirit” (Anointed Community, 214).
27
Ibid., 217. Burge’s discussion of the Paraklete sayings (205-21) is informative.
 12
effect but an integral element. Remember that our Lord’s words here are set in the context of the

Jewish Passover (John 13:1). The Exodus-Passover event gave birth and defined the Israelite

nation of God. Thus, we have biblical-theological warrant to see our Lord here as forming a new

Israelite community around Himself, signed and symbolized by the bread and wine. We see

collaboration of this point in Jesus’ claim to be the vine, with the disciples as branches in Him.

Israel is the vine of God (Isaiah 5). The Lord, therefore, is reconstituting Israel in Himself and

has gathered the disciples around Himself to be the new Israel with Him. If our proposal here

holds, then we should understand the role of the Spirit in this wider new-Israel context. The

Spirit reveals truth, not for individualistic consumption in a kind of Gnostic manner, but for

community formation centered in Jesus. We are to wash one another’s feet and love each other

as the Lord loved us. We are to be one as the Father and Son are one. Truth is personal,

relational, and communal. The Spirit is personal. He relates with the Father and Son. He forms

communities of persons who love and live fruitful lives.

The Spirit fights darkness and forms the Jesus community

Jesus’ messianic ministry involved engagement with Satan and the kingdom of darkness.

But here, like in other spheres of His life, our Lord relied on the Spirit. He understood that He

casted out demons by the “Spirit of God” (Matthew 11:28). In this spiritual battle, Jesus is front

and center. But behind Him and empowering Him is the Spirit. The result, at least in Mark’s

account, is the creation of a new family around Jesus whose members do the will of God (Mark

3: 20-35).28 The Spirit, therefore, is the creator of the Messianic community.

28
Robert Horton Gundry, Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross (Grand Rapids, Mich:
Eerdmans, 1993).
 13
We see this same truth in the book of Acts. When the Spirit was poured on the Day of

Pentecost, Luke afterwards described the life of the community of Spirit-filled disciples: “[T]hey

continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in

prayers” (Acts 2:42). The Jews understood these acts Luke enumerated to be acts of a renewed

community.29 But in the case of the Christian church, the reality of the Messiah and the Spirit are

here. The Christian community’s Pentecostal pneumatic experience, Matthias Wenk argues, is of

pneumatic origin; consequently, “the Spirit lies at the heart of the renewed community’s life.30

The connection between Spiritual warfare and community formation by the Spirit should

be underlined. Too often, we can be mesmerized by the miraculous, or perhaps even by the

bizarre, in matters of exorcism and other forms of Spiritual warfare. Though “deliverance”31 is

an important aspect of ministry, we should never neglect the equally important task of

connecting people in community, discipleship and worship. This latter ministry could be difficult

and taxing. Oftentimes it also does not occupy the limelight and does not capture media mileage.

Nevertheless, loving fruitful discipleship in community (John 15:1-10) and united corporate

witness (John 17:20-23) occupy prime importance to Christ. That is why He has not left us alone.

29
Matthias Wenk, Community-Forming Power: The Socio-Ethical Role of the Spirit in Luke-Acts
Kingfield, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000), 272.
30
Ibid.
31
Deliverance for us includes all that is involved in one’s transition from unbelief to belief in Jesus. In
certain cases, it can involve overt demonic warfare. But it need not be. In the Gospels, the cases of exorcism can be
counted. Many who believed did so as a result of “plain preaching” or “simple teaching” of the truth, with no
fireworks or dramatics. But in all cases, transition from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of light of God’s
beloved Son occurred (Colossians 1:13).
 CONCLUSION

We have barely scratched the surface of this topic in this paper. In the first part, we saw

how the Spirit pervades the life and ministry of Christ. It may not be an overstatement to say that

the very person of Jesus Christ and the outcome of Jesus’ total life are “creation” of the Spirit.

From the cradle to the cross, from the resurrection to our Lord’s ongoing ministry, not one

element, not one second, not once instance, is separated from the Spirit’s creative, renewing,

transforming, empowering presence. The Spirit in the deepest, highest and most comprehensive

sense is Creator par excellence. The center and heart of His work is the God-man Jesus Christ,

from whom life and glory and righteousness will flow to the whole creation.

In the second part, we turn to our Lord’s conscious understanding of the Spirit. The Lord

exhibits profound awareness of the Spirit’s presence and power. He enjoys an inviolable oneness

with Him, distinct yet inseparable from His oneness with the Father. Jesus, the very human

Jesus, is aware that God is His Father and that His mission and work are appointments of the

Father. He knows too that He existed beforehand in glory with the Father. Such knowledge

comes only from the One who searches the deep things of God, the revealer of personal truth.

Our Lord also saw Himself to be the baptizer of the Spirit. He reigns on high and from

there pours forth the Spirit on His people. The Spirit brings life and power for witness. He speaks

the truth that forms God’s kingdom community, bringing people out of darkness into light. The

close association of Spirit, prophetic truth and community formation deserves due consideration.

Spirit-fullness results in prophetic speech, mission empowerment and intra-personal

14
 15
32
transformation. We must add a fourth result: social orders are also transformed. The Kingdom

of God has come through Christ in the Spirit. We should expect nothing less than reordering of

social structures around the kingship of Christ.

How should this affect our search for the historical Jesus? The New Testament Gospels

and letters are the main records we have of the historical Jesus. Their witness of that Jesus is

unified: He had a deep consciousness of the person and presence of the Spirit in Him and His

ministry. In fact, His claims abut the Spirit are staggering. The divine Spirit possessed Him and

He possesses the Spirit. Historians and serious Bible students cannot rule out a priori the

existence and role of the Spirit. Doing so reflects a philosophical bias that cannot be justified:

that all reality is explicable solely by physical matter, motion and energy. On such ground one

cannot argue for truth, morality and meaningful existence. My opinion is as good – and

weightless – as anybody’s. If humans are just particles of dust, no one can claim the high moral

ground to condemn Hitler’s massacre of six million Jews. But our Lord was raised in the Spirit.

This happened in history, and historical evidence weighs in its favor.33 Biblical faith is not a

plight from reason. In fact, through Christ one sees the beauty and coherence of everything.

Our study showed that the Spirit “created” the very human Christ and is creating the true

human community in Him. Being filled with the Spirit and studying the contours of his work

should bring much benefit and fruit to our Spirit-empowered struggle for true humanness in

community. Here as in everything else, the life of our Lord lived in reliance on the Spirit

provides the model and wellspring. This is the subject of another paper.

32
Wenk, Community-Forming Power, 315.
33
N. T Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God (London: SPCK, 2003). Frank Morison, Who Moved the
Stone? (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1977). C. S Lewis, Miracles: A Preliminary Study (NY: Macmillan, 1978).
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books Referenced

Bruner, Frederick Dale. The Christbook: A Historical/Theological Commentary: Matthew 1-12.

Waco: Word Books, 1987.

Burge, Gary M. The Anointed Community: The Holy Spirit in the Johannine Tradition. Grand
Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 1987.

Carson, D. A. The Gospel According to John. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1991.

Dunn, James D. G. Jesus and the Spirit: A Study of the Religious and Charismatic Experience of
Jesus and the First Christians as Reflected in the New Testament. Philadelphia:
Westminster Press, 1975.

Gaffin, Richard B. Resurrection and Redemption: A Study in Paul's Soteriology. 2nd ed.
Phillipsburg, N.J: Presbyterian and Reformed Pub. Co, 1987.

Gundry, Robert Horton. Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross. Grand Rapids,
Mich: Eerdmans, 1993.

Guthrie, George H. Hebrews. The NIV application commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,
1998.

Harrison, Everett Falconer. A Short Life of Christ. Grand Rapids: W. B. Eerdmans, 1968.

Hawthorne, Gerald F. The Presence & the Power. Dallas: Word Pub, 1991.

Keener, Craig S. The Spirit in the Gospels and Acts: Divine Purity and Power. Peabody, Mass:
Hendrickson Publishers, 1997.

Letham, Robert. The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship. Phillipsburg,
NJ: P & R Pub, 2004.

Lewis, C. S. Miracles: A Preliminary Study. New York: Macmillan, 1978.

Morison, Frank. Who Moved the Stone? Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1977.

Stott, John R. W. The Message of Acts: The Spirit, the Church & the World. The Bible speaks
today. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994.
Vos, Geerhardus. Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth
Trust, 1975.

Wright, N. T. The Resurrection of the Son of God. London: SPCK, 2003.

Journals Referenced

McDonnell, Kilian. “Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan,” in Theological Studies, vol. 56 (2): June,
1995.

Wright, David F. “The Great Commission and the Ministry of the Word: Reflections Historical
and Contemporary on Relations and Priorities,” in Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical
Theology (sample article) available at
http://www.rutherfordhouse.org.uk/downloads/other/sbet-the_great_commission.pdf.