The Man of the Spirit

Jesus is the Anointed Son of God, and from the start, his life was characterized by the empowering presence of the Spirit.

When an angel informed Joseph that the child carried by Mary was “conceived of the Holy Spirit,” it indicated that something more than just a miraculous birth was about to unfold. From the beginning, the activity of the Spirit dominated the life of Jesus of Nazareth.  He was “Jesus, the one called Christ,” the “Anointed One,” the long-awaited Messiah of Israel.

Jesus was and remains the quintessential man of the Spirit. Neither his Messianic mission nor his present reign can be understood apart from the presence and activity of the Spirit of God in his life and ministry.

[Photo by Štefan Štefančík on Unsplash]

That same Spirit sets his people apart for service to the Kingdom of God. Since his exaltation, Jesus has been the one who dispenses the Gift of the Spirit, empowering his Assembly to proclaim his reign and message of salvation to all the nations of the Earth.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew verb translated as “anointed” is ‘mashakh’, meaning “smear, daub; to anoint.” It is the word from which the corresponding English term ‘messiah’ is derived. The Greek noun used for it in the Septuagint Greek version of the Old Testament is ‘christos’. The English term ‘Christ’ is the anglicized spelling of this Greek noun ‘christos’. Both ‘mashakh’ and ‘christos’ denote someone or something “anointed” - (Leviticus 4:3, Daniel 9:25, Mathew 1:16).

Under the Levitical system, olive oil was used to “anoint” persons and things to separate them for sacred or royal service. In the Tabernacle, the altar, tent, table of showbread, and the vessels used in sacrificial rituals were all “anointed,” along with the priests, especially, the High Priest. Kings were anointed at their enthronement and, therefore, were called “Yahweh’s Anointed” - (1 Samuel 12:3, 26:11, Psalm 2:2, 45:7).

A key messianic prophecy applied frequently to Jesus is from the Second Psalm - (e.g., Matthew 3:17, Hebrews 1:1-5, Revelation 12:5):

• (Psalm 2:1-9) – “The kings of the Earth take their station, and grave men have met by appointment together, against Yahweh and His Anointed… My Lord will mock at them: Then will he speak to them in his anger, and in his wrath confound them: Yet I have installed my king, on Zion my holy mountain. Let me tell of a decree. Yahweh said to me, You are my son. This day, I have begotten you.

The Psalm concerns the ideal king of Israel who would sit on David’s Throne on Mount Zon forever. He was called “Yahweh’s anointed” in the Psalm, as well as “My King” and “My Son.”

THE SPIRIT

The Second Psalm describes the “Anointed” King appointed by God to reign over the nations of the Earth. Unlike the kings and priests of Israel, He was anointed with God’s Spirit, not olive oil. The presence of the Spirit set him apart from all his predecessors and contemporaries.

All four gospel accounts record how the Spirit descended on Jesus following his baptism. In each account, his anointing was confirmed by a visual effect (“descended like a dove”) and an audible voice from Heaven (“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” – Mark 1:1-9, John 1:32-34).

When the voice called him “My beloved Son,” it echoed the clause from the Second Psalm, “You are My Son.” The descent of the Spirit meant he was “anointed” by God Himself for his mission as the ‘Suffering Servant of the LORD’.

Men were endowed temporarily by God’s Spirit in the Hebrew Bible, especially prophets, but the Spirit descended and “remained on” the man from Nazareth. He received the fullness of the Spirit, and “not by measure” - (John 3:34).

After his baptism, “the Spirit” drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tested by the Devil. The Gospel of Luke records that after defeating Satan, “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit.” After his appearance in Galilee, he declared:

• “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He anointed me to preach the Good News to the poor. He sent me to proclaim release to the captives, the recovery of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those who are bruised.” - (Luke 4:13-18).

The Spirit equipped him for ministry, and he attributed his miracles and deeds to the Spirit of God. For example, when he was accused of exorcising demons “by the power of Satan,” he retorted, “But if I, by the Spirit of God, cast out demons” - (Matthew 12:28). This was also the understanding of Luke as he explained in the Book of Acts:

• (Acts 10:38) – “God anointed him with Holy Spirit and power. He did good and healed all those oppressed by the adversary since God was with him.”

The Spirit is pivotal to the identity and mission of the Messiah. Jesus is also the one who now bestows the Gift of the Spirit on his people, just as he promised to send the Spirit after his glorification:

• (John 7:37-39) – “If any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He that believes on me, just as said the Scripture, Rivers from within him shall flow of living water. Now, this he spoke concerning the Spirit which they who believed on him were about to receive; for, not yet was the Spirit, because not yet was Jesus glorified” - (John 15:26).

After his Ascension, he “sent the Promise of his Father,” the Gift of the Spirit to his disciples, enabling them to proclaim the Gospel “to the ends of the Earth.” He had “received of the Father the Promise of the Holy Spirit.” As Paul wrote, “Having ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”

The possession of the Spirit and the authority to distribute its gifts belong to Jesus. He now reigns over the nations and the “Kings of the Earth” from the Throne of David at the “right hand of the Majesty on High.” Not only is he the Messiah, but he also is the true Man of the Spirit.

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SEE ALSO:

• His Name is Jesus! - (Jesus means ‘Yahweh saves.’ In the man from Nazareth, the Salvation, and the Kingdom promised by the God of Israel, arrived in all their glory)

• The Nations Revolt - (The conspiracy by the Earth’s kings to unseat the Messiah is applied in the New Testament to the plot to destroy Jesus – Psalm 2:1-6)

• That Son of Man - (The one like a Son of Man in Daniel is the source of Christ’s self-designation as the Son of Man and his authority)