“Full of the Holy Spirit!”

“And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.” Luke 4:1-2 (ESV)

Chapter 4 takes us from the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness as He confronts Satan to Jesus reading Isiah 61:1-2 in the synagogue in His hometown and proclaiming that He was the promised Messiah that Isiah was speaking of. Then in Capernaum and other towns in the region of Galilee, Jesus is confronted by a man possessed by an unclean demon who proclaimed, “I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” Then Jesus healed Peter’s sick mother-in-law along with many other sick people. Then at the end of this chapter, Jesus tells us what it is that His Father sent Him to do: “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose. And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”

Have you ever wondered how Jesus in His humanity could have done all of this? I know I have. I see the trials, temptations, and ministry of Jesus and shake my head in wonderment. How could Jesus do all of this? Then, I go back and read verse 1 again, “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.” There it is, the explanation of how our Jesus could do all that His Father sent Him to do. “Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit” and He “was led by the Spirit”. Now before you say, “Yeah, but that was Jesus, not me”, we need to understand the precious gift that God has given each believer, the living Holy Spirit.

When we feel that we can’t go on, we need to remember Jesus was not alone in His trials. He was full of the Holy Spirit and was being led by Him. When those dark thoughts pass through our minds, and we are being tempted to doubt the faithfulness of our God and listen to the evil one with all of his convincing arguments, we need to remember that this same Holy Spirit that filled Jesus and led Jesus through these temptations is the very same Holy Spirit that God has given us.

When we feel that we can’t possibly fulfill the purpose that God the Father has for us, we need to remember the reason Jesus could do the Father’s will was that He was not alone; He was full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Holy Spirit as He fulfilled the purpose of God the Father.

You see believer, right before Jesus went to the cross he told his disciples in John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”, and in Romans 8:9 we read, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." We are told in Ephesians 5:18, “be filled with the Spirit,” and in Romans 8:14, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” Each believer can be filled and led by the exact same Holy Spirit that filled and led Jesus.

The problem is that we, as believers, are still living in a world full of temptations designed to pull us away from the Father, and we try to resist the temptation of the evil one on our own. We try to endure trials that come our way on our own. We struggle to fulfill what God the Father has for us to accomplish on our own. Friends, if Jesus didn’t try to resist Satan, endure trials, and do the work of the Father on His own, why in the world do we think we have any chance of being faithful servants of Jesus on our own!

It is clear from the example of Jesus and from the New Covenant letters that God did not design us to be “on our own!” God designed us to allow the Holy Spirit to fill us, to lead us, to comfort us, and to help us do the will of the Father. As believers in Jesus, we need to look to Him, the originator and finisher of our faith, as our example as to how we are to bring honor to His holy name. We need to allow God to fill us and lead us with His Holy Spirit so we can do the Father’s Will.

How do we become filled by the Spirit and led by the Spirit? By submitting to God’s Word. Remember the ‘Bet Sefer’ training in the Torah that Jesus had, which was to teach Jewish children God’s Holy Word. Honestly limiting ourselves to 1 hour per week to hearing God’s Word will never allow us to fight off the temptations of the evil one effectively. We need to “study” God’s Word, not just casually read a couple of verses along with the Pastor in his sermon. But to take some time to study God’s Word. Because that’s how we know God’s will: by studying and knowing God’s heart as expressed by His Word, and you can’t do that in just one hour per week. 

How can we, like Jesus, be filled with the Holy Spirit? By knowing God’s Word. Go back and re-read this chapter and see how Jesus accomplished His Father’s will; He knew His Father’s Word. Quit trying to do the Father’s Will “on your own!” You can’t, and neither could Jesus.

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"