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VBVMI StaffIn the Gospel of John study, Pastor Armstrong teaches that when John the Baptist baptized Jesus, the Holy Spirit came upon Him. Is the pastor inferring that Jesus was without the Holy Spirit the first 30 years of his life?
The Gospels teach that Jesus received the Holy Spirit at the moment of John’s baptism. Prior to that moment, Jesus did not have the anointing of the Spirit of God. As John the Baptist explains:
Notice in v.32 John says the Spirit “remained” upon Jesus after His baptism. Until that moment, the Spirit of God was not yet upon Jesus. The Spirit’s arrival empowered Jesus for His public ministry. We can’t say whether the Spirit was with Jesus in any other way before that moment, but according to John, Jesus’ baptism was the moment He received the accompaniment of the Spirit of God. The Gospel of John Bible Study may be helpful.
This truth doesn’t diminish Jesus’ deity. Rather, it reminds us the reality of Jesus’ humanity. He willingly took the form of man, a place lower than the angels Hebrews says:
At His incarnation Jesus willingly gave up the place He had with the Father as Paul says:
In His form as man, Jesus willingly relinquished equality with God (in terms of His power and position, not identity). Therefore though Jesus was God, He required the presence of the Holy Spirit to perform supernatural works while on earth as a man. Scripture goes on to tell us that all Jesus' miracles during His public ministry were “permitted" by the power of the Spirit. According to Mark 6:5, the Lord’s ability to perform miracles was not His own. He was “permitted” to do miracles by the Spirit.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org