4 Things You Need to Know About the Holy Spirit to Live a Spirit-Filled Life

3. The Holy Spirit Helped Jesus Christ

While on the earth Jesus did retain His divine attributes, but He did not continually avail Himself to the use of His divine attributes. Furthermore, Jesus did not use His divine characteristics (e.g., all knowing, all powerful, all present) in a way to benefit Himself. When suffering, Jesus suffered as we do; when learning, Jesus learned as we do; and when tempted, Jesus faced temptation as we do. In no way did Jesus cheat to make His life easier by using divine attributes that we do not possess.

When the Bible said Jesus was hungry, tired, wept, bled, and died, it was in His full humanity without an ounce of fakery. Hebrews 2:17–18 talks about this.

He had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

If Jesus did not use His divine attributes to live His life and leave His legacy, how did He do it? He received help from the Helper.

The empowerment of Jesus through God the Holy Spirit is repeatedly stressed in the Gospel of Luke. There we find that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and given the title “Christ,” which means anointed by the Holy Spirit.(2) Jesus’ aunt Elizabeth was “filled with the Holy Spirit” when greeting Jesus’ pregnant mother, Mary, and his uncle Zechariah went on to prophesy that their son John was appointed by God to prepare the way for Jesus.(3) An angel had revealed to Mary that she would give birth to Jesus; when Mary asked how that was possible since she was a virgin, the angel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.”(4)

Once born, Jesus was dedicated to the Lord in the temple according to the demands of the law by Simeon; “the Holy Spirit was upon [Simeon]” and the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until seeing Jesus Christ.(5) Simeon was “in the Spirit” when he prophesied about Jesus’ ministry to Jews and Gentiles to the glory of God.(6) John later prophesied that one day Jesus would baptize people with the Holy Spirit.(7) The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus at his own baptism.(8) It is curious that while the Gospels give scant information about Jesus’ childhood, all four include the account of Jesus’ baptism. Matthew adds the interesting statement that the Spirit rested on Jesus, as if to suggest that the remainder of his life and ministry on the earth would be done under the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit.(9)

In the remainder of Luke’s Gospel we discover that Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit,” “led by the Spirit,”(10) and came “in the power of the Spirit.”(11)

Jesus began his public ministry by reading Isaiah 61:1–2, which says,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…” Jesus then declared, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”(12)

Luke continues by revealing that Jesus also “rejoiced in the Holy Spirit.”(13) Regarding the Holy Spirit’s ministry to and through Christians, Jesus promised that God the Father would “give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him”(14) and that the Holy Spirit would teach us once he was sent.(15)