The Holy Spirit - God's Spirit
E-book and Audio series
PART 2 - The Roles and Activities of the Holy Spirit
Chapter 19 - The Dove, The Voice & the Temptation
Summary: Three events occurred after the Lord's baptism, but all before He began to preach or perform any miracles ... and each of these three events involved the Holy Spirit.
|
Study Notes - No.19 The Dove, The Voice & The Temptation
(more details may be found on the audio recording)
In the previous lesson, we looked at the Lord’s Baptism, how the Spirit came upon Him at His baptism, and how at least two things were happening:
(a) The exact identity of the promised Messiah was revealed to John the Baptist (i.e. the one whom he saw the Spirit of God descending and remaining upon, that would be the Messiah – it was Jesus of Nazareth);
(b) The Lord Jesus was being anointed for ministry, most likely in order to carry out His sacrificial role as the High Priest on behalf of people.
We could actually add a third item to the list of things that took place when the Spirit descended upon Christ:
(c) The Spirit remained upon Christ and worked through Him for the duration of His ministry, enabling Him to perform deeds that, having limited Himself to being human, He was not able to do otherwise. We’ll look at some of these in upcoming studies.
In this lesson, however, we’re going to look at three events following the Lord’s baptism, but all of which took place before He began any preaching or performance of any miracles. We’ll look at each one only briefly, but note that each of these events involved the Holy Spirit. The three events are: (1) the Spirit descending like a dove, (2) the voice which came from Heaven, and (3) the temptation or testing of the Lord in the wilderness.
(1) The Dove
READ Luke 3:21-23 “descended in bodily form, like a dove”
- does this mean “descended in the visible form of a dove”
OR does it mean “the spirit descended in the way a dove descends when landing”?
In the Scriptures, doves are mentioned in several different contexts:
- Noah sent a dove out of the ark to see if the water had abated (Genesis 8:8-12)
- Doves were able to be offered as part of the levitical sacrifices (e.g. Leviticus 1:14-18, etc.)
- In poetry, doves are either spoken of as having freedom, and being free to fly where they wish (e.g. Psalm 55:6); also as symbols of beauty (e.g. Song of Solomon 1:15).
There doesn't seem to be a consistent imagery usage of doves in the Bible, so in reference to Luke 3:21-23, I tend to think that the Spirit descended in the way a dove descends when landing. Notice each of the four Gospel accounts say that the Spirit descended “like” a dove (cp Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; John 1:32).
If that is not the meaning, I have no clear suggestion to offer as to why the image of a dove is used here. Perhaps the most important point to note is that the Spirit was seen. Just as importantly, the Spirit was seen to be remaining upon Jesus of Nazareth as an indication of the promised Messiah's identity to John the Baptist, so that John could then testify to others who this Messiah was (John 1:29-34).
This is the only occasion in Scripture where the Holy Spirit is said to have been visible. It may be argued that one other occasion was on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, when "there appeared to them forked tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit ..." (Acts 2:3,4), though any appearance of the Spirit in this instance could be debated. Either way, an appearance of the Holy Spirit is rare, to say the least.
(2) The Voice From Heaven
READ Luke 3:22 again - Three manifestations of God together at one occasion – God in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ; God's Holy Spirit visibly descending upon Him; and the audible voice of the invisible God the Father - quite a confirmation of the Messiah's identity for John the Baptist! One can't help thinking that this event must be fairly significant.
But what about the words that God the Father actually said here?
v.22 - “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” –
We could speculate about any number of reasons why the Father was pleased with Jesus of Nazareth - He carried out the Father's will, He spoke the words the Father gave Him to say, His ministry was characterised by faithfulness and purity in every way. However, let’s remember that this Jesus hadn’t begun His ministry yet when this event occurred. Up until this point, He hadn’t preached anything, He hadn’t performed any miracles, He hadn’t really done anything extraordinary, in terms of His ministry, anyway ... but He had lived on the earth for about 30 years, and conducted Himself in an exemplary manner without sin. Among other things, He had led a life pleasing to God.
In the context of John’s baptism, this makes a bit more sense.
READ Luke 3:7-14 - "fruits meet for repentance" are closely tied up with works worthy of the coming kingdom. The people were to be a nation of priests – ministering between God and the other peoples of the world. They should have been living lives worthy of this. I believe the Father said He was pleased because of the life the Lord Jesus had lived thus far (though I’m sure God’s pleasure with the Lord Jesus was not limited to just this aspect alone).
This also helps to explain John’s reluctance to baptise his cousin Jesus, even though He didn’t know at that point that He was the promised Messiah. His manner of life up to that point in time had obviously been superior even to John’s. This was an exceptionally high standard, given that the Lord Himself was later to speak highly of John, saying, "Assuredly I say unto you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist".
I think we would all like to hear the Lord say to us, “well done thou good and faithful servant”, but is this something that God would say of us, because of the way we conduct ourselves? “This is … [insert your name here] in whom I am well pleased”. Only you and the Lord can answer that.
(3) The Temptation
READ Luke 4:1-13 (we won’t look too closely at each of the temptations in this study)
v.1 – The Spirit led the Lord into the wilderness for a time of testing. This event follows directly on from His baptism in Matthew 3 and Mark 1 (Mark 1:12 even says “immediately” after His baptism). Before He had a chance to preach or perform any miracles, He was tested .
“led” –
Matthew 4:1– Gk anago = brought into the wilderness
Luke 4:1 – Gk – ago = Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
Mark 1:12 – Gk ekballo = “was driven out” into the wilderness
All three accounts convey the idea that the Holy Spirit was taking the Lord out into the wilderness for a time of testing. No comforts, no food. He was hungry, and probably weary and fatigued … and then, on top of that, He was tested.
It's not quite our subject, but notice that the Lord answered the devil’s testing with Scripture – and Scripture in context. Highlighting the importance of being familiar with the Scriptures, and being familiar with the Scripture passages in their context is rightly dividing the Word of truth.
What was the Holy Spirit's role in the 40 days of the lord's testing? There’s no indication at all that the Holy Spirit assisted the Lord in His responses. He was not enabled beyond His capabilities. If He had been supernaturally assisted, it wouldn't have been a real test; He had to do this part on His own. And this is true of His whole life on earth. Even though He had the Holy Spirit with Him, He always had a choice in His life, whether to obey God’s will or to disobey. He chose to obey. In fact, the Scriptures tell us that he was "obedient to the point of death" (Philippians 2:8).
Many other people in the Scriptures had the Holy Spirit in their lives, performed marvellous deeds, and yet still had the ability to go against God’s will; to go against the Spirit’s “leading”, to put it another way. For example:
- Saul – anointed as king, God's Spirit was upon him, he prophesied ... but also chose to disobey God, to the point that the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from him. (1 Samuel 10:1, 6-10; 13:7-14; 16:14)
- David – anointed by the Spirit in his life, spoke and wrote many Scriptures through the Holy Spirit’s leading … but had a man killed so he could take his wife. The spirit was upon him, but he still went against God’s will. (2 Samuel ch.11; ch.22; 23:1,2)
- Elijah - prophesied under the influence of the Spirit, showed up the prophets of Baal … and the next chapter ran away to the opposite end of the land, hid in a cave and didn’t attend to his commission. The spirit was upon him, but he still went against God’s will. (1 Kings 18:20-40; 19:1-18)
- Jonah - a prophet upon whom was the Holy Spirit … ran away from his commission. The spirit was upon him, but he still went against God’s will. (Jonah 1:1-3)
- Peter - after the Lord’s resurrection, the Spirit dwelt with him permanently, he preached and performed mighty deeds … but behaved poorly on at least one occasion to the point where Paul had to reprimand him (Acts 2:1-4, 14; 3:1-10; Galatians 2:11-13).
The Holy Spirit did not make these people obey God – His people still had choices. Christ had that sort of choice too. He obeyed the Father’s will, and was obedient unto the point of death (Philippians 2:8). It would not have been a form of "obedience" if he wasn't capable of sinning by disobedience.
Let’s not be too quick to throw stones at those people I just mentioned, like David or Jonah or Peter ... because it’s the same for us.
READ Ephesians 4:30 - “sealed”, but don’t grieve the Spirit – then READ v.28-32
We are led (not forced) – do we heed that leading? The Ephesians were “sealed”, but that didn’t mean they automatically led perfect lives without making choices.
It’s one thing for us to live the right way, speak wholesome and godly words in a wholesome and godly setting like a church or Bible study meeting, but how do we respond we are tired and hungry, or in a less “Christian” setting?
Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Christ was tempted/tested in all ways like us, yet was without sin. True, He didn’t have the fallen nature … but neither did Adam when he fell, and he chose to disobey. Christ was God in the flesh, He had the Spirit to assist Him, but He was still human, and He still had to make choices when faced with alternatives … just like us.
(more details may be found on the audio recording)
In the previous lesson, we looked at the Lord’s Baptism, how the Spirit came upon Him at His baptism, and how at least two things were happening:
(a) The exact identity of the promised Messiah was revealed to John the Baptist (i.e. the one whom he saw the Spirit of God descending and remaining upon, that would be the Messiah – it was Jesus of Nazareth);
(b) The Lord Jesus was being anointed for ministry, most likely in order to carry out His sacrificial role as the High Priest on behalf of people.
We could actually add a third item to the list of things that took place when the Spirit descended upon Christ:
(c) The Spirit remained upon Christ and worked through Him for the duration of His ministry, enabling Him to perform deeds that, having limited Himself to being human, He was not able to do otherwise. We’ll look at some of these in upcoming studies.
In this lesson, however, we’re going to look at three events following the Lord’s baptism, but all of which took place before He began any preaching or performance of any miracles. We’ll look at each one only briefly, but note that each of these events involved the Holy Spirit. The three events are: (1) the Spirit descending like a dove, (2) the voice which came from Heaven, and (3) the temptation or testing of the Lord in the wilderness.
(1) The Dove
READ Luke 3:21-23 “descended in bodily form, like a dove”
- does this mean “descended in the visible form of a dove”
OR does it mean “the spirit descended in the way a dove descends when landing”?
In the Scriptures, doves are mentioned in several different contexts:
- Noah sent a dove out of the ark to see if the water had abated (Genesis 8:8-12)
- Doves were able to be offered as part of the levitical sacrifices (e.g. Leviticus 1:14-18, etc.)
- In poetry, doves are either spoken of as having freedom, and being free to fly where they wish (e.g. Psalm 55:6); also as symbols of beauty (e.g. Song of Solomon 1:15).
There doesn't seem to be a consistent imagery usage of doves in the Bible, so in reference to Luke 3:21-23, I tend to think that the Spirit descended in the way a dove descends when landing. Notice each of the four Gospel accounts say that the Spirit descended “like” a dove (cp Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; John 1:32).
If that is not the meaning, I have no clear suggestion to offer as to why the image of a dove is used here. Perhaps the most important point to note is that the Spirit was seen. Just as importantly, the Spirit was seen to be remaining upon Jesus of Nazareth as an indication of the promised Messiah's identity to John the Baptist, so that John could then testify to others who this Messiah was (John 1:29-34).
This is the only occasion in Scripture where the Holy Spirit is said to have been visible. It may be argued that one other occasion was on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, when "there appeared to them forked tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit ..." (Acts 2:3,4), though any appearance of the Spirit in this instance could be debated. Either way, an appearance of the Holy Spirit is rare, to say the least.
(2) The Voice From Heaven
READ Luke 3:22 again - Three manifestations of God together at one occasion – God in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ; God's Holy Spirit visibly descending upon Him; and the audible voice of the invisible God the Father - quite a confirmation of the Messiah's identity for John the Baptist! One can't help thinking that this event must be fairly significant.
But what about the words that God the Father actually said here?
v.22 - “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” –
We could speculate about any number of reasons why the Father was pleased with Jesus of Nazareth - He carried out the Father's will, He spoke the words the Father gave Him to say, His ministry was characterised by faithfulness and purity in every way. However, let’s remember that this Jesus hadn’t begun His ministry yet when this event occurred. Up until this point, He hadn’t preached anything, He hadn’t performed any miracles, He hadn’t really done anything extraordinary, in terms of His ministry, anyway ... but He had lived on the earth for about 30 years, and conducted Himself in an exemplary manner without sin. Among other things, He had led a life pleasing to God.
In the context of John’s baptism, this makes a bit more sense.
READ Luke 3:7-14 - "fruits meet for repentance" are closely tied up with works worthy of the coming kingdom. The people were to be a nation of priests – ministering between God and the other peoples of the world. They should have been living lives worthy of this. I believe the Father said He was pleased because of the life the Lord Jesus had lived thus far (though I’m sure God’s pleasure with the Lord Jesus was not limited to just this aspect alone).
This also helps to explain John’s reluctance to baptise his cousin Jesus, even though He didn’t know at that point that He was the promised Messiah. His manner of life up to that point in time had obviously been superior even to John’s. This was an exceptionally high standard, given that the Lord Himself was later to speak highly of John, saying, "Assuredly I say unto you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist".
I think we would all like to hear the Lord say to us, “well done thou good and faithful servant”, but is this something that God would say of us, because of the way we conduct ourselves? “This is … [insert your name here] in whom I am well pleased”. Only you and the Lord can answer that.
(3) The Temptation
READ Luke 4:1-13 (we won’t look too closely at each of the temptations in this study)
v.1 – The Spirit led the Lord into the wilderness for a time of testing. This event follows directly on from His baptism in Matthew 3 and Mark 1 (Mark 1:12 even says “immediately” after His baptism). Before He had a chance to preach or perform any miracles, He was tested .
“led” –
Matthew 4:1– Gk anago = brought into the wilderness
Luke 4:1 – Gk – ago = Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
Mark 1:12 – Gk ekballo = “was driven out” into the wilderness
All three accounts convey the idea that the Holy Spirit was taking the Lord out into the wilderness for a time of testing. No comforts, no food. He was hungry, and probably weary and fatigued … and then, on top of that, He was tested.
It's not quite our subject, but notice that the Lord answered the devil’s testing with Scripture – and Scripture in context. Highlighting the importance of being familiar with the Scriptures, and being familiar with the Scripture passages in their context is rightly dividing the Word of truth.
What was the Holy Spirit's role in the 40 days of the lord's testing? There’s no indication at all that the Holy Spirit assisted the Lord in His responses. He was not enabled beyond His capabilities. If He had been supernaturally assisted, it wouldn't have been a real test; He had to do this part on His own. And this is true of His whole life on earth. Even though He had the Holy Spirit with Him, He always had a choice in His life, whether to obey God’s will or to disobey. He chose to obey. In fact, the Scriptures tell us that he was "obedient to the point of death" (Philippians 2:8).
Many other people in the Scriptures had the Holy Spirit in their lives, performed marvellous deeds, and yet still had the ability to go against God’s will; to go against the Spirit’s “leading”, to put it another way. For example:
- Saul – anointed as king, God's Spirit was upon him, he prophesied ... but also chose to disobey God, to the point that the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from him. (1 Samuel 10:1, 6-10; 13:7-14; 16:14)
- David – anointed by the Spirit in his life, spoke and wrote many Scriptures through the Holy Spirit’s leading … but had a man killed so he could take his wife. The spirit was upon him, but he still went against God’s will. (2 Samuel ch.11; ch.22; 23:1,2)
- Elijah - prophesied under the influence of the Spirit, showed up the prophets of Baal … and the next chapter ran away to the opposite end of the land, hid in a cave and didn’t attend to his commission. The spirit was upon him, but he still went against God’s will. (1 Kings 18:20-40; 19:1-18)
- Jonah - a prophet upon whom was the Holy Spirit … ran away from his commission. The spirit was upon him, but he still went against God’s will. (Jonah 1:1-3)
- Peter - after the Lord’s resurrection, the Spirit dwelt with him permanently, he preached and performed mighty deeds … but behaved poorly on at least one occasion to the point where Paul had to reprimand him (Acts 2:1-4, 14; 3:1-10; Galatians 2:11-13).
The Holy Spirit did not make these people obey God – His people still had choices. Christ had that sort of choice too. He obeyed the Father’s will, and was obedient unto the point of death (Philippians 2:8). It would not have been a form of "obedience" if he wasn't capable of sinning by disobedience.
Let’s not be too quick to throw stones at those people I just mentioned, like David or Jonah or Peter ... because it’s the same for us.
READ Ephesians 4:30 - “sealed”, but don’t grieve the Spirit – then READ v.28-32
We are led (not forced) – do we heed that leading? The Ephesians were “sealed”, but that didn’t mean they automatically led perfect lives without making choices.
It’s one thing for us to live the right way, speak wholesome and godly words in a wholesome and godly setting like a church or Bible study meeting, but how do we respond we are tired and hungry, or in a less “Christian” setting?
Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Christ was tempted/tested in all ways like us, yet was without sin. True, He didn’t have the fallen nature … but neither did Adam when he fell, and he chose to disobey. Christ was God in the flesh, He had the Spirit to assist Him, but He was still human, and He still had to make choices when faced with alternatives … just like us.