Born Of the Spirit, Filled With the Spirit
Introduction
Jesus Born Of The Spirit
Jesus Filled With The Spirit
Glorification of Jesus
Disciples Born Of The Spirit
Disciples Filled With The Spirit
Introduction
An angel of the Lord came to Mary and explained she had found favor in the sight of God. She was told she would conceive a child of the Holy Spirit and He would be called the Son of God. Though Mary had some questions about the process, she ultimately agreed to go along with God’s plan. As a result of Mary’s obedience, Jesus, the Son of God, was born into the lineage of humanity. Jesus spent the first 30 years of His life growing in grace and favor in the sight of God and man. However, it wasn’t until Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River – and the Spirit of God descended in the form of a dove and remained on Him – that Jesus entered into His Messianic ministry. Jesus had always been the Son of God, but it wasn’t until He received the Third Person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, that Jesus became the Christ, the Messiah, The Anointed One of God.
While Jesus enjoyed all the benefits of a close Father/Son relationship with The Creator, Jesus didn’t enter into His ministry until the Holy Spirit came to dwell in Him. Jesus was the Lamb of God, slain from the foundations of the world, who would take away the sins of the world. But it wasn’t until the Holy Spirit came upon Him, that He became the Christ, the Messiah, The Anointed one of God, entering into His Messianic ministry and displaying the power of God in miraculous ways. This is a distinction which is overlooked, but an important one to those of us who Believe and would take up our crosses daily and follow Jesus. A careful examination of Scripture will show us the importance of this distinction and how it directly affects our lives and ministries.
Jesus Born of The Spirit
The first step in understanding the chain of events, is to look into how Jesus, the Son of God, was born into the lineage of humanity. The event of Jesus’ miraculous birth had been foretold since the garden. It would take a document as thick as a Bible to go back and catalogue every prophesy the Spirit of God proclaimed about Jesus’ birth. We will limit ourselves to the actual event as relayed in Scripture.
Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. NASB
Here, the Apostle Matthew delivers the information without a long narrative, establishing Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel writer Luke goes into a little more detail. He gives us some background on the angel’s visit. While Mary’s interaction with the angle, and her agreement to submit herself to God’s will is very important, we will just look at the part of Scripture addressing the Holy Spirit’s role in Jesus conception.
Luke 1:30-33 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David: and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” NASB
You will notice, the angel doesn’t instruct Mary to name the child, “Jesus Christ”. “Christ” wasn’t part of Jesus’ name, it is a description of Jesus’ role. “Jesus” is the modern form of the Hebrew name, “Jehoshua”. Jehoshua means: Jehovah (God) is Salvation. So, Mary was instructed to name her child, “God is Salvation”. The child, born “Jesus”, was intended by God to function and fulfill the role of the “Christ”, the “Messiah”. “Christ” is a Greek word and title; “Messiah” is a Hebrew word and title, both meaning the same thing, “The Anointed One of God”. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born the Son of God. God intended for His Son to become the repository, the resting place, the instrument and representation, of God’s Holy Spirit in this earth. God’s intention for Jesus - the Lamb that was slain before the foundations of the earth who takes away the sins of the world – was to take-on the mantle and power of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and carry out the Messianic ministry of redeeming humanity and reconciling them to God.
This is an important detail directly affecting our submitted lives today. While Jesus was born into humanity as God incarnate, He was still in every way a man. Jesus did not exhibit the power of God to minister supernaturally to people’s needs until He had received the indwelling Holy Spirit. He was born of God’s Holy Spirit, lived His life as the Son of God, was sinless and blameless before God and man, but wasn’t the repository of God’s anointing in the form of the Holy Spirit until His baptism. To this end, we see and understand, Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit and would be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Filled With The Spirit
We have established in Scripture Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit. Now, we will see how Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. When Jesus went down to the Jordan to be baptized by John, John the Baptist argued with the Son of God. A gutsy thing to do if you ask me, but let’s take a look at that transaction.
Matthew 3:13-15 Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”
But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him.” NASB
This is an interesting interchange between Jesus and John the Baptist. Particularly interesting to me, (a fellow continually asking, “Why?”), is Jesus’ response, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” I would like to break-down the English grammar and try to get a fuller meaning out of the original Greek. It will be a little difficult to articulate, but the meaning should become clear.
“Yield now, because in this way we make proper with our actions (Greek word pleroo, meaning: to make replete, furnish, verify, accomplish, complete, fulfill, perfect, supply) thoroughly, justification.”
In other words: “Yield to this immediately John, because by baptizing me we will establish the proper way for our actions to furnish, accomplish, complete, fulfill, perfect and supply thoroughly - justification for what is coming next.” GWT
If you view Jesus’ baptism in the same way we view Jesus’ crucifixion, it will make more sense. Jesus experienced things in our place, on our behalf, to deliver us from the penalty we so richly deserve. Jesus was made to be the full extent and result of “sin” on the cross in our place, so we wouldn’t have to pay the price for our rebellion against God. Even though no sin was found in Jesus, He paid the price for sin in our place on the cross. Now, look at baptism. John’s baptism was the baptism of repentance. What did Jesus have to repent of, He had never sinned? The correct answer is, Jesus had nothing to repent of. He was taking our place in repentance, (for our sins), preparing the way for our baptism. Look at what Jesus said again.
“Yield to this immediately John, because by baptizing me we will establish the proper way for our actions to furnish, accomplish, complete, fulfill, perfect and supply thoroughly - justification for what is coming next.” GWT
What followed Jesus’ public baptism? In submitting to John’s baptism of repentance, (for sin’s Jesus never committed), Jesus fulfilled all righteousness, preparing the way for the rest of humanity to follow His example. As a result, God delivered His Holy Spirit to dwell in Jesus, signaling The Father’s approval of His Child.
Matthew 3:16-17 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” NASB
In this Scripture from Matthew, the NASB uses the word “lighting” to describe how the Holy Spirit interacted with Jesus. The Greek word used is erchomai, meaning to come, enter, be established. So we see that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus, came, entered, and was established in Jesus. Then,
Luke 4:1-2 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. NASB
We see that after the Holy Spirit was established in Jesus, He was full of the Holy Spirit. Being full of the Holy Spirit compelled Jesus into His Messianic ministry. Up to this time, Jesus lived in preparation for His upcoming ministry. God’s influence was evident in Jesus’ life, but he didn’t operate in the ministry of the Messiah, The Anointed One of God. Until this time, He was, “the carpenter’s son”.
Luke 2:40 The Child (Jesus) continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. NASB
All through His life, Jesus had done the will of His Father, and grown in grace and wisdom and had found favor in His Father’s sight, and in the estimation of men. But, until He had been baptized and received the Holy Spirit, Jesus had not functioned as the Messiah. But, after receiving the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ life changed dramatically.
Luke 4:14-15 And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. And he began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. NASB
After His temptation in the wilderness, Jesus returned in the power of the Holy Spirit, entering into His Messianic ministry and as it is stated in Matthew 4:17, He began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” NASB
Luke 4:16-21 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” NASB
In Luke, we see Jesus officially announcing His entrance into His Messianic ministry. He claims for Himself the prophetic Word of the Messiah’s ministry and proclaims He is the fulfillment of God’s promise. The Jews are receptive to this news and Jesus finds favor in their sight. They begin to speak well of Him. While this has nothing to do with the central point of the message, I want to take a look at Jesus’ reaction to the praise of the Jews at Nazareth. In response to their warm reception, Jesus begins to preach from the Old Testament on examples of how God blessed gentiles rather than Israelites. He tells of how Elijah was sent by God to a gentile widow in Sidon during a famine, rather than to any Jewish widows. He recounts how Elisha never healed any Jewish lepers, only the Syrian Naaman. In response, all the people in the Synagogue were enraged and they drove Jesus out and tried to throw Him off a cliff, but He passed through them and walked away.
Isn’t this an interesting thing for Jesus to do? He had the religious people of His day eating out of His hand, so He says something inflammatory to enrage them to the point of murder. Jesus enters into His Messianic ministry. Everything is going well, so Jesus speaks “truth” He knows will undo them. This was a pattern Jesus repeated throughout His ministry. In Matthew 12:24, Jesus calls the religious folks a brood of vipers. In Mark 10:21, when the rich young ruler boasts of His good life and his desire to find salvation, Jesus singles out the young man’s hypocrisy, turning him away in shame. And, when multitudes followed Jesus after he had fed the 5,000 with five barley loaves and two fishes, Jesus rebukes them in John 6:26 for just following Him to see miracles. If that weren’t enough, Jesus drives them away with His teaching in John 6:66. With the woman at the well, Jesus points out her infidelity in John 4:17-18. What is interesting about this Samarian woman’s response is, instead of becoming enraged with the Son of God, this gentile testifies to everyone she knows, saying, “Is not this the Christ?” We see in Jesus’ Messianic ministry, a pattern of teaching truth and driving away those very people who have gathered to hear what Jesus has to say. That isn’t even considering John 2:15. Jesus makes a whip out of cords and drives the profiteers out of the temple, telling them in verse 16, “Take these things away, stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” NASB You have to wonder what Jesus would say to the mega-church preachers today who squander millions on their own desires while the world goes to Hell for lack of preaching the truth. The “Truth” of the Gospel of Jesus, The Anointed One of God, the Christ, drives away those who cannot stand to hear the truth. If Believers today desire to take up their cross daily and follow Jesus, they must preach the truth and be prepared for rejection.
After Jesus is baptized by John and the Spirit of God descends on Jesus in the form of a dove, Jesus enters into His messianic ministry and begins to gather His disciples. It was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, who first applied the term “Christ”, “Messiah”, “The Anointed One of God” to Jesus.
John 1:35-37, 40-41 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus…One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah: (which translated means Christ). NASB
Andrew didn’t understand what Jesus’ Messianic ministry was all about, but he did recognize someone operating in the Spirit of God when he saw it. Jesus had been filled with God’s Holy Spirit and led by The Spirit into His Messianic ministry.
Glorification of Jesus
As Jesus neared the end of His Messianic ministry, and the time drew near for His sacrifice on the Cross for all humanity, He looked forward to the positive things to be gained by His sufferings. It was God’s love for humanity that compelled God to offer up His Only Begotten Son. It was Jesus’ love for, and obedience to His Father, giving Jesus the courage and will to see His Father’s plan through. Jesus truly had a grasp on what was at stake and kept His eyes on the results. At the Last Supper, before crossing the Brook Kidron to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus had His eyes on the goal.
John 17:1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come, glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify you,…” NASB
Jesus spoke of glorification. To “glorify” is to “honor, clothe with splendor, to cause the dignity and worth of someone to become manifest and acknowledged”. Jesus had spoken of glorification before, but now He was saying it was time. A few verses later, Jesus is more specific about what His glorification is going to represent.
John 17:5 “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” NASB
The glorification Jesus was talking about was the glory He shared with The Father before the earth was even created. Jesus was the Word, and without Him nothing that exists was made, (John 1:1-5, 14). When Jesus was with The Father, He was the creative instrument used by The Father to bring all things into existence. And now, The Father continued to use Jesus as the means of creating salvation and redemption for all of humanity.
Jesus would be made to be sin for us on the cross, (2 Corinthians 5:21) so we might be made the righteousness of God through Jesus. This was accomplished through the Old Testament law that declared anyone who is hung on a tree was cursed by God, (Galatians 3:13). Jesus became the perfect sacrifice offered up for the sins of humanity, (Ephesians 5:2). Jesus’ blood was shed on the cross and He died. He was buried in death, but God raised Him again to new life. Then, Jesus had to complete His offering for our sins by ascending into Heaven and offering Himself there.
The Tabernacle of the Old Testament was a copy of the Heavenly Tabernacle. The High Priests offered up sacrifices in the earthly tabernacle that could only cover humanities sins, but could never blot out guilt. Jesus would offer Himself in the Heavenly Tabernacle. We learn about this Heavenly Tabernacle in Scripture.
Hebrews 8:1-6 Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer.
Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; who serve a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle, for, “See,” He says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. NASB
After His resurrection, Jesus was required to ascend into Heaven and complete His offering in the Heavenly Tabernacle to fulfill our redemption. Mary caught hold of Jesus between the tomb and His ascent.
John 20:16-18 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.” Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her. NASB
After his meeting with Mary, Jesus ascended into Heaven to His Father, and completed His sacrificial offering in the Heavenly Tabernacle. The writer of Hebrews talks about Jesus’ ministry in the Heavenly Tabernacle with the offering of His own blood.
Hebrews 9:11-14 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? NASB
Through Jesus’ ministry in the Heavenly Tabernacle our consciences are cleansed from the guilt of our sins, so we might become alive towards and serve The Most High. Through this sacrifice, and the cleansing of our consciences, God is once again able to abide in our hearts.
Hebrews 10:11-18 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, (Jesus), having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet.
For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them, After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, And on their mind I will write them,” He then says, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. NASB
Until Jesus had made His offering in the Heavenly Tabernacle, there was no forgiveness for sins, only sacrifices to cover sins. But at this time, in Heaven, Jesus takes away sin with His one sacrifice, perfecting for all time those who are sanctified, (set apart for God’s purposes). In this one act, Jesus made it possible for the Old Testament Word of God to be fulfilled, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days. I will put My laws upon their heart, and on their mind I will write them, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
With the offering of His own blood in the Heavenly tabernacle, Jesus finishes every requirement, tears down every barrier, and clears the way for humanity to be reconciled to God. Now, humanity can repent of their dead works and find reconciliation with their Heavenly Father through the sanctifying work of Jesus. All that is required is they believe Jesus is the Son of God who died for their sins and God raised Him from death to new life and proclaim Him as their Lord. All that is left is for Jesus to return to his heart-broken and frightened followers, bring them His peace in their grief and confusion, and give them the Good News.
Disciples Born Of The Spirit
At the last supper, Jesus tells His disciples of the many things that will come to pass in the very near future. At one point, His closest friends think they’ve got it. They think they really understand what Jesus it saying and doing.
John 16:29-33 His disciples said, “Lo, now You are speaking plainly and are not using a figure of speech. Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God.”
Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world.” NASB
Jesus loves these men, but He knows they really don’t understand what is happening. He questions them, “Do you now believe?” He goes on to illustrate to them that they really don’t get it. Not one of them will hold-fast to the faith they have expressed in Jesus. Every one will be shaken to the core and live in fear. If the Romans and Jews so easily crucified the leader of this heretical little faction, how much easier will it be to round-up and exterminate them. But He tells them these things because He will be coming back. When He returns and they have believed, they will remember He had said these things.
After His ascension to the Heavenly Tabernacle to present His offering before His Father, Jesus returns to find His friends huddling in fear behind closed doors.
John 20:19-22 So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you: as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” NASB
When Jesus miraculously appears in their midst, He declares, “Peace be with you.” His disciples had anything but peace. They were freaked out. Jesus has to show them the holes in His hands and side. When they see it really is Jesus, the same Jesus they saw crucified, and understand He has been raised from the dead, THEN they rejoice in seeing their Lord. The word translated “saw” here is the Greek word, “eido”. It means: perceive, be sure, understand. So, when the disciples perceived, were made sure by the marks in His flesh, and understood this was really the same Jesus and not some vision, they recognized Him as their Lord.
This recognition of Jesus as their Lord, their Master, is an important distinction to make. Why? Because a person cannot be born again unless they recognize Jesus as their Lord, (Romans 10:9-10). Believing Jesus is the Son of God, that God raised Him from death to new life, and confessing Him as Lord, are the requirements for entering into salvation through the redemptive work of Jesus. Just a few minutes before, the disciples were heartbroken and frightened. Then Jesus shows up announcing peace. They are startled and it’s not until Jesus shows them the marks of His crucifixion that they believe it is Him. Their belief is essential to their salvation.
Up to this point, two things stood in the way for the disciples to enter into salvation. First, Jesus had to pay the price and offer Himself in the Heavenly Tabernacle for their redemption to be legal, (the penalty had to be paid first). Next, the disciples had to believe He was the Son of God and God had raised Him from death to new life. Once the price had been paid and they believed, they needed to acknowledge Jesus as Lord. We see all these things take place by the time we get to John 20:20. All that is left for the disciples is for them to be born of the Spirit.
At this point, (now that the disciples are convinced and have accepted Him as Lord), Jesus repeats His salutation of peace, “Peace be with you: as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Jesus was born of the Spirit and sent into the world. Even as the Father sent Jesus into the world, now it was time for the disciples to be born of the Spirit and sent into the world. What follows next is miraculous. And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The Greek word translated as “receive” in this passage, carries with it what is called an immediate imperative. In other words, to be accurately interpreted, it should read, “Receive immediately the Holy Spirit.” Jesus was giving a command to receive the Holy Spirit right now.
The disciples were immediately born of the Spirit and their lives were transformed. In the next breath, Jesus entrusts them with the task of forgiveness. I’m not sure why Jesus immediately gives them this trust, but I’m sure it is significant. Everything Jesus does has a specific purpose. One of the first thing the disciples do is to share the Good News of the risen Lord.
Doubting Thomas wasn’t among the huddled disciples when Jesus returned. When everyone told Thomas what had happened, he couldn’t believe it. After all, Thomas had been with these people after Jesus was murdered. He had shared their heartbreak. He had breathed their fear. He had experienced the hopelessness of shattered faith. Now these same people who had secluded themselves in fear were insanely babbling about the risen Lord. But, when Thomas was face to face with Jesus, he too believed and confessed Jesus as Lord.
John 20:30-31 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. NASB
Why was this account written? So that we too could believe and have life in His name. So that we too could be born of the Spirit into a life lived in Christ.
John 3:6-7 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” NASB
Disciples Filled With The Spirit
John 7:37-39 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. NASB
Jesus spoke on several occasions of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Guide, the Helper, who was to be given to those who believe. But, as long as Jesus was with His disciples, the Holy Spirit could not be given to them, because Jesus was the Christ, The Anointed One of God. The Holy Spirit dwelt in Jesus in It’s fullness. As long as Jesus was “The Christ”, that anointing couldn’t dwell in anyone else.
John 16:7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” NASB
After Jesus rose from death to new life; after the disciples had believed and been born of the Spirit, Jesus spoke to them again of sending them the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:4-5 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” NASB
Jesus reminds His followers of John’s baptism with water. Jesus submitted Himself to John’s baptism unto repentance, even though Jesus had nothing to repent of. But remember what Jesus told John at that time.
Matthew 3:15 “Yield to this immediately John, because by baptizing me we will establish the proper way for our actions to furnish, accomplish, complete, fulfill, perfect and supply thoroughly - justification for what is coming next.” GWT
Jesus’ words have an interesting meaning for Believers. In Matthew 3:15, the Greek word used for “fulfill” is pleroo, (here translated as: to furnish, accomplish, complete, fulfill, perfect and supply thoroughly). In Acts 2:4, the word “filled” comes from the Greek word pimplemi, meaning: fill imbue, influence, supply, accomplish, furnish, to be fulfilled, to be filled. Pimplemi is the root word of pleroo, and is the prolonged tense of the whole “filling” meaning. So, pimplemi, used in Acts 2:4, when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, is the prolonged tense of the “fulfilling” Jesus told John their actions would accomplish in Matthew 3:15. In Matthew, Jesus then became the repository for the Holy Spirit and entered into His Messianic ministry. What are the implications of this for Believers?
Jesus fulfilled all justification when He was baptized by John and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him. In Acts 1:4-5, Jesus reminds His disciples of John’s baptism and tells His disciples they will be baptized in the Holy Spirit in a short while. Just as Jesus died and was raised to new life so Believers could die to themselves and be raised to new life in Christ; Jesus was baptized and received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and became the “Christ”, “The Anointed, (by the Holy Spirit), One of God”, so that Believers could be baptized into the Holy Spirit and become “The Anointed Ones of God” and carry on the Messianic ministry Jesus began.
Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. NASB
Here we see the fulfillment of what Jesus spoke about. Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father until all His enemies are under His feet. He has sent the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Guide, the Helper, to rest upon and fill the Believers. Jesus had been born of the Holy Spirit when Mary submitted to God’s will. Jesus had been filled with the Holy Spirit at the Jordan and began His Messianic ministry. The disciples had been born of the Holy Spirit after Jesus completed His sacrifice for humanity - appeared to them in the locked room - they believed - and Jesus breathed on them telling them to receive the Holy Spirit immediately. Now, Jesus’ followers are filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. On this day, the Believers became the Body of Christ; (1 Corinthians 12:27), the repository of the Holy Spirit. We are now the Anointed Ones of God, filled with the Holy Spirit to carry on Jesus’ Messianic ministry in His name.
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” NASB
