Human beings are called to follow Jesus because of his divinity since he is God and we are not. This fact therefore means that Jesus was empowered by the Holy spirit ( MacKillop, 2011) . Jesus lived on earth, both as God and as a man. Jesus in the form of God was and is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient, and in the human form was more powerful than any other. The power that Jesus had was that of the Holy Spirit given to him by God. This divine power enabled him to fulfil his purpose here on earth. Jesus did not rely on his own divinity but instead relied on God to supply the power he needed in his ministry and work (Luke 5:17). Jesus lived fundamentally out of his humanity and he needed the spirit of God to give him guidance in overcoming the human limitations that could have hindered fulfilling his mission. The Spirit of God is holy and is the third person of the God-head also known as the trinity. Jesus was able to walk in complete obedience to God and fulfil his purpose because he was filled with the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control (Turner, 2003).
Jesus had a remarkable nature in his daily life and evidenced extraordinary wisdom, insight, and discernment. The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus with the gift of knowledge and wisdom. The prophetic role of Jesus as a preacher came to pass in relation to his testimony in Luke 4: 18-19 where he showed up in the Temple and read a passage in Isaiah 61. As Jesus read the passage to the people listening to him, they were astonished because they had never before heard words filled with such great knowledge and wisdom. The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus with the gift of discernment. In Mark 6:1-6, Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit was led to relocate to another location in order to continue with his ministry because of unbelief in his home town of Nazareth. Jesus through the guidance of the Holy Spirit in Luke 24:48-49 urged his disciples to stay in the city and wait for power from above (DeVries, 2015). The Holy Spirit empowerment was necessary because it was out of his humanity that he lived his daily life fulfilling his mission (Spader, 2013) . The Holy Spirit also empowered Jesus with the power of healing. The teachings of Luke 4:18-19 indicates that Jesus would heal the blind because the Spirit was upon him. The demonstration on John 9: 3-7 indicate that Jesus healed a blind man for the work of God to be seen. The power of the Spirit was demonstrated because Jesus was fulfilling Luke 4:18-19 as he was doing God’s work.
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The evidence of the source of the power of Jesus was first seen after his babtism by John the Baptist where the Holy Spirit appeared to him in the form of a dove with a loud voice declaring that he was the son of God (Dorr, 2017). Satan came to tempt Jesus as he was about to begin his ministry and the power of the Spirit of God was made manifest in his life (Luke 4:11) . It was during such a trying moment that the Holy Spirit gave Jesus the power to overcome temptation. Jesus stated in Mathew 12:28 that it is by the Spirit of God he cast out demons. It was evident therefore that he was operating on a higher power that was mighty. Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit to rise from the dead and this spiritual gift is in accordance to Peter’s testimony where he described, witnessed, and testified about Jesus after his resurrection (Moore et al., 2018) . I agree with the alternative model of spiritual gifts by Ken Berding states that people have misunderstood the the significance of spiritual gifts and their functions. He emphasises the importance of not asking, “ God, how can I discover the special abilities that you have given me?” But rather, one should ask, “ God, where do you want me to serve?”
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is true to say that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were given to Jesus to enable him fufill his God-given purpose. These spiritual gifts also served to magnify God’s power and reflect on his glory. Jesus glorified God in the use of his gifts and this led to many people repenting of their sins and giving their lives to God. Jesus, having had great knowledge and wisom and having healed many, cast out demons and overcome temptation by the power of the Spirit, helped the people in his community to overcome their problems and seek God. This example shows that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not only meant for self-edification but for the greater benefit of others as well. Just as Jesus relied on the Holy Spirit for the power to accomplish his mission, every Christian needs the power of the Spirit to live a Holy life that would please and glorify God.
References
DeVries, B. A. (2015). Divine empowerment: The Holy Spirit and church revitalization. In die Skriflig , 49 (1), 1-8.
Dorr, D. (2017). The Holy Spirit as source, Power and Inspiration for Spiritual Practice. Practical Theology 10(1), 5-19.
MacKillop, A. (2011). Jesus: Empowered by the Holy Spirit ~ by Angus Mac Killop. Retrieved from https://www.hiskingdomprophecy.com/jesus-empowered/
Moore, M., Vreeland, D., Smith, M., Yoshonis, J., McKinzie, G., & Gustine, A. (2018). Jesus, the Spirit, and Empowerment - Missio Alliance. Retrieved from https://www.missioalliance.org/jesus-the-spirit-and-empowerment/
Spader. (2013). The Humanity of Jesus. Retrieved from https://www.sonlife.com/downloads/sonlife-humanity-of-jesus.pdf
Turner, M. (2003). The Work of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts. Word and World, 23(2), 146-153.
