The Permanent Presence of Power

Luke 3:15-22

            I love sailing.  I don’t get the chance to do it very much, but there are not many things I enjoy better than spending a few hours in a sailboat on a lake.  I enjoy the peaceful gliding through the water, I enjoy being in a boat alone on a big lake.  But there is nothing quite like catching the wind in a Catamaran and hanging over the edge, feeling the cold water splash on your back as the boat teeters on the edge of capsizing.  It is quite a rush.  Now I’ve learned in my limited experience that there are a few necessities when you sail.  You need a life jacket.  You need to know how to tie good knots.  You need to learn how to rig and de-rig a boat.  You need know how to un-capsize a boat, especially catamarans on windy days.  But the most important thing you need when you sail, is wind.  Without wind, sailing just doesn’t work.  I leaned this lesson well as a counselor trying to teach some Jr. High Girls how to sail.  It was a calm day, so it was a good day for them to learn.  We went out on the water and things were going just fine, until the wind stopped.  We were in the middle of the lake, and the wind just stopped blowing.  We tried moving the tiller and nothing happened.  We moved the boom but we stayed put.  We turned the boat all the way around but we just sat there in the water like a cork.  Finally, I jumped into the water, held on to the back and kicked the boat to shore.  Sailing that day wasn’t very fun.  For sailing to work you have to have power.

            The passage today is about the power that comes through the ministry of Jesus.  It is about the coming of the wind, in our spiritual lives.  The baptism of Jesus, is one of only a few stories that appears in all four gospels.  But Luke emphasizes the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Luke tells us that Jesus’ baptism begins the permanent presence of power.  After reading this story in Luke, we should understand without a doubt that Jesus ministry is altogether different from the ministry of everyone who came before him.  Jesus brings the Holy Spirit, Jesus brings the wind, Jesus brings the permanent presence of power to those who follow him. 

            To understand this, we must first understand the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Old Testament believers.  In the Old Testament the presence of the Holy Spirit was limited.  The Spirit was not available to everyone, and even those who had the Spirit only had him in a limited way.  In the Old Testament God only gave the Spirit to a few chosen representatives.  We see this in Numbers 11.  In Numbers 11 Moses picks 70 elders who will help him rule the people and God fills those men with the Holy Spirit.  And Joshua tells Moses to make two of them stop.  Listen to Moses’ response in verse 29.  “Moses replied, ‘Are you jealous for my sake?  I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them.’”  Moses knew the power of the Spirit and he wished that all of God’s people could have the spirit.  But God only selected a few representatives for the people.  These representatives served as mediaries, ambassadors of God to the People.  Only they had the Spirit.  This model began with Moses.  When the Israelites heard God speak the 10 commandments at Mount Horeb, the power of God was too much for them.  Exodus 20:18 says, “When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear.  They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen.  But do not have God speak to us or we will die.’”  So that’s what happened.  Moses heard from God.  Moses received God’s spirit and the people listened to Moses as God’s representative.  And that became the pattern.  So after Moses came Joshua, then some of the kings and the prophets.   Only God’s chosen representatives to the people had his Spirit.

We’ve seen that in the Old Testament only a few had the Spirit, but even those who had the Spirit, only had Him in a limited way.  Numbers 11:17 tells us that when Moses selected those 70 elders God had to take some of the Spirit from him and give it to those men.  Imagine that, in order for those men to have the Spirit, some of the Spirit had to leave Moses.  It was like a spiritual blood donation.  Elsewhere in scripture we learn the Spirit could be taken away from those who were unfaithful.   Saul the first king of Israel was filled with the Spirit of God when he was anointed as king.  But he sinned against the Lord and 1 Samuel 16:14 tells us “the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul.”  When David sinned he realized that the Spirit might depart from him, so he Prays in Psalm 51 “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”

In the Old Covenant, the presence of the Holy Spirit was limited.  Most of the people were on the sailboat of faith without any wind.  Occasionally God would provide a leader whom the people could follow, but most of the faithful Israelites were forced to get out of the boat and kick.  They didn’t have the power of the Spirit behind their faith.  But God did not leave it that way.  God knew that without His Spirit, people would continue to sin, and turn away from him.  He knew that without the power of the spirit, they were like sailboats without wind.  He promised that a day would come when the Spirit would be unlimited.  God promised that the Spirit would be for all people.  Listen to the words Isaiah 44:2-3.   Isaiah says, “This is what the Lord says … ‘Do not be afraid… For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendents.’”  The prophet Joel also says that the Lord will give the Spirit to all people.  He says in Joel 2:28 “Afterward I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”  God would pour out his Spirit on everyone, young and old, men and women.  Everyone would have equal access to the Spirit of God.  That was God’s promise.

But God didn’t stop there.  They also saw a day when God’s people would not need another human mediator.  God also promised that His people would have direct access to Him.  He promised to remove the need for a mediator.  Jeremiah 31:31-34 says, “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah …I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, “know the lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.’”  God promised that each person could have a personal relationship with God.  Each one would know God face to face.  He would fulfill the wish of Moses, that all of God’s people would be filled with His spirit.

The Old Testament looked forward to that day.  It looked forward to the day when God’s people would be able to be with God, personally, and fully.  It looked forward to the day when all of God’s people would have their sails full of wind and would be able to experience God’s power for themselves.  And that’s what this passage in Luke points us to.  Luke makes it clear that the Holy Spirit had a very special role in Jesus life and ministry.  Luke knew that Jesus was bringing the Spirit as a permanent presence of power in the lives of believers.

He does this with Jesus’ birth.  Luke’s account of Jesus Birth is full of the presence of the Holy Spirit.  When the angel comes to Mary to tell her she would give birth, He explains this miracle by saying, “the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”  When Mary visits Elizabeth, Luke tells us that “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.”  When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple they met Simeon, a man “who was righteous and devout and the Holy Spirit was upon him.”  Luke describes the Spirit’s handiwork throughout the birth of Jesus. 

The Holy Spirit also plays a prominent role in the passage immediately following Jesus Baptism.  Luke 4:1 tells us “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert.”  Verse 14 says, Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.”  And when Jesus goes to the temple to announce that his ministry has begun he pulls out the scroll of Isaiah and found Chapter 61.  Jesus then read saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me…”  Luke wants to make sure we don’t miss the power of the Holy Spirit in the opening chapters of his Gospel.  He emphasizes the importance of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus.

So what is the big deal?  Why is all of this stuff about the Holy Spirit so important to Luke?  Isn’t this just a story about Jesus being baptized?  What does all this stuff about the Spirit have to do with that?  As I said before, the story of Jesus’ baptism is recorded in all four Gospels.  Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all tell us about it.  Luke emphasizes that Jesus’ baptism begins the permanent presence of power for believers.  Luke sees Jesus’ baptism as the hinge point.  It is the point when the Old Covenant with all of its limitations, is over is over, and the new covenant, with the unlimited presence of the Spirit has begun.

Luke shines the spotlight on the Spirit throughout this passage.  In verse 16 John says, “I baptize you with water.  But one more powerful than I …will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”  Luke contrasts John’s baptism, a symbol of repentance, with Jesus’ baptism, a genuine filling of the Holy Spirit.  John says that the Messiah will bring the Holy Spirit to the people.  Not only that, but the Messiah will also baptize with fire.  It is a little unclear what this reference to fire is all about.  It could either mean the purifying presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers, like a silversmith removing impurities from silver, or it could refer to the judgment of non-believers, like the chaff burning in a furnace.  At either rate, Luke emphasizes the superiority of the Messiah in his bringing of the Spirit.  We also see Luke’s emphasis on the Holy Spirit in verses 21-22.  It is difficult to translate these verses well in English but in Greek it is one long sentence with two main verbs.  The main verbs are the Spirit descended, and God spoke.  The way Luke tells it, Jesus was barely distinguishable from everyone else who was baptized.  What made his baptism significant was that the Spirit descended and God Spoke.  Luke draws our attention to the work of the Spirit in Jesus ministry. 

In addition to the presence of the Holy Spirit, Luke makes several other sharp distinctions between John’s ministry and Jesus’ ministry.  He shows us that John’s ministry, which represents the Old Covenant, is over.  Not only does John point to someone else as the Christ, but Luke inserts this quick account of John’s arrest.  Although this occurs later in the actual course of events, Luke inserts it here as a way to show us the end of John’s ministry.  The story of his arrest is another way for him to tell us that the Old Covenant is over.  Luke also shows us that the New Covenant has begun.  Notice that heaven opened up.  We kind of miss the importance of that detail but when scripture talks about heaven opening, it is referring to an event when God is uniquely involved in the life of this world.  Whenever a Biblical author talks about the Heavens opening the author wants us to know that God the Father is acting in a very real way in the world as we know it.  John also lets us know that the New Covenant has begun because the Holy Spirit physically descends on Jesus.  Scholars debate weather a dove actually landed on Jesus, or if that is simply a way for the Gospel writers to describe the manner in which the Spirit Descended.  I tend to think that the Spirit actually took the form of a dove and landed on Jesus.  Whatever the case, Luke emphasizes the physical reality of this.  The spirit descended on him in bodily form.  This coming of the Spirit in a very physical way, further represents beginning of the New Covenant.  God’s Spirit physically dwells with His people.  Finally, God speaks audibly.  When God gave the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel in Exodus, God spoke audibly.  That was the beginning of the Mosaic Covenant.  When God speaks audibly here, it helps to mark the beginning of the New Covenant.  Only this time the Covenant is not centered in Laws that reveal the Holiness of God, the Covenant is centered in a Person.  God doesn’t say these are my new laws, he says, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”  The New Covenant is not about law, it is about relationship.  The New Covenant is about God dwelling with His people.  It is about the Holy Spirit indwelling believers.  The New Covenant is about the permanent presence of power.

So how does this matter for you and I today?  Why does this make any difference?  The most important thing that we need to note is that Jesus baptizes his followers with the Holy Spirit.  No longer do God’s people have to have a mediator to know what God is saying.  No longer are only a few people filled with God’s presence.  Jesus baptizes all of his followers with the Holy Spirit.  Through Jesus Christ all of us have access to the Spirit, the permanent presence of power.  When we follow Christ the presence of the Spirit is permanent.  In the Greek, the term baptism literally means to immerse in water.  When Jesus baptizes his believers in the Holy Spirit, they are immersed, they are flooded with the Holy Spirit.  That is something that will never go away.  Jesus gives us this baptism as a gift.  In Acts 1:4,5, Jesus tells his disciples, “wait for the  gift my Father promised …John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”  And when Jesus gives the Spirit it is forever.  John 14:16 says, “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- the Spirit of Truth“  The presence of the Spirit is permanent.  Because of Jesus, the Spirit is here to stay, and those who follow Christ cannot lose the Spirit.

Not only is the Spirit permanent, the Spirit is present.  Because of this New Covenant that Jesus brings, we are not alone.  John 14:17-18 goes on.  The Spirit of Truth … lives with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”  Elsewhere Paul tells us that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  God dwells within us in his Spirit.  We are not alone.  The Spirit is present; God is with us.

The Spirit is permanent, the Spirit is present, and the Spirit is power.  It is no accident that I chose the image of sailing today.  In the Greek the word for Spirit is pneuma.  Greek uses that same term for wind.  The Spirit is powerful like the wind.  He blows on the sails of our faith and gives us energy to move forward.  The spirit powers our spiritual life.  Luke tells us that the presence of the Spirit is power in Acts 1:8.  There Jesus says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.”  The spirit in our lives changes us.  In Romans 8 Paul tells us that those who do not have the Spirit cannot do good.  Those who do not have the Spirit are controlled by their sinful nature.  However, those who have the Spirit have been changed.  They have the power to do good.  Those who have the Spirit are able to follow God and please God.  The Reformers used a Latin phrase to describe this.  They said we went from non-passe non-pecare, to passé non-pecare.  That means from not able not sin to able not to sin.  In other words the Spirit transforms us from people who are unable to say no to sin into people who have the power to avoid Sin and live to please God.

In the Baptism of Jesus we see that the Spirit is permanent, the Spirit is present, and the Spirit gives power to please God.  Jesus baptism begins the permanent presence of power.  Jesus ministry is altogether different from everyone who preceded Him.  He brought about the New Covenant, the day when men and women, young and old, are able to experience God’s presence in a very real way.  Jesus brings the permanent presence of power.  Maybe today you feel like you are on a sailboat with no wind.  Your life doesn’t seem to be going any where, you are just floating along wherever the current takes you.  You feel powerless and purposeless.  My friends turn to Jesus.  Turn the boat of your faith towards Christ.  He will fill your sails with the presence of the Spirit.  He will give you power to live with purpose and direction in your life.  He will put the Spirit into your life and provide wind for your sail.