The Spirit Came Down

Gospel of John. If you're using the Pew Bible, I believe it's page 860.

Page 860, or John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

We're working our way through the story of Jesus, according to John the Apostle.

And last Sunday, what we looked at was the story of Jesus' debut, we could call it.

The day that he started to be known publicly to the people of Israel.

And we listened to John tell the story of how John the Baptizer was there out in the wilderness,

baptizing people, teaching and preaching,

until that day after the delegation from Jerusalem came to check him out.

The day after, Jesus emerged from the crowds himself,

came out to John, was baptized by John.

And that day, John's message changed.

From one is coming, to this is the one.

Look at him.

We talked about what it meant, that he is the Lamb of God,

who takes away the sin of the world.

Now, we could move on in the story here,

and see how Jesus begins to get his disciples.

But I think that there's one more thing that we just can really meditate on,

this moment of Jesus' baptism.

And it comes in verses 32 to 34.

The thing that just struck me in those words,

three times,

John mentions the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit.

Let me read it for us.

This is the testimony that John the Baptizer gave about Jesus.

Then John gave this testimony.

I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.

And I myself did not know him.

But the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,

the man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain

is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.

I have seen and I testify that this is God's chosen one.

Three times in John's testimony, he mentions the Spirit.

I saw the Spirit coming down.

I saw it come to rest on him and remain on him.

I saw the Spirit,

the one that God had told me to watch for.

And this one, God said to me,

he gave me this sign,

the one that you see the Spirit come down on,

he's the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.

Three times he mentions the Holy Spirit.

And so for this morning,

I want to just take a few moments to consider

what's the significance of this,

this coming of the Spirit upon Jesus.

It's perhaps something that we could easily overlook

or just pass over and move on to other things.

But why is this so important?

Why does he take such great pain to show us,

to emphasize the Spirit came down upon him?

Who is the Spirit?

To get a clear picture of this,

we have to kind of reach back into the Old Testament.

The Spirit is that person of the Trinity

that we perhaps understand the least.

He's the one who's often at work behind the scenes,

and yet he's there right from the beginning,

right from creation.

He was there as the world was spoke into being by God.

The Spirit is often known throughout the Old Testament

and seen throughout the stories of Israel

as the one who would come upon people

and enable them to do God's special work,

to kind of equip them with skills and abilities

that they otherwise would not have had.

Moses was described as someone who had the Spirit

and the power of the Spirit on him.

It talks there in Numbers 11

about how God took some of the same Spirit

that he had put upon Moses

and put it on the elders of Israel.

And as a result, they prophesied.

They spoke words from God

for the people to hear.

Many of you will know the stories of the judges,

people who God put his Spirit upon

and enabled them to lead his people, Israel.

Samson was one such person.

The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him

so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands

as he might have torn a young goat.

The Spirit would often give supernatural strength

and power to people.

But as we look closely at how the Spirit works

all throughout those old stories,

stories of the people of Israel,

one of the things that we notice

is that he seems to come and go.

He doesn't often just stay with that person.

Even Samson himself was described

as the Spirit of the Lord came upon him

several times throughout his life,

often right before he was about to do something,

right before he was about to go into battle

and fight the Lord's enemies.

There's a temporary nature

to how God worked in the past.

He would come upon people by his Spirit,

enabling them to do his specific work

in that specific moment.

And then sometimes, often,

what we see is that he would leave

or that person would then just continue

to live their normal life

until the next moment

when the Spirit would come upon them.

And one of the examples

that's really clear of this

is Saul, King Saul.

The Spirit of God came powerfully upon him.

1 Samuel 11, verse 6.

1 Samuel 11:6

And when that happened,

he then led the people of Israel

into battle against the enemy people

who were threatening Israel.

But those of us who know the story of Saul

also know that there came this moment

where the Spirit of the Lord left Saul.

And in this case, it was permanent.

He departed from Saul.

1 Samuel 16, verse 14.

1 Samuel 16:14

David, the man after God's own heart

and the king which followed Saul,

he prayed this in his prayer, Psalm 51.

He said,

Do not cast me from your presence, Lord,

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

He was watching closely what happened with Saul.

He watched.

He saw how God took his Spirit from Saul

and cast him from his presence, so to speak.

And so he prayed this.

And so there's a very real sense

in which the Spirit came upon people

all throughout those days

to enable them to do a specific work of God,

giving them supernatural power,

giving them the ability to speak words

which were from God.

But even though God did that

for those select few people,

put his Spirit upon them,

the story of Israel

is still very much a downward spiral.

The problem of sin remained.

The people did not listen to the prophets

that he sent

or obey the kings and the leaders

and the judges that he raised up.

And so there's need for something more.

There's need for something better.

And so God spoke through Isaiah

about a coming time

in which he would deal with this problem.

Isaiah chapter 11, verses 1 to 2.

Isaiah 11:1–2

If you have your Bible with you,

I encourage you to turn there.

Isaiah chapter 11.

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

Isaiah chapter 11.

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

This is what the Lord declared

through his prophet.

He said,

A shoot will come up

from the stump of Jesse.

From his roots,

a branch will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the Lord

will rest on him.

The Spirit of wisdom

and of understanding.

The Spirit of counsel

and of might.

The Spirit of the knowledge

and fear of the Lord.

And he will delight

in the fear of the Lord.

So what did Isaiah declare?

He said that

there is one coming.

He comes

and he uses a bit of a tree metaphor here

to refer to the family of Jesse,

which of course was King David's father.

There is one coming

from the family of Jesse,

the family of David.

If Jesse is a stump

or the roots,

then this one who's coming

is a branch

that will grow off

of this family tree.

And what's the first thing

that he tells us

about this one

who is to come?

The Spirit of the Lord

will rest on him.

God's own Spirit.

The Spirit of Yahweh

will rest

on this one,

this descendant

of Jesse.

And what will be

the outcome of that?

What will that mean?

Isaiah goes on

to tell us

the kinds of qualities

that this

descendant

will have

because the Spirit

is resting on him.

He will have wisdom.

He will have understanding.

He will have

counsel,

the ability to counsel.

He will have might.

He will have power.

He will have the knowledge

and fear of the Lord.

And then Isaiah

goes on

to tell us

what this

coming one

will do

because he has

this

enabling

from the Spirit.

He says

in verse 3,

He will not judge

by what he sees

with his eyes

or decide

by what he

hears

with his ears.

But with righteousness

he will judge

the needy.

With justice

he will give decisions

for the poor

of the earth.

As I was thinking

about this

I thought

how does this

really connect

to us?

Maybe you know

of a situation

in your life

right now

where somebody

that you care about

somebody that you love

is in some kind

of conflict

or dispute

with someone else.

Maybe a marriage

issue

or

family falling out.

two people

that you care about

and you long

to see this

dispute

this conflict

fixed.

But as one

who stands

on the outside

looking in

you're not even

completely sure

just what has

gone on

what has been

said

what has been

done

what was meant

by what was

said.

You want

this situation

this conflict

to be resolved.

But how

will that

happen

when

from your

perspective

not even

sure

what's

really

at the

root

what's

really

caused

this.

It's to

this kind

of situation

which happens

all over the

place in our

world

that these

words are

good news.

This coming

one

this descendant

of Jesse

of David

he will

not judge

by what he

sees with

his eyes

or decide

by what

he hears

with his

ears.

His

judgment

his

verdict

his

decisions

will not

be based

on mere

outward

appearance

on what

he perceives

in the

situation.

he will

not be

swayed

by bias

or by

his

connection

to the

person.

No,

this one

who comes

because he

has the

spirit of

the Lord

upon him

and has

wisdom

from the

spirit

understanding

counsel

and might

he

will judge

with

righteousness.

He will

give

decisions

that are

just

that are

right.

And the

sense here

is that he

will do

it for

the people

of the

earth

and not

discriminately,

not just

for those

who can

afford to

buy his

legal advice

or counsel.

He will

give it

even to the

needy

and to

the

poor.

It

talks

about how

this

branch

of

Jesse

will

take

care

of

the

problem

of

wickedness

in our

world.

Deal

with the

problem

of

injustice.

In

verse

five,

righteousness

will be

his belt

and

faithfulness

the sash

around

his waist,

the central

feature

of his

rule

when he

comes

will be

acting

rightly.

It will

be

faithfulness.

It will

be

keeping

his

promises.

That's

something

that we

all long

for

as we

think

of our

government.

One who

will keep

his promise

and do

everything

that he

has said

he will

do.

And when

he comes,

Isaiah

goes on,

I'm not

going to

read all

of this,

the wolf

will live

with the

lamb,

the infant

will play

near the

cobra's

den and

the young

child will

put its

hand into

the viper's

nest.

Verse 8,

they will

neither harm

nor destroy

on all my

holy mountain.

This branch

of Jesse,

when he

comes,

will bring

about a

time in

this world

such as

this world

has never

seen.

When all

living things

will live

in peace

and harmony.

When there

will be no

violence,

no fear

of harm.

These are

wonderful

words.

This is

not all

that

Isaiah

has to

say

about this

one on

whom the

spirit

will rest.

Flip forward

to Isaiah

Isaiah 42 · chapter mention

chapter 42.

Isaiah

Isaiah 42 · chapter mention

chapter 42.

Isaiah

the Lord

speaking

through

Isaiah

said this,

here is

my servant

whom I

uphold,

my chosen

one in

whom I

delight.

I will

put my

spirit

on him

and he

will bring

justice

to the

nations.

So instead

of referring

to him

here as

the branch

or the

shoot

of Jesse,

he refers

to him

here.

The Lord

refers to

this coming

one as

my servant.

He refers

to him

as the

one in

whom I

delight.

Think

back to

that moment

when Jesus

was baptized.

God

spoke from

heaven

audibly

in an audible

voice in

that moment.

We can read

that in the

gospels and

what did he

say?

This is my

beloved son.

with him

I am

well

pleased

in whom

I

delight.

My

chosen

one

in

John

chapter

one

verse

thirty

four.

This is

what John

the baptizer

said.

I have

seen and

I testify

that this

is God's

chosen

one.

God

is

the

son of

God.

At this

place in

the gospel

of John

there's

two different

variations

in the

manuscripts

that we

have

available

today.

There's

back and

forth over

which

reading is

correct.

Is it

this is

the son

of God

or is

it

this is

God's

chosen

one?

I'm

not a

world-class

scholar so

I can't

really

venture

into

that

too

much

but

the

leaning

is

probably

the

evidence

probably

leans

to

that

the

reading

is

this

is

God's

chosen

one

with

the

thought

that

John

the

baptizer

was

actually

saying

that

day

this

one

Jesus

whom

you

see

he

is

the

servant

spoken

of

here

in

Isaiah

my

servant

whom

I

uphold

my

chosen

one

in

whom

I

delight

and

what

is

said

about

him

the

servant

of

the

Lord

by

Isaiah

I

will

put

my

spirit

on

him

I

will

put

my

own

spirit

says

God

on

him

and

what

will

he

do

with

this

gift

this

enabling

he

will

bring

justice

to

the

nations

what

a

statement

what

a

promise

what

a

thing

to

look

forward

to

in

our

world

especially

with

the

way

it

is

that

we

see

today

in

the

news

he

will

bring

justice

to

the

nations

Isaiah

goes

on to

describe

some

of the

way

that

he

will

do

that

because

this

has

been

promised

by

others

we

could

look

at

some

of

those

old

conquerors

Alexander

the

great

you

know

the

empires

king

of

Babylon

the

king

of

the

Persians

and

the

Medes

they

had

a

promise

of

justice

as

well

but

their

way

of

bringing

that

about

was

through

conquest

where

they

just

run

into

the

place

take

it

over

do

what

they

will

there

but

the

way

that

this

servant

of

the

Lord

Isaiah

speaks

about

will

bring

justice

stands

in

contrast

to

that

what

does

Isaiah

say

he

says

this

servant

he

will

not

shout

or cry

out

or raise

his voice

in the

streets

a bruised

reed

he will

not

break

and a

smoldering

wick

he will

not

snuff

out

there's

a sense

in which

this

coming

servant

of the

Lord

he

comes

in

silence

he

comes

out

of

the

quiet

he

comes

with

a

gentleness

and a

care

and a

concern

for those

who are

weak

those

who are

bruised

those

who are

downtrodden

those

who are

needy

those

old

conquering

kings

and

emperors

they

they just

strolled

into

the

place

without

regard

for

people

and

took

over

trampled

over

whoever

got in

their

way

not

this

coming

one

there's

something

special

about

this

coming

one

in

faithfulness

he will

bring

forth

what is

right

justice

he will

not

falter

or be

discouraged

till he

establishes

justice

on

earth

and in

his

teaching

the

islands

will

put

their

hope

again

we

see

this

key

identifier

of who

this

servant

of the

Lord

is

he

is

the

one

on

whom

God

will

put

his

spirit

and

so

when

we

come

to

this

moment

where

Jesus

emerges

from

the

crowds

and

is

baptized

and

John

sees

the

spirit

of

the

Lord

come

down

upon

him

this

is

big

this

doesn't

just

mean

that

Jesus

is

is

is

the

one

that

John

has

been

saying

you know

the

one

who's

ranks

higher

than

I

this

this

is

even

bigger

than

that

this

is

the

Messiah

this

is

the

servant

of

the

Lord

this

is

the

branch

of

Jesse

look

at

him

I

saw

the

spirit

come

down

on

him

and

remain

on

him

not

like

King

Saul

where

the

spirit

came

and

departed

no

the

spirit

came

down

upon

him

and

remained

on

him

here

to

stay

this

is

how

we

know

that

Jesus

is

the

one

the

one

who

has

been

promised

and

he

is

so

much

more

than

than

we

ever

imagined

as

we

begin

to

look

at

these

old

prophecies

given

in

the

Old

Testament

not

long

after

Jesus

was

baptized

he

would

come

to

this

moment

where

it

says

in

the

power

of

the

spirit

he

came

into

Galilee

and

he

went

to

the

town

of

Nazareth

which

was

his

hometown

the

place

where

his

family

was

living

he

went

into

the

synagogue

there

and

he

opened

up

the

scroll

of

Isaiah

and

this

is

what

he

read

the

spirit

of

the

Lord

is

on

me

because

he

has

anointed

me

to

proclaim

good

news

to

the

poor

he

has

sent

me

to

proclaim

freedom

for

the

prisoners

and

recovery

of

sight

for

the

blind

to

set

the

oppressed

free

to

proclaim

the

year

of

the

Lord's

favor

that's

Isaiah

61

Jesus

read

those

words

in

the

synagogue

then

he

handed

the

scroll

back

to

where

they

set

it

down

and

he

began

by

saying

to

them

teaching

them

he

said

today

this

scripture

is

fulfilled

in

your

hearing

in

other

words

the

spirit

of

the

Lord

is

upon

me

is

written

ultimately

about

me

and

I

am

here

to

proclaim

good

news

I

have

been

specially

anointed

and

set

apart

by

God

to

proclaim

good

news

and

to

bring

all

these

wonderful

things

that

you

can

read

about

in

Isaiah

61

John

declared

it

this

is

the

one

on

whom

the

spirit

came

down

Jesus

he

knew

who

he

was

he

knew

he

had

God's

spirit

upon

him

and

he

proclaimed

it

finally

we

come

to

this

last

mention

of

the

spirit

in

this

passage

John

the

baptizer

out

there

in

the

river

says

the

man

on

whom

you

see

this

is

God

speaking

to

John

the

baptizer

the

man

on

whom

you

see

the

spirit

come

down

and

remain

is

the

one

who

will

baptize

with

the

Holy

Spirit

it's

an

interesting

phrase

if we

look

carefully

back

through

what

we've

been

through

already

here

in

John

three

times

John

has

made

it

crystal

clear

I

baptize

with

water

verse

26

I

baptize

with

water

John

said

verse

31

I

came

baptizing

with

water

verse

33

the

one

who

sent

me

to

baptize

with

water

but

the

one

that

you

see

in

front

of

you

now

the

Lamb

of

God

he

is

the

one

who

will

baptize

you

with

the

Holy

Spirit

with

God's

Spirit

now

what

does

that

mean

there's

more

to

say

about

that

than

we

have

time

for

this

morning

but

we

can

just

simply

go

with

the

metaphor

to

baptize

means

to

put

into

or

some

would

take

it

as

to

wash

or

to

cleanse

John

makes

it

clear

the

washing

the

baptism

that

I

do

it's

with

the

earthly

it's

in

water

but

the

one

who

is

coming

and

now

has

come

look

at

him

he's

the

one

who

will

put

you

into

the

spirit

who

will

wash

or

cleanse

you

by

his

Holy

Spirit

and

this

is

what

we've

what

we've

been

waiting

for

this

is

what

we've

needed

as

I

mentioned

earlier

the

problem

of

sin

God

put

his

spirit

on

a

select

few

on

the

leaders

on

the

prophets

but

the

people

on

the

whole

continue

to

spiral

downward

in

disobedience

in

rebellion

against

God

there's

need

not

just

for

the

leaders

to

have

the

spirit

but

for

the

people

themselves

to

have

God's

spirit

upon

them

and

in

them

and

so

what

does

John

declare

this

one

Jesus

he

is

the

one

who

will

bring

the

spirit

to

you

put

God's

spirit

in

you

and

this

too

was

foretold

by

the

prophets

Joel

we could

look at

others

too

there's

Ezekiel

there's

Jeremiah

there's

others

but

Joel

said

this

God

speaking

through

him

said

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

this

one

that

you

see

coming

up

out

of

the

water

he's

the

one

who

will

bring

and

give

the

spirit

to

you

the

very

spirit

of

God

think

about

that

we

look

at

those

stories

of

Samson

and

King

David

and

the

prophets

and

we

think

man

wouldn't

that

have

been

awesome

to

have

supernatural

strength

by

God's

spirit

to

have

the

spirit

upon

us

the

good

news

is

is

that

Jesus

has

come

to

put

his

spirit

upon

us

now

it

may

not

result

in

supernatural

strength