Jesus’ Baptism/ Holy Spirit

Some believe Jesus was not filled with the Holy Spirit until John baptized him but this is false. Jesus was born holy.

Luke 1:35 “The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby born to you will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.”

Some may argue this by saying Jesus didn’t start his “public” ministry until after John baptized him but the baptism was to show the priesthood of John being replaced by the always faithful, never ending priesthood that could not be destroyed by man or evil. It could not be blemished by the sinful actions of men but fulfilled only by all righteous. God himself would replace the old priesthood. (Hebrews 7:15-8:13)

After Jesus baptism, Jesus came up out of the water, the heaven were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased by him.” (Matthew 3:16-17)

All three of the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is represented.

John 3:26-36

“So John's disciples came to him and said, "Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us."

John replied, "No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven.
You yourselves know how plainly I told you, 'I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.' It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. "He has come from above and is greater than anyone else. We are of the earth, and we speak of earthly things, but he has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else. He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but how few believe what he tells them! Anyone who accepts his testimony can affirm that God is true.

For he is sent by God. He speaks God's words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit. The Father loves his Son and has put everything into his hands. And anyone who believes in God's Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn't obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God's angry judgment."

The Jewish priesthood was an image to the real priesthood to come in Jesus Christ (which is now in place.) The Jewish priesthood was to pave a picture pathway for us. What was a priest? What did a priest do? If there were no priests what could God use to help us understand Jesus as our high priest?

Jesus Christ is our high priest who intercedes for you and I. He is not only our high priest but was our Holy sacrifice for our sins. Without Jesus there is no remission or forgiveness for our sins. Jesus is the only way. He is the only high priest and sacrifice that is acceptable. He is the only way into heaven. You want forgiveness for your sins and go to heaven? You go to Jesus. You want a life empowered by the Holy Spirit? You go to Jesus. Praise God! We can come freely to God for these things because of Jesus Christ.

“For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and earth by means of his blood on the cross. This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. “ Colossians 1:19-22

Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus was and is eternal life and to say Jesus needed the baptism of the Holy Spirit would say he wasn’t eternal life to begin with.

Jesus said “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded." John 10:18

Some may say Jesus didn’t know who he was until he read the scriptures about himself but that is false as well. Jesus knew who he was. It would be impossible for God to not know He was God would it not?

If you being human need the Holy Spirit’s help to make sense of the word of God and led you to all truth then how would Jesus be able to make sense of the word of God and teach religious teachers on what the word meant if he didn’t know who he was and hadn’t been baptized by the Spirit yet?

Answer: Jesus was already filled with the Holy Spirit without limit or measure. (John 3:34) The Spirit conceived him in Mary. Jesus knew what the word of God meant because he knew who he was which was the WORD. (John 1:1)

Here’s the account of Jesus when he was 12 years old: “Three days later they finally discovered him. He was in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, discussing deep questions with them. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.” Luke 2:46-47

Remember what John said? “We are of the earth, and we speak of earthly things, but he has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else. He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but how few believe what he tells them!”

Why is this so important? Why does this need to be addressed? Though anointed and Holy Spirit filled baptism works for people it does not work for Jesus.

We must carefully look at people’s interpretation and words. We need to understand that though Jesus came to us in the flesh- born as a baby through the virgin named Mary, we also need to understand the fullness of the God lived within him. We need to understand that Jesus’ lineage is eternal and he created everything there is. He is life. He is God who is and was always righteous in Spirit.

Jesus is God and our priest who came down from heaven and became a human being. He did not have to earn eternal life for he is eternal and his lineage is eternal.

1 John 4:1-

“Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is the way to find out if they have the Spirit of God: If a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ became a human being, that person has the Spirit of God. If a prophet does not acknowledge Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist.”

May the Spirit of God guide and direct your actions.