Luke 2:25 (ESV)
Now there was a man in Jerusalem,
whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the
consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
The Holy spirit was upon Simeon. Three
times in three verses the Spirit is mentioned here. The Spirit was upon him. The
Spirit revealed to him that he would not see death until he had seen Messiah. He
came into the temple in the Spirit. Three chapters later the Holy Spirit fills
Jesus and leads him into the wilderness.
Luke is the prequel to Acts in
which the Holy Spirit’s work is central. Some have even suggested that the Acts
of the Apostles should be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit. So it is entirely
appropriate that the Holy Spirit should be significant so early in the gospel. In
chapter one it was prophesied that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit
even from his mother’s womb. Elizabeth was also filled with the Holy Spirit in
Luke 1:41 and Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit in Luke 1:67. In fact
the Holy Spirit is referred to twelve times in the first four chapters of Luke.
A focus on the Holy Spirit
resurfaced in the 1970s in America during the charismatic renewal, but up to
that point, in many evangelical churches the Holy Spirit was largely the
forgotten member of the Trinity. Even today we often function as though he
doesn’t exist. We celebrate Jesus. We pray to the Father. We give occasional
lip service to the Holy Spirit. Yet Jesus instructed his disciples to wait in
Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit had come upon them. Ministry, and indeed the Christian
life is impossible apart from the Holy Spirit.
I’m not talking about needing
some extra experience apart from salvation. We can debate that. I’m simply
saying that apart from the Holy Spirit active in our lives, we are powerless. The
ministry of the Holy Spirit is central to the gospel, central to the ministry
of Jesus, and central to the Acts of the Apostles. We are told not to grieve
the Holy Spirit. We are told that he is the comforter who comes alongside us.
We are told that he is the one who gives us the words to say when we do not know
how to respond. We are told that we pray to the Father in the name of the Son
in the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing we do as believers in Jesus Christ can
be done apart from the Holy Spirit. May it never again be said that he is the
forgotten member of the Trinity.
Comments
Post a Comment