The work of the Holy Spirit - pagina 139

" :

NOT LIKE UNTO US two remain united even in and

moment that He that God may be " I

saw the

(John

i.

99

after death, to continue so until the

shall deliver the

Kingdom unto God

the Father,

Hence the descriptive remark of John descending from heaven, and it abode on Him

all in all.

Spirit

32).

And

finally, to the question why the Person of the Mediator needed this remarkable event and the three signs that accompany it, we answer: First, Christ must be a true man even in His office, wherefore He must be installed according to the human custom. He enters upon His public ministry at thirty; He is publicly installed; and

He

anointed with the Holy Spirit.

is

Second, for His

human

consciousness this striking revelation

from heaven was of the utmost necessity. The conflict of the temptation was to be absolute, i.e., indescribable ; hence the impression of His consecration must be indestructible. Third, for the apostles and the Church it was necessary to distinguish unmistakably the true Messiah from all the pseudo-mesThis is the reason of St. John's strong siahs and antichrists. appeal to this event.

is

If the work of the Holy Spirit with reference to the consecration conspicuous and clearly indicated, the fact that the official influ-

ence of the Holy Spirit accompanied the Mediator throughout the entire administration of His office is not less clearly set forth in the

Holy

Scripture.

ing the Baptism.

This appears from the events immediately followSt. Luke relates that Jesus being full of the Holy

was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. St. Matthew To be tempted of the devil." Of Elias, Ezekiel, and others it is said that the Spirit took them up and transferred them to some other place. This stands in evident connection with what we read here concerning Jesus. With this difference, however, that while the propelling power came to them from without, Jesus, being full of the Holy Spirit, felt its pressure in the very depths of His soul. And yet, altho operating in His soul, this action of the Holy Spirit was not identical with the impulses of Christ's human nature. Of Himself Jesus would not have gone into the desert; His going Only in this way there was the result of the Holy Spirit's leading. Spirit,

adds:

this

"

passage receives

That

its full

act appears

from

St.

explanation.

Spirit was not limited to this one Luke, who relates (chap. iv. 14) that after the

this leading of the

Holy

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