‘Understanding the Holy Spirit’ series – Part 1. ‘The Humanity of Yeshua’
The Well. 5-26-2024
Introduction
Yeshua never reacted to what the enemy did; he responded to the heart of the Father – because of his relationship with the Holy Spirit.
We spend too much time reacting to what the enemy is doing – and not enough time responding to the heart of God.
This is the beginning of a series of messages that I hope will help us understand the nature of the Holy Spirit, with the goal of learning how to fellowship with him.
In order to understand our interaction with the Holy Spirit, we need to understand Yeshua’s relationship with the Spirit of God. We also need some background of the disciples interaction with Yeshua himself.
Understanding the humanity of Yeshua
Since we’re going to be talking about the humanity of Yeshua, I believe it’s important that we understand that he was fully and eternally God, and also fully man, simultaneously.
How is that possible? I don’t know. There are some things in the Kingdom are mysteries.
And of course, he was without sin. Just so we are all on the same page.
Philippians 2:1-11
So if there is any (Since there is) encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit (Gr: koinonia – Lit. “fellowship of the Spirit”, association, community, communion, joint participation ) , any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Agreement, harmony, humility)
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus (MSG: Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself.) 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped (a thing to be held on to for advantage), 7 but emptied himself (set aside his glory), by taking the form of a servant (slave), being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, (once he was a man) he humbled himself (even more) by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Notice: Fellowship in and with the Holy Spirit of God is expressed and demonstrated in understanding humility, both in our relationships with each other, but also understanding the humility and humanity of Yeshua himself.
Yeshua walked in the authority and power of God, NOT because he was God, but because he humbled himself in his humanity.
Everything he did was to guide us and teach us as an example of what the Holy Spirit wants to do in us.
Yeshua was exalted because he humbled himself as a man and became obedient to the point of death. He did not become obedient to death, but he was obedient to the father unto death.
If Yeshua had for one moment used his status as God to accomplish anything during his ministry, then he would have disqualified himself from being the Messiah.
At one time, during his betrayal in the garden of Gethsemane, he did threaten to access his divine authority, but he did not follow through. He would have failed to fulfill prophecy.
Matthew 26:53-54 (CJB)
Don’t you know that I can ask my Father, and he will instantly provide more than a dozen armies of angels to help me? 54 But if I did that, how could the passages in the Tanakh be fulfilled that say it has to happen this way?”
In order to bring redemption to mankind, the Messiah had to be a man born on the earth. The first messianic prophecy in Genesis 3:15 calls Yeshua, “The seed of the woman.”
From the start, Satan knew that was the plan, he just didn’t know when or how. That’s why he tried to destroy or defile or corrupt the human bloodline of the Messiah.
Romans 5:17
For if, because of one man’s trespass (Adam), death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ / Yeshua.
1 Timothy 2:5-6
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
I suspect that in his pride Satan thought he had the upper hand against Yeshua.
After all, he had been manipulating humanity – practically unopposed – for 4000 years.
He knew well how to influence the nature of man.
What he did NOT expect was that this simple man, Yeshua, a craftsman from Nazareth – would be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. !!!!
Did Yeshua do miracles because he was God?
We, as modern believers, generally accept his divinity, but tend to be unfamiliar with his humanity. We struggle to understand how he could’ve been an ordinary flesh and blood man.
The disciples, on the other hand, were familiar with his humanity but struggled to understand his divinity.
I believe the disciples stepped seamlessly into a working relationship with the Holy Spirit because he was so much like Yeshua. This will be recurring theme of this series.
The Holy Spirit is just like Yeshua.
John 14:17 (Yeshua told the disciples) You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
Controversial and Counterintuitive:
I believe that fellowship with the Holy Spirit, (Philippians 2 calls it “participation in the Spirit”) comes more easily when we understand the humanity of Yeshua.
In pursuing an understanding of the miraculous, sooner or later, you will come to this one question that you’ll have to settle in your own mind. If this foundational truth is not established in your heart, the miraculous will be difficult for you to embrace.
Q….. Did Yeshua do miracles because he was God, OR did he do miracles as a man empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit?
If he did miracles because he was God, then we’re impressed, but we’re only spectators.
From this perspective – When we read or hear about God doing a miracle, we are in awe and wonder at his power and majesty – but we cannot hope to do the works he has done. We can only watch.
But, If he did miracles as a man – who was yielded to the Holy Spirit – then we are faced with a choice.
If this is the case – and I’ll show you that it is – then we have been invited / even summoned to follow him into a supernatural relationship – one that will transform us continually.
We are designed to carry the image of our God, to look like him.
John 14:12
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
This is our ideal, our goal. But, Before we do the “greater works”, we have to do the “works that he did”. We have a long way to go.
Personal note
With this in mind I am compelled to pursue God in this supernatural relationship.
I believe that how far I go in that relationship depends on how yielded to the Holy Spirit I choose to be.
I may never reach 100% of the effectiveness God has for me, but I don’t have the luxury of giving up, knowing what I know now.
I don’t have the right to change my assignment to something I’m comfortable doing, or something I’m good at.
The father has no problem calling you to something that makes you uncomfortable.
If I am uncomfortable then he sends me “the comforter”, the Holy Spirit.
God has called you to something beyond your ability – so that you’ll need the Holy Spirit.
If you can build it without the Holy Spirit – then the enemy can tear it down without a problem.
I believe that in order for Yeshua / Jesus to be the Messiah, the first fruits, the first born of the dead, our elder brother, the example for us to follow — he had to be filled with the Holy Spirit and be obedient to the heart of the father, just like we are called to do.
Every supernatural thing he did – every sign, every wonder, and every miracle – he did as a man by the power and direction of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Matthew 12:28
(He himself said…) But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
After being filled with the Holy Spirit at baptism, the spirit never departed from him! Not once during his earthly ministry as a man did he grieve or quench or disappointed the Holy Spirit.
At the beginning of his ministry he declared his purpose – and ours – quoting from Isaiah:
Luke 4:18-19
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Then he declared: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
This same Spirit lives in us.
Romans 8:11
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Everything he needed to know, he learned from the Holy Spirit.
I do not believe that he had access to the information known to the godhead, except by the Holy Spirit. Everything he needed to know, he learned from the Holy Spirit. His personal prayer time was always the priority. I believe he had dreams and visions that revealed the father’s heart for the ministry ahead. The Holy Spirit spoke to him in the moment. He knew the father’s voice, nature and character. Because of the Holy Spirit, he was anointed prophetically to both understand prophecy and to speak prophetically.
All these things are available to us as well.
If we ever confess something like, “Well, he did miracles because he was God….”
Then we do NOT understand our own interaction with the Holy Spirit…… And we will never operate in the power and authority of the Kingdom of God.
During his ministry, he operated under the father’s authority
John 14:10
The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
John 17:1-3
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
As a result of his resurrection, he was given all authority in heaven and earth.
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, (by the Holy Spirit) to the end of the age.”
Back to where it all started for the disciples:
John 1:35-42
35 The next day again John (the Baptist) was standing with two of his disciples (Presumed to be Andrew and John, son of Zebedee) , 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. (4pm) 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him (intently, studied him) and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
Here we see Simon, Andrew, and John getting acquainted with Yeshua before they actually got recruited. It is noteworthy that Yeshua recruited at least two of John’s disciples, Andrew and John.
Notice in v.42 that Yeshua says, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
In the Jewish culture, when someone in authority changed someone else’s name, it meant that he was committing himself to a unique relationship with the person. The new name also implied a new identity and purpose. No doubt Simon / Peter recalled the covenant between God and Abraham after he changed his name from Abram. (Genesis 17:4-6)
Renaming a disciple was a significant act – and for Simon Peter it did several things:
* It implied Yeshua’s good faith commitment to Peter as his rabbi and teacher.
* It implied that there would be a covenant between them.
* It was a way of indicating an important change of purpose and calling for Peter.
* It reveals that Yeshua committed himself to Peter before asking anything of him.
Follow me
In closing – Matthew 4 shares with us the humble beginnings of a band of disciples that will change the world probably more than any other men in history.
They didn’t change the world solely because they we’re trained by Yeshua, they changed the world because they learned how to fellowship with the Holy Spirit, who is just like Yeshua, and participated in his superior reality.
Matthew 4:18-22 (also in Mark 1:16-20, Luke 5:1-11 – below)
18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) (Notice the name change is now a done deal) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”[b] 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Mark 1:16-20
16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
Luke 5:1-11
On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
Mark 1:17
And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
“Follow me, and I will make you into something you are not.”
“You commit to me, and I will transform you.”
Next week: we’re going to dive a little deeper into how intimacy with Yeshua prepared the disciples to step seamlessly into a supernatural relationship with the Holy Spirit.
End of Part 1
