The Power of the Spirit

 November 7, 2020

After Jesus was baptized by John, Mark says Jesus was “driven” by the Spirit into the wilderness. Matthew and Luke have the milder words “he was led” by the Spirit, but I suspect Mark’s perspective may be closer to the reality. Forty days’ fasting, followed by a personal engagement with the devil is not the sort of thing most people would undertake without a bit of resistance. Matthew and Mark conclude the Temptation narrative by telling us that Jesus then began his ministry. Luke adds one important bit of information the others left out. He tells us that Jesus returned “in the power of the Spirit” to Galilee. 

We read words like this without really paying attention, missing significant truth in the process. Luke makes this statement without elaborating as to what he meant by “in the power of the Spirit.” We often imagine that the power of the Spirit has to do with such things as miracles, supernatural gifts, etc. but here, no such manifestations are mentioned until the middle of the chapter. Instead, Luke simply tells us that Jesus preached, taught, drew crowds, and quickly made enemies. He did cast out an evil spirit, healed Peter’s mother in law and everyone who came to him in their illnesses, but these are mentioned almost off-handedly, making me wonder.

What would it mean for me to walk in the power of the Spirit? I confess I don’t often feel very powerful, especially when preaching. I can go for days at a time, reading my Bible and praying, without feeling any sense of a special visitation from God. So I ask, what does it mean to live in the power of the Spirit? Here’s a possibility:

Linda and I had plans. Those plans are now up in the air because someone insisted on injecting themselves into the situation. I was not happy. My mother always told us to keep our original commitments even if something better came along. Well, this isn’t something better, and I am not happy to be asked to change. I sputtered and fumed, while Linda graciously listened, finally reminding me to “do the right thing,” which is not what I wanted to do. By myself, I would plant my feet and refuse to change plans. I don’t want to change, but tonight, walking in the power of the Spirit looks a lot like giving in. 

Living by the Spirit’s power isn’t always fancy, showy miracles. Sometimes, it’s just doing what we don’t want to do, allowing him to humble our proud hearts, and soften our hard resistance to doing what is rig