Jesus Shared the Spirit Who Empowered Him
David W Palmer
Just before ascending to his Father’s right hand, Jesus gave his disciples various instructions. One of them was to wait in Jerusalem until he had “clothed” them with “power from on high.”
(Luke 24:49 ESV) “And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
In the Old Testament, Moses struggled to carry the responsibility of leading and shepherding the whole nation unassisted (See: Num. 11). He asked God to solve his problem. God’s answer was to pour the Spirit that was on the leader onto the elders. This Spirit enabled them to carry the burden with Moses:
(Numbers 11:17 NKJV) “… I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.”
What God did in the Old Testament was a precursor to what he intended to do in the New Testament; in Acts 2, God did a similar thing. He poured the same Spirit that was on Jesus, the leader, onto Jesus’s followers—clothing them with “power from on high.” Jesus had already imparted his vision to them—his vision and call to reach the world with the gospel; he commissioned his disciples to preach, heal, cast out demons, and baptize in his name (Mat. 28:18–20, Mark 16:15–18, etc.).
Then on the Day of Pentecost, after they had waited in Jerusalem for fifty days, he poured his Spirit onto them. This enabled them to fulfill his commission in his strength and power—the same as he had been doing. Having the same spirit also enabled them to function as one unified body: they “were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Cor. 12:13 BSB):
(Acts 1:8 NKJV) “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
(1 Corinthians 12:13 BSB) “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.”
Jesus had previously told his apostles of the urgency of his commission. Yet he did not let them begin until one condition was fulfilled; he said, wait until you are “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49 ESV). That is right, Jesus would not let them launch their ministry and calling until they received the same Spirit that was on him—the Holy Spirit. After the disciples received this power-clothing, they were successful at implementing Jesus’s instructions; they did exactly what he would have done in the same circumstances by the same Spirit. After all, Jesus, the Head of the Church, was guiding and directing them through the Holy Spirit from his position at his Father’s right hand.
(Matthew 28:20 NKJV) “Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
(John 14:17–18 NKJV) “The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
(John 16:13–15 LITV) “But when that One comes, the Spirit of Truth, He will guide you into all Truth, for He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will announce the coming things to you. {14} That One will glorify Me, for He will receive from Mine and will announce to you. {15} All things which the Father has are Mine. For this reason I said that He receives from Mine, and will announce to you.”
Jesus equipped his followers to fulfill his mission by implanting his vision in them, delegating his authority to them, and pouring his Spirit onto them. Then and only then were they ready to carry out his commission. Jesus removed himself physically from their presence, but remained in them and with them by his Spirit, his word, and his vision:
(John 16:7 NKJV)
