Austin Walker, Crawley

The Spirit’s work at the incarnation

The Spirit of God was directly involved in the creation of the world (Genesis 1:2). It should not surprise us that he was also directly involved in the new creation and, in particular, in the incarnation of the Son of God, the Head of the new creation. Luke mentions the Holy Spirit sixteen times in his Gospel; seven of these are in connection with the incarnation in chapters 1 and 2.

The angel Gabriel told Mary that she was to conceive a child, but there was to be no human father. In Luke 1:35 a perplexed Mary is told that the Holy Spirit will beget this child. It will be a clear demonstration of the power of God and therefore a supernatural begetting: the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. The Spirit shows his creative power in an event rightly called ‘the miracle of miracles’. The incarnation is a deep and holy mystery: we bow in adoration and wonder.

It was in this manner that the Lord Jesus, being the eternal Son of God, became a man with a real human nature. In the words of the Shorter Catechism, he continues ‘to be God and man, in two distinct natures, and one person forever.’ When he became a man all his gifts and graces, and all his abilities – physical, mental, emotional, moral, and spiritual – were the result of the Spirit’s work. Above all, by the work of the Spirit he was incomparably holy, completely free from every taint of sin. Only as the sinless One was Christ qualified to be our Saviour, coming into this disordered world, marred by sin, human sorrows and death, to save sinners. It was as the One who had perfectly obeyed the law of God that he offered himself up as the sacrifice in the place of sinners.

Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth were the childless couple who would become the parents of John the Baptist, the prophet of God who was to bear witness to the Messiah. One day, while Zacharias was serving in the temple, he received a visit from an angel, telling him that his wife would bear a son, who should be called John. Specifically, the angel told him: he will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb (1:15). His strength and message were to be from the Spirit. Most remarkably, the Spirit was active in him even when in his mother’s womb.

This probably explains what happened some time later when he leaped for joy in his mother’s womb just as Elizabeth greeted Mary (1:41, 44). It was at that moment that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She blessed Mary and the child in Mary’s womb. It was by the Spirit that she knew not only who Mary was, but specifically identified the child Mary was now carrying in her womb as my Lord (1:43).

Shortly after John was born, his father’s tongue was freed from dumbness (1:20). The priest now became a prophet also, and was filled with the Holy Spirit (1:67-79). Zacharias speaks about John and the Lord Jesus, blessing God for fulfilling his long-standing promises and covenant oaths to Abraham. It was by the Spirit that Zacharias knew these things, giving him insight into the meaning of the birth of John and his ministry as a prophet, preparing the way for the Lord Jesus Christ.

When Mary and Joseph brought the Lord Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem they were met by Simeon, a man just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him (2:25). He possessed that expectation as a result of the Spirit’s work in his heart. In addition, God gave Simeon a special revelation by the Holy Spirit (2:26), that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. That same Spirit specifically guided Simeon to the temple: Luke says that he came by the Spirit (2:27). Simeon blessed God, speaking in a similar prophetic spirit to Zacharias.

Since the days of Malachi there had been no prophet. Now the stage is set for God to perform his greatest work: the actual salvation of a vast number of sinners. He will accomplish this by sending his Son, our Redeemer, into the world. The Spirit begets him, Mary conceives him. Who can understand such things? We too sit in darkness and the shadow of death (1:79). We need the same Spirit to illuminate our minds in order to understand what God has accomplished through his Son, before we can with Mary rejoice in God my Saviour (1:47). It is by the Word, illuminated by the Spirit, that we can say with faith like Simeon’s, "my eyes have seen your salvation" (2:30). Together with John’s parents and Simeon, and by the same Spirit, songs of praise and thanksgiving must surely flow from our lips: we too must bear witness to the Saviour of the world.