Luke’s Theology of the Holy Spirit
by Cliff Pash

From the beginning, Genesis speaks of the work of the Holy Spirit. Throughout the Tanakh or Old Testament, the Spirit of God empowers people for the purpose of carrying out the will of the Father here on the earth as it is being done in heaven. In the Tanakh, the Spirit of the Living God worked to establish a community of God's Chosen People in the desert through many miracles, beginning with the plagues on Egypt, in order to force Pharaoh to set the Hebrew children free from the bondage of slavery.

Throughout the Tanakh, the Holy Spirit continued to do what he could to guide the people and to warn the people. Many times, the Spirit brought the curses of Dueteronomy on the Hebrew children with the express purpose of turning them back to the Lord through Repentance. The most common means the Spirit used was to speak through various people as prophets. Many times the words of the prophets were backed up with miraculous signs and wonders such as those done through the ministry of Elijah and Elisha. At other times, the Spirit gave tremendous physical strength to Samson and others. It was through Words of Knowledge spoken through the prophets that Hebrew kings knew what the plans of the enemy were. The Lord's desire was to bless a people with the Presence of the Living God and thus form them into a people through whom His character could be shown to every tribe and tongue: "so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other." (1 Kgs 8:60)

Many of the prophets told of a coming Messiah who would walk in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The Messiah would be granted: "the fullest endowment of the Spirit which is recorded in Scripture: the six fold Spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength, and knowledge and fear of the Lord."1

Additionally, the prophet Joel predicted that the outpouring of the Spirit would eventually be for all mankind, which, in context, meant Israel. Isaiah prophesied of a time when Salvation would come to the Gentiles through the Messiah. Joel's prophecy was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost and Isaiah's was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit came upon the entire family of Cornelius.

There are prophecies in the Tanakh that tell of a Sanctification work, or an indwelling work the Holy Spirit will do in the heart's of the believers. Luke has decided to only concentrate on one aspect of the Holy Spirit and how He was given to all mankind for the empowering works of service unto the Lord.

"..since the gift of the Spirit to Jesus inaugurates and empowers His mission, then, whatever meaning Spirit baptism might have in other contexts, it has the same primary charismatic meaning for the mission of the disciples as the anointing by the Spirit had for the charismatic mission of Jesus." 2

The discerning reader will note five highlights in story of the Holy Spirit as told by Luke in Luke/Acts. They might be listed as follows:

A. Foreshadowing of Joel's outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all peoples (Luke 1-4)
B. Foreshadowing of the Holy Spirit coming to clothe the Jewish People(Luke 10)
C. The death of Jesus upon the cross
B' the Holy Spirit baptizing (clothing) all Jewish People (Acts 2:4)
A' The Holy Spirit baptizing (clothing) all peoples (Acts 10:44)

Luke, then, should be expected to record the workings of the Holy Spirit from the time John the Baptizer was formed in the womb. While the story of Jesus and the Holy Spirit are very closely intertwined, Luke's "big picture" is the story of the Holy Spirit, beginning with an increase of activity resulting in prophetic speech from ordinary people such as Zechariah, Mary and Simeon. The first three chapters of Luke lay out the fulfillment to come of the prophesy of Joel. Ordinary people are prophesying, wise men from far away receive visions and Shepherds see the Glory of the Lord. Indeed, Luke's emphasis is on the renewed Holy Spirit activity as it foreshadows the coming Messiah.

Not only is the story of the Holy Spirit one of prophetic speech coming upon ordinary people, Jesus, himself, must also be anointed by the same Holy Spirit and must be empowered to begin His ministry, recorded at the time of His water baptism. Once empowered by the Holy Spirit, Jesus goes to Nazareth and foreshadows the fullness of purpose for His ministry when he tells the crowd that His mission will be to bring the blessings of God to all of the peoples of the earth, including the Gentiles (Luke 4:25-27). Salvation will come to the Gentiles through the ministry of the Messiah, then, fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah..

The next "Main Event" is found in Luke 10 when Jesus sends out the 72 disciples with the fullness of His anointing and authority to cast out demons and to heal the sick. Luke records the overwhelming success of this mission in that it worked! The disciples took the authority Jesus gave them, and did the same works they had seen Jesus doing on a day to day basis. The disciples were Jewish people who ministered to Jewish people in the charismatic giftings that would soon be given to all Jewish "believers" after the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:4. The success of this mission is so complete that Luke records Jesus "seeing" Satan fall like lightning from Heaven and then being filled with the Joy of the Holy Spirit.

The fullness of the foreshadowed events could not occur until after Jesus had been crucified upon the cross. Thousands of books have been written and many thousands more will be written concerning the importance of the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus and we may be no closer to really understanding what actually happened in the heavenly realm by His death and subsequent resurrection. From Luke's perspective, however, the great theological questions do not need to be answered today.

The words of Jesus after His crucifixion and before His ascension into heaven are clear, although our understanding of His words may not be complete. After the crucifixion, Jesus tells His disciples to wait "in the city until you have been equipped with power from above" (Luke 24:49). Luke has Jesus asking them "didn't the Messiah have to die like this before entering His Glory?" (Luke 24:26). Therefore, something in the death and resurrection brought glory to Jesus, allowing the Holy Spirit to eventually be poured out upon all flesh, empowering them in a way that had never happened before in history. This empowering had been prophesied, and it was finally about to happen. The remaining two "main events" are yet to come in Volume 2 of Luke's great work, now called the Book of Acts.

One the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the 120 disciples who were praying and seeking the Lord in an upper room.

"Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.......All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." Acts 2:4

The consequence of this filling caused thousands of people flocking to the temple to be drawn to the sound of so many people prophesying and praising God in many tongues. Each listener could hear them speaking in their own language. Immediately following the tremendous prophetic outburst, a sermon given by Peter declared this experience to be that which was foretold by Joel, that the Power of the Holy Spirit would one day be poured out upon all (Jewish) flesh, and not just the leaders.

The sermon of Peter and the Presence of the Living God now living in the 120 spoke directly to the hearts of all who were bystanders and three thousand of them repented before the Lord and took a Mikvah bath of repentance that very day. Peter and the believers were filled again after being taken into custody by the religious authorities and released. (Acts 4:31). The disciples prayed that God would:

"....enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."

Finally, the fullest intentions of the Living God are completed in Acts 10:44 when the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles at the House of Cornelius. Salvation had come to the Gentiles! It came through the people God had chosen so long ago during the lifetime of Abraham and called to this very purpose in Genesis 12:3. "through you, all the families of the earth will be blessed." and, you are "to be a light for the Gentiles (Is 42:6). There are numerous other prophecies of Salvation coming to all the Gentile people of the earth through His Chosen People. (Is 26:16-18, Is 49:6)

What a remarkable story, yet, there are still some issues left in defining what is meant by the Holy Spirit coming to the earth and what specific purposes Luke intends to portray through his stories of the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Luke does not deal with the prophecies in Ezekiel and in Jeremiah as concerns the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit for purposes of Sanctification. Those prophecies are specifically for the Holy Spirit's function in replacing a heart of Stone with a heart of Flesh, writing Torah upon the hearts of the believer, breaking the chains of sin and death not living life as a victim of the past or as a product of the past, but living each day in its present day fullness. The Mosaic Law was "not able to clear the conscience of the worshipper." Luke, however, leaves that story for John and Paul to tell.

Luke tells the story of the function of the Holy Spirit that empowered the leadership in ancient Israel, the empowering that came upon Moses, David, Samson, Elijah and Elisha. Luke also tells us that Jesus needed the same anointing for empowerment and service, the same anointing for ministry as those in the Old Testament. Luke tells us that the very same Holy Spirit was now coming upon all of the Chosen People of God, eventually coming upon Gentile Believers also. Luke wants us to see that the same anointing that did such great and marvelous works in the past was the very same anointing or clothing or baptism that is now available to each of us in our present day. Luke want us to understand that Jesus really meant it when he said we would do greater works than He did because we will receive the same Messianic Anointing that empowered Him..

"By this transfer of the Spirit, the disciples become the heirs and successors to the earthly charismatic ministry of Jesus: that is, because Jesus has poured out the charismatic Spirit upon them the disciples will continue to do and teach those things which Jesus began to do and teach"3

"...since the gift of the Spirit to Jesus inaugurates and empowers His mission, then, whatever meaning Spirit baptism might have in other contexts, it has the same primary charismatic meaning for the mission of the disciples as the anointing by the Spirit had for the charismatic mission of Jesus."4

Of all the giftings the "clothing" or empowerment of the Holy Spirit brings about through the lives of the obedient believer, it is that of Prophecy, or "Inspired Speech" that is the most common in Luke/Acts. Whenever the Holy Spirit is said to come upon, clothe, or fill (etc.), some form of prophetic speech typically follows. Many examples are listed above, and Jesus even encourages believers of the future in Luke 12:12 that they are not even to worry about what to say when they face persecution, for:

"the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

The Holy Spirit then, functions as much more than a salvific entrance to the community of faith. Luke/Acts focuses on the Holy Spirit's anointing primarily identified with the renewal of prophecy (or Spirit inspired speech) as well as other forms of empowerment resulting in signs and wonders following the preaching of the Word. Such Spirit Power had been identified as end-time giftings reserved for the true Israel. The Jewish people of Jesus' day had come to believe that the Prophetic words from God had ceased, resulting in the Chosen People of God putting most of their Religious energy into their study of Torah. Suddenly, prophecy was now being restored. God is speaking to His people once again!

"Luke/Acts also asserts that its community is a prophetic one whose reception of the Spirit marked it as the eschatological people of God (Acts 2:1-7).......Consequently the Lukan church, like the DSS community, uttered inspired intelligible speech as well as inspired, ecstatic speech." 5

Luke has examined the purposes and workings of the Holy Spirit throughout the Tanakh and ascribes them to the ministry of Messiah. Holy Spirit anointing in the Tanakh was for leadership to be empowered with whatever skills were necessary to lead the Community of Faith - God's Chosen People - to their ultimate purposes, developing a Community of Faith and bringing Salvation to the Gentiles. It was to be through the His people that God would be revealed to the nations.

The Holy Spirit empowerment was to be vocational, that is, for service - doing the works God preordained for us to do before the foundations of the earth were laid. Without His empowerment, they would be our works. He will supply whatever power is necessary and whatever form is the most effective in order that His Chosen People bring salvation to the Gentiles. This empowerment is not to be used only as a spiritual blessing for the individual or for the community of faith. A prophetic voice speaking in concert with a demonstration of the Power of the Holy Spirit will accomplish the purposes of Almighty God.

If Jesus came and did all the things that only God could do, we would have no power or hope to bring salvation to the lost and healing to the wounded in our generation. Because Jesus came fully as a man, He was empowered for service in the same way that we are to be empowered for service. Therefore, when the empowerment or clothing of the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we are enabled to do the very same things when they are needed in our day and in our age.

In the same way as the clothing of the Holy Spirit came upon the Old Testament saints for a specific task, the Holy Spirit will come upon us for specific tasks. Therefore, if Peter was filled on three separate occasions for three separate acts of service, we should expect that each time we are called to service, believers should seek that same empowerment. In Luke, the Greek tenses of the verb show this empowerment to not be a one time filling, being permanent and continuous. The empowerment is for a specific task (short or long term) or for several tasks of service to establish and develop the Kingdom of God upon the earth. Our God will give as much of the Holy Spirit empowerment as is needed to accomplish His goals on the earth (Luke 11:13)

The mission of the Holy Spirit is then, to draw all men unto the Lord, place them in a Community of Faith in which each man can grow and develop into the likeness of Jesus, become empowered through the clothing of the Holy Spirit to speak prophetically inspired words which then encourage and draw other men. Ultimately this process will fulfill the original covenant God made with Abraham - that we who have been the most blessed will "become a blessing to all men." It will be through us, the people He has chosen, forgiven, blessed and empowered that every tribe and tongue will come before him, that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is the Lord and it will be through us:
"that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other." (1 Kgs 8:60)