Luke 1:14-17
You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children[a] and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
The Holy Spirit’s Work in Luke
Luke gives considerable prominence to the work of the Holy Spirit. In Luke 1:13–17, his first passage mentioning the Spirit, Luke narrated how the angel had announced to Zacharias that his wife, Elizabeth, would bear him a son even though she was getting on in years. John was a prophet, but even more than a prophet, for he was the predicted special messenger to prepare Messiah’s way before Him (Mal. 3:1; Luke 7:24–27). So there was no greater prophet than he in the Old Testament period. Certainly Elijah’s and Elisha’s many miracles of healing, raising the dead, providing food, and more demonstrated that they were empowered by the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist, however, manifested the power of the Spirit not as a worker of miracles but as a preacher of righteousness.
From His baptism on, Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit. As a Spirit-appointed man, Jesus is a perfect example for the Christian. All believers should know they are sons and daughters of God (1John 2:3, 5; 3:24), and that they have the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9). After their baptism in the Spirit, they should know that they can count on the Spirit to work supernaturally in and through them. Anointed with the same Spirit that descended upon the Lord Jesus, Christians should expect to do the works of healing and deliverance that Isaiah prophesied for the Messiah to perform.
The appearance of the risen Lord came shortly before His ascension back to heaven (Luke 24:44–49). This is one of the occasions when Jesus commissioned His followers to be witnesses. They would be clothed with power from on high, that is supernatural power. According to verse 50–53, after the Ascension the disciples awaited the fulfillment of this promise with great joy. They were continually in the temple praising God, as well as devotion themselves to prayer (Acts 1:14). The earnest child of God today seeking the baptism of the Spirit may well imitate their attitude of expectancy, joyous praise, and prayerfulness. {eoa}
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