Divested of divine omniscience—Jesus laid aside all divine qualities to become a man—Jesus depended upon the Holy Spirit.
In this, He serves as an example for us. The voice of the Spirit of God was constantly sounding in Jesus’ hearing. Sight and insight from the Spirit flashed on the screen of His human mind. That is how He saw Nathanael under the fig tree. This is how He read the minds of the priests and Pharisees. All minds were open to the Spirit and thus available to Jesus.
Jesus and Passover
John tells of Jesus’ first Passover visit to Jerusalem during His ministry. He had been here before as a child, a young man, and as simply a man of Israel. This time He did not come to listen and ask questions as He did at age 12. This time He came to give answers to the questions of others, to point the way to the Kingdom of God, and to work the wonders predicted by the prophets.
There had been others who claimed to be Messiah—slick politicians and marginally mad rebels—but none of these candidates did what Jesus did. Constantly informed by the Spirit of God, Jesus revealed the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven and invited people into it. He brought the healing power of creation to rebuild lives and bodies ruined and ravaged by diseases. No other “Messiah” had done these things.
Some of the People Followed Him
The result was division. People were divided in their response to Him—some responding in faith and others in skepticism. The leaders were not so divided. Very few of them welcomed Jesus. By the Spirit, Jesus knew the difference. John says that He needed no screening committees to investigate who might be for or against Him.
“He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man,
for He knew what was in man.”
So Jesus did not commit Himself to any of these groups. The time would come when all would have to decide who they believed Him to be, but not just yet. Now was the time to plant the seeds of the Kingdom, to spread the Word, and to flow as a healing stream through the wounded nation.
Divine Knowledge Shared
The truly amazing thing about the Incarnation of Christ is this exchange of the Divine for the Human. He laid aside His divinity to become a human being like us. In this Jesus set the example of how New Covenant spirituality would work. We, of course, do not walk in complete knowledge, but we have “the mind of Christ” as we live the Christian Life. God knows all, and through His Divine Spirit, He informs us of the things we need to know to rise to meet the challenges of the Christian life.
Principles and Power
One of the promises of the New Covenant is that the Lord would write the Word of God into our hearts. (Hebrews 8:10, 16) This enables us to “know” what is really going on around us. We have principles to live by that are proven true. At moments of crisis and opposition, we also have spiritual power to give answers, reveal hidden agendas, and rebuke unrighteousness as the Spirit delivers “the mind of Christ.”
In short—Jesus knows! And, as we need it, He shares what He knows with us.
Scriptures:
John 2:23-25
Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
Philippians 2:5-11 NLT
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
1 Corinthians 2:10-16 NKJV
For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, how lovely is the voice of Your Spirit sounding in my heart! You do not leave me to my own thoughts, but inform my thinking according to Your Word. Your words are the words of life. They are candles in the darkness of this world. The Psalmist said that You are with us at all times and all the time You are speaking. Thank You for the sweetness of Your tender voice and the profound truth You keep before me. Thank You, Lord Jesus!
Song:
Speak, My Lord
Words and Music: George Bennard;
1. Hear the Lord of harvest sweetly calling,
Who will go and work for Me today?
Who will bring to Me the lost and dying?
Who will point them to the narrow way?
Refrain
Speak, my Lord, speak, my Lord,
Speak, and I’ll be quick to answer Thee;
Speak, my Lord, speak, my Lord,
Speak, and I will answer, Lord, send me.
2. When the coal of fire touched the prophet,
Making him as pure, as pure can be,
When the voice of God said, Who’ll go for us?
Then he answered, Here I am, send me.
Refrain
3. Millions now in sin and shame are dying,
Listen to their sad and bitter cry;
Hasten, brother, hasten to the rescue;
Quickly answer, Master, here am I.
Refrain
4. Soon the time for reaping will be over;
Soon we’ll gather for the harvest home;
May the Lord of harvest smile upon us,
May we hear His blessèd, Child, well done.
Refrain
THE JESUS STORY SERIES
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