In or On
August 27 —Mark 1:9–13
As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. (Mark 1:10)
Forgive me if it appears to be semantics, but is there a difference between the Holy Spirit coming “upon” you and the Holy Spirit coming “into” you? I believe there is and it raises an interesting question in our text. Most translations speak of the Holy Spirit coming “upon” Jesus when He rose up from the water. However, the Greek word translated here as “on” or “upon” is a word that, in the tense it is used, is often translated “into” — perhaps even more than it is translated “on” or “upon.”
Again I ask, does this make any difference in how we understand what happened to Jesus? What is the difference in relationship if the Holy Spirit were “on” Him or “in” Him? Is there any reason why we can’t consider the Holy Spirit coming “into” Jesus at His baptism?
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Some are still wondering what difference it makes. Again, I apologize if it seems like I am just playing with words, but I believe there are two important reasons to consider this. First of all, the idea of the Holy Spirit being “on” someone conjures up a picture of someone being influenced by the Spirit. It is as though His “suggestions” are high on our list of considerations. Many people are comfortable with this picture. They believe that this is precisely what the Holy Spirit does. He whispers to our hearts and our hearts then either accept or reject His counsel. However, I believe this detracts from the actual power or authority which the Holy Spirit both commands and maintains in the fully surrendered life.
Paul, in speaking of our adoption into God’s family through Jesus Christ, says in Galatians 4 that “because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!” The Holy Spirit does not just settle upon us and influence us to believe that there is a God. He is literally sent into the hearts of believers to confirm in us and then declare through us that the One and only God is our Heavenly Father! The Holy Spirit then continues to be that authoritative voice in our hearts who keeps us on track as we follow the Lord.
You see, He dwells in us and not just upon us. We find evidence of this in Romans 8:26 which declares, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”
The Holy Spirit is not a “heavenly operator” sitting somewhere out there who patches us through to God. He is God abiding in us and knows us so well that when we can’t express what our spirit is feeling, He can. He is not only our Teacher, but our Interpreter. He is not only our Disciplinarian, but our Comforter. He is not merely with us, but He is in us when we surrender our will to God and grant Him access to our lives.
That is exactly what Jesus, the Man of God, did at His baptism. I would never presume to suggest that Jesus was without the Holy Spirit before His baptism. If John the Baptist had the Holy Spirit abiding in him before he was born, certainly Jesus did! What Jesus did again at His baptism was relate to mankind. He experienced anew the Spirit entering His life just as you and I do when we fully surrender to the Lord.
So, what is your relationship with the Holy Spirit? Is He abiding in you as you have surrendered your life to Christ and granted the Holy Spirit access? Or, is He only upon your life as an influence to whom you have not fully surrendered, but only consider as a source of advice? Perhaps this is not a question you want to ask, but it is one we all need to ask if we are going to be Jesus’ disciples.
