Matthew 12:18
Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put my Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.
I suspect this is just the first of the many times we'll see the Spirit coming upon humanity, though in this case, the Spirit is said to come upon Christ. Can you imagine, God placing his Spirit upon God living in flesh? I've often wondered why this needed to happen to Christ. Surely the Spirit was already upon the Incarnated God.
No, there was no need for the Spirit to come upon Christ as he does for us to bring our salvation. This coming of the Spirit is that of the coming of God's enabling power upon the humanity side of our Lord, much like the Spirit comes upon the life of a believer to enable them to serve the Lord in difficult times.
Here, we're told that Christ receives the Spirit of the Father to bring a message of justice to the Gentiles. Not to Israel, but for the rest of us. We're not of the family God chose to reveal himself, but we're now included in those who receive the Savior.
So what is this message of justice we needed to hear? Later, Paul would write of the mystery of Christ. The mystery that the Lord of the Jews is also bringing salvation to the Gentiles. This is God's justice, and it was made possible by the coming of the Spirit upon Christ. And with the power of the Spirit at work in us, salvation is for everyone who believes. None need be be excluded. God's love is not an Eastern thing or a Western thing. Even today, it is not a message of love for America, but a longing for every human being. That's God's sense of justice!
I wonder what the world would be like today if the Spirit would reach out and touch us in the same way. A touch for justice. If the Spirit would come on us in this way, we'd fully know God's love for us and be made to love those different than we are in race, social backgrounds, sense of morality and interests. You know those people. They embrace fashion trends which make us uncomfortable. Some struggle with their English as they learn a new way of life. Sometimes, they are homeless, or hungry, or in prisons. But with a heavy dose of the Holy Spirit and God's sense of justice, we'd be empowered to hug even those the world deems as unlovable.
It all starts with a touch of the Spirit coming down upon us for justice. I wonder, could it be that many in our nation suffer greatly simply because the church has failed to know the Spirit who comes for justice? If that's the case, surely our Lord is not well pleased!
LORD JESUS
I invite you fill my heart with your Spirit so that I may understand your sense of justice. Not a justice that seeks my own benefit, but the justice you seek to bring to everyone. Amen.
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