Was Jesus Filled with the Holy Spirit Before He was Baptized?

When the angel Gabriel told Mary she would conceive without the help of Joseph, she asked how was this possible? He told her that the power of God {Holy Spirit} would cause her impregnation (Luke 1:35). This was necessary because the body of Jesus had to be formed without the stain of Original Sin. This issue was created when Adam rebelled against God and fell from grace. It was because Jesus’ body was created free from sin that the Spirit of the Word of God {one of three spirit entities known as the Triune Godhead}, could indwell it. Thus, at the Birth of Jesus, the Spirit of the Word of God was able to indwell the infant body of Jesus. However, the Word of God could no longer radiate the full power of His divinity.

Jesus would show three of His disciples a brief glimpse of this power at His Transfiguration. In His human incarnation, He voluntarily “emptied Himself” or set aside some of some the divine powers He had as part of the Godhead (Philippians 2:6-7). He would instead channel the powers of the Godhead by way of the Holy Spirit.

While Jesus was supernaturally conceived, He was naturally born and apparently experienced a childhood as that of the average 1^stcentury Jewish boy. We are told He, “… grew in wisdom, stature and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:52). Meaning He was intellectually bright, physically healthy and seen as godly in His demeanor. Because He was genetically engineered by the Holy Spirit, we might rightfully assume He was also a handsome child, obedient and a prodigy in His ability to read, memorize and fully comprehend Scripture and fluently speak four languages {Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Latin}. We could also assume that the Holy Spirit protected Him from harm as in the case of King Herod who tried to have Him murdered as an infant.

At the age of twelve we are told He entered the Temple in Jerusalem, and for three days listened to daily teachings while also entering into complex theological dialogues which no doubt challenged many of the traditional Jewish doctrines. We are told that the priests were “astounded” at His depth of knowledge at such an early age (Luke 2:46). So we can know that the Holy Spirit was always present to protect and nurture the physical Jesus who had the indwelling of the Word of God. Or, to be more precise God the Word.

We do not read of Jesus having the indwelling of the Holy Spirit nor creating miracles until He leaves Nazareth and is baptized by John the Baptist. Immediately after His baptism, we are told for the first time that the “Holy Spirit” visibly descended on Him and led Him into the wilderness to find and confront Satan (Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:1). And soon after this event, He attended a wedding at Cana of Galilee where Scripture tells us He created His first miracle (John 2:7-11). However, there can be little doubt that the Holy Spirit had earlier indwelled Jesus many times in order to serve as a conduit for God the Father to pass on to Him plans concerning the mission that He was born to fulfill. While the Triune Godhead had met to devise a plan to bring eternal life to mankind, the now fully human Jesus would not have remembered that meeting (Revelation 13:8). It would have to be gradually revealed to Him who He was before His human incarnation, and the various parts of His mission while here on the Earth. At these times, the Holy Spirit would indwell Him just as it had done with many of the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets. King David was a prime example of begging God to send and allow the Holy Spirit to remain in him (Psalm 51:11). We read that the Spirit of the Lord began to stir Samson, but later “came upon him {indwelled} mightily” (Judges 14:6;19; Judges 15:14). But the permanent indwelling would not be available to the human race until the Feast of Pentecost in 33 AD. It was at that time that Jesus fulfilled a promise He made to His Disciples to send a “Comforter” to indwell and permanently reside in them (John 16:7). He was of course talking about the Holy Spirit.

So this explains why Jesus came to John to be baptized. We read that John was indwelled with the Holy Spirit at birth (Luke 1:15). But because Pentecost had not yet taken place, this phrase is to be taken as John was born indwelled by the Holy Spirt, but it did not permanently reside in him. It indwelled him each time God would send him a prophecy or an action He wanted him to take. This was the same with all prophets and their revelations.

Jesus found John baptizing people on the eastern side of the Jordan River. This location was near the place where Joshua crossed into the promised Land 1500 years earlier. John preached that while he baptized with water, he was only preparing the way for one who would baptize with the Fire of the Holy Spirit. Jesus waited until everyone had been baptized and then He approached John (Luke 3:21). John was a blood relative of Jesus’ and no doubt would have met Him over the past 30 years. They would have regularly met while attending one or more of the 7 annual Feasts that took place in Jerusalem. John would also have been informed by his mother, Elizabeth, about the impregnation of her close relative Mary, her meeting with Gabriel and that Jesus would become the King of the Jews. Therefore, John was shocked to see Jesus appear and request to be baptized. John would have been at a loss as to why Jesus would need to be baptized. He even said it would be more proper for Jesus to baptize him (Matthew 3:14).

Jesus then told John that His being baptized was in the will of God (Matthew 3:15). This shows that John could not have had the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit or he would have known in advance that Jesus was coming to be baptized by him. But John had been given a revelation by God through the Holy Spirit. He was told that he would see the Holy Spirit literally settle or indwell and envelop the Anointed One of God (Isaiah 11:2; John 1:33). John baptized Jesus and saw the heavens open and an image like that of a fluttering dove came down and enveloped Jesus (Matthew 3:16-17; Luke 3:21-22).

This was the first permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit into any human. The Holy Spirit would now direct Jesus in all His travels, teachings, healings and exorcisms. When Jesus would heal, He literally felt the power of the Holy Spirit leave Him (Luke 8:46). Jesus even said He needed, “ the power of the LORD was present for Him to perform miracles.”(Luke 4:18; Luke 5:17; Acts 1:2; Acts 2:22; I Peter 3:18).

So, Jesus spiritually existed eternally as the Word of God. Mary’s egg contributed 23 chromosomes from the lineage of King David, while the power of the Holy Spirit provided the 23 male chromosomes needed to create His human body. Jesus grew up under the care of the Holy Spirit. At the age of 30 He began His ministry with the symbolic physical act of being spiritually indwelled by the Holy Spirit. This event was one of only three times when the Triune Godhead revealed itself. (1) God the Father was heard saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”, (2) God the Holy Spirit appeared and indwelled Jesus who was already indwelled by (3) the Spirit of God the Word.

Remarkable!