Memory Text: Luke 1:35 KJV “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”

Sunday, April 9 Miracle Birth
What role did the Holy Spirit play in the birth of Jesus?
Matthew 1:18-20 Holman “18 ¶ The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. 20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit.”
Matthew 1:20 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE Jesus Christ was a real creation in the womb of the virgin, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:35 NKJV “And the angel answered and said to her, "[The] Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”
Luke 1:35 COMMENTARY ROBERTSON’S WORD PICTURES The Miraculous Conception or Virgin Birth of Jesus is thus plainly set forth in Luke as in Matthew. The fact that Luke was a physician gives added interest to his report.
Additional texts to help us understand the account of Jesus’ birth:
Genesis 1:2 MKJV “And the earth was without form and empty. And darkness [was] on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters.”
John 3:3-8 God’s Word to the Nations “3 Jesus replied to Nicodemus, "I can guarantee this truth: No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." 4 Nicodemus asked him, "How can anyone be born when he’s an old man? He can’t go back inside his mother a second time to be born, can he?" 5 Jesus answered Nicodemus, "I can guarantee this truth: No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh and blood give birth to flesh and blood, but the Spirit gives birth to things that are spiritual. 7 Don’t be surprised when I tell you that all of you must be born from above. 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you don’t know where the wind comes from or where it’s going. That’s the way it is with everyone born of the Spirit."”
Romans 8:11 20th Century NT “And, if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives within you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give Life even to your mortal bodies, through his Spirit living within you.”

Monday, April 10 Anointed by the Spirit
What role did the Holy Spirit play in Christ’s ministry? Matthew 3:16-17 Holman “16 After Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him. 17 And there came a voice from heaven: This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him!”
Matthew 3:16 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE This passage affords no mean proof of the doctrine of the Trinity. That three distinct persons are here, represented, there can be no dispute. 1. The person of Jesus Christ, baptized by John in Jordan. 2. The person of the Holy Ghost in a bodily shape like a dove. 3. The person of the Father; a voice came out of heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, &c. The voice is here represented as proceeding from a different place to that in which the persons of the Son and Holy Spirit were manifested; and merely, I think, more forcibly to mark this Divine personality.
Mark 1:10 Holman “As soon as He came up out of the water, He saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending to Him like a dove.”
Luke 3:21-22 Holman “21 ¶ When all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized. As He was praying, heaven opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: You are My beloved Son. I take delight in You!”
John 1:32-34 Holman “32 And John testified, “I watched the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He rested on Him. 33 I didn’t know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The One you see the Spirit descending and resting on––He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God!””
These texts show how the Holy Spirit played a continuing role:
Matthew 4:1 KJ21 “Then was Jesus led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
Mark 1:12 KJ21 “And immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.”
Luke 4:1 KJ21 “And Jesus, being full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.”

Tuesday, April 11 Guided by the Spirit
John 3:34 ESV “For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.”
John 3:34 COMMENTARY BY JAMIESON, FAUSSET, AND BROWN Here, again, the sharpest conceivable line of distinction is drawn between Christ and all human-inspired teachers: "They have the Spirit in a limited degree; but God giveth not [to Him] the Spirit by measure." It means the entire fulness of divine life and divine power.
How did the Holy Spirit guide Jesus in the main objective of His earthly life?
John 4:34 KJ21 “Jesus said unto them, "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.”
John 4:34 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE In these words, our blessed Lord teaches a lesson of zeal and earnestness to his apostles, and to all their successors in the Christian ministry. Let the salvation of souls lie nearer your heart than life itself. Let eating and drinking, labour and rest, reading, thinking, study, prayer, and all things, be directed to the accomplishment of this great work. Ministers of Jesus! imitate your Lord! Souls are perishing for lack of knowledge-God has given you the key of the kingdom, the knowledge of his word-O open unto them the gate of life! They are dropping by thousands into hell! O pluck the brands out of the burning!
John 6:38 MKJV “For I came down from Heaven, not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.”
John 8:29 NIV “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him."”

Wednesday, April 12 Spirit-Directed Activity, Part 1
Luke 4:18-19 NRSV “18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."”
What part did the Spirit play in Christ’s offering Himself to ransom us?
Hebrews 9:14 NKJV “how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
Hebrews 9:14 PEOPLE’S NT COMMENTARY Led by the Divine Spirit. He was dragged to the sacrifice like the victims, but laid down his own life to take it up again. This he did as God's Anointed, anointed with the Spirit, acting by its power.
How did Peter sum up the Spirit-filled ministry of Jesus?
Acts 10:38 Holman “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and curing all who were under the tyranny of the Devil, because God was with Him.”
Acts 10:38 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES The act of anointing the kings and priests seems to have been emblematic of the influences of the Holy Ghost. Here it means, that God communicated to him the influences of the Holy Spirit, thus setting him apart for the work of the Messiah.

Thursday, April 13 Spirit-Directed Activity, Part 2
1 Peter 3:18 Holman “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God, after being put to death in the fleshly realm but made alive in the spiritual realm.”
Romans 1:4 ASV “who was declared [to be] the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead; [even] Jesus Christ our Lord,”
Romans 8:11 MKJV “But if the Spirit of the [One] who raised up Jesus from [the] dead dwells in you, the [One] who raised up Christ from [the] dead shall also make your mortal bodies alive by His Spirit who dwells in you.”
Who does Paul say raised Jesus from the dead?
Galatians 1:1 MKJV “Paul, an apostle (not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead).”
Ephesians 1:17-20 NKJV “17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what [is] the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated [Him] at His right hand in the heavenly [places],”
What did Jesus Himself say about His resurrection? John 10:17-18 MKJV “17 Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I might take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down from Myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again. I have received this commandment from My Father.”
John 10:18 COMMENTARY BY BARNES Jesus had a right to lay down his life for the good of men. The patriot dies for his country on the field of battle; the merchant exposes his life for gain; and the Son of God had a right to put himself in the way of danger and of death, when a dying world needed such an atoning sacrifice. This shows the peculiar love of Jesus. His death was voluntary. His coming was voluntary-the fruit of love. His death was the fruit of love. He was permitted to choose the time and mode of his death. He did. He chose the most painful, lingering, ignominious manner of death then known to man, and THUS showed his love.