Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. Luke 4:14-15 NIV
What does that mean? In the power of the Spirit?
As I read about Jesus I am reminded that he lived his life on the interface between the natural and the supernatural. The Holy Spirit – the Spirit of God, the creator, the father – was and is something that is invisible yet powerful. Like the wind which cannot be seen but which can drive huge wind turbines that can produce the energy needed for all sorts of everyday activities, the Holy Spirit produces energy required for daily life. Jesus allowed his life to be empowered by that Spirit and it gave him the strength and resolve to do the things that the Father had given him to do.
We live busy and often exhausting lives. We get burnt out by the trials and tests we experience. Where do we go to get reinvigorated? Where do we seek rest? Where do we find the energy and inspiration that we need to keep going? To know what the next step is and to take it?
Jesus appears to have looked to the Spirit for those things. He was guided by the Spirit, whether that meant entering the wilderness or “going home.” And he walked and talked in the “power of the Spirit.” Sometimes it led to people praising him. But sometimes it led to pain and suffering and persecution. But whatever the outcome, Jesus “lived in the Spirit.”
It would be good for us to try to do the same.
a doctor reads luke 