It would be inappropriate if not impossible to talk about the power of the Holy Spirit without talking about his power as he lived in Jesus Christ. Throughout the Bible, the Spirit is noted for his power. He sits in the background in quiet and ever present power, waiting to be called upon to show the magnificence of the one in which he serves; God the Father.
There are many who do not believe that Jesus was instilled with miraculous powers. However, for a God who gave powers to Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and Samson, it would be no stretch to come down to earth and live inside a man that possesses all of the same powers and more. Where did this power come from? How could a man, Jesus, have the power of God and even the power to rise from the dead? Caulley says:
Luke records Jesus’ power to cast out demons “by the finger of God,” an OT phrase for God’s power (Exod. 8:19; Ps 8:3; Luke 11:20). This power is identified with the “Spirit of God” (Matt. 12:28), i.e., the Holy Spirit (Matt.12:32). At Jesus’ baptism the spirit came upon him (Mark 1:10; “the Spirit of God,” Matt. 3:16; “the Holy Spirit,” Luke 3:21), and he received God’s confirmation of his divine sonship and messianic mission (Matt. 3:13-17). Jesus went up from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1) and after the temptation began his ministry “in the power of the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:14).
God is spirit (John 4:24). He operates in our lives in the Spirit. He indwells us with his Spirit. He did miraculous works through the Spirit in Christ Jesus.
Jesus did miraculous works, but could not have done them without the Spirit. Matthew 12:28 says that Jesus drove out spirits by the Spirit of God. The power of God was operating in Jesus through his Spirit. Jesus was raised from the dead by the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:11).
