THE GOSPELS: The Ministry of Yeshua the Messiah begins – Luke 4:14 THE POWER of THE HOLY SPIRIT from Matthew to Revelation

30 May 2025

We are studying Luke 4:14-32, Mathew 4:12, Mark 1:14-15 about the beginning of the MINISTRY of YESHUA THE MESSIAH. And we are still focusing on Luke 4:14. Last week we explored the POWER of THE HOLY PSIRIT from the Book of Judges to Nehemiah and today we are exploring from Matthew to Revelation with the same purpose.

We are mainly reading from the Complete Jewish Study Bible – insight for Jews and Christians. And use the Hebrew name of God, YHVH (Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh) where the word LORD in English is indicated in capital letters in the Scriptures, also referring to Him as Abba Father and use the Hebrew Name Yeshua the Messiah instead of the English Name Jesus Christ translated from the Greek.

In Luke 4:14 we read: “Yeshua returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) and reports of Him spread throughout the countryside.”

So, let’s delve into Abba’s Word to see what we can learn more about His wonderful and POWERFUL SPIRIT.

YESHUA THE MESSIAH our EXAMPLE, INITIATER (PIONEER/ FORERUNNER) and COMPLETER (PERFECTOR) of FAITH (Hebrews 12:2) went through the following stages, just as we as BELIEVERS have to go through:

1. Physical Birth

We read in Luke 1:35 the angel said to Mary: “The Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) will come over you, the POWER of the MSOT HIGH will cover you. Therefore, the HOLY CHILD born to you will be called THE SON OF GOD (the Father).” The power of the Holy Spirit therefore caused the VIRGIN BIRTH. And although we are born from an earthly father and mother, each person’s birth is still a MIRACLE OF GOD! But because we are born IN SIN we are, unlike Yeshua the Messiah who had no direct linkage to Adam, nor to Noah, although born in the family line of Adam and Noah stemming from David in the Tribe of Juda, He was without sin (read Romans 5:12-21 and 1 Corinthians 15:45). All of us are born PHYSICALLY ALIVE but due to the sin of our forefathers, SPIRITUALY DEAD (meaning we are separated from God the Father due to our sin, read Psalm 51:5, Romans 3:23, 5:12 and 6:23, 1 Corinthians 2:14, Colossians 2:13, Ephesians 2:1-5).

2. To be taught the Word

Just like Yeshua the Messiah was taught the Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy) and attended the FEASTS of YHVH with His parents (read Luke 2:41-52), BELIEVERS are also instructed in the Torah in Deuteronomy 6:5-7 to TEACH our CHILDREN the WORD of GOD.

Although we may be taught by parents who are believers, we still have to willingly CHOOSE to be SAVED and follow Yeshua our Messiah on the NARROW WAY. People who did not grow up with parents having faith in YHVH, the God of ISRAEL, still have the CHOICE to choose and follow Him when they HEAR HIS CALL through the hearing of the WORD.

3. God the Father Calls us

Yeshua our Messiah knew His calling (His mission). Which included the following:

• To reveal the father (Matthew 11:27)
• To be a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28)
• To serve (Mathew 20:28
• To call sinners (Mark 2:17)
• To save the world (John 3:17 & Luke 19:10)
• To preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God (the Father) Luke 4:43
• To do the WILL of the Father (John 6:38)
• To give the Father’s WORDS to people (John 17:8)
• To testify to the TRUTH (John 18:37)
• To die and destroy Satan’s power over death (Hebrews 2:14)
• To destroy the devil’s works – sin (1 John 3:8)
• To fulfill the Law (Torah, Genesis to Deuteronomy) and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17)
• To GIVE LIFE (John 10:10 & 28)
• To taste death for everyone (Hebrews 2:9)
• To become our merciful and faithful High Priest to make atonement for our sins (Hebrews 2:17)

In Revelation 22:17 we read: “The (Holy) SPIRIT and the BRIDE say COME! Let ANYONE who HEARS say, COME! And let ANYONE who is THIRSTY COME – let ANYONE who WISHES, TAKE the WATER of LIFE FREE of CHARGE.”  Also read Romans 8:28, 1 Corinthians 1:9, Ephesians 4:1-32 and 2 Timothy 8:29-30. So this CALL is clearly to ANYONE who WANTS to come to the Father. The CHOICE is therefore every person’s OWN DECISION. Yeshua the Messiah ALREADY paid the PRICE for SIN for ALL HUMANITY and therefore it is AVAILABLE as a FREE GIFT to ALL people who WANT to accept it and then CHOOSE to FOLLOW Him on the NARROW ROAD through WATER BAPTISM, dying to the OLD SINFUL SELF into the HOLY PLACE where HE HIMSELF will TEACH us HIS WORD through HIS HOLY SPIRIT, BAPTISE us with the FIRE and POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT and take us into the HOLLIEST PLACE where we enter the presence of the FATHER receiving His GRACE and MERCY.

4. Repentance is required BEFORE Water Baptism

We read in Matthew chapter 3 John the Baptist was baptizing the people and in verse 11 he says: “It is true that I am IMMERSING (baptizing) you IN WATER SO THAT YOU MIGHT TURN FROM YOUR SIN TO GOD (the Father); but THE ONE  coming after me is MORE POWERFUL than I – I’m not worthy even to carry His sandals – and HE WILL IMMERSE (baptize) you in THE RUACH HA KODESH (the Holy Spirit) and IN FIRE, He has with Him His winnowing (examining, inspecting, sorting) fork; and He will clear out His THRESSING FLOOR, GATHERING HIS WHEAT INTO THE BARN but  BURNING UP THE STRAW WITH UNQUENCHABLE FIRE.

We therefore see here THREE PARTS OF ONE BABTISM (Ephesians 4:5) – also clearly illustrated in the TABERNALCE PICTURE, which is in a picture of THE NARROW WAY.

The FIRST REQUIRED PART OF IMMERSION/ BABTISM in the SALVATION PROCESS is:

1). WATER IMMERSION/ BABTISM

We see this type of BABTISM in the TABERNACLE represented by the BRAZEN WASHBASIN (FEAST TWO of the SEVEN FESTS of YHVH), entailing dying to the OLD SINFUL NATURE in the WATER of BABITISM after receiving the FREE GIFT of SALVATION at the CROSS of YESHUA the MESSIAH who paid the FULL price for humanity’s sin, allowing each one of us to now choose to come to the Father and rising as a NEW PERSON in Yeshua the Messiah.

Yeshua our Messiah explained to Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin (the Jewish religious court) with the calling of TEACHER, what it meant to be BORN AGAIN in John 3:3-6 saying: “I tell you that UNLESS a person is BORN FORM ABOVE, he CANNOT SEE the KINGDOM of GOD…I tell you that UNLESS a person is BORN from WATER and the SPIRIT (the Holy Spirit), he CANNOT enter the KINGDOM of GOD. What is BORN from the FLESH is FLESH, and what is BORN from the SPIRIT (the HOLY SPIRIT) is spirit. Nicodemus had a hard time understanding how a person can be BORN AGAIN, but if we come to think of it, when we are born as human beings, we emerge from the WATER in our mother’s womb, through the birth canal before we take our first breath. The same happens when we are BORN AGAIN in to the SPIRITUAL KINGDOM of GOD our FATHER, we die to the OLD SELF BORN to NATURAL PARENTS in iniquity as David explains in Psalm 51:5, when we are IMMERSED INTO THE WATER and we RISE OUT OF THE WATER, as if leaving the BIRTH CANAL for a second time, but this time being BORN into the KINGDOM of GOD the FATHER. Paul explains it as follows in Romans 6:1-4 “So then, are we to say. ‘Let’s KEEP ON SINNING, so that there can be more grace? Heaven forbids! How can we, who have DIED to SIN, still LIVE IN IT? Don’t you know that those of us who have been IMMERSED (baptized) into the MESSIAH YESHUA have been IMMERSED (baptized) INTO HIS DEATH? Through IMMERSION INTO HIS DEATH, WE WERE BURRIED WITH HIM; so that just as, through the glory of the Father, the Messiah was RAISED FROM THE DEAD, likewise we too MIGHT LIVE a NEW LIFE.”

The Holy Spirit ENABLES people to TURN from sin and LIVE A HOLY LIVE (set apart in obedience to the commandments of God the Father).

We read in Mark 1:4 & 7-8 “So it was John the Immerser (or Baptizer) who appeared in the desert, proclaiming an IMMERSION INVOLVING TURNING TO GOD (the Father) FROM SIN in order to be FORGIVEN…And he proclaimed: ‘After me is coming someone who is MORE POWERFUL than I – I’m not worthy even to bend down and untie His sandals. I have immersed you in WATER, but HE will IMMERSE you in the RUACH HaKODESH (the Holy Spirit).

It is later CONFIRMED by Peter after the outpouring of the HOLY SPIRIT on the DAY of PENTECOST in Acts 2:38-39 saying: “TURN form SIN, RETURN to GOD (the Father), and each of you be IMMERSED (baptized) on the authority of Yeshua the Messiah (other translations say: “in His Name”) into FORGIVENESS of your SINS, and you WILL RECEIVE the GIFT of the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit)! For the PROMISE is for you, your children, and for those far away – as many as YHVH our God may call!

And in Acts 5:32 Peter says that God the Father gives the HOLY SPIRIT to those who OBEY HIM.

Paul also says in Titus 3:3-7 “For at one time, we too were FOOLISH (unwise, irrational) and DISOBEDIENT (rebellious), deceived (betrayed, misled) and enslaved (imprisoned, confined) by a variety of passions (desires, lusts) and pleasures (preferences, desires, wishes). We spent our lives in EVIL and ENVY (jealousy, greed, bitterness, resentment); people hated us, and we hated each other. But when the KINDNESS and LOVE for mankind of God our DELIVERER was revealed, HE DELIVERED US. It was not on the ground of any righteous deeds we had done, but on the ground of HIS OWN MERCY. He did it by means of the mikveh (baptism/ washing) of REBIRTH and the RENEWAL BROUGHT about by the RUACH HaKODESH (the Holy Spirit), whom HE POURED OUT on us GENEROUSLY THROUGH YESHUA the MESSIAH, our DELIVERER. He did it so that by HIS GRACE WE MIGHT COME to be considered righteous by God (the Father) and become heirs, with the CERTAIN HOPE of ETERNAL LIFE.”

And in Luke 3:21-22 we read about the BAPTISM of Yeshua the Messiah by John the Baptist: “While all the people were IMMERSED, Yeshua too was IMMERSED. As he was PRAYING, HEAVEN WAS OPENED; the RUACH HaKODESH (the Holy Spirit) CAME DOWN on HIM in physical form LIKE a DOVE; and a VOICE came from heaven (saying), ‘You are my Son, whom I LOVE; I am well pleased with You.”

In Hebrews 9:14 we read that the BLOOD of the MESSIAH, who through the ETERNAL (capital letter) SPIRIT, OFFERED HIMSELF to God (the Father) as a sacrifice without blemish (without sin), will PURIFY our conscience form works (deeds) that lead to death, so that we can SERVE the LIVING GOD!

And we read in 1 Peter 3:18 “For the Messiah Himself died for sins, once and for all, a righteous person on behalf of unrighteous people, so that HE MIGHT BRING you to GOD (THE FATHER). He was put to death in the flesh but BROUGHT TO LIFE BY THE (capital letter) SPIRIT;” And then Peter makes a comparison to Noah including eight members of his family being delivered through the flood and he proceeds in verse 21 saying: “This prefigures (foreshadows) what delivers us now; THE WATER OF IMMERSION. WHICH IS NOT THE REMOVAL OF DIRT FROM THE BODY, BUT ONE’S PLEDGE TO KEEP A GOOD CONCIENSE TOWARD GOD (the Father), THROUGH THE RESURECTION OF YESHUA THE MESSIAH.”

2). BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

When we read Yeshua’s word in John 3:5 to be BORN from WATER and (capital letter) SPIRIT it refers in its grammatical construction to the HOLY SPIRIT. We read in Ezekiel 36:24-27 “For I will take you from among the NATIONS, GATHER you form ALL the countries, and RETURN you to your own soil. Then I will sprinkle CLEAN WATER on you, and you WILL BE CLEAN; I will CLENASE you from all your uncleanness and from your idols. I WILL GIVE YOU A NEW HEART and put a NEW spirit inside of you (make you a NEW PERSON); I will take the STONY HEART out of your FLESH and GIVE YOU A HEART OF FLESH (a soft heart willing to obey and follow Him) I WILL PUT MY (capital letter) SPIRIT INSIDE you and CAUSE you to LIVE by MY LAWS, RESPECTING MY RULINGS and OBEY THEM.”

And in John 7 we see Yeshua the Messiah attending the Feast of Tabernacles (the 7^th Feast of YHVH as specified in Leviticus 23) and in verses 38-39 we read: “On the LAST DAY of the FEAST, (the last day of SUKKOT/ the Feast of Tabernacles), Yeshua stood and cried out, ‘If ANYONE is THRISTY, LET HIM KEEP COMING TO ME AND DRINKING! WHOEVER PUTS his TRUST IN ME, as the SCRIPTURES SAYS, RIVERS OF LIVING WATER WILL FLOW from his INMOST (deepest, personal) BEING! Now He said this about the (HOLY) SPIRIT, whom THOSE who TRUSTED (believe, hope, have faith) in HIM were to RECEIVE later – the (HOLY) SPIRIT had not yet been given, because Yeshua had not yet been glorified.”  This meaning that Yeshua still had to die on the cross, be resurrected and ascend to Heaven on DAY 40 and TEN DAYS later (on the 50^th DAY, the Day of Pentecost – FEAST 4 of YHVH as indicated in Leviticus 23:15-21), the HOLY SPIRIT would be POURED out.

3). BAPTISM WITH FIRE

We see this part of BABTISM in the TABERNACLE represented by the GOLDEN MENORAH (FEAST FOUR of the SEVEN FESTS of YHVH), entailing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

We read in Luke 12:49 Yeshua said: “I have come to set FIRE to the earth! And how I wish it were already kindled (ignited).” This may be an indication of the outpouring of the HOLY SPIRIT because He indicated in the next verse that BEFORE He can do it, He first have to undergo an “immersion” of His own, referring to His crucifixion where He would face the ultimate REJECTION by men and by God the Father and had to bear all the sins of the world.

And after Yeshua the Messiah’s death and resurrection we read about His ascension to Heaven and TEN DAYS later the baptism with the FIRE of the HOLY SPIRIT on Day 50, PENTECOST in Acts 2:1-4 “The FESTIVAL of SHAVU’OT (PENECOST – Feast 4 of YHVH that takes place 50 days after FEAST 3, FIRST FRUITS, fulfilled by the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah) arrived, and the BELIEVERS all gathered in ONE PLACE. Suddenly there came a sound from the sky like the ROAR of a VIOLENT (fierce, forceful) WIND, and it FILLED the whole house where they were sitting. Then they SAW what looked like TONGUES of FIRE, which separated and came to rest on EACH ONE of them. They were ALL FILED with the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) and began to talk in different languages, as the (HOLY) SPIRIT enabled them to speak. ” Please note the purpose of these languages was to witness to the people of different languages, who came together in Jerusalem for the FEAST of PENTECOST as they were instructed by Leviticus 23:15-21).

And in explaining this event to the amazed people in Jerusalem, Peter reminded them of the words of the Prophet Joel saying: “YHVH says: In the LAST DAYS, I will pour out MY SPIRIT upon EVERYONE. Your sons and daughters will PROPHESY, your young men will see VISIONS, your old men will dream DREAMS. Even on My SERVANTS, both men and women, will I pour out My SPIRIT in those days; and they will prophesy. I will perform miracles in the sky above and signs on the earth below – blood, fire and thick smoke.  The sun will become dark and the moon blood before the GREAT and FEARFUL DAY of YHVH comes. And then, WHOEVER CALLS on the NAME of YHVH WILL BE SAVED.” (Read Acts 2:17-21).

The Afrikaans Bible in practice explains: Not all of the things prophesied in Joel 2:28-29 happened that day. The LAST DAYS is a term used for the period BETWEEN the FIRST and SECOND COMING of YESHUA the MESSIAH. Peter is therefore saying: “From now on”. In the OLD TESTAMENT, only certain individuals were filled with the Holy Spirit, yet in Acts 2, God brings to pass what Moses looked forward to: THE DAY God would pour out His SPIRIT on all of His people. Read Numbers 11;29, fulfilling what Yeshua promised in Luke 24:29, John 16:16 and 20:22 as well as Acts 1:8.