The holy Spirit descended upon him

Is 40,1-5.9-11; Ps 103; Tt 2,11-14;3,4-7; Lk 3,15-16.21-22
13 JANUARY
The Lord had pre-announced it: the Shoot that will sprout from the root of Jesse will be filled with the Holy Spirit. To him the Lord God will give his Holy Spirit without measure, without any limit. As he is all in God, so he will be entirely in his Messiah.

But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, A spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, But he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; The calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbours, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea. On that day, The root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, The Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious (Is 11,1-10).

Why this gift so abundant, without any restriction for the Christ of God? Because the Messiah must be on our earth in all things like God. God, the Lord, knows only light, truth, holiness, justice, charity, love, forgiveness and compassion. He does not know evil. His nature is very pure good. So also for the Messiah. He will have to know, live and preach only the good according to God. While God is not tempted – He is very pure spirit – he neither tempts to evil nor might he ever be tempted, the Messiah will be tempted, because he is a true man. He will be tempted so as not to do good according to God, disobeying the divine will. In this case, he could never have worked salvation and redemption of humanity. Salvation can be accomplished in only one way: by remaining in the will of God in everything with a perfect obedience. Wrapped in the soul, in the spirit, in the body, in the desires, in the will and in the thoughts by the Holy Spirit, the Messiah will always be in the fullest communion of obedience and love with his Father. Without the fullness of the Holy Spirit the fulfilment of the mission would have been impossible. He is the most perfect, most complete and most holy communion with the divine will. It is He who makes of the Messiah and of God one only thing.

Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah. John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The Holy Spirit cannot wrap a man without him wanting it. Jesus descends into the Jordan, strips himself of his will and makes of it a gift to the Father. It is in consequence of this gift that the Spirit can rest on Him. But even this is not enough. It is necessary that Jesus asks the Father to send his Holy Spirit. Jesus puts himself in prayer, asks the Father and immediately the Spirit is sent by the holy heavens in the form of a body as a dove. Very high symbolism. Jesus is the New Ark of salvation and comes to bring peace to mankind. But is this initial descent enough for Jesus to fulfil his mission according to truth and justice? Not at all. He must ask the Holy Spirit to guide all of Him for every moment of his life. We know that Jesus retired to solitary places at night and prayed to the Father to always let the Spirit descend upon him. Style of Jesus that must be the style of every disciple.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints, help us to let ourselves be led by the Spirit of the Lord.