The Presence & the Power: The Significance of the Holy Spirit in the Life and Ministry of Jesus

by Gerald F. Hawthorne

We cannot escape the truth, writes Gerald Hawthorne, that Jesus was completely "one of us" Yet Jesus taught with amazing authority, spoke God's word with extraordinary power, healed people who were sick, raised people who were dead, opened the eyes of the blind and did other miraculous things seemingly beyond the ability of humans. How? Hawthorne asks. Was it by means of his divine nature that he did all this, for certainly he was fully God as well as fully human? No, is his resounding answer. Through a careful study of the New Testament, Dr. Hawthorne argues that Jesus did not act from the prerogatives of one who shared the nature of God. Rather, he did what he did through the Holy Spirit, upon whom he depended for power and authority. Essential to this view is the affirmation that Jesus was indeed fully human. In the pages of The Presence and the Power, the author shows the role of the Spirit in Jesus' conception and birth, in his boyhood and youth, in his baptism and temptation and ministry, and in his death resurrection. Hawthorne brings his discussion to a climax by setting forth his own understanding of the mystery of the interworking of the human and divine in Jesus. This all serves to usher the reader into the final chapter, the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. This concluding chapter makes the truths of the book very clear as to their life application for any and all of Jesus' followers.

Genres: Theology

276 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1991

Reviews

[Geoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent study on the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus, with implications for the life of every Christ-follower.

After setting the groundwork, the study works through Jesus' conception & birth, boyhood & youth, baptism & temptation, ministry & death & resurrection. The thesis is that in the incarnation the divine Son of God was "a [real] human being commissioned to do the will of God in this world, and filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit to bring it all to a successful completion." (p.219)

[Jess Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5.

Le titre est trompeur. L'auteur ne cherche pas vraiment à découvrir l'importance du Saint Esprit dans la vie et le ministère de Jésus. Son but est plutôt de défendre la thèse suivante "le Saint esprit, clé d'une kénose orthodoxe".

En ressort un livre assez décevant, pas spécialement bien écrit et frustrant. En effet un seul chapitre aborde vraiment le sujet que l'auteur veut explorer, le reste n'étant que des discussions prenant des détours pour arriver à des positions classiques.

[Mike Gorski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great resource that addresses one of the most critical, yet often overlooked, aspects of Christology--the relation between Christ and the Holy Spirit during His earthly life. The doctrines of both the trinity and the nature of Christ play a role in the discussion, and thus all sorts of controversy enter into the converstaion. But, Hawthorne does a great job at navigating the theological waters in order to lead the reader to a fuller understanding of the Spirit's role in Christ's life. His greatest contribution is in demonstrating that the Spirit was definitely far more active in Christ's life and ministry than many are willing to concede out of fear of minimizing His deity. Convincing as is his argument, it is often based largely on implicit textual evidence, at times even disregarding or failing to adequately address explicit texts that seem to contradict Hawthorne's conclusion that all of Christ's life was lived in the power of the Holy Spirit without any intrusion by His divine nature. Very stimulating and accessible. i highly recommend it.

[Bill Vaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, insightful, unique and on and on. I wanted to underline everything he writes in the book. It makes you want to immerse yourself in the Gospels to know our Jesus Christ more from His humanness and dependence on the Holy Spirit! It will take me years to determine if I agree with his conclusions, but I will now never read the New Testament the same again! Help me Holy Spirit to understand!

[Rylan S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think I quite agree with where he ends up--the complete self-limitation of Christ with regard to his divine attributes seems to go beyond the biblical witness. And his argument for monotheletism is difficult and I can't quite follow him there.

However the majority of his work is highly agreeable and extremely helping in taking the humanity of Jeus seriously. There is solid exegesis and scholarship from front to back.

[Richard Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent work, it gives you the inescapable scriptural basis that Jesus was fully human in a way that you may not see normally. It shows how powerful word searches in the Bible can be and as we see here in this instance the value of grouping together all the passages together from the gospels they show Jesus experiencing human emotions of all kinds for example. You realise from reading this the importance of what we believe and think about Jesus’ divinity and humanity. And how easily what we do think and believe can diminish in effect our theology of either His humanity or His divinity. If he had acted in His powers it would have diminished His full authentic humanity. If we understand God’s attributes as being dropped for the incarnation then He would cease to be in essence God. And if He had come with all those attributes active then it would have been a theophany and not the Incarnation. There will always be an element of awe and wonder and mystery when we without finite minds comprehend the infinite and eternal but it is important as Hawthorne shows that we work out what we believe with humility and worship. It would have been interesting to have seen him write a book around the last chapter more, why we don't see this in action historically and presently. And how we can change this, his theories behind this both historically and presently. How do we respond as the Church particularly in the west or if we by simply doing as He says at the end of the book with genuine hearts we will see this change and power beginning to be worked out through us the Church in this broken and sinful world.
I will save Hawthornes conclusion on where he falls on union of Jesus’ human and divine natures for you to read for yourself.

[Tyler Holley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hated it. Don't read this book.

[Richard Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book! A theological exploration of the role and work of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus from virginal birth to bodily resurrection. Truly a fascinating read.

[Lori Neff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thorough look into the role of the Spirit in the life of Jesus. A bit dry, but I appreciate the research that the author has done.

[Scott Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting exegesis; questionable Christology

[Brandon H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book Gerald Hawthorne looks at the significance the Holy Spirit had in Christ's life and ministry. The main question that is addressed throughout the book is, "Did Jesus live and draw from His Divine nature and attributes while on earth? Or did he live as a human being, fully dependent upon the Holy Spirit?"

This was a wonderful contribution and I hope it become popular among Christians, especially those who like to go deeper than what is usually offered in most Christian bookstores these days.

Why did I like it? Not only did I find the author's arguments and exegesis of the scriptures convincing and reasonable but the book left me seeing both Jesus and the Holy Spirit in a greater light than I had before, as if that was possible.

5 stars easy! I highly recommend it without hesitation!

[J. J.]

Excellent. A pioneering work in establishing the oft-neglected and misunderstood reality that everything Jesus did, he did in total dependence on the Holy Spirit.

[BJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really helpful on the role of the Spirit in the life of Jesus and believers. Unique and insightful.