Category Archives: Holy Spirit

Luke 4

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Luke listened, saw, and believed in the Lord of the kingdom Paul was proclaiming. Luke then listened more, interviewed witnesses, collected words, and sorted what he heard; then he organized and wrote it. I believe that like the prophets before him the Holy Spirit led this Greek, this Gentile, as he proclaimed Jesus. He gleaned from Matthew, Mark, Mother Mary, and countless others the narratives he writes to build faith in people for centuries. Thank you, Luke.

Chapters 1 – 3 are the formal introduction of Jesus with some background history. Luke 4 is the beginning of His ministry; it also has some connections to Israel’s past when they were in the wilderness after being called from Egypt. His baptism connects with the journey through the Red Sea and the forty days in the desert mirrors the forty years it took for Israel to get to the Promised Land. This is the first of two special forty-day periods in Jesus’ life. This story is also in Mark 1 and Matthew 3-4.

Our Lord’s return to Nazareth is interesting. (Luke uses Nazareth more than any other Gospel writer.) His return to Galilee (the Northern Kingdom) is important. Matthew quotes Isaiah twice about these locations: Isaiah 9:6 is in Matthew 4:15-16 about the land of Zebulun and Naphtali and an obscure mention to Him being called a Nazarene. The root word for Nazareth/Nazarene is netzer which means branch. So, Isaiah 11:1, Zechariah 3:8, and Jeremiah 23:5 are those prophetic announcements. (See post below.) Second, I think there were safety issues; not only staying away from Herod, but the rulers in Jerusalem. Third, this is the land of the Northern Kingdom. Think of the promises to Israel in the writings of the prophets who lived in the shadow of Assyria; this is the fulfillment of many of those, like Nahum 1:15a. Forth, massa, like Isaiah 53:3 had to happen, Luke records the rejecting starting in Nazareth.

The Holy Spirit is a key figure in Luke 1-4; He is part of the action 12x. When Jesus is baptized, Luke 3:21,22, the Trinity is all there; the Father speaks and the Holy Spirit physically lands on Jesus in the form of a dove. Why? Luke 4:1 has Jesus “full” of the Holy Spirit at the Jordan and then the Spirit led Him into the desert; verse 14 Jesus returns “in the power” of the Spirit to Galilee. Luke 4:1-30 has four displays of the Spirit’s gifts that I will point out.

  1. When Jesus took control of the questions from Satan, He had a logos of wisdom and used God’s Word to answer.
  2. In verse 23, He had a logos of knowledge about the people and their thinking.
  3. Verse 24-27 was a prophetic message about things He was going to do. He went to the region of Sidon and helps a woman with her child, Mt 15:21 and Mk 7: 24-30. In verse 27 is story of a leper, who was the enemy; Jesus healed a leper in Luke 17:15 from Samaria. Elijah and Elisha had done the first miracles.
  4. Jesus walked through an angry crowd and ‘went on His way’! Walking through an angry crowd that liked to throw rocks, untouched, is miraculous. That gift is not listed in 1 Corinthians 12 or Romans 12; okay, maybe the gift of miraculous powers. It was not the only time He did this, John 8:59 and 10:39. Peter was escorted out of prison by an angel, the Apostles were released from jail in Acts 5:19, and Philip was taken from the eunuch by the Spirit in Acts 8:39.

Luke records more workings/gifts of the Holy Spirit and the offices of the five-fold ministry in the rest of Chapter 4 and 5; not a bad way to start a world changing ministry.

Nazirite, Nazareth, and Grapevines | Mark’s Bible Study

The Root, The Branch, The Fruit – The Christmas Story | Mark’s Bible Study

Cleopas and the Third Day

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This is my second Third Day post and the reason for this one is Cleopas and his statement in Luke 24:21. It is Holy Week 2026, and I have been reading the last Chapters in Luke and the Songs of Ascent, more on that in another post. Jesus knew what was going to happen to Him and had been telling His disciples for some time. Cleopas heard and had his doubts so he was leaving Jerusalem and going the wrong direction; not towards Galilee. Jesus went and got him.

Cleopas, in his conversation with Jesus, reveals the perfect mix of knowledge, emotions, and paradigms that all of the disciples were dealing with. If I remove our well-written Bible, 2,000 years of study, and the Holy Spirit I can say I would be in the same position as His disciples were in. I believe Jesus wanted the disciples in Galilee so they would be safe and feel safe. Did the disciples have to stay in Jerusalem for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, no. Yes, Passover was a different story, but even the Children in Egypt were changing location after eating the lamb.

In doing this study I found another group of people who knew about the “Third Day”. The chief priest had gone to Pilate in Matthew 27:64 and had fears for the third day after He was sacrificed. Even with the story from the guards, they did not change.

The links make a good study for Jesus telling His disciples (all of them not just the Twelve) about His death and Resurrection. He also used the story of Jonah, check “three days” for that reference. These are NIV, so change the translation preference at the top, but they seem to share the same verses.

BibleGateway – Keyword Search: third day Luke

BibleGateway – Keyword Search: third day Matthew

He has risen! He has risen indeed!

ARMOR in Ephesians

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The armor in Ephesians 6 has been the object of at least one other study and probably will get a few more. See Putting On or Spandex Tight | Mark’s Bible Study (ificouldteachthebible.com) for my first post. Today, I will write on some of the reasons why Paul told us to put that armor on (enduo).

The Struggle or palē – This word is also translated wrestle and fight. Strong’s Greek: 3823. πάλη (palé) — wrestling, generally fight (biblehub.com) It is used once in the New Testament. (For a little advanced learning. Translators will use other Greek sources, like Homer and Herodotus, to get the meaning of these words.) The winner of Greek wrestling matches won only when they “stood” on the loser’s neck. This is what we are to do to the rulers, authorities, powers, and spiritual forces of darkness and evil. Unfortunately, we ignore this is not for flesh and blood, and certainly not fellow believers in Christ Jesus.

Stand or histēmi – See Strong’s Greek: 2476. ἵστημι (histémi) — to make to stand, to stand (biblehub.com)  This word is used many times in the New Testament and in a variety of ways.

Stand or anthistēmi – See Strong’s Greek: 436. ἀνθίστημι (anthistémi) — to set against, i.e. withstand (biblehub.com)  The KJV translates this as “withstand”; this seems weak in today’s uses of that word. Some Greek literature uses this as a military term, which fits the context of Paul’s writing. We are to oppose the darkness with force using the armor we are being instructed to wear/use. I think I might say “defend your ground”.

My Observations

  1. Jesus won.
  2. Our Old Testament has spears, bows and arrows, and slings. Did Paul forget these? They are long range weapons.
  3. I tend to think of this in Roman terms, which could be fair, expect armor has been around long before them. See 1 Samuel 18:4, this is Jonathan giving David his armor and weapons.
  4. The armour and weapons usually listed are for personal protection or close-quarter combat.
  5. The enemy uses flaming arrows.
  6. Christians have a Sword! Lol our “S – word”. Our Holy Spirit Word.
  7. Two things that do not make the list very often are the Spiritual weapons – Praying and Watching, verse 18. These may make us “Weap-on”.
  8. Have you ever seen a Sunday School lesson with a woman clothed in her armor and ready to anthistēmi?
  9. Notice the order of putting on the armor and weapons in Ephesians 6:13-18, it is how someone would get dressed by themselves to go into battle.

I like the Book of Ephesians, and the Armor section in Chapter 6. No, it is not an accident that Paul ended Ephesians with the armor in Chapter 6.

Synantilambanomai or Helps

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Synantilambanomai is a related post of Wonderful Counselor and with the help of Mounce, Strong, and Biblehub.com we will look at the two times it is used in the New Testament. You will find synantilambanomai in Romans 8:26 (8:27 will be added) and Luke 10:40. To help, aid, or support someone are the terms that will assist us with the verses.

This word and the verses in Romans are great examples of low-use, single-use, or added prefixes and suffixes highlighting an important thought. The online Strong’s Concordance and Mounce Dictionary may list the verses where they are found, and that allows for easy comparisons.  

I will provide a connection between our two verses as a loose example of synantilambanomai. In Romans, the Spirit is the One who helps us, by praying through us when we can’t do it ourselves. In Luke, Martha is “praying to Jesus” asking for Mary to come to her aid, so she does not have to do all the work by herself.

Our keyword has two prefixes and a suffix. This is my simple explanation for Romans. We come together with the Spirit against the problem to take or get an answer/help.  

References:

Romans 8: 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (KJV) Thank you Bible Gateway.

Yes, there is a translation difference because of variations in word meanings. (These are not in order.) When I used a parallel function, I found it interesting how the different translations chose to interpret and footnote this verse. All of them did proclaim a divine act of the Spirit. Some left a little “wiggle room” for what it may look like in the believer’s life and practice.

Intercedes

In the above verses, interceding is the main thought. In verse 26 we see the role of the Holy Spirit being our Counselor and praying through us. In verse 27 we see Jesus doing His intercession before the Father on our behalf. Of the five times the second word is used three of them refer to Jesus, two are in Romans and one in Hebrews. The other two uses are examples (I think) of how that intercession may have sounded (the intensity) or have been done. The word in verse 27 is entynchano.

In verse 26, the one that is associated with the Holy Spirit, the word is hyperentynchano; it is only used once. The prefix hyper should speak volumes to you. Combine this word and the thought of the Spirit’s help and we can understand how special that ministry is for us.

On a personal note, when I have experienced the type of intercession as described in Romans 8:26 it is profound and intense. It is more than (hyper) speaking in tongues. Since it is the Holy Spirit praying through me, I have no understanding of what I am saying and cannot control it, other than to stop. Can this be different in other people? Yes. I will not put the Holy Spirit in a box, He will work with us where we are, but He is still God. While musing on this act of the Holy Spirit, I believe that when the problem is too big for my mind or faith level, He has taken over and prayed as needed. This ministry of the Holy Spirit is more than a promise, it is why He is our paraclete and synantilambanomai.  

Begged in Mark 5

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Mark 5 has five uses of the Greek word parakaleo or beg. This chapter has the story of the Man of Gerasenes, the Woman with the issue of blood, and Jairus and his daughter. The Gospel of John does not use parakaleo but John does use parakletos (See Our Wonderful Counselor). Luke makes use of this word, parakaleo, many times in telling the story to Theophilus.

παρακαλέω | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

Strong’s Greek: 3870. παρακαλέω (parakaleó) — to call to or for, to exhort, to encourage (biblehub.com)

I learned recently that Strong’s Concordance and other reference works will first focus on the root word. That is why it is good to use several references if you are “digging deep” into a word or passage.

These words are used in a variety of ways, but both parakaleo and parakletos carry a “legal” air about them. The legal aspect can be read in the first three entries of Mark.

  • 5:10 – Here and in verse 12 the “he” and “unclean spirits” are understood from verse 2. I have heard that demons are territorial.
  • 5:12 – If they go into the pigs they could stay in the area. That must have been an interesting conversation.
  • 5:17 – The people of the region were upset and confused and wanted Jesus to leave. I have to wonder if the “freed” demons were agitating the crowd.
  • 5:18 – The Man begged to go with Jesus. Jesus sent him out as the first missionary to the Gentiles.
  • 5:23 – Jarius, an official of the synagogue begged for Jesus to follow him to his house.

The other times Mark uses the word are in 1:40, 6:56, 7:32, and 8:22. These are all healings. Every time in Mark when someone parakaleo Jesus, even the demons, He complied with the request. Except for the Gentile to follow Him, it was just too early for that to happen.