Heb. 9:26

Jesus remained anonymous for thirty years. He did not do any works during those years. John the Baptist, the last prophet of the Old Testament, was the door for the manifestation of Jesus. He said: “I didn’t know him, but for this reason I came baptizing in water: that he would be revealed to Israel” (John 1:31). And so Jesus began the great mission in Israel. What mission?

1. Manifesting the works of God.

Jesus saw a man who had been blind since birth. The disciples asked him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, ‘Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him. I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work’” (John 9:1-4). The word manifest means to bring to the light what is not of public knowledge, yet. Jehovah, the god of Israel, never healed the blind, but he did blind them. He clothed Isaiah with the gift of blinding, when this prophet had a vision of Jehovah on his throne, with Seraphim flying above him. One of the Seraphim touched the lips of the prophet with a burning coal and cleansed his sin. Then Jehovah said: Whom shall I send and who will go for us? Isaiah said: Here I am. Send me. Then Jehovah said: “Go, and tell this people, ‘You hear indeed, but don’t understand; and you see indeed, but don’t perceive. Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed’” (Is. 6:7-10). Jeremiah, a prophet who came 600 years before Christ, said: “Hear now this, foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and don’t see; who have ears, and don’t hear” (Jer. 5:21). Jehovah had said, himself: “Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears” (Is. 43:8). And this blindness lasted until Jesus Christ: “But though he had done so many signs before them, yet they didn’t believe in him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, ‘Lord, who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’ For this cause they couldn’t believe, for Isaiah said again, ‘He has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and would turn, and I would heal them.’ Isaiah said these things when he saw his glory, and spoke of him” (John 12:37-41). It is very obvious that Jehovah blinded the eyes of the Jews so that they would not believe in Jesus. This is the reason why Jehovah did not heal the blind. Now, if Jehovah did not heal the blind of Israel, for he blinded them himself, this is proof that whoever sent Jesus to heal the men blind from birth was not Jehovah, but the Father. The captivity of the Jews in Babylon began in the year 587 before Christ, and Manasseh ruled 110 years prior to that, a very bad king. After Manasseh Josiah ruled, a very good king, but, despite the good works of Josiah, Jehovah did not desist from his anger until he destroyed the kingdom of Judah by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. These were 700 years of wrath, in all, in which Jehovah did not perform any healing and did not do any miracles, as he himself declared (Is. 1:15; 59:1-3).

Now, if Jesus came to manifest the works of God, healing, those were not works of Jehovah, but works of the Father.2

2.Christ was manifested to reveal the fruit of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the mission of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament was of Jehovah, who is an angry god. He declares himself: “For a fire is kindled in my anger, Burns to the lowest Sheol, Devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.” (Deut. 32:22). The wrath of hell can only be the wrath of Satan; for wrath, if it were good, would come from heaven. The wrath of Jehovah is so violent, that he destroys a kingdom or an entire nation in a movement of fury. When Aaron made the golden calf, and the people deteriorated in a Dionysian orgy, Jehovah thundered, saying: “God is a righteous judge, yes, a God who has indignation every day” (Ps. 7:11). Saul, despite his stature, was meek; but the sacred text says that in a critical moment of their history, “The Spirit of God came mightily on Saul when he heard those words, and his anger was kindled greatly” (1 Sam. 11:6). The spirit of Jehovah was also murderous. Every time he came over Samson there was death (Judges 14:15-16,19). Elisha, the Tisbite, used to anoint with the spirit to kill (1 Kings 19:15-17). Also, the holy spirit of Jehovah was his standard of war (Is. 59:19). Also, the holy spirit of Jehovah became an adversary to his people, and this very spirit fought against them (Is. 63:10).

Jesus manifested himself to bring from heaven the Holy Spirit of the Father, who teaches us all things (John 14:26). Also, the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth (John 16:13). It is the Holy Spirit who fights against our flesh (Gal. 5:16-17). It is the Holy Spirit that changes the passions and desires of the flesh (Rom. 8:13-14). It is the Holy Spirit that regenerates the sinners (1 Cor. 6:10-11; Titus 3:5). It is the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us (2 Thess. 2:13). It is the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us before God with groannings too deep for words (Rom. 8:26). It is the Holy Spirit that gives wisdom to speak (Matt. 10:19-20). It is the Holy Spirit that reveals the mysteries of God, which are hidden form men (1 Cor. 2:9-10). It is the Holy Spirit who chooses and sets apart the Christians able for each work (Acts 13:1-2). It was the Holy Spirit who constituted shepherds and elders to keep the flock of God (Acts 20:28). It is the Holy Spirit that fills the Christian with the love of God (Rom. 5:5). It is the Holy Spirit of the Father that, through the spiritual gifts, leads the Christians into overcoming their limitations (1 Cor. 12:7-11). Finally, it is the Holy Spirit that forms the body of Jesus Christ, which is the Church formed by the saints (1 Cor. 12:12-13).

With clarity and without any doubt, the holy spirit of the Old Testament has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit of the Father. This is the reason why the apostle John has registered what Jesus said: “He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water. But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus wasn’t yet glorified” (John 7:38-39). And Jesus declared: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I don’t go away, the Counselor won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7).

By Pastor Olavo Silveira Pereira