The Cross of Christ  

Not long after Christ began His Ministry, He stood in the Synagogue of His hometown of Nazareth and said, "The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord" (Lk 4:18-19). When Christ died on the Cross, it was the Holy Spirit Who raised Christ from the dead (Rom.8:11). Just before His Ascension, the last Message that Christ gave to His followers, and even His closest Disciples, was the necessity of them first of all being Baptized with the Holy Spirit. "And, being assembled together with [them], commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, [saith he], ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence" (Acts 1:4-5). Notice that this was not a suggestion coming from our Lord, but rather a command. As God, Jesus Christ needed no anointing of the Spirit, as should be obvious, however, as Man (for it was as Man that He functioned), He needed the Holy Spirit for everything He did. And so do we!