The Lamb and the Dove

So we have there two pictures from the animal creation. We have Jesus represented as the lamb, the Holy Spirit represented as the dove. What do we learn from the relationship between them? What are the characteristics that a lamb suggests to us in the light of scripture?

I would suggest there are three: purity, meekness, and sacrifice. That is, a life laid down. Now, I want to point out to you that this is what attracts the dove, the Holy Spirit. He is looking for the lamb nature. That’s where he’s going to settle, and that’s where he’s going to remain. He does not approve of arrogance, of self-seeking, of boastfulness, of aggressiveness. He’s looking for purity, meekness, and a life laid down.

The key fact in all this is not just that the dove descended on Jesus, but that the dove remained on Jesus. In all his ministry, Jesus never said or did one thing that would frighten the dove away. In the natural, the dove is a somewhat timid bird. He’s easily scared. And that’s true, in a sense, in the spiritual. The dove, the Holy Spirit, is timid. If we say and do things that he can’t accept, he’ll leave. He’ll just take wings, fly off. The marvelous thing about Jesus is he never scared the dove.

This relationship with the Holy Spirit is the key to the entire ministry of Jesus. When he spoke in his own city, in Nazareth, in the synagogue, this is what he said. Luke 4:17-21.

“The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he said to them,

“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

What was the scripture? “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me.” To do what? To preach good news, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed. The entire ministry of Jesus, both his preaching and his ministry to the oppressed, to the sick, to the demon-possessed, was based on one thing only: the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon him. It’s a very significant fact that the New Testament does not record a single sermon Jesus preached, or a single miracle he performed, until the Holy Spirit came upon him. He was totally dependent upon the Holy Spirit. He was our pattern. He had emptied himself of his divine majesty and power. He’d made himself like us. He’d taken on himself the form of a servant, the likeness of a man. But when the Holy Spirit came upon him, then the power and the purposes of God were released through him by the Holy Spirit. And it should be the same with us.

And then, just one other passage on this same line. When Peter went to the house of Cornelius and preached, the first time, the gospel message to that Gentile household, he introduced them to Jesus of Nazareth. And this is what he said in Acts 10:38.

“You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”

You see, Peter, again, states the same thing. The whole ministry of Jesus, his public ministry, came out of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Until the Holy Spirit came upon him, he neither preached nor performed miracles. Once the Holy Spirit came upon him, he was released to minister to the needs of humanity. I always like this thought that in this ministry of healing, God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all united. The Father anointed the Son with the Spirit. And as children of God, God desires that he can anoint us with the same Spirit with which he anointed Jesus.

Finally, let’s consider briefly, for a moment, the things that attract or repel the dove. And they’re stated, some of them, in Ephesians 4:29-32.

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

What are the things that grieve the Holy Spirit? Unwholesome words, bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander. All these are contrary to the nature of the lamb. What are the things that attract the Holy Spirit? Kindness, tenderheartedness, mutual forgiveness. You see, when he doesn’t find the lamb nature, he cannot abide. The key to having the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit with us is to cultivate the nature of the lamb.