What is the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God in Luke-Acts?

Synopsis

Attempt is made in these writings to dispel the idea that Luke connects the Spirit with
Kingdom of God. The Spirit of Prophecy is given by God as a missionary help to proclaim
the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit inadvertently connects to the Kingdom of God
predominantly through proclamation but also other works of the Spirit. The Spirit proclaims
the fulfilment of Jesus’ messianic identity, heralding his kingdom as now and not yet.

Introduction

The relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God has only received
scholarship since Dunn’s thesis on ‘Spirit and the Kingdom’.1 Dunn believes that Luke views
the ‘Spirit as manifestation of the kingdom’2 whereby Jesus enters the Kingdom at Jordon
through Baptism of the Spirit and his disciples at Pentecost. This view is limited and requires
the insights of Turner, Menzies, Hur and Young Cho Mo to assist us in discovering the truth.
Firstly, the terms ‘Holy Spirit’ and ‘Kingdom of God’ are defined amongst recent scholarship
and then Jesus’ ministry and earthly life in relationship with these terms are paralleled.
Luke’s usage of these terms in Acts is then scrutinized and conclusions drawn.

Holy Spirit within Pre-Christian Literature

To understand where Luke has formed his perception of the Holy Spirit, its function and
relationship, scholars have studied the term Spirit or Ruah in Judaic literature and Pneuma in
Intertestimental Greek literature.3 Hur suggests that Luke would not have known Hebrew but
would have definitely used the Septuagint. The Septuagint is translated from Hebrew. He
proposes that analysis of ‘ruah’ in the Hebrew bible is necessary to understand the term
‘pneuma’ in terms of its usage. Menzies undertook a thorough analysis of Intertestimental
Literature4 and identifies the Spirit exclusively as ‘the Spirit of Prophecy’.5 He concludes
that ‘the inspiration of the Spirit whether it relates to Messiah, prophet or sage is almost
always related to inspired speech.’ 6 Dunn agrees that the Spirit ‘was most characteristically a
divine power manifesting itself in inspired utterance’.7 The same Spirit inspired speech and
wisdom through David and the prophets in the Old Testament (Acts 1:16; 3:18; 4:24; 28:25).
God bestows his Spirit on human agents chosen for their reliability, righteousness and

1
James D. G. Dunn, The Christ and the Spirit : Collected Essays of James D.G. Dunn. 2 vols (Grand Rapids:
W.B. Eerdmans Pub, 1998), 133-141.
2
Cho Youngmo, "Spirit and Kingdom in Luke-Acts: Proclamation as the Primary Role of the Spirit in Relation
to the Kingdom of God in Luke-Acts", Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 6, no. 2 (2003): 173.
3
Ju Hur, A Dynamic Reading of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts, Journal for the Study of the New Testament
Supplement Series (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001), 37.
4
Menzies studies Diaspora, Palestine, Qumran and Rabbinic literature.
Robert P. Menzies, The Development of Early Christian Pneumatology- with special reference to Luke-Acts,
Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 54 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1991),
53-111.
5
Max Turner, Power from on High (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996), 86; Menzies,111.
6
Menzies, 111.
7
Dunn, 11.

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responsibility.8 His Spirit reveals his sovereign will and purpose for the agent and his people.9
Turner and Hur critique Menzies’ work as disregarding miracles and other works as ‘The
Spirit of Prophecy’.10 They convincingly prove that that the Spirit of Prophecy can ‘engender
prophecy, revelatory speeches, miracles, wisdom, craftsmanship, and the interpretation of
dreams’11. Menzies and Turner agree that the Spirit is most predominantly an empowering for
mission, a donum supperadditum.12 This agreement affects our study with linking the
Kingdom of God and Spirit. The Spirit, likened to the Spirit of Prophecy in Pre-Christian
literature, is given by God to empower Jesus and his disciples to usher in the Kingdom of
God.

Kingdom of God

Scholars have debated for centuries over the meaning of the ‘Kingdom of God’. No one
doubt’s however the fact that it was the heart of Jesus’ teaching. The Kingdom of God is
present in Old Testament promises and Jewish apocalyptic writings; however Jesus’
understanding of the Kingdom of God differed from public thought. Most Jews believed that
the Kingdom was an earthly restoration of Israel ruled by God’s chosen Messiah who
conquers Israel’s enemies and Gentile rule.13 This related specifically to Roman rule over
Israel. Jesus redefined the Kingdom of God to mean God’s eternal rule over not only Israel
but all of God’s people. The reign was imminent and not only to be fulfilled in the future.
Jesus’ mission was connected to the kingdom.

Dunn suggests that the Kingdom is inaugurated within Jesus at his messianic anointing at
Jordon. At Pentecost, the disciples were ushered into that Kingdom by the Holy Spirit. Dunn
argues, ‘The kingdom came in consummating fullness at Pentecost’14 and ‘Where the Spirit
has been received and submitted to, to that extent has the kingdom come’.15 Desiring unity, it
is easy to settle here, and yet striving for the truth we must look further and scrutinize Dunn’s
hypothesis. Dunn’s driving force comes from unifying Paul and Luke through the
soteriological aspect of the Spirit. By looking only at Luke-Acts there is no soteriological link
between Kingdom and Spirit, hence the ongoing debate over this issue. We must look at
Lucan omissions and his representation of both Holy Spirit and Kingdom of God in Luke and
Acts.

Holy Spirit in Infancy Narratives in Luke-Acts

8
Hur, 72-73.
9
Hur, 73
10
Hur, 17; Turner, 117-18.
11
Hur,73
12
Craig G. Bartholomew,, Joel B. Green, and Anthony C. Thiselton. Reading Luke : Interpretation, Reflection,
Formation, The Scripture and Hermeneutics Series (Milton Keynes: UK; Grand Rapids: Paternoster Press;
Zondervan, 2005), 280; Menzies, 48; Turner, 138.
13
George Eldon Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament. Revised edition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), 79-
88.
14
Dunn,141.
15
Dunn,138.

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Luke infancy narratives are unique among the Synoptics. Redaction criticism16 reveals
Luke’s unique contribution to the Pneumotology17. The central themes of these infancy
narratives are fulfilment of God’s promises to Israel. Several characters are ‘filled’ with the
Holy Spirit including Elizabeth (1:41); Zechariah (1:67) and ‘a righteous man name Simeon
(2:25) suggesting a ‘permanent endowment of the spirit’18. Simeon’s holy authority
prophesies Jesus’ soteriological significance. Their association to the Holy Spirit, like Old
Testament citations of God’s spirit19, indicate God’s presence and power implementing his
plan/will. The Annunciation of Birth from the angel Gabriel to Mary is exclusively Lucan. It
has the only mention of ‘Kingdom’ in Lucan infancy narratives (Luke 1:32-33)20. This
annunciation has parallels to Ishmael (Gen 16), Isaac (Gen 17), and Samson (Jud 13)
however Luke’s reference to Jesus being of Davidic descent and born of a virgin relates to
Isaiah 7. This annunciation focuses on Christology as taking the throne of David. Throne
relates to Kingdom and the reign of God. The Spirit prophesies Jesus as the Messiah. Hahn
argues that Luke’s major focus on Jesus as Davidic-Messiah connects him directly to the
Kingdom of God21. Luke’s additional story about Jesus at twelve in the temple, assures
audiences that he knows of his ‘sonship’ as he was ‘in my father’s house’.

Dunn suggests that his messianic anointment through the Spirit inaugurates the Kingdom, and
yet here lies evidence that he was proclaimed at birth as Messiah already had self-awareness
of his sonship. Even Dunn is aware that it is not the Spirit that inaugurates the Kingdom but
Jesus’ messiahship. ‘The Spirit had come upon other men before Jesus and yet the new age of
the Spirit, the messianic kingdom, had not come.’ 22 The infancy narratives proclaim that
Jesus is the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies of a ‘Davidic- Messianic restoration of
Zion within history’23. In summation, the Holy Spirit is an empowerment to several human
agents within the infancy narratives that usher in God’s will and sovereign purpose. Simeon’s
prophecy implicitly proclaims the Kingdom of God’s nearness by announcing Jesus
messiahship.

Holy Spirit empowers the Messianic Son

Dunn places huge weighting on Jesus’ baptism at the Jordon( Luke 3:21-22) as his messianic
anointing from God as God’s son, initiating the new covenant of Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-33) and
‘Jesus’ entry into the new epoch, the kingdom of God’. This significant moment is Salvation
history, according to Dunn, is reduced to one sentence in Luke. Luke alters his source
considerably from Mark and Q. Luke spends two and a half chapters confirming God’s
anointing and sonship before this moment and time. Luke removes John the Baptist from the
16
For this study, I will accept the two document hypothesis that assumes that Luke knew Mark and Q as written
sources. Q represents a written source that Matthew also utilized.
17
Pneumatology is the study of the Holy Spirit.
18
Max Turner, 149.
19
Joel- God’s Spirit
20
‘He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne
of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
(Luke 1:32-33)
21
Bartholomew, Craig G., Joel B. Green, and Anthony C. Thiselton, 300-302.
22
Dunn, 140.
23
Max Turner, 162.

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Baptism, as he is arrested. Luke has separated the Baptism from receiving the Spirit and
inserted Jesus praying before the Spirit is received. Luke has also added that after ‘all the
people were baptised’ and Jesus and then prayer. This is important to Luke, but why? Luke
kept in the Isaiah 42:1 allusion to confirm Davidic/sonship link draw up 1:32-33, 35. Luke 1-
2, set up the expectation of a Davidic messianic recognition by God. The Words from God is
a public confirmation. Luke follows immediately with the Genealogy of Jesus to show his
Davidic descent, son of Adam, and son of God. Jesus ‘full of the spirit is led into the
wilderness’. The Spirit is an empowering which propels Jesus to start his ministry ‘at 30 years
of age’. ‘Full of the Holy Spirit’ Jesus is ‘led’ into the wilderness. The Spirit is dominant
empowerment. Most scholars agree that the heavenly proclamation 3:2224 alludes to Isaiah
42:1 and Psalm 2:7. The Isaiah reference relates to a servant chosen by God to ‘bring justice
to the nations’ and the Psalm reference refers to a King, ‘set on Zion, a holy hill’ to rule over
the nations. Both references have an Christological-messianic meaning and Luke has no issue
with relating it with the Holy Spirit, not explicitly. Against Dunn’s claims Jesus did not
receive his sonship through the Spirit-anointing, he was anointed for mission.

Holy Spirit in Jesus’ Ministry

Jesus ministry begins by entering the synagogue on Sabbath and reciting a version of Isaiah
6125 (Luke 4:18-19) and proclaims that ‘the scripture has been fulfilled’ in their hearing’
(Luke 4:21).This Lucan pericope is unlike any other Synoptic. This passage represents Jesus’
understanding of his purpose and mission. It presents Jesus as ‘anointed’ and a Spirit filled
Isaianic Servant who will restore Israel. The restoration of Israel is the ‘Kingdom of God’.
Jesus is anointed with the ‘Spirit of the Lord’, synonymous with ‘Holy Spirit’. His mission is
proclaiming good news to the poor; proclaiming liberty to the captives and proclaiming the
year of the Lord’s favor. Jesus’ ‘Spirit-inspired proclamation’, affects salvation by recovering
sight to the blind and liberating the oppressed. 26 There is a Lucan accent on proclamation as
means of his salvation to his people. ‘Luke places emphasis on a primarily verbal
proclamation of the kingdom of God in connection with the Spirit.’27

One of the most distinctive uses of Kingdom of God is to ‘proclaim the kingdom of God’
used one quarter of all the references to the Kingdom in Luke-Acts ( Luke 4:43; 8:1;
9:2;9:11; 9:60;16:16; Acts 1:3; 8:12; 20:25; 28:31). Jesus brings the good news of the
kingdom of God to many towns, cities and villages (Luke 4:43; 8:1); he sends his apostles to
‘proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal’ (Luke 9:2); before he feeds the five thousand ‘he
spoke to them of the kingdom of God’( Luke 9:11); insisted his followers to leave the dead
‘but proclaim the Kingdom of God”(Luke 9:60); sends out the seventy-two and they must
report ‘The Kingdom of God has come near to you’. Within Acts, Jesus spoke for forty days
‘about the Kingdom of God’(Acts 1:3), Phillip ‘preached good news about the Kingdom of

24
 And the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are
my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22)
25
‘“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has
sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are
oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” (Luke 4:18-19)
26
Menzies, 175.
27
Youngmo, 183.

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God’ in Samaria(Acts 8:12) and in Ephesus Paul ‘spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading
them about the kingdom of God’ (Acts 19:8); and in Rome ‘testifying to the kingdom of
God’(Acts 28:23) and ‘proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus
Christ with all boldness’ (28:31). Jesus began his ministry preaching the kingdom of God in
Luke and ended his earthly ministry the same way. The gift of the Spirit endowed by the
Father is given to empower them to continue this mission. The inclusion of Acts is
proclamation of the Kingdom of God.

Finger of God

“But if it is by the finger of God that I cast demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon
you.” (Luke 11:20) Many scholars, even Augustine, equates ‘finger of God’ with Holy Spirit,
but has done this through Matthew 12:28. Matthews’s account is almost identical except
‘Finger of God’ is substituted with ‘Spirit of God’. Using redactional criticism, we need to
distinguish whether Luke or Matthew altered the original ‘Q’ source. Recent Studies
conclude Luke has altered ‘Q’.28 The concluding reasons are as follows : 1) Lucan omission
of the Spirit are reported elsewhere29 (Luke 21:15; Mark 13:11) and yet Matthew has not been
shown to add references of the Spirit; 2) Luke, uniquely uses synonymous terms, “hand of
God” Luke 1:66; Acts 4:28; 30;7:50;11:21;13:11) and the “arm of God” (Luke 1:31; Acts
13:17); 3) Finger of God is found in Exodus 8:15 which Nolland suggests the ‘‘finger of
God’ language is likened to the time of dramatic activity of God on behalf of his People at
the Exodus of Egypt.’30 Matthew had an interest in comparing Moses to Jesus, and if ‘Q’
contained ‘finger of God’ he had little reason to change it.31 4) The main reason why Luke
altered ‘Q’ is through his ‘distinct prophetic Pneumotology’32 For Luke, ‘work of the Spirit is
not described as the presence of the Kingdom of God.’33 Each reference within Luke/Acts to
Kingdom and Spirit (Luke 1:32-35; 4:16; 11:1-13; Acts 1:3-8; 8:12-15; 29-40;19:1-8; 20:22-
25; 28:23-31) does not refer to the presence or work of the Spirit as a manifestation of the
Kingdom of God. The Spirit is defined as ‘means by which the kingdom is proclaimed’.34
This is continuous with the Jewish and Old Testament understanding of the ‘Spirit of God’ or
the ‘Spirit of Prophecy’. ‘Finger of God’ relates to the person of Jesus and God and their
work rather than the work of the Spirit inaugurating the Kingdom. Max Turner argues that
‘Luke could not associate Spirit with exorcisms’35 and that is why he altered ‘Q’. Luke
attributes miracles and exorcisms to the ‘power’ of God rather than to the Spirit. ‘Finger of
God’ portrays Jesus as the Mosaic prophet-messiah (Deut 9) who inaugurates the ‘New
Exodus Liberation’36 or Kingdom of God. Luke either did not want to associate Spirit with
exorcisms or Spirit with Kingdom. I will argue that Luke did not want to associate Spirit with

28
Nolland, John. Luke 9:21-18:34, Word Biblical Commentary 35B. Texas: Word Books, 1993.
, 639.
29
Menzies, 186.
30
Nolland, 640.
31
Youngmo, 169.
32
Menzies. 189.
33
Youngmo, 170.
34
Ibid.
35
Turner, 258.
36
Turner, 259.

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miracles or exorcism but purely to the proclamation and prophecy. This distinction defines
our understanding of Spirit and Kingdom.

The Promise of God to the Disciples

Jesus promises ‘a gift’ or ‘promise of my Father’ in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:4. Peter defines in
Acts 2:33 that the ‘promise from the father’ is the Holy Spirit given at Pentecost (Acts 2:4).
His depth of explanation of Pentecost in Acts 2:14-39 is a programmatic text for Acts.37
Firstly, Luke’s reference to Joel 2:28-32 highlights his reliance on Judaic understanding of
the ‘Spirit of Prophecy’.38 The Holy Spirit is characterized as providing revelatory dreams
and visions (Acts 2:17; 7:55-56; 9:10-18;10:10-20; 16:9-10; 18:9-10; 22:17-18,21);
revelatory words, instruction and guidance (1:2; 1:16; 4:25; 7:51; 8:29; 10:19; 11:12, 28;
13:2, 4; 15:28; 16:6-7; 19:21; 20:22,23; 21:4,11; 28:25); charismatic wisdom (Luke 21:15;
Acts 5:3;6:3,5,10; 9:31; 13:9; 16:8); invasive charismatic praise (Acts 2:4;10:46;19:6); and
charismatic preaching or witness (Acts 1:4,8; 4:8,31; 5:32; 6:10; 9:17) 39. The Kingdom of
God has no direct or implicit reference in the programmatic passage. Dunn believes that
Pentecost begins a ‘new age’ whereby the ‘disciples are baptized in the Spirit into the
Kingdom of God’.40 The Spirit at Pentecost is received as an empowering ‘for service and
mission rather than the presence of salvation’41

Before Jesus’ ascension, Jesus speaks for forty days to the eleven apostles about the
Kingdom of God. Jesus tells them they will be ‘baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days
from now’ indicating a time in the near future. The disciples then ask “Lord, will you at this
time restore the kingdom of Israel?”(Acts 1:6) to which he answered, “It is not for you to
know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority’ (Acts 1:7). The time of
Pentecost could be granted to the disciples and yet the timing of the restoration of Israel or
the Kingdom of God could not. Dunn purports that ‘the manifestation of the Spirit is the
manifestation of the Kingdom’, however these two events, Pentecost and Restoration are not
equated. Instead, Jesus details their mission and how they will achieve it, ‘But you will
receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”. There is an implicit link
between Kingdom and Spirit (Acts 1:3; 4-5 and 4-5; 6).42 The promise of the Father is ‘not a
complement of the Kingdom, but as a power to proclaim the kingdom’43. Throughout Luke,
Jesus related to the Kingdom by proclamation and the Pentecost gifts the disciples with the
Spirit as means by which the Kingdom is proclaimed and witnessed.

37
Turner, 267
38
Bartholomew, Craig G., Joel B. Green, and Anthony C. Thiselton, 279.
39
Ibid.
40
Dunn, 140.
41
Turner, 318.
42
Young Cho Mo, 185.
43
Young Cho 185

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 Conclusion

This paper intends to show how the Holy Spirit relates to the Kingdom of God. Endowment
of the Spirit is not membership to the Kingdom of God like Dunn suggests. The Spirit also
does not manifest the kingdom. Through the infancy narratives, human agents are empowered
by the Spirit to implement God’s sovereign plan and prophetically proclaim Jesus’ future
messianic throne. The role of the Spirit lies predominantly lies in proclamation, however can
usher in God’s sovereign plan through prophecy, revelatory speeches, miracles, wisdom,
craftsmanship, and the interpretation of dreams’44, which this paper did not examine
specifically. Empowered by the Spirit, proclamation of the Kingdom invited and welcomed
‘all’ (Acts 2:17-21) to enter the kingdom of God. The kingdom was ushered in through Jesus
exaltation to the right hand of God (Acts 2:33).

44
Hur,73

7
 Bibliography

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Reflection, Formation, The Scripture and Hermeneutics Series. Milton Keynes: UK; Grand Rapids:
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Dunn, James D. G. The Christ and the Spirit : Collected Essays of James D.G. Dunn. 2 vols. Grand
Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans Pub, 1998.

Hur, Ju. A Dynamic Reading of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts, Journal for the Study of the New
Testament Supplement Series. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001.

Ladd, George Eldon. A Theology of the New Testament. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993.

Menzies, Robert, P. The Development of Early Christian Pneumatology- with special reference to
Luke-Acts, Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 54. Sheffield: Sheffield
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Nolland, John. Luke 9:21-18:34, Word Biblical Commentary 35B. Texas: Word Books, 1993.

Turner, Max. Power from on High, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press:1996.

Woods, Edward J. The 'Finger of God' and Pneumatology in Luke-Acts, Journal for the Study of the
New Testament Supplement Series. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001.

Youngmo, Cho. "Spirit and Kingdom in Luke-Acts: Proclamation as the Primary Role of the Spirit in
Relation to the Kingdom of God in Luke-Acts" Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 6, no. 2 (2003):
173-97.

Youngmo, Cho. Spirit and Kingdom in the Writing of Luke and Paul: An Attempt to Reconcile These
Concepts, Waynesboro: Paternoster, 2005.