Which seems strange since He is God. But you keep running into verses like this one: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit… Luke 4:14
That comes right after He fasted for 40 days and resisted the onslaught of the devil's temptations. So He came back to His hometown in the Spirit's power.
But why was He not returning "in the power of His own spirit?" He is perfect Man as well as perfect God, after all. And aren't men supposed to develop their potential, strengthen their inner selves, become independent, strong, and powerful? Isn't that what we're often told, sometimes by pastors and Bible teachers?
Apparently Jesus had not consulted the positive-thinking, inner-strengthening gospel. As the perfect Man, He did not exemplify independence or autonomy. Instead He depended upon His Father's guidance, and relied upon the Spirit's power. He even learned obedience by what He suffered (Hebrews 5:8). He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing..." (John 5:19).
Evidently human perfection is really about obeying and depending upon Almighty God. No one can deny that the Lord Jesus Christ is a man's man. He is fearless, focused, and strong. But He walked, not in His own strength, but in the power of the Spirit.
