By the Spirit of God. — In Luke 11:20 we have as an equivalent phrase, “the finger of God.” So in Old Testament language the fulness of the prophet’s inspiration was expressed in the words, “the hand of the Lord was strong upon me” (Ezekiel 3:14). The second hymn in the Ordination Service reproduces the symbolism in the words addressed to the Holy Spirit —
“In faithful hearts thou writ’st thy law,
The finger of God’s hand;”
and it obviously connects itself with the older language which describes the Ten Commandments as written on the two tables of stone with “the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18).
Then the kingdom of God is come unto you. — The word describes a coming suddenly, unlooked for, sooner than men expected. The argument may be briefly formulated thus: — The work was confessedly superhuman, either from the power of Satan or that of God, but the former hypothesis was excluded by the reasoning of Matthew 12:25-27; the latter was therefore the only explanation. But if so, if Jesus gave proof that He was thus filled with the power of the Spirit to heal and save, then He was what He claimed to be, the Head of the divine kingdom. That kingdom had burst upon men unawares.