At His death, Jesus “delivers” or “hands over” ( paradidomi ) His Spirit (John 19:30). The Spirit that was with Jesus flows to others because of His death.
The same thing happened to the Spirit-filled Stephen. No one can overcome the wisdom and Spirit with which he speaks (Acts 6:10). Up to his death, the Spirit has been operating in Jerusalem, but as soon as Stephen is put to death, the Spirit starts falling on Samaritans (ch. 8), persecuting Jews (ch. 9), and centurions (chs. 10-11). When Stephen’s flesh is torn, the Spirit is unleashed.
The unleashing of the Spirit in Luke-Acts turns not on the death of Christ per se ; the Spirit is unleashed when saints like Stephen begin to “fill up what was lacking in the sufferings of Christ” (Colossians 1:24). Not Jesus’ death alone, but Stephen’s mingled with Jesus’, rend the veil and release the Spirit from Jerusalem.
Unraveling this thread from Luke-Acts would lead to what I’d call a “historically plausible” account of the atonement.
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