Dialogue with Trypho
Chapter 87: Trypho Challenges These Words: "And Shall Rest on Him," etc. Justin Provides an Explanation
After I had spoken these words, Trypho said, “Do not think that by asking my questions, I am trying to challenge what you have said; I just want to understand more about these matters I am asking about. Tell me, then, how, when Scripture states in Isaiah, ‘A rod will come forth from the root of Jesse; and a flower will grow from the root of Jesse; and the Spirit of God will rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety; and the spirit of the fear of the Lord will fill Him.’ You acknowledged to me,” he continued, “that this refers to Christ, and you claim He is pre-existent God, who became incarnate by God’s will and was born as a man by the Virgin. How can He be shown to have been pre-existent when He is filled with the powers of the Holy Spirit, as Isaiah lists them, as if He were in need of them?”
Then I replied, "You have asked very wisely and sensibly, for indeed there seems to be a difficulty; but listen to what I say so you can understand the reason for this as well. The Scripture says that these listed powers of the Spirit have come upon Him, not because He needed them, but because they would find their fulfillment in Him, meaning they would be complete in Him, so that there would be no more prophets in your nation following the old tradition: and you clearly see this fact.
For after Him, no prophet has risen among you.
Now, to know that your prophets, each receiving one or two powers from God, did and spoke the things which we have learned from the Scriptures, pay attention to the following comments of mine. Solomon had the spirit of wisdom, Daniel the spirit of understanding and counsel, Moses that of might and piety, Elijah that of fear, and Isaiah that of knowledge; and so it was with the others: each had one power, or one combined with another; also Jeremiah, and the twelve prophets, and David, and, in short, the rest who existed among you.
So He rested, meaning He ceased, when He came, after whom, in the period of this arrangement accomplished by Him among men, it was necessary that such gifts should stop from you; and having found their rest in Him, should again, as had been predicted, become gifts which, from the grace of His Spirit's power, He gives to those who believe in Him, according to how He considers each person worthy of them. I have already said, and say again, that it was prophesied that this would be done by Him after His ascension to heaven.
It is accordingly said, 'He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, He gave gifts to the sons of men.' And again, in another prophecy it is said: 'And it shall come to pass after this, I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh, and on My servants, and on My handmaids, and they shall prophesy.'"