56 Brandon D. Crowe connections are even clearer, as the Spirit of God rests upon Jesus, empowering him for his ministry (59). More explicit still is the Spirit of your Father in 10,20 (60). In 12,18 it is the Lord who places his Spirit on his Servant, and 12,28 refers to the wonders wrought by the Spirit of God. Amazingly, sinning against the Spirit in 12,31 is tantamount to sinning against God himself, and the famous triadic phrase in 28,19 somehow unites the Father, Son, and Spirit. Taking into consideration these passages, Schaberg has concluded that there is an undeniable unity between the Father, Son, and Spirit in Matthew (61). Thus, although it would be fallacious to read full-blown Trinitarian doctrine into these references, it should be noted that Matthew attributes to the Spirit some elements of personality and a close relationship to God the Father. In light of these associations, one may say that for Matthew the Spirit serves as God’s powerful and empowering agent to accomplish God’s purposes in the world (62). This can be applied to Matt 1, a chapter in which the role of the Holy Spirit in the conception of Jesus is mentioned in both vv. 18.20. And, although v. 20 does not explicitly say that God had begotten the child in Mary, in light of the Spirit’s close connection with God the Father throughout Matthew, the divine implications are unavoidable: for Mary to be with child by the Holy Spirit is for her to be with child by God himself. It is therefore not necessary to posit a male role for the Spirit. Instead, it is best to identify the activity of the Spirit with God closely enough that Jesus’ conception by the Spirit is virtually equivalent to stating God is the one who wrought this event in Mary (63). Once this has been established, one may justifiably speak of Jesus’ divine sonship in this passage. Moreover, it is significant that the Spirit was commonly understood to be the agent of creation; the role of the Spirit in Jesus’ conception likewise suggests new creation (64). Indeed, the creative role of the Spirit may further explain the use of the Song of Moses in Matt 1. In Deut 32,11 Yhwh is said to hover over Israel like an eagle, employing the Piel of πjr. The only other use of πjr (Piel) is found in Gen 1,2, where the Spirit of God is said to hover over the waters (65). Additionally, language from the creation narrative in Gen 1,2 is (59) Significantly, FRANCE (Matthew, 121-122) sees here a reference to the hovering of God’s Spirit over the waters at creation, and possibly a reference to Deut 32,11. (60) SCHABERG, Father, 65, n. 63. (61) SCHABERG, Father, 24, 26. (62) NOVAKOVIC (Messiah, 46-47) reaches a similar conclusion on the role of the Spirit, and avers that the Spirit’s conception as God’s creative power implies Jesus’ divine sonship. (63) In addition, the aorist passive forms of gennavw in vv. 16.20 are theological passives that indicate the activity of God (so PESCH, “Gottessohn”, 416). (64) So DAVIES – ALLISON, Matthew, I, 201; HAGNER, Matthew 1–13, 17-18. BROWN (Birth of the Messiah, 140, n. 21) and NOLLAND (Matthew, 94) do not believe supposed echoes of Gen 1,2 are operative in Matt 1,18.20. (65) This word occurs only one other time in the MT, in Jer 23 (Qal). Gen 1,2 and new creation may also be in view in Matt 3,15-17 where the Spirit descends as a dove. Cf. DAVIES – ALLISON, Matthew, I, 153; T.R. SCHREINER, New Testament Theology. Magnifying God in Christ (Grand Rapids, MI 2008) 437.