9/13/07
Intro - Cover Letter
DEAR READERS,
I HAVE SPENT A LOT OF PRAYERFUL HOURS PUTTING THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENT TOGETHER. I HOPE THAT IT WILL GIVE YOU A WHOLE NEW OUTLOOK ON THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT ALL OF ANCIENT HISTORY HAS BEEN HANDED DOWN BY WRITINGS BEING COPIED AND COPIED AND COPIED. THERE ARE OVER 5,000 COPIES OF THE GOSPELS IN EXISTENCE TODAY. THE COPIES THAT WE HAVE WERE WRITTEN AND COPIED VERY CLOSE TO THE TIME THAT THE ACTUAL EVENTS HAPPENED. THE FACT THAT 4 MEN WROTE THE SAME ACCOUNT WITH THE MESSAGE REMAINING THE SAME DEMANDS A VERDICT ON OUR PART.
THE FACT THAT THE EARLY CHRISTIANS WERE WILLING TO DIE FOR THIS MESSAGE ALSO DEMANDS A VERDICT.
EACH ONE OF US HAS TO DETERMINE WHO JESUS IS TO THEM. IS HE A LIAR? IS HE A LUNATIC? OR, IS HE LORD? JESUS CAME TO THIS WORLD AND MADE CLAIM THAT HE IS THE SON OF GOD. HE SAID THAT HE IS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD. HE DIED AND ROSE AGAIN. HE HAS GONE TO HEAVEN TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR US. HE IS COMING AGAIN. THIS IS THE INFORMATION THAT THE GOSPELS PRESENT. POSTPONING A DECISION TO FOLLOW CHRIST IS A DECISION OF DENIAL AND REJECTION OF HIS MESSAGE. IF YOU FEEL THAT HE IS A LIAR, THEN YOU WOULD BE INTELLIGENT TO CHOOSE NOT TO FOLLOW HIM. IF YOU THINK HE WAS JUST SOME CRAZY PERSON MAKING CLAIM TO SOMETHING THAT HE WASN'T, THEN YOU WOULD ALSO BE INTELLIGENT TO REFUSE TO FOLLOW HIM. BUT, IF YOU HAVEN'T MADE UP YOUR MIND WHO JESUS IS, THEN PLEASE KEEP AN OPEN MIND AND HEART TO THE FACTS PRESENTED IN THE GOSPELS ABOUT JESUS. REMEMBER THAT YOUR ETERNAL DESTINY RESTS IN THIS DECISION. IF YOU COULD SAVE YOURSELF WITHOUT HIS SHED BLOOD, THEN THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO REASON FOR HIM TO COME TO EARTH. HE WANTS TO BE YOUR FRIEND. HE PROMISES TO GIVE YOU NOT ONLY ETERNAL LIFE, BUT COMFORT DURING YOUR TIME HERE ON EARTH. DON'T GET CONFUSED INTO THINKING THAT TO FOLLOW JESUS, YOU WILL HAVE ALL YOUR PROBLEMS SOLVED AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES TURNED INTO A BED OF ROSES. HE NEVER CLAIMED THIS. HE SAID THAT HE WOULD ABIDE IN YOU AND YOU IN HIM. HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU. HE OFFERS EVERYONE THE SAME INVITATION, BUT NOT EVERYONE WILL RESPOND.
HE IS MY LORD! I HOPE AND PRAY THAT YOU WILL ALLOW HIM TO BE YOUR LORD AS WELL.
MAY GOD BLESS YOU IN THIS READING,
GINGER BLOUNT
I HAVE SPENT A LOT OF PRAYERFUL HOURS PUTTING THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENT TOGETHER. I HOPE THAT IT WILL GIVE YOU A WHOLE NEW OUTLOOK ON THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT ALL OF ANCIENT HISTORY HAS BEEN HANDED DOWN BY WRITINGS BEING COPIED AND COPIED AND COPIED. THERE ARE OVER 5,000 COPIES OF THE GOSPELS IN EXISTENCE TODAY. THE COPIES THAT WE HAVE WERE WRITTEN AND COPIED VERY CLOSE TO THE TIME THAT THE ACTUAL EVENTS HAPPENED. THE FACT THAT 4 MEN WROTE THE SAME ACCOUNT WITH THE MESSAGE REMAINING THE SAME DEMANDS A VERDICT ON OUR PART.
THE FACT THAT THE EARLY CHRISTIANS WERE WILLING TO DIE FOR THIS MESSAGE ALSO DEMANDS A VERDICT.
EACH ONE OF US HAS TO DETERMINE WHO JESUS IS TO THEM. IS HE A LIAR? IS HE A LUNATIC? OR, IS HE LORD? JESUS CAME TO THIS WORLD AND MADE CLAIM THAT HE IS THE SON OF GOD. HE SAID THAT HE IS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD. HE DIED AND ROSE AGAIN. HE HAS GONE TO HEAVEN TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR US. HE IS COMING AGAIN. THIS IS THE INFORMATION THAT THE GOSPELS PRESENT. POSTPONING A DECISION TO FOLLOW CHRIST IS A DECISION OF DENIAL AND REJECTION OF HIS MESSAGE. IF YOU FEEL THAT HE IS A LIAR, THEN YOU WOULD BE INTELLIGENT TO CHOOSE NOT TO FOLLOW HIM. IF YOU THINK HE WAS JUST SOME CRAZY PERSON MAKING CLAIM TO SOMETHING THAT HE WASN'T, THEN YOU WOULD ALSO BE INTELLIGENT TO REFUSE TO FOLLOW HIM. BUT, IF YOU HAVEN'T MADE UP YOUR MIND WHO JESUS IS, THEN PLEASE KEEP AN OPEN MIND AND HEART TO THE FACTS PRESENTED IN THE GOSPELS ABOUT JESUS. REMEMBER THAT YOUR ETERNAL DESTINY RESTS IN THIS DECISION. IF YOU COULD SAVE YOURSELF WITHOUT HIS SHED BLOOD, THEN THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO REASON FOR HIM TO COME TO EARTH. HE WANTS TO BE YOUR FRIEND. HE PROMISES TO GIVE YOU NOT ONLY ETERNAL LIFE, BUT COMFORT DURING YOUR TIME HERE ON EARTH. DON'T GET CONFUSED INTO THINKING THAT TO FOLLOW JESUS, YOU WILL HAVE ALL YOUR PROBLEMS SOLVED AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES TURNED INTO A BED OF ROSES. HE NEVER CLAIMED THIS. HE SAID THAT HE WOULD ABIDE IN YOU AND YOU IN HIM. HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU. HE OFFERS EVERYONE THE SAME INVITATION, BUT NOT EVERYONE WILL RESPOND.
HE IS MY LORD! I HOPE AND PRAY THAT YOU WILL ALLOW HIM TO BE YOUR LORD AS WELL.
MAY GOD BLESS YOU IN THIS READING,
GINGER BLOUNT
9/6/07
JESUS - The Study
THE PURPOSE FOR WRITING THIS DOCUMENT IS TO DISCOVER JESUS. MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, AND JOHN ALL WROTE ACCOUNTS OF THE LIFE AND WORKS OF JESUS. MY PRAYER IS THAT EACH PERSON THAT READS THIS WILL HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHO JESUS IS AND BE DRAWN CLOSER TO HIM.
WHO WERE MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN?
MATTHEW (LEVI) WAS A JEWISH TAX COLLECTOR WHO BECAME ONE OF JESUS' DISCIPLES. HIS GOSPEL FORMS THE CONNECTING LINK BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS BECAUSE OF ITS EMPHASIS ON THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY. HIS PURPOSE IN WRITING WAS TO PROVE THAT JESUS IS THE MESSIAH, THE ETERNAL KING. MATTHEW WROTE ESPECIALLY TO THE JEWS AND HIS GOSPEL WAS PROBABLY WRITTEN BETWEEN A.D. 60-65.
MARK WAS WRITTEN BY JOHN MARK. HE WAS NOT ONE OF THE TWELVE DISCIPLES BUT HE ACCOMPANIED PAUL ON HIS FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY. HIS UNCLE WAS BARNABAS, WHO ALSO ACCOMPANIED PAUL. THE PURPOSE FOR WRITING WAS TO PRESENT THE PERSON, WORK, AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS. MARK WROTE TO THE CHRISTIANS IN ROME, WHERE HE WROTE THE GOSPEL. THE DATE WRITTEN WAS BETWEEN A.D. 55 AND 65. THE ROMAN EMPIRE UNDER TIBERIUS CAESAR WAS THE SETTING WHEN HE WROTE THE GOSPEL. THE EMPIRE, WITH ITS COMMON LANGUAGE, EXCELLENT TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, WAS RIPE TO HEAR JESUS' MESSAGE, WHICH SPREAD QUICKLY FROM NATION TO NATION. MARK WAS THE FIRST GOSPEL WRITTEN. THE OTHER GOSPELS QUOTE ALL BUT 31 VERSES OF MARK. MARK RECORDS MORE MIRACLES THAN DOES ANY OTHER GOSPEL.
LUKE, A DOCTOR AND WAS A GREEK AND GENTILE CHRISTIAN. HE IS THE ONLY KNOWN GENTILE AUTHOR IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. HE WAS A CLOSE COMPANION OF PAUL. HE ALSO WROTE ACTS, AND THE TWO BOOKS GO TOGETHER. HE WROTE TO THEOPHILUS ("LOVER OF GOD"), GENTILES, AND PEOPLE EVERYWHERE. THE PURPOSE OF HIS WRITING WAS TO PRESENT AN ACCURATE ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST AND TO PRESENT CHRIST AS THE PERFECT MAN AND SAVIOR. HE WROTE LUKE ABOUT A.D. 60. LUKE WROTE FROM CAESAREA OR FROM ROME. LUKE IS THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE GOSPEL. THE GENERAL VOCABULARY AND DICTION SHOW THAT THE AUTHOR WAS EDUCATED. HE MAKES FREQUENT REFERENCES TO ILLNESSES AND DIAGNOSES. LUKE STRESSES JESUS' RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE; EMPHASIZES PRAYER, MIRACLES, ANGELS; RECORDS INSPIRED HYMNS OF PRAISE; AND GIVES A PROMINENT PLACE TO WOMEN.
JOHN WAS A FISHERMAN BEFORE HE BECAME ONE OF JESUS' DISCIPLES. HE WAS THE SON OF ZEBEDEE, AND BROTHER OF JAMES. JESUS CALLED THEM "SONS OF THUNDER". HE WROTE TO THE NEW CHRISTIANS AND SEARCHING NON-CHRISTIANS. HIS PURPOSE WAS TO PROVE CONCLUSIVELY THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD AND THAT ALL WHO BELIEVE IN HIM WILL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. HE PROBABLY WROTE THIS GOSPEL A.D. 85-90. THE SETTING WAS WRITTEN AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM IN A.D. 70 AND BEFORE JOHN'S EXILE TO THE ISLAND OF PATMOS. OF THE EIGHT MIRACLES RECORDED, SIX ARE UNIQUE (AMONG THE GOSPELS) TO JOHN, AS IS THE "UPPER ROOM DISCOURSE". OVER 90% OF JOHN IS UNIQUE TO HIS GOSPEL---JOHN DOES NOT CONTAIN A GENEALOGY OR ANY RECORD OF JESUS' BIRTH, CHILDHOOD, TEMPTATION, TRANSFIGURATION, APPOINTMENT OF THE DISCIPLES, AND NO PARABLES, ASCENSION, OR GREAT COMMISSION.
NOW THAT WE HAVE ESTABLISHED WHO WROTE THE 4 GOSPELS AND A BRIEF SKETCH ABOUT THEM, LET'S BEGIN WITH A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.
MATTHEW RECORDS THE GENEALOGY OF CHRIST ON THE SIDE OF JOSEPH. LUKE RECORDS THE GENEALOGY OF CHRIST ON THE SIDE OF MARY. **NOTE THAT THE TWO ARE IDENTICAL UP TO KING DAVID. THE SPLIT OCCURS WITH MATTHEW'S RECORDING OF JOSEPH'S GENEALOGY COMING FROM SOLOMON (DAVID'S SON) AND LUKE'S RECORDING OF MARY'S GENEALOGY COMING FROM NATHAN (DAVID'S SON). BATHSHEBA WAS THE MOTHER OF BOTH SOLOMON AND NATHAN (I CHRONICLES 3:5).
MESSIAH WAS TO BE BORN IN BETHLEHEM. (OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY FROM MICAH 5:2) FULFILLED IN MATTHEW 2:1-6 AND LUKE 2:1-20.
MESSIAH WAS TO BE BORN OF A VIRGIN. (OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY FROM ISAIAH 7:14) FULFILLED IN MATTHEW 1:18-25 AND LUKE 1:26-38.
JOHN THE BAPTIST IS A KEY CHARACTER AS WE BEGIN THE STUDY OF CHRIST. LUKE 1 PAINTS THE PICTURE OF HIS BIRTH. JOHN THE BAPTIST FULFILLS THE PROPHECY IN ISAIAH ABOUT THE MESSENGER WHO WILL LIVE OUT IN THE BARREN WILDERNESS AND WILL PROCLAIM THAT EVERYONE MUST STRAIGHTEN OUT HIS LIFE TO BE READY FOR THE LORD'S ARRIVAL. HE WORE CLOTHES WOVEN FROM CAMEL'S HAIR AND HE WORE A LEATHER BELT. HE ATE LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY. HE DID NOT DRINK WINE OR HARD LIQUOR. HE WAS FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, EVEN BEFORE HIS BIRTH. HE BAPTIZED PEOPLE IN THE JORDAN RIVER AS AN OUTWARD SIGN OF A REPENTANT HEART. HE BAPTIZED JESUS.
ZACHARIAS, A JEWISH PRIEST, AND HIS WIFE, ELIZABETH, WERE OLD AND THEY HAD NO CHILDREN. ELIZABETH WAS THE AUNT OF MARY (THE MOTHER OF JESUS). ZACHARIAS WAS IN THE SANCTUARY PERFORMING HIS PRIESTLY DUTIES ONE DAY WHEN SUDDENLY GABRIEL, AN ANGEL, APPEARED TO HIM AND ANNOUNCED THAT HE AND ELIZABETH WOULD HAVE A SON AND THEY WERE TO NAME HIM JOHN. GABRIEL TOLD ZACHARIAS THAT JOHN WOULD BE THE LONG AWAITED MESSENGER THAT WOULD PRECEDE THE MESSIAH. ZACHARIAS DOUBTED GABRIEL AND GABRIEL STRUCK HIM SILENT UNTIL JOHN'S BIRTH. WHEN ELIZABETH WAS 6 MONTHS PREGNANT, MARY CAME TO VISIT HER. MARY WAS PREGNANT WITH JESUS AT THAT TIME AND JOHN THE BAPTIST LEAPED IN THE WOMB WHEN MARY ARRIVED.
LUKE RECORDS IN THE FIRST CHAPTER ABOUT GABRIEL APPEARING TO MARY IN NAZARETH, A VILLAGE IN GALILEE. MARY WAS A VIRGIN AND WAS ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED TO A MAN NAMED JOSEPH, A DESCENDANT OF KING DAVID. HE TOLD MARY THAT SHE WOULD BECOME PREGNANT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT AND GIVE BIRTH TO THE MESSIAH AND SHE WAS TO NAME HIM JESUS. IN THE FIRST CHAPTER OF MATTHEW WE FIND GABRIEL APPEARING TO JOSEPH. HE TELLS HIM THAT MARY IS GOING TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS, THE LONG AWAITED MESSIAH. JOSEPH IS FRIGHTENED AT FIRST, BUT FOLLOWS GABRIEL'S INSTRUCTIONS TO MARRY MARY. MARY REMAINS A VIRGIN UNTIL AFTER JESUS IS BORN. IN THE SECOND CHAPTER OF LUKE WE DISCOVER HOW THE COUPLE GETS FROM THEIR HOME OF NAZARETH TO BETHLEHEM (A 70 MILE TRIP SOUTH). CAESAR AUGUSTUS, THE ROMAN EMPEROR, DECREED THAT A CENSUS SHOULD BE TAKEN THROUGHOUT THE NATION. THIS CENSUS WAS TAKEN WHEN QUIRINIUS WAS GOVERNOR OF SYRIA. EVERYONE WAS REQUIRED TO RETURN TO HIS ANCESTRAL HOME FOR THIS REGISTRATION. JOSEPH WAS REQUIRED TO GO TO BETHLEHEM IN JUDEA BECAUSE HE WAS OF THE ROYAL LINE OF KING DAVID AND THIS WAS HIS ANCIENT HOME. WHEN THEY ARRIVED IN BETHLEHEM, MARY GAVE BIRTH TO JESUS. THEY COULDN'T FIND A ROOM IN ANY OF THE INNS BECAUSE THE TOWN WAS SO FULL OF OTHER TRAVELERS ALSO REGISTERING FOR THE CENSUS. THEY FOUND A STABLE, WHICH WAS PROBABLY A CAVE IN THE SIDE OF THE HILL.
THAT NIGHT SOME SHEPHERDS WERE IN THE FIELDS OUTSIDE THE VILLAGE GUARDING THEIR FLOCKS OF SHEEP. SUDDENLY AN ANGEL APPEARED AMONG THEM, AND THE LANDSCAPE SHONE BRIGHT WITH THE GLORY OF THE LORD. THEY WERE BADLY FRIGHTENED, BUT THE ANGEL REASSURED THEM. "DON'T BE AFRAID!" HE SAID, "I BRING YOU THE MOST JOYFUL NEWS EVER ANNOUNCED, AND IT IS FOR EVERYONE! THE SAVIOR-YES, THE MESSIAH, THE LORD-HAS BEEN BORN TONIGHT IN BETHLEHEM! HOW WILL YOU RECOGNIZE HIM? YOU WILL FIND A BABY WRAPPED IN A BLANKET, LYING IN A MANGER!" SUDDENLY, THE ANGEL WAS JOINED BY A VAST HOST OF OTHERS-THE ARMIES OF HEAVEN-PRAISING GOD: "GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST HEAVEN," THEY SANG, "AND PEACE ON EARTH FOR ALL THOSE PLEASING HIM."
WHEN THIS GREAT ARMY OF ANGELS HAD RETURNED AGAIN TO HEAVEN, THE SHEPHERDS SAID TO EACH OTHER, "COME ON! LET'S GO TO BETHLEHEM! LET'S SEE THIS WONDERFUL THING THAT HAS HAPPENED, WHICH THE LORD HAS TOLD US ABOUT." THEY RAN TO THE VILLAGE AND FOUND THEIR WAY TO MARY AND JOSEPH. AND THERE WAS THE BABY, LYING IN A MANGER. THE SHEPHERDS TOLD EVERYONE WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND WHAT THE ANGEL HAD SAID TO THEM ABOUT THIS CHILD. ALL WHO HEARD THE SHEPHERDS' STORY EXPRESSED ASTONISHMENT, BUT MARY QUIETLY TREASURED THESE THINGS IN HER HEART AND OFTEN THOUGHT ABOUT THEM. THEN THE SHEPHERDS WENT BACK AGAIN TO THEIR FIELDS AND FLOCKS, PRAISING GOD FOR THE VISIT OF THE ANGELS, AND BECAUSE THEY HAD SEEN THE CHILD, JUST AS THE ANGEL HAD TOLD THEM.
LUKE'S ACCOUNT TELLS US THAT EIGHT DAYS LATER, AT THE BABY'S CIRCUMCISION CEREMONY, HE WAS NAMED JESUS, THE NAME GIVEN HIM BY THE ANGEL BEFORE HE WAS EVEN CONCEIVED. AT THE TIME THAT JESUS' PARENTS OFFERED THEIR SACRIFICE FOR PURIFICATION, A MAN NAMED SIMEON, A JERUSALEM RESIDENT, WAS IN THE TEMPLE. HE WAS A GOOD MAN, VERY DEVOUT, FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND CONSTANTLY EXPECTING THE MESSIAH TO COME SOON. FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT HAD REVEALED TO HIM THAT HE WOULD NOT DIE UNTIL HE HAD SEEN HIM-- GOD'S ANOINTED KING. THE HOLY SPIRIT HAD IMPELLED HIM TO GO TO THE TEMPLE THAT DAY; AND SO, WHEN MARY AND JOSEPH ARRIVED TO PRESENT THE BABY JESUS TO THE LORD IN OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW, SIMEON WAS THERE AND TOOK THE CHILD IN HIS ARMS, PRAISING GOD.
"LORD," HE SAID, "NOW I CAN DIE CONTENT! FOR I HAVE SEEN HIM AS YOU PROMISED ME I WOULD. I HAVE SEEN THE SAVIOR YOU HAVE GIVEN TO THE WORLD. HE IS THE LIGHT THAT WILL SHINE UPON THE NATIONS, AND HE WILL BE THE GLORY OF YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL!" JOSEPH AND MARY JUST STOOD THERE, MARVELING AT WHAT WAS BEING SAID ABOUT JESUS. SIMEON BLESSED THEM BUT THEN SAID TO MARY, "A SWORD SHALL PIERCE YOUR SOUL, FOR THIS CHILD SHALL BE REJECTED BY MANY IN ISRAEL, AND THIS TO THEIR UNDOING. BUT HE WILL BE THE GREATEST JOY OF MANY OTHERS. AND THE DEEPEST THOUGHTS OF MANY HEARTS SHALL BE REVEALED."
ANNA, A PROPHETESS, WAS ALSO THERE IN THE TEMPLE THAT DAY. SHE WAS THE DAUGHTER OF PHANUEL, OF THE JEWISH TRIBE OF ASHER, AND WAS VERY OLD, FOR SHE HAD BEEN A WIDOW FOR EIGHTY-FOUR YEARS FOLLOWING SEVEN YEARS OF MARRIAGE. SHE NEVER LEFT THE TEMPLE BUT STAYED THERE NIGHT AND DAY, WORSHIPING GOD BY PRAYING AND OFTEN FASTING. SHE CAME ALONG JUST AS SIMEON WAS TALKING WITH MARY AND JOSEPH, AND SHE ALSO BEGAN THANKING GOD AND TELLING EVERYONE IN JERUSALEM WHO HAD BEEN AWAITING THE COMING OF THE SAVIOR THAT THE MESSIAH HAD FINALLY ARRIVED.
AT THE TIME THAT JESUS WAS BORN, ACCORDING TO MATTHEW, SOME ASTROLOGERS, FROM EASTERN LANDS ARRIVED IN JERUSALEM ASKING, "WHERE IS THE NEWBORN KING OF THE JEWS? WE HAVE SEEN HIS STAR IN FAR OFF EASTERN LANDS, AND HAVE COME TO WORSHIP HIM." KING HEROD WAS DEEPLY DISTURBED BY THEIR QUESTIONS, AND ALL JERUSALEM WAS FILLED WITH RUMORS.
HEROD CALLED A MEETING OF THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS LEADERS. "DID THE PROPHETS TELL US WHERE THE MESSIAH WOULD BE BORN?" HE ASKED. "YES, IN BETHLEHEM," THEY SAID, "FOR THIS IS WHAT THE PROPHET MICAH WROTE:
"O, LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM, YOU ARE NOT JUST AN UNIMPORTANT JUDEAN VILLAGE, FOR A GOVERNOR SHALL RISE FROM YOU TO RULE MY PEOPLE ISRAEL."
THEN HEROD SENT A PRIVATE MESSAGE TO THE ASTROLOGERS, ASKING THEM TO COME TO SEE HIM; AT THIS MEETING HE FOUND OUT FROM THEM THE EXACT TIME WHEN THEY FIRST SAW THE STAR. THEN HE TOLD THEM, "GO TO BETHLEHEM AND SEARCH FOR THE CHILD. AND WHEN YOU FIND HIM, COME BACK AND TELL ME SO THAT I CAN GO AND WORSHIP HIM TOO!"
AFTER THIS INTERVIEW THE ASTROLOGERS STARTED OUT AGAIN. AND LOOK! THE STAR APPEARED TO THEM AGAIN, STANDING OVER BETHLEHEM. THEIR JOY KNEW NO BOUNDS! ENTERING THE HOUSE WHERE THE BABY AND MARY, HIS MOTHER, WERE, THEY THREW THEMSELVES DOWN BEFORE HIM, WORSHIPING. THEN THEY GAVE HIM THE PRESENTS OF GOLD, FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH THAT THEY BROUGHT. WHEN THEY RETURNED TO THEIR OWN LAND, THEY DIDN'T GO THROUGH JERUSALEM TO REPORT TO HEROD, FOR GOD HAD WARNED THEM IN A DREAM TO GO HOME ANOTHER WAY.
WHO WAS HEROD? HE WAS ALSO KNOWN AS HEROD THE GREAT. HEROD IS REMEMBERED AS A BUILDER OF CITIES AND LAVISH REBUILDER OF THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM. BUT, HE ALSO DESTROYED PEOPLE. HE SHOWED LITTLE GREATNESS IN EITHER HIS PERSONAL ACTIONS OR HIS CHARACTER. HE WAS RUTHLESS IN RULING HIS TERRITORY. HIS SUSPICIONS AND JEALOUSY LED TO THE MURDER OF SEVERAL OF HIS CHILDREN AND THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE, MARIAMNE. HEROD'S TITLE, KING OF THE JEWS, WAS GRANTED BY ROME, BUT NEVER ACCEPTED BY THE PEOPLE. HE WAS NOT PART OF THE DAVIDIC FAMILY LINE, AND HE WAS ONLY PARTLY JEWISH. ALTHOUGH ISRAEL BENEFITTED FROM HEROD'S LAVISH EFFORTS TO REPAIR THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM, HE WON LITTLE ADMIRATION BECAUSE HE ALSO REBUILT VARIOUS PAGAN TEMPLES. HEROD'S COSTLY ATTEMPT TO GAIN THE LOYALTY OF THE PEOPLE FAILED BECAUSE IT WAS SUPERFICIAL. HIS ONLY LOYALTY WAS TO HIMSELF. BECAUSE HIS ROYAL TITLE WAS NOT GENUINE, HEROD WAS CONSTANTLY WORRIED ABOUT LOSING HIS POSITION. HIS ACTIONS WHEN HEARING FROM THE WISE MEN ABOUT THEIR SEARCH FOR THE NEW KING ARE CONSISTENT WITH ALL THAT WE KNOW ABOUT HEROD. HE PLANNED TO LOCATE AND KILL THE CHILD BEFORE HE COULD BECOME A THREAT. THE MURDER OF INNOCENT CHILDREN THAT FOLLOWED IS A TRAGIC LESSON IN WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN ACTIONS ARE MOTIVATED BY SELFISHNESS. HEROD'S SUSPICIONS DID NOT SPARE EVEN HIS OWN FAMILY. HIS LIFE WAS SELF-DESTRUCTING. IF JESUS REALLY WAS AN HEIR, TROUBLE WOULD ARISE. HEROD WAS RUTHLESS, BECAUSE OF HIS MANY ENEMIES, HE WAS SUSPICIOUS THAT SOMEONE WOULD TRY TO OVERTHROW HIM. HEROD DIDN'T WANT THE JEWS, A RELIGIOUS PEOPLE, TO UNITE AROUND A RELIGIOUS FIGURE. IF THESE ASTROLOGERS WERE OF JEWISH DESCENT AND FROM PARTHIA (THE REGION MOST POWERFUL, NEXT TO ROME), THEY WOULD HAVE WELCOMED A JEWISH KING WHO COULD SWING THE BALANCE OF POWER AWAY FROM ROME. THE LAND OF ISRAEL, FAR FROM ROME, WOULD HAVE BEEN EASY PREY FOR A NATION TRYING TO GAIN MORE CONTROL. HEROD DID NOT WANT TO WORSHIP CHRIST--HE WAS LYING. THIS WAS A TRICK TO GET THE ASTROLOGERS TO RETURN TO HIM AND REVEAL THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE NEWBORN KING. HEROD'S PLAN WAS TO KILL HIM.
JESUS WAS PROBABLY ONE OR TWO YEARS OLD WHEN THE ASTROLOGERS FOUND HIM. BY THIS TIME, MARY AND JOSEPH WERE MARRIED, LIVING IN A HOUSE, AND INTENDING TO STAY IN BETHLEHEM FOR A WHILE. THE ASTROLOGERS GAVE EXPENSIVE GIFTS BECAUSE THEY WERE WORTHY PRESENTS FOR A FUTURE KING. BIBLE STUDENTS HAVE SEEN IN THE GIFTS SYMBOLS OF CHRIST'S IDENTITY AND WHAT HE WOULD ACCOMPLISH. GOLD WAS A GIFT FOR A KING; FRANKINCENSE, A GIFT OF DEITY; MYRRH, A SPICE FOR MORTAL MAN WHO WAS GOING TO DIE. THESE GIFTS MAY HAVE PROVIDED THE FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR THE FAMILY 'S TRIP TO EGYPT AND BACK.
AFTER THE ASTROLOGERS WERE GONE, AN ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARED TO JOSEPH IN A DREAM. "GET UP AND FLEE TO EGYPT WITH THE BABY AND HIS MOTHER," THE ANGEL SAID, "AND STAY THERE UNTIL I TELL YOU TO RETURN, FOR KING HEROD IS GOING TO TRY TO KILL THE CHILD". THAT SAME NIGHT HE LEFT FOR EGYPT WITH MARY AND THE BABY, AND STAYED THERE UNTIL KING HEROD'S DEATH. THIS FULFILLED THE PROPHET'S PREDICTION, "I HAVE CALLED MY SON FROM EGYPT." HEROD WAS FURIOUS WHEN HE LEARNED THAT THE ASTROLOGERS HAD DISOBEYED HIM. SENDING SOLDIERS TO BETHLEHEM, HE ORDERED THEM TO KILL EVERY BABY BOY TWO YEARS OLD AND UNDER, BOTH IN THE TOWN AND ON THE NEARBY FARMS, FOR THE ASTROLOGERS HAD TOLD HIM THE STAR FIRST APPEARED TO THEM TWO YEARS BEFORE. THIS BRUTAL ACTION OF HEROD'S FULFILLED THE PROPHECY OF JEREMIAH.
"SCREAMS OF ANGUISH COME FROM RAMAH,
WEEPING UNRESTRAINED;
RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN,
UNCOMFORTED--
FOR THEY ARE DEAD."
WHEN HEROD DIED, AN ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARED IN A DREAM TO JOSEPH IN EGYPT, AND TOLD HIM, "GET UP AND TAKE THE BABY AND HIS MOTHER BACK TO ISRAEL, FOR THOSE WHO WERE TRYING TO KILL THE CHILD ARE DEAD." SO HE RETURNED IMMEDIATELY TO ISRAEL WITH JESUS AND HIS MOTHER. BUT ON THE WAY HE WAS FRIGHTENED TO LEARN THAT THE NEW KING WAS HEROD'S SON, ARCHELAUS. THEN, IN ANOTHER DREAM, HE WAS WARNED NOT TO GO TO JUDEA, SO THEY WENT TO GALILEE INSTEAD, AND LIVED IN NAZARETH. THIS FULFILLED THE PREDICTION OF THE PROPHETS CONCERNING THE MESSIAH, "HE SHALL BE CALLED A NAZARENE."
HEROD THE GREAT DIED IN 4 B.C. OF AN INCURABLE DISEASE. ROME TRUSTED HIM, BUT NOT HIS SONS. HEROD KNEW ROME WOULDN'T GIVE HIS SUCCESSOR AS MUCH POWER, SO HE DIVIDED HIS KINGDOM INTO THREE PARTS, ONE FOR EACH SON. ARCHELAUS GOT JUDEA, SAMARIA, AND IDUMEA; HEROD ANTIPAS RECEIVED GALILEE AND PEREA; HEROD PHILIP II GOT TRACHONITIS. ARCHELAUS, A VIOLENT MAN, BEGAN HIS REIGN BY SLAUGHTERING 3,000 INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE. HE WAS BANISHED NINE YEARS LATER. GOD DIDN'T WANT JOSEPH'S FAMILY TO GO INTO THE REGION OF THIS EVIL RULER.
WHEN JESUS WAS TWELVE YEARS OLD HE ACCOMPANIED HIS PARENTS TO JERUSALEM FOR THE ANNUAL PASSOVER FESTIVAL, WHICH THEY ATTENDED EACH YEAR. AFTER THE CELEBRATION WAS OVER THEY STARTED HOME TO NAZARETH, BUT JESUS STAYED BEHIND IN JERUSALEM. HIS PARENTS DIDN'T MISS HIM THE FIRST DAY, FOR THEY ASSUMED HE WAS WITH FRIENDS AMONG THE OTHER TRAVELERS. BUT WHEN HE DIDN'T SHOW UP THAT EVENING, THEY STARTED TO LOOK FOR HIM AMONG THEIR RELATIVES AND FRIENDS; AND WHEN THEY COULDN'T FIND HIM, THEY WENT BACK TO JERUSALEM TO SEARCH FOR HIM THERE.
THREE DAYS LATER THEY FINALLY DISCOVERED HIM. HE WAS IN THE TEMPLE, SITTING AMONG THE TEACHERS OF LAW, DISCUSSING DEEP QUESTIONS WITH THEM AND AMAZING EVERYONE WITH HIS UNDERSTANDING AND ANSWERS.
HIS PARENTS DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK. "SON!", HIS MOTHER SAID TO HIM, "WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS TO US? YOUR FATHER AND I HAVE BEEN FRANTIC, SEARCHING FOR YOU EVERYWHERE." "BUT WHY DID YOU NEED TO SEARCH?" HE ASKED, "DIDN'T YOU REALIZE THAT I WOULD BE HERE AT THE TEMPLE, IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE?" BUT THEY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT HE MEANT. THEN HE RETURNED TO NAZARETH WITH THEM AND WAS OBEDIENT TO THEM; AND HIS MOTHER STORED AWAY ALL THESE THINGS IN HER HEART. SO JESUS GREW BOTH TALL AND WISE, AND WAS LOVED BY GOD AND MAN.
LUKE 2:41-52
THE NEXT STAGE IN THE LIFE OF JESUS BEGINS WITH THE MINISTRY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. LUKE 3 GIVES US THIS ACCOUNT:
IN THE FIFTEENTH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF EMPEROR TIBERIUS CAESAR, A MESSAGE CAME FROM GOD TO JOHN (THE SON OF ZACHARIAS), AS HE WAS LIVING OUT IN THE DESERTS. (PILATE WAS GOVERNOR OVER JUDEA AT THAT TIME; HEROD, OVER GALILEE; HIS BROTHER PHILIP, OVER ITUREA AND TRACHONITIS; LYSANIAS, OVER ABILENE; AND ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS WERE HIGH PRIESTS.) THEN JOHN WENT FROM PLACE TO PLACE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE JORDAN RIVER, PREACHING THAT PEOPLE SHOULD BE BAPTIZED TO SHOW THAT THEY HAD TURNED TO GOD AND AWAY FROM SINS, IN ORDER TO BE FORGIVEN.
IN THE WORDS OF ISAIAH THE PROPHET, JOHN WAS "A VOICE SHOUTING FROM THE BARREN WILDERNESS. 'PREPARE A ROAD FOR THE LORD TO TRAVEL ON! WIDEN THE PATHWAY BEFORE HIM! LEVEL THE MOUNTAINS! FILL UP THE VALLEYS! STRAIGHTEN THE CURVES! SMOOTH OUT THE RUTS! AND THEN ALL MANKIND SHALL SEE THE SAVIOR SENT FROM GOD.'" HERE IS A SAMPLE OF JOHN'S PREACHING TO THE CROWDS THAT CAME FOR BAPTISM: "YOU BROOD OF SNAKES! YOU ARE TRYING TO ESCAPE HELL WITHOUT TRULY TURNING TO GOD! THAT IS WHY YOU WANT TO BE BAPTIZED! FIRST GO AND PROVE BY THE WAY YOU LIVE THAT YOU REALLY HAVE REPENTED. AND DON'T THINK YOU ARE SAFE BECAUSE YOU ARE DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM. THAT ISN'T ENOUGH, GOD CAN PRODUCE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM FROM THESE DESERT STONES! THE AXE OF HIS JUDGMENT IS POISED OVER YOU, READY TO SEVER YOUR ROOTS AND CUT YOU DOWN. YES, EVERY TREE THAT DOES NOT PRODUCE GOOD FRUIT WILL BE CHOPPED DOWN AND THROWN INTO THE FIRE."
THE CROWD REPLIED, "WHAT DO YOU WANT US TO DO?"
"IF YOU HAVE TWO COATS," HE REPLIED, "GIVE ONE TO THE POOR. IF YOU HAVE EXTRA FOOD, GIVE IT AWAY TO THOSE WHO ARE HUNGRY." EVEN TAX COLLECTORS--NOTORIOUS FOR THEIR CORRUPTION--CAME TO BE BAPTIZED AND ASKED, "HOW SHALL WE PROVE TO YOU THAT WE HAVE ABANDONED OUR SINS?" "BY YOUR HONESTY," HE REPLIED, "MAKE SURE YOU COLLECT NO MORE TAXES THAN THE ROMAN GOVERNMENT REQUIRES YOU TO. "AND US", ASKED SOME SOLDIERS, "WHAT ABOUT US?" JOHN REPLIED, "DON'T EXTORT MONEY BY THREATS AND VIOLENCE; DON'T ACCUSE ANYONE OF WHAT YOU KNOW HE DIDN'T DO; AND BE CONTENT WITH YOUR PAY!" EVERYONE WAS EXPECTING THE MESSIAH TO COME SOON AND EAGER TO KNOW WHETHER OR NOT JOHN WAS HE. THIS WAS THE QUESTION OF THE HOUR, AND WAS BEING DISCUSSED EVERYWHERE.
JOHN ANSWERED THE QUESTION BY SAYING, "I BAPTIZE ONLY WITH WATER; BUT SOMEONE IS COMING SOON WHO HAS FAR HIGHER AUTHORITY THAN MINE; IN FACT, I AM NOT EVEN WORTHY OF BEING HIS SLAVE. HE WILL BAPTIZE YOU WITH FIRE--WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. HE WILL SEPARATE CHAFF FROM GRAIN, AND BURN UP THE CHAFF WITH ETERNAL FIRE AND STORE AWAY THE GRAIN." HE USED MANY SUCH WARNINGS AS HE ANNOUNCED THE GOOD NEWS TO THE PEOPLE.
(BUT AFTER JOHN HAD PUBLICLY CRITICIZED HEROD, GOVERNOR OF GALILEE, FOR MARRYING HERODIAS, HIS BROTHER'S WIFE, AND FOR MANY OTHER WRONGS HE HAD DONE, HEROD PUT JOHN IN PRISON, THUS ADDING THIS SIN TO ALL HIS MANY OTHERS.)
**NOTE** TIBERIUS, THE ROMAN EMPEROR, RULED FROM A.D. 14-37. PILATE WAS THE ROMAN GOVERNOR RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROVINCE OF JUDEA. HEROD ANTIPAS AND PHILIP WERE HALFBROTHERS AND SONS OF THE CRUEL HEROD THE GREAT, WHO HAD BEEN DEAD MORE THAN 20 YEARS. ANTIPAS, PHILIP, PILATE, AND LYSANIAS APPARENTLY HAD EQUAL POWERS IN GOVERNING THEIR SEPARATE TERRITORIES. ALL WERE SUBJECT TO ROME AND RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING PEACE IN THEIR RESPECTIVE LANDS. PILATE, HEROD, AND CAIAPHAS WERE THE MOST POWERFUL LEADERS IN PALESTINE, BUT THEY WERE UPSTAGED BY A DESERT PROPHET FROM RURAL JUDEA. GOD CHOSE TO SPEAK THROUGH THE LONER JOHN THE BAPTIST, WHO HAS GONE DOWN IN HISTORY AS GREATER THAN ANY OF THE RULERS OF HIS DAY.
SOME PEOPLE WANTED TO BE BAPTIZED BY JOHN SO THEY COULD ESCAPE ETERNAL PUNISHMENT, BUT THEY DIDN'T TURN TO GOD FOR SALVATION. JOHN HAD HARSH WORDS FOR SUCH PEOPLE. HE KNEW THAT GOD VALUES REFORMATION ABOVE RITUAL.
REPENTANCE MUST BE TIED TO ACTION, OR IT ISN'T REAL. REPENTANCE HAS TWO SIDES--TURNING AWAY FROM SINS, AND TURNING TOWARD GOD. TO BE FORGIVEN, WE MUST DO BOTH. WE CAN'T JUST SAY WE BELIEVE AND THEN LIVE ANY WAY WE WANT TO, AND NEITHER CAN WE SIMPLY LIVE A MORALLY CORRECT LIFE WITHOUT REFERENCE TO GOD, BECAUSE THAT ALONE CANNOT BRING FORGIVENESS FROM SIN.
JOHN WAS THE FIRST TRUE PROPHET IN 400 YEARS. HE BLASTED BOTH KING HEROD AND THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS, SOMETHING THAT WAS NOT ONLY DARING, BUT FASCINATING TO THE COMMON PEOPLE. BUT JOHN ALSO HAD STRONG WORDS FOR THEM--THEY TOO WERE SINNERS AND NEEDED TO REPENT. HIS MESSAGE WAS POWERFUL AND TRUE. THE PEOPLE WERE EXPECTING A PROPHET LIKE ELIJAH (MALACHI 4:5), AND JOHN SEEMED TO BE THE ONE! BAPTISM WAS USED BY THE JEWS TO INITIATE CONVERTS TO JUDAISM, SO JOHN'S AUDIENCE WAS FAMILIAR WITH THE RITE. HERE, BAPTISM WAS USED AS A SIGN OF REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS. REPENT MEANS "TO TURN," IMPLYING A CHANGE IN BEHAVIOR. IT IS TURNING FROM SIN TOWARD GOD.
A CHANGED LIFE WITH NEW AND DIFFERENT BEHAVIOR MAKES YOUR REPENTANCE REAL AND VISIBLE. THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS LEADERS WERE DIVIDED INTO SEVERAL GROUPS. TWO OF THE MOST PROMINENT WERE THE PHARISEES AND THE SADDUCEES. THE PHARISEES SEPARATED THEMSELVES FROM ANYTHING NON-JEWISH AND CAREFULLY FOLLOWED BOTH THE OLD TESTAMENT LAWS AND THE ORAL TRADITIONS WHICH HAD BEEN HANDED DOWN THROUGH THE CENTURIES. THE SADDUCEES BELIEVED THE PENTATEUCH ALONE (GENESIS-DEUTERONOMY) TO BE GOD'S WORD. THEY WERE DESCENDED MAINLY FROM PRIESTLY NOBILITY WHILE THE PHARISEES CAME FROM ALL CLASSES OF PEOPLE. THE TWO GROUPS DISLIKED EACH OTHER GREATLY AND, AS A WHOLE, BOTH OPPOSED JESUS. JOHN THE BAPTIST CRITICIZED THE PHARISEES FOR BEING LEGALISTIC AND HYPOCRITICAL, FOLLOWING THE LETTER OF THE LAW WHILE IGNORING ITS TRUE INTENT. HE CRITICIZED THE SADDUCEES FOR USING RELIGION TO ADVANCE THEIR POLITICAL POSITION.
JOHN BAPTIZES JESUS - MATTHEW 3:13-17
THEN JESUS WENT FROM GALILEE TO THE JORDAN RIVER TO BE BAPTIZED THERE BY JOHN. JOHN DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT. "THIS ISN'T PROPER," HE SAID, "I AM THE ONE WHO NEEDS TO BE BAPTIZED BY YOU." BUT JESUS SAID, "PLEASE DO IT, FOR I MUST DO ALL THAT IS RIGHT." SO THEN JOHN BAPTIZED HIM. AFTER HIS BAPTISM, AS SOON AS JESUS CAME UP OUT OF THE WATER, THE HEAVENS WERE OPENED TO HIM AND HE SAW THE SPIRIT OF GOD COMING DOWN IN THE FORM OF A DOVE. AND A VOICE FROM HEAVEN SAID, "THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, AND I AM WONDERFULLY PLEASED WITH HIM."
**NOTE** JOHN HAD EXPLAINED THAT JESUS' BAPTISM WOULD BE MUCH GREATER THAN HIS, WHEN SUDDENLY JESUS WAS THERE TO BE BAPTIZED! JOHN DID NOT FEEL QUALIFIED. HE WANTED JESUS TO BAPTIZE HIM. WHY WAS IT RIGHT FOR JESUS TO BE BAPTIZED? IT WAS NOT FOR REPENTANCE FOR SIN BECAUSE HE NEVER SINNED.
JESUS WAS BAPTIZED BECAUSE:
(1)HE WAS PERSONALLY CONFESSING THE SIN OF THE NATION, AS NEHEMIAH, EZRA, MOSES, AND DANIEL HAD DONE.
(2)HE WAS SHOWING SUPPORT FOR WHAT JOHN WAS DOING.
(3)HE WAS INAUGURATING HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY.
(4)HE WAS IDENTIFYING WITH THE COMMON PEOPLE, NOT WITH THE CRITICAL PHARISEES WHO WERE ONLY WATCHING.
(5)HE WAS PORTRAYING HIS COMING MINISTRY OF DEATH AND RESURRECTION. GOD SHOWED HIS APPROVAL OF JESUS AS THE PERFECT MAN WHO DIDN'T NEED BAPTISM FOR SIN BUT ACCEPTED BAPTISM IN OBEDIENT SERVICE TO THE FATHER.
**NOTE** THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY MEANS THAT GOD IS THREE PERSONS AND YET ONE IN ESSENCE. IN THIS PASSAGE, ALL THREE PERSONS OF THE TRINITY ARE PRESENT AND ACTIVE. GOD THE FATHER SPOKE, GOD THE SON WAS BAPTIZED, GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT DESCENDED ON JESUS. GOD IS ONE, YET IN THREE PERSONS AT THE SAME TIME. THIS IS ONE OF GOD'S INCOMPREHENSIBLE MYSTERIES. OTHER BIBLE REFERENCES THAT SPEAK OF THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT ARE MATTHEW 28:19; JOHN 15:26; 1 CORINTHIANS 12:4-13; 2 CORINTHIANS 13:14; EPHESIANS 2:18; 1 THESSALONIANS 1:2-5; AND 1 PETER 1:2.
SATAN TEMPTS JESUS IN THE WILDERNESS - MATTHEW 4:1-11
THEN JESUS WAS LED OUT INTO THE WILDERNESS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO BE TEMPTED THERE BY SATAN. FOR FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS HE ATE NOTHING AND BECAME VERY HUNGRY. THEN SATAN TEMPTED HIM TO GET FOOD BY CHANGING STONES INTO LOAVES OF BREAD. "IT WILL PROVE YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD," HE SAID. BUT JESUS TOLD HIM, "NO! FOR THE SCRIPTURES TELL US THAT BREAD WON'T FEED MEN'S SOULS: OBEDIENCE TO EVERY WORD OF GOD IS WHAT WE NEED." THEN SATAN TOOK HIM TO JERUSALEM TO THE ROOF OF THE TEMPLE, "JUMP OFF," HE SAID, "AND PROVE YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD: FOR THE SCRIPTURES DECLARE, 'GOD WILL SEND HIS ANGELS TO KEEP YOU FROM HARM,'... THEY WILL PREVENT YOU FROM SMASHING ON THE ROCKS BELOW." JESUS RETORTED, "IT ALSO SAYS NOT TO PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO A FOOLISH TEST!" NEXT SATAN TOOK HIM TO THE PEAK OF A VERY HIGH MOUNTAIN AND SHOWED HIM THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD AND ALL THEIR GLORY. "I'LL GIVE IT ALL TO YOU," HE SAID, "IF YOU WILL ONLY KNEEL AND WORSHIP ME." "GET OUT OF HERE, SATAN," JESUS TOLD HIM, "THE SCRIPTURES SAY, 'WORSHIP ONLY THE LORD GOD. OBEY ONLY HIM'". THEN SATAN WENT AWAY, AND ANGELS CAME AND CARED FOR JESUS.
**NOTE** THIS TIME OF TESTING SHOWED THAT JESUS REALLY WAS THE SON OF GOD, ABLE TO OVERCOME SATAN AND HIS TEMPTATIONS. A PERSON HAS NOT SHOWN TRUE OBEDIENCE IF HE HAS NEVER HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE DISOBEDIENT. IN DEUTERONOMY 8:2, GOD LED ISRAEL INTO THE WILDERNESS TO HUMBLE AND TEST THEM. HE WANTED TO FIND OUT HOW THEY WOULD RESPOND AND WHETHER OR NOT THEY WOULD REALLY OBEY HIM. WE, TOO, WILL BE TESTED. BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT TESTING WILL COME, WE SHOULD BE ALERT AND READY FOR IT. OTHERWISE, AS MATTHEW 26:41 SAYS, "TEMPTATION WILL OVERPOWER YOU." REMEMBER YOUR CONVICTIONS ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS THEY ARE UNDER PRESSURE!
JESUS WAS TEMPTED BY SATAN, BUT HE NEVER SINNED! ALTHOUGH WE MAY FEEL DIRTY AFTER BEING TEMPTED, WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT TEMPTATION ITSELF IS NOT SIN. WE SIN WHEN WE GIVE IN AND DISOBEY GOD. REMEMBERING THIS WILL HELP US WALK AWAY FROM THE TEMPTATION.
JESUS WASN'T TEMPTED IN THE TEMPLE OR AT HIS BAPTISM, BUT IN THE WILDERNESS WHERE HE WAS TIRED, ALONE, AND HUNGRY, AND THUS MOST VULNERABLE. SATAN OFTEN TEMPTS US WHEN WE ARE VULNERABLE--WHEN WE ARE TIRED, LONELY, WEIGHING BIG DECISIONS, OR FACED WITH UNCERTAINTY. BUT SATAN ALSO LIKES TO TEMPT US THROUGH OUR STRENGTHS WHERE WE ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO PRIDE. WE MUST BE ON GUARD AT ALL TIMES AGAINST HIS ATTACKS. JESUS WAS ABLE TO RESIST ALL OF SATAN'S TEMPTATIONS BECAUSE HE NOT ONLY KNEW SCRIPTURE, HE OBEYED IT. EPHESIANS 6:17 SAYS THAT GOD'S WORD IS A WEAPON--LIKE A TWO-EDGED SWORD--TO USE IN SPIRITUAL COMBAT. KNOWING BIBLE VERSES IS AN IMPORTANT STEP IN HELPING US RESIST SATAN'S ATTACKS, BUT WE MUST OBEY THE BIBLE AS WELL.
***NOTE THAT SATAN, TOO, HAD MEMORIZED SCRIPTURE, BUT HE FAILED TO OBEY IT. KNOWING AND OBEYING THE BIBLE HELPS US FOLLOW GOD'S DESIRES RATHER THAN SATAN'S. SOMETIMES WE FEEL THAT IF THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS US, IT WILL ALWAYS BE 'BESIDE THE STILL WATERS'. BUT THAT IS NOT NECESSARILY TRUE. HE LED JESUS INTO THE DESERT FOR A LONG AND DIFFICULT TIME OF TESTING, AND HE MAY ALSO LEAD US INTO DIFFICULT SITUATIONS. WHEN FACING TRIALS, FIRST MAKE SURE YOU HAVEN'T BROUGHT THEM ON YOURSELF THROUGH SIN OR UNWISE CHOICES. IF YOU FIND NO SIN TO CONFESS OR UNWISE BEHAVIOR TO CHANGE, THEN ASK GOD TO STRENGTHEN YOU FOR YOUR TEST! FINALLY, BE CAREFUL TO FAITHFULLY FOLLOW WHERE THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS. WHY WAS IT NECESSARY FOR JESUS TO BE TEMPTED? FIRST,TEMPTATION IS PART OF THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE. FOR JESUS TO BE FULLY HUMAN, FOR HIM TO UNDERSTAND US COMPLETELY, HE HAD TO FACE TEMPTATION (SEE HEBREWS 4:15) SECOND, JESUS HAD TO UNDO ADAM'S WORK. ADAM, THOUGH CREATED PERFECT, GAVE IN TO TEMPTATION AND PASSED ON SIN TO THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE. JESUS, BY CONTRAST, RESISTED SATAN. HIS VICTORY OFFERS SALVATION TO ALL OF ADAM'S DESCENDANTS (SEE ROMANS 5:12-19)
LUKE 3:23 TELLS US THAT JESUS WAS ABOUT 30 YEARS OLD WHEN HE BEGAN HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY.
THE FIRST DISCIPLES FOLLOW JESUS - JOHN 1:35-51
THE FOLLOWING DAY AS JOHN WAS STANDING WITH TWO OF HIS DISCIPLES, JESUS WALKED BY. JOHN LOOKED AT HIM INTENTLY AND THEN DECLARED, "SEE! THERE IS THE LAMB OF GOD!" THEN JOHN'S TWO DISCIPLES TURNED AND FOLLOWED JESUS.
JESUS LOOKED AROUND AND SAW THEM FOLLOWING. "WHAT DO YOU WANT? HE ASKED THEM. "SIR," THEY REPLIED, "WHERE DO YOU LIVE?" "COME AND SEE," HE SAID. SO THEY WENT WITH HIM TO THE PLACE WHERE HE WAS STAYING AND WERE WITH HIM FROM ABOUT FOUR O'CLOCK THAT AFTERNOON UNTIL THE EVENING (ONE OF THESE MEN WAS ANDREW, SIMON PETER'S BROTHER.) ANDREW THEN WENT TO FIND HIS BROTHER PETER AND TOLD HIM, "WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH!" AND HE BROUGHT PETER TO MEET JESUS. JESUS LOOKED INTENTLY AT PETER FOR A MOMENT AND THEN SAID, "YOU ARE SIMON, JOHN'S SON--BUT YOU SHALL BE CALLED PETER, THE ROCK!" THE NEXT DAY JESUS DECIDED TO GO TO GALILEE. HE FOUND PHILIP AND TOLD HIM, "COME WITH ME." (PHILIP WAS FROM BETHSAIDA, ANDREW AND PETER'S HOME TOWN.) PHILIP NOW WENT OFF TO LOOK FOR NATHANAEL AND TOLD HIM. "WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH!--THE VERY PERSON MOSES AND THE PROPHETS TOLD ABOUT! HIS NAME IS JESUS, THE SON OF JOSEPH FROM NAZARETH!" "NAZARETH!" EXCLAIMED NATHANAEL, "CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME FROM THERE?" "JUST COME AND SEE FOR YOURSELF," PHILIP DECLARED. AS THEY APPROACHED, JESUS SAID, "HERE COMES AN HONEST MAN--A TRUE SON OF ISRAEL." "HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT I AM LIKE?" NATHANAEL DEMANDED. AND JESUS REPLIED, "I COULD SEE YOU UNDER THE FIG TREE BEFORE PHILIP FOUND YOU." NATHANAEL REPLIED, "SIR, YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD--THE KING OF ISRAEL!" JESUS ASKED HIM, "DO YOU BELIEVE ALL THIS JUST BECAUSE I TOLD YOU I HAD SEEN YOU UNDER THE FIG TREE? YOU WILL SEE GREATER PROOFS THAN THIS. YOU WILL EVEN SEE HEAVEN OPEN AND THE ANGELS OF GOD COMING BACK AND FORTH TO ME, THE MESSIAH."
**NOTE** WHEN THE TWO DISCIPLES BEGAN TO FOLLOW JESUS, HE ASKED THEM, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" FOLLOWING CHRIST FOR OUR OWN PURPOSES IS ASKING CHRIST TO FOLLOW US--TO ALIGN WITH US TO BUILD OUR CAUSE, NOT HIS. WE MUST EXAMINE OUR MOTIVES FOR FOLLOWING HIM--ARE THEY FOR HIS GLORY OR OURS? ANDREW ACCEPTED JOHN THE BAPTIST'S TESTIMONY ABOUT JESUS AND IMMEDIATELY WENT TO TELL HIS BROTHER, SIMON PETER, ABOUT HIM. THERE WAS NO QUESTION IN HIS MIND THAT JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH. NOT ONLY DID HE TELL PETER, BUT THROUGHOUT THE GOSPELS WE FIND ANDREW EAGER TO INTRODUCE PEOPLE TO JESUS.
**NOTE** JESUS SAW NOT ONLY WHO PETER WAS, BUT WHO HE WOULD BECOME. PETER IS NOT PRESENTED AS "ROCK-SOLID" THROUGHOUT THE GOSPELS, BUT HE BECAME A SOLID "ROCK" IN THE DAYS OF THE EARLY CHURCH AS RECORDED IN THE BOOK OF ACTS. BY GIVING PETER A NEW NAME, JESUS INTRODUCED A CHANGE IN CHARACTER. NAZARETH WAS DESPISED BY THE JEWS BECAUSE A ROMAN ARMY GARRISON WAS LOCATED THERE. NATHANAEL'S HARSH COMMENT REFLECTED THE COMMON VIEW. NATHANAEL'S HOMETOWN WAS CANA ABOUT FOUR MILES FROM NAZARETH. WHEN NATHANAEL HEARD THAT JESUS WAS FROM NAZARETH HE WAS SURPRISED AND QUESTIONED PHILIP. PHILIP RESPONDED BY SAYING "COME AND SEE FOR YOURSELF!" FORTUNATELY, NATHANAEL WENT TO MEET JESUS AND BECAME A DISCIPLE. IF HE HAD ACTED ON HIS PREJUDICE WITHOUT INVESTIGATING FURTHER, HE WOULD HAVE MISSED THE MESSIAH!
THE FIRST MIRACLE
JESUS TURNS WATER INTO WINE - JOHN 2:1-12
TWO DAYS LATER JESUS' MOTHER WAS A GUEST AT A WEDDING IN THE VILLAGE OF CANA IN GALILEE, AND JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES WERE INVITED TOO. THE WINE SUPPLY RAN OUT DURING THE FESTIVITIES, AND JESUS' MOTHER CAME TO HIM WITH THE PROBLEM.
"I CAN'T HELP YOU NOW," HE SAID, "IT ISN'T YET MY TIME FOR MIRACLES."
BUT HIS MOTHER TOLD THE SERVANTS, "DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU TO."
SIX STONE WATERPOTS WERE STANDING THERE; THEY WERE USED FOR JEWISH CEREMONIAL PURPOSES AND HELD PERHAPS TWENTY TO THIRTY GALLONS EACH. THEN JESUS TOLD THE SERVANTS TO FILL THEM TO THE BRIM WITH WATER. WHEN THIS WAS DONE HE SAID, "DIP SOME OUT AND TAKE IT TO THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES."
WHEN THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES TASTED THE WATER THAT WAS NOW WINE, NOT KNOWING WHERE IT HAD COME FROM (THOUGH, OF COURSE, THE SERVANTS DID), HE CALLED THE BRIDEGROOM OVER. "THIS IS WONDERFUL STUFF!" HE SAID, "YOU'RE DIFFERENT FROM MOST. USUALLY A HOST USES THE BEST WINE FIRST, AND AFTERWARDS, WHEN EVERYONE IS FULL AND DOESN'T CARE, THEN HE BRINGS OUT THE LESS EXPENSIVE BRANDS. BUT YOU HAVE KEPT THE BEST FOR LAST!"
THIS MIRACLE AT CANA IN GALILEE WAS JESUS' FIRST PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION OF HIS HEAVEN-SENT POWER. AND HIS DISCIPLES BELIEVED THAT HE REALLY WAS THE MESSIAH.
AFTER THE WEDDING HE LEFT FOR CAPERNAUM FOR A FEW DAYS WITH HIS MOTHER, BROTHERS, AND DISCIPLES.
**NOTE** JESUS WAS ON A MISSION TO SAVE THE WORLD, THE GREATEST MISSION IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND. YET HE TOOK TIME TO ATTEND A WEDDING AND TAKE PART IN ITS FESTIVITIES. WE MAY BE TEMPTED TO THINK WE SHOULD NOT TAKE TIME OUT FROM OUR IMPORTANT WORK FOR SOCIAL OCCASIONS. BUT MAYBE THESE SOCIAL OCCASIONS ARE PART OF OUR MISSION. JESUS VALUED THESE WEDDING FESTIVITIES BECAUSE THEY INVOLVED PEOPLE, AND JESUS CAME TO BE WITH PEOPLE. OUR MISSION CAN OFTEN BE ACCOMPLISHED IN JOYOUS TIMES OF CELEBRATION WITH OTHERS. BRING BALANCE TO YOUR LIFE BY BRINGING JESUS INTO TIMES OF PLEASURE AS WELL AS TIMES OF WORK.
"IT ISN'T YET MY TIME FOR MIRACLES" CAN ALSO BE TRANSLATED, "MY TIME HAS NOT YET COME." MARY WAS PROBABLY NOT ASKING JESUS TO DO A MIRACLE BUT TO HELP WITH THIS MAJOR DILEMMA AND FIND SOME WINE. TRADITION SAYS THAT JOSEPH, MARY'S HUSBAND, WAS DEAD, SO SHE PROBABLY WAS USED TO ASKING FOR HER SON'S HELP IN DIFFICULT PROBLEMS. JESUS' ANSWER TO MARY IS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND, BUT MAYBE THAT IS THE POINT. ALTHOUGH MARY DID NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT JESUS WAS GOING TO DO, SHE TRUSTED HIM TO DO THE RIGHT THING. THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS, BUT RUN INTO SITUATIONS THEY CANNOT UNDERSTAND MUST CONTINUE TO TRUST THAT HE WILL WORK IN THE BEST WAY. MARY SUBMITTED TO JESUS' WAY OF DOING THINGS. SHE RECOGNIZED THAT JESUS WAS MORE THAN HER HUMAN SON--HE WAS THE SON OF GOD. WHEN WE BRING OUR PROBLEMS TO CHRIST, WE MAY THINK WE KNOW HOW HE SHOULD TAKE CARE OF THEM, BUT HE MAY HAVE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PLAN. LIKE MARY, WE SHOULD SUBMIT AND ALLOW HIM TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM AS HE SEES BEST!
PEOPLE LOOK EVERYWHERE BUT TO GOD FOR EXCITEMENT AND MEANING. THEY SOMEHOW EXPECT GOD TO BE DULL AND LIFELESS. JUST AS THE WINE JESUS MADE WAS THE BEST, SO LIFE IN HIM IS BETTER THAN LIFE ON OUR OWN. WHY WAIT UNTIL EVERYTHING ELSE RUNS OUT BEFORE TRYING GOD? WHY SAVE THE BEST UNTIL LAST?
MIRACLES ARE NOT MERELY SUPERHUMAN HAPPENINGS, BUT HAPPENINGS THAT DEMONSTRATE GOD'S POWER. ALMOST EVERY MIRACLE JESUS DID WAS A RENEWAL OF FALLEN CREATION--RESTORING SIGHT, MAKING THE LAME TO WALK, EVEN RESTORING LIFE TO THE DEAD. BELIEVE IN HIM, NOT BECAUSE HE IS A SUPERMAN, BUT BECAUSE HE IS GOD CONTINUING HIS CREATION, EVEN IN THOSE OF US WHO ARE POOR, OR WEAK, OR CRIPPLED, OR ORPHANED, OR BLIND, OR LAME, OR WITH SOME OTHER DESPERATE NEED TO BE RE-CREATED. CAPERNAUM BECAME JESUS' HOME BASE DURING HIS MINISTRY IN GALILEE. LOCATED ON A MAJOR TRADE ROUTE, IT WAS AN IMPORTANT CITY IN THE REGION WITH A ROMAN GARRISON AND A CUSTOMS STATION.
JESUS SELECTS THE TWELVE DISCIPLES - MARK 3:13-19
AFTERWARDS HE WENT UP INTO THE HILLS AND SUMMONED CERTAIN ONES HE CHOSE, INVITING THEM TO COME AND JOIN HIM THERE; AND THEY DID. THEN HE SELECTED TWELVE OF THEM TO BE HIS REGULAR COMPANIONS AND TO GO OUT TO PREACH AND TO CAST OUT DEMONS. THESE ARE THE NAMES OF THE TWELVE HE CHOSE: SIMON (HE RENAMED HIM "PETER"), JAMES, AND JOHN (THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE, BUT JESUS CALLED THEM "SONS OF THUNDER"), ANDREW, PHILIP, BARTHOLOMEW, MATTHEW, THOMAS, JAMES (THE SON OF ALPHAEUS), THADDAEUS, SIMON (A MEMBER OF A POLITICAL PARTY ADVOCATING VIOLENT OVERTHROW OF THE ROMAN GOVERNMENT), JUDAS ISCARIOT (WHO LATER BETRAYED HIM).
**NOTE** JESUS WAS SURROUNDED BY FOLLOWERS, FROM WHOM HE CHOSE TWELVE TO BE HIS REGULAR COMPANIONS. HE DID NOT CHOOSE THESE TWELVE BECAUSE OF THEIR FAITH, BECAUSE THEIR FAITH FALTERED. HE DIDN'T CHOOSE THEM BECAUSE OF THEIR TALENT AND ABILITY, BECAUSE NO ONE STOOD OUT WITH UNUSUAL ABILITY. THE DISCIPLES REPRESENTED A WIDE RANGE OF BACKGROUNDS AND LIFE EXPERIENCES, BUT APPARENTLY THEY HAD NO MORE LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL THAN THOSE WHO WERE NOT CHOSEN. THE ONE CHARACTERISTIC THEY ALL SHARED WAS THEIR WILLINGNESS TO OBEY AND FOLLOW JESUS. AFTER JESUS' ASCENSION, THEY WERE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND CARRIED OUT SPECIAL ROLES IN THE GROWTH OF THE EARLY CHURCH. WE SHOULD NOT DISQUALIFY OURSELVES FROM SERVICE TO CHRIST BECAUSE WE DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT CREDENTIALS. BEING A GOOD DISCIPLE IS SIMPLY A MATTER OF FOLLOWING JESUS WITH A WILLING HEART.
WHY DID JESUS CHOOSE TWELVE MEN? THE NUMBER TWELVE CORRESPONDS TO THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL (MATTHEW 19:28), SHOWING THE CONTINUITY BETWEEN THE OLD RELIGIOUS SYSTEM AND THE NEW, BASED ON JESUS' MESSAGE. MANY PEOPLE FOLLOWED JESUS, BUT THESE TWELVE RECEIVED INTENSE TRAINING. WE SEE THE IMPACT OF THESE MEN THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
1. NAME: SIMON PETER (SON OF JOHN)
OCCUPATION: FISHERMAN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS: IMPULSIVE; LATER-BOLD IN PREACHING JESUS
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:ONE OF THREE IN CORE GROUP OF DISCIPLES; RECOGNIZED JESUS, AS THE MESSIAH; DENIED CHRIST AND REPENTED; PREACHED PENTECOST SERMON, A LEADER OF THE JERUSALEM CHURCH, BAPTIZED GENTILES, WROTE 1 AND 2 PETER
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:NAMED HIM PETER, "A ROCK"; CALLED HIM "SATAN" WHEN HE URGED JESUS TO REJECT THE CROSS; SAID HE WOULD BECOME A FISHERMAN OF MEN'S SOULS; HE RECEIVED REVELATION FROM GOD; HE WOULD DENY JESUS; HE WOULD LATER BE CRUCIFIED FOR HIS FAITH.
A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:CHRISTIANS FALTER AT TIMES; BUT WHEN THEY RETURN TO JESUS, HE FORGIVES THEM AND STRENGTHENS THEIR FAITH.
SELECTED REFERENCES: MATTHEW 4:18-20; MARK 8:29-33; LUKE 22:31-34; JOHN 21:15-19; ACTS 2:14-41
ACTS 10:1-11;18
2. NAME: JAMES (SON OF ZEBEDEE. HE AND HIS BROTHER JOHN WERE CALLED THE "SONS OF THUNDER"
OCCUPATION: FISHERMAN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:AMBITIOUS, SHORT-TEMPERED, JUDGMENTAL, DEEPLY COMMITTED TO JESUS.
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:ALSO IN CORE GROUP; HE AND HIS BROTHER JOHN ASKED JESUS FOR PLACES OF HONOR IN HIS KINGDOM; WANTED TO COMMAND FIRE TO FALL ON A SAMARITAN VILLAGE; FIRST DISCIPLE TO BE MARTYRED
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:CALLED JAMES AND JOHN "SONS OF THUNDER"; SAID THEY WOULD FISH FOR THE SOULS OF MEN; THEY WOULD DRINK THE CUP JESUS DRANK; THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND THEIR OWN HEARTS.
A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:CHRISTIANS MUST BE WILLING TO DIE FOR JESUS.
SELECTED REFERENCES:MARK 3:17; MARK 10:35-40; LUKE 9:52-56; ACTS 12:1,2
3. NAME: JOHN (SON OF ZEBEDEE), JAMES' BROTHER, AND "THE
DISCIPLE JESUS LOVED".
OCCUPATION: FISHERMAN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:AMBITIOUS, JUDGMENTAL, LATER-VERY LOVING MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:THIRD DISCIPLE IN CORE GROUP; ASKED JESUS FOR A PLACE OF HONOR IN HIS KINGDOM; WANTED TO CALL DOWN FIRE ON A SAMARITAN VILLAGE; A LEADER OF THE JERUSALEM CHURCH; WROTE THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AND 1,2,3 JOHN AND REVELATION
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:CALLED JAMES AND JOHN "SONS OF THUNDER"; SAID HE WOULD FISH FOR THE SOULS OF MEN; WOULD DRINK THE CUP JESUS DRANK; DID NOT UNDERSTAND HIS OWN HEART; WOULD TAKE CARE OF JESUS' MOTHER AFTER HIS DEATH. A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF THE LOVE OF CHRIST IS AVAILABLE TO ALL SELECTED REFERENCES:MARK 1:19; MARK 10:35-40; LUKE 9:52-56; JOHN 19:26,27; JOHN 21:20-24
4. NAME: ANDREW (PETER'S BROTHER)
OCCUPATION: FISHERMAN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS: EAGER TO BRING OTHERS TO JESUS
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:ACCEPTED JOHN THE BAPTIST'S TESTIMONY ABOUT JESUS, TOLD PETER ABOUT JESUS; HE AND PHILIP TOLD JESUS THAT GREEKS WANTED TO SEE HIM WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:SAID HE WOULD BECOME A FISHERMAN OF MEN'S SOULS A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:CHRISTIANS ARE TO TELL OTHER PEOPLE ABOUT JESUS SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 4:18-20; JOHN 1:35-42; 6:8,9; JOHN 12:20-22
5. NAME: PHILIP
OCCUPATION: FISHERMAN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:QUESTIONING ATTITUDE
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:TOLD NATHANAEL ABOUT JESUS; WONDERED HOW JESUS COULD FEED THE 5,000; ASKED JESUS TO SHOW HIS FOLLOWERS GOD THE FATHER; HE AND ANDREW TOLD JESUS THAT GREEKS WANTED TO SEE HIM
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:ASKED IF PHILIP REALIZED THAT TO KNOW AND SEE HIM WAS TO KNOW AND SEE THE FATHER A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:GOD USES OUR QUESTIONS TO TEACH US SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 10:3; JOHN 1:43-46; 6:2-7; JOHN 12:20-22; 14:8-11
6. NAME: BARTHOLOMEW (NATHANAEL)
OCCUPATION: UNKNOWN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:HONESTY AND STRAIGHT FORWARDNESS
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:INITIALLY REJECTED JESUS BECAUSE HE WAS FROM NAZARETH BUT ACKNOWLEDGED JESUS AS THE "SON OF GOD" AND "KING OF ISRAEL" WHEN THEY MET WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:CALLED HIM "AN HONEST MAN" AND "A TRUE SON OF ISRAEL" A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:JESUS RESPECTS HONESTY IN PEOPLE-EVEN IF THEY CHALLENGE HIM BECAUSE OF IT
SELECTED REFERENCES:MARK 3:18; JOHN 1:45-51; JOHN 21:1-13
7. NAME: MATTHEW (LEVI)
OCCUPATION: TAX COLLECTOR
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:DESPISED OUTCAST BECAUSE OF HIS DISHONEST CAREER. MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:ABANDONED HIS CORRUPT (AND FINANCIALLY PROFITABLE) WAY OF LIFE TO FOLLOW JESUS; INVITED JESUS TO A PARTY WITH HIS NOTORIOUS FRIENDS; WROTE THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW. WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:CALLED HIM TO BE A DISCIPLE. A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:CHRISTIANITY IS NOT FOR PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY'RE ALREADY GOOD; IT IS FOR PEOPLE WHO KNOW THEY'VE FAILED AND WANT HELP. SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 9:9-13; MARK 2:15-17; LUKE 5:27-32
8. NAME: THOMAS (THE TWIN)
OCCUPATION: UNKNOWN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:COURAGE AND DOUBT
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:SUGGESTED THE DISCIPLES GO WITH JESUS TO BETHANY--EVEN IF IT MEANT DEATH; ASKED JESUS ABOUT WHERE HE WAS GOING; REFUSED TO BELIEVE JESUS WAS RISEN UNTIL HE WOULD SEE JESUS ALIVE AND TOUCH HIS WOUNDS. WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:SAID THOMAS BELIEVED BECAUSE HE ACTUALLY SAW JESUS AFTER THE RESURRECTION. A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:EVEN WHEN CHRISTIANS EXPERIENCE SERIOUS DOUBTS, JESUS REACHES OUT TO THEM TO RESTORE THEIR FAITH SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 10:3; JOHN 14:5; 20:24-29; JOHN 21:1-13
9. NAME: JAMES (SON OF ALPHAEUS)
OCCUPATION: UNKNOWN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS: UNKNOWN
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:BECAME ONE OF JESUS DISCIPLES
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM: UNKNOWN
A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE: UNKNOWN
SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 10:3; MARK 3:18; LUKE 6:15
10. THADDAEUS (JUDAS, SON OF JAMES)
OCCUPATION: UNKNOWN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:UNKNOWN
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:BECAME ONE OF JESUS' DISCIPLES
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:UNKNOWN
A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:CHRISTIANS FOLLOW JESUS BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE IN HIM; THEY DO NOT ALWAYS UNDERSTAND THE DETAILS OF GOD'S PLAN.
SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 10:3; MARK 3:18; JOHN 14:22
11. NAME: SIMON THE ZEALOT
OCCUPATION: UNKNOWN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:FIERCE PATRIOTISM
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:BECAME A DISCIPLE OF JESUS
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:UNKNOWN
A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:IF WE ARE WILLING TO GIVE UP OUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE, WE CAN PARTICIPATE IN JESUS' PLANS
SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 10:4; MARK 3:18; LUKE 6:15
12. NAME: JUDAS ISCARIOT
OCCUPATION: UNKNOWN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS: TREACHEROUS AND GREEDY
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:BECAME ONE OF JESUS' DISCIPLES, BETRAYED JESUS; KILLED HIMSELF WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:CALLED HIM "A DEVIL", SAID HE WOULD BETRAY JESUS A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO BE FAMILIAR WITH JESUS' TEACHINGS. JESUS' TRUE FOLLOWERS LOVE AND OBEY HIM.
SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 26:20-25; LUKE 22:47, 48; JOHN 12:4-8
THE FOUR GOSPELS RECORD ONLY A FRACTION OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE TOUCHED AND HEALED BY JESUS. BUT ENOUGH OF JESUS'S WORDS AND WORKS HAVE BEEN SAVED SO THAT WE ALSO MIGHT BE ABLE TO KNOW HIM AND BE HIS DISCIPLES IN THIS DAY.
JESUS' MIRACLES
**NOTE** MIRACLES ARE NOT MERELY SUPERHUMAN HAPPENINGS, BUT HAPPENINGS THAT DEMONSTRATE GOD'S POWER. ALMOST EVERY MIRACLE JESUS DID WAS A RENEWAL OF FALLEN CREATION--RESTORING SIGHT, MAKING THE LAME TO WALK, EVEN RESTORING LIFE TO THE DEAD. BELIEVE IN HIM, NOT BECAUSE HE IS SUPERMAN, BUT BECAUSE HE IS GOD CONTINUING HIS CREATION, EVEN IN THOSE OF US WHO ARE POOR, OR WEAK, OR CRIPPLED, OR ORPHANED, OR BLIND, OR LAME, OR WITH SOME OTHER DESPERATE NEED TO BE RE-CREATED.
JESUS USED MANY ILLUSTRATIONS, OR PARABLES, WHEN SPEAKING TO THE CROWDS. A PARABLE COMPARES SOMETHING FAMILIAR TO SOMETHING UNFAMILIAR. IT HELPS US UNDERSTAND SPIRITUAL TRUTH BY USING EVERYDAY OBJECTS AND RELATIONSHIPS. PARABLES COMPEL THE LISTENER TO DISCOVER TRUTH WHILE AT THE SAME TIME CONCEALING THE TRUTH FROM THOSE TOO LAZY OR TOO STUBBORN TO SEE IT. TO THOSE WHO ARE HONESTLY SEARCHING, THE TRUTH BECOMES CLEAR. WE MUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO READ TOO MUCH INTO PARABLES, FORCING THEM TO SAY WHAT THEY DON'T MEAN. ALL PARABLES HAVE ONE MEANING UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED BY JESUS.
FOR THE GOSPEL WRITERS, ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS FOR BELIEVING IN JESUS WAS THE WAY HIS LIFE FULFILLED THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES ABOUT THE MESSIAH. THE NEXT SEGMENT OF THIS STUDY IS DEDICATED TO THE PROPHECIES AND FULFILLMENTS.
MESSIANIC PROPHECIES AND FULFILLMENTS
OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES
NEW TESTAMENT FULFILLMENT
1.MESSIAH WAS TO BE BORN IN BETHLEHEM
MICAH 5:2
MATTHEW 2:1-6 AND LUKE 2:1-20
2.MESSIAH WAS TO BORN OF A VIRGIN
ISAIAH 7:14
MATTHEW 1:18-25 AND LUKE 1:26-38
3.MESSIAH WAS TO BE A PROPHET LIKE MOSES
DEUTERONOMY 18:15,18,19
JOHN 7:40
4.MESSIAH WAS TO ENTER JERUSALEM IN TRIUMPH
ZECHARIAH 9:9
MATTHEW 21:1-9 AND JOHN 12:12-16
5.MESSIAH WAS TO BE REJECTED BY HIS OWN PEOPLE
ISAIAH 53:1,3 AND PSALM 118:22
MATTHEW 26:3,4 AND JOHN 12:37-43 AND ACTS 4:1-12
6.MESSIAH WAS TO BE BETRAYED BY ONE OF HIS FOLLOWERS
PSALM 41:9
MATTHEW 26:14-16, 47-50 AND LUKE 22:19-23
7.MESSIAH WAS TO BE TRIED AND CONDEMNED
ISAIAH 53:8
LUKE 23:1-25 AND MATTHEW 27:1,2
8.MESSIAH WAS TO BE SILENT BEFORE HIS ACCUSERS
ISAIAH 53:7
MATTHEW 27:12-14 AND MARK 15:3-4 AND LUKE 23:8-10
9.MESSIAH WAS TO BE STRUCK AND SPAT UPON BY HIS ENEMIES
ISAIAH 50:6
MATTHEW 26:67 AND MATTHEW 27:30 AND MARK 14:65
10.MESSIAH WAS TO BE MOCKED AND TAUNTED
PSALM 22:7-8
MATTHEW 27:39-44 AND LUKE 23:11,35
11.MESSIAH WAS TO DIE BY CRUCIFIXION
PSALM 22:14, 16, 17
MATTHEW 27:31 AND MARK 15:20, 25
12.MESSIAH WAS TO SUFFER WITH CRIMINALS AND PRAY FOR HIS ENEMIES
ISAIAH 53:12
MATTHEW 27:38 AND MARK 15:27, 28 AND LUKE 23:32-34
13.MESSIAH WAS TO BE GIVEN VINEGAR AND GALL
PSALM 69:21
MATTHEW 27:34 AND JOHN 19:28-30
14.OTHERS WERE TO CAST LOTS FOR MESSIAH'S GARMENTS
PSALM 22:18
MATTHEW 27:35 AND JOHN 19:23, 24
15.MESSIAH'S BONES WERE NOT TO BE BROKEN
EXODUS 12:46
JOHN 19:31-36
16.MESSIAH WAS TO DIE AS A SACRIFICE FOR SIN
ISAIAH 53:5, 6, 8, 10-12
JOHN 1:29 & JOHN 11:49-52 & ACTS 10:43 & ACTS 13:38-39
17.MESSIAH WAS TO BE RAISED FROM THE DEAD
PSALM 16:10
ACTS 2:22-32 AND MATTHEW 28:1-10
18.MESSIAH IS NOW AT GOD'S RIGHT HAND
PSALM 110:1
MARK 16:19 & LUKE 24:50-51
THE LAST SECTION OF OUR STUDY OF THE GOSPELS IS THE COMPARISON OF THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST. YOU WILL NOT GET THE FULL PICTURE UNLESS YOU TAKE YOUR BIBLE IN HAND AND READ THE COMPARISON PASSAGES. THIS IS THE TRUE TURNING POINT IN HUMAN HISTORY. MAY GOD REVEAL TO YOU THE TONE OF THE DISCIPLES THAT HAD FOLLOWED HIM FOR THREE YEARS AND THEN SCATTERED AT HIS DEATH. WHAT BROUGHT THEM BACK TOGETHER? WHAT MADE THEM SPEND THE REST OF THEIR LIVES ON EARTH SPREADING THE MESSAGE OF JESUS, EVEN TO THEIR DEATH, IF THIS MESSAGE WASN'T TRUE? ARE YOU WILLING TO DIE FOR THIS MESSAGE?
I WOULD LIKE TO CLOSE THIS WRITING WITH A FEW QUOTES FROM THE BIBLE THAT SUM UP THIS STUDY FOR ME AND I HOPE IT WILL GIVE YOU COMFORT AND ASSURANCE AS WELL.
JOHN 14:6
JESUS TOLD HIM, "I AM THE WAY--YES, AND THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. NO ONE CAN GET TO THE FATHER EXCEPT BY MEANS OF ME."
JOHN 14:9b
"ANYONE WHO HAS SEEN ME HAS SEEN THE FATHER!"
JOHN 14:1-3
"LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED. YOU ARE TRUSTING GOD, NOW TRUST IN ME. THERE ARE MANY HOMES UP THERE WHERE MY FATHER LIVES, AND I AM GOING TO PREPARE THEM FOR YOUR COMING. WHEN EVERYTHING IS READY, THEN I WILL COME AND GET YOU, SO THAT YOU CAN ALWAYS BE WITH ME WHERE I AM. IF THIS WEREN'T SO, I WOULD TELL YOU PLAINLY."
JOHN 14:27-28
"I AM LEAVING YOU WITH A GIFT--PEACE OF MIND AND HEART! AND THE PEACE I GIVE ISN'T FRAGILE LIKE THE PEACE THE WORLD GIVES. SO DON'T BE TROUBLED OR AFRAID. REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU--I AM GOING AWAY, BUT I WILL COME BACK TO YOU AGAIN"
JOHN 3:16-21
FOR GOD LOVED THE WORLD SO MUCH THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON SO THAT ANYONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. GOD DID NOT SEND HIS SON INTO THE WORLD TO CONDEMN IT, BUT TO SAVE IT.
"THERE IS NO ETERNAL DOOM AWAITING THOSE WHO TRUST HIM TO SAVE THEM. BUT THOSE WHO DON'T TRUST HIM HAVE ALREADY BEEN TRIED AND CONDEMNED FOR NOT BELIEVING IN THE ONLY SON OF GOD. THEIR SENTENCE IS BASED ON THIS FACT: THAT THE LIGHT FROM HEAVEN CAME INTO THE WORLD, BUT THEY LOVED THE DARKNESS MORE THAN THE LIGHT, FOR THEIR DEEDS WERE EVIL. THEY HATED THE HEAVENLY LIGHT BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO SIN IN THE DARKNESS. THEY STAYED AWAY FROM THAT LIGHT FOR FEAR THEIR SINS WOULD BE EXPOSED AND THEY WOULD BE PUNISHED. BUT THOSE DOING RIGHT COME GLADLY TO THE LIGHT TO LET EVERYONE SEE THAT THEY ARE DOING WHAT GOD WANTS THEM TO."
WHO WERE MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN?
MATTHEW (LEVI) WAS A JEWISH TAX COLLECTOR WHO BECAME ONE OF JESUS' DISCIPLES. HIS GOSPEL FORMS THE CONNECTING LINK BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS BECAUSE OF ITS EMPHASIS ON THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY. HIS PURPOSE IN WRITING WAS TO PROVE THAT JESUS IS THE MESSIAH, THE ETERNAL KING. MATTHEW WROTE ESPECIALLY TO THE JEWS AND HIS GOSPEL WAS PROBABLY WRITTEN BETWEEN A.D. 60-65.
MARK WAS WRITTEN BY JOHN MARK. HE WAS NOT ONE OF THE TWELVE DISCIPLES BUT HE ACCOMPANIED PAUL ON HIS FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY. HIS UNCLE WAS BARNABAS, WHO ALSO ACCOMPANIED PAUL. THE PURPOSE FOR WRITING WAS TO PRESENT THE PERSON, WORK, AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS. MARK WROTE TO THE CHRISTIANS IN ROME, WHERE HE WROTE THE GOSPEL. THE DATE WRITTEN WAS BETWEEN A.D. 55 AND 65. THE ROMAN EMPIRE UNDER TIBERIUS CAESAR WAS THE SETTING WHEN HE WROTE THE GOSPEL. THE EMPIRE, WITH ITS COMMON LANGUAGE, EXCELLENT TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, WAS RIPE TO HEAR JESUS' MESSAGE, WHICH SPREAD QUICKLY FROM NATION TO NATION. MARK WAS THE FIRST GOSPEL WRITTEN. THE OTHER GOSPELS QUOTE ALL BUT 31 VERSES OF MARK. MARK RECORDS MORE MIRACLES THAN DOES ANY OTHER GOSPEL.
LUKE, A DOCTOR AND WAS A GREEK AND GENTILE CHRISTIAN. HE IS THE ONLY KNOWN GENTILE AUTHOR IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. HE WAS A CLOSE COMPANION OF PAUL. HE ALSO WROTE ACTS, AND THE TWO BOOKS GO TOGETHER. HE WROTE TO THEOPHILUS ("LOVER OF GOD"), GENTILES, AND PEOPLE EVERYWHERE. THE PURPOSE OF HIS WRITING WAS TO PRESENT AN ACCURATE ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST AND TO PRESENT CHRIST AS THE PERFECT MAN AND SAVIOR. HE WROTE LUKE ABOUT A.D. 60. LUKE WROTE FROM CAESAREA OR FROM ROME. LUKE IS THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE GOSPEL. THE GENERAL VOCABULARY AND DICTION SHOW THAT THE AUTHOR WAS EDUCATED. HE MAKES FREQUENT REFERENCES TO ILLNESSES AND DIAGNOSES. LUKE STRESSES JESUS' RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE; EMPHASIZES PRAYER, MIRACLES, ANGELS; RECORDS INSPIRED HYMNS OF PRAISE; AND GIVES A PROMINENT PLACE TO WOMEN.
JOHN WAS A FISHERMAN BEFORE HE BECAME ONE OF JESUS' DISCIPLES. HE WAS THE SON OF ZEBEDEE, AND BROTHER OF JAMES. JESUS CALLED THEM "SONS OF THUNDER". HE WROTE TO THE NEW CHRISTIANS AND SEARCHING NON-CHRISTIANS. HIS PURPOSE WAS TO PROVE CONCLUSIVELY THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD AND THAT ALL WHO BELIEVE IN HIM WILL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. HE PROBABLY WROTE THIS GOSPEL A.D. 85-90. THE SETTING WAS WRITTEN AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM IN A.D. 70 AND BEFORE JOHN'S EXILE TO THE ISLAND OF PATMOS. OF THE EIGHT MIRACLES RECORDED, SIX ARE UNIQUE (AMONG THE GOSPELS) TO JOHN, AS IS THE "UPPER ROOM DISCOURSE". OVER 90% OF JOHN IS UNIQUE TO HIS GOSPEL---JOHN DOES NOT CONTAIN A GENEALOGY OR ANY RECORD OF JESUS' BIRTH, CHILDHOOD, TEMPTATION, TRANSFIGURATION, APPOINTMENT OF THE DISCIPLES, AND NO PARABLES, ASCENSION, OR GREAT COMMISSION.
NOW THAT WE HAVE ESTABLISHED WHO WROTE THE 4 GOSPELS AND A BRIEF SKETCH ABOUT THEM, LET'S BEGIN WITH A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.
MATTHEW RECORDS THE GENEALOGY OF CHRIST ON THE SIDE OF JOSEPH. LUKE RECORDS THE GENEALOGY OF CHRIST ON THE SIDE OF MARY. **NOTE THAT THE TWO ARE IDENTICAL UP TO KING DAVID. THE SPLIT OCCURS WITH MATTHEW'S RECORDING OF JOSEPH'S GENEALOGY COMING FROM SOLOMON (DAVID'S SON) AND LUKE'S RECORDING OF MARY'S GENEALOGY COMING FROM NATHAN (DAVID'S SON). BATHSHEBA WAS THE MOTHER OF BOTH SOLOMON AND NATHAN (I CHRONICLES 3:5).
MESSIAH WAS TO BE BORN IN BETHLEHEM. (OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY FROM MICAH 5:2) FULFILLED IN MATTHEW 2:1-6 AND LUKE 2:1-20.
MESSIAH WAS TO BE BORN OF A VIRGIN. (OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY FROM ISAIAH 7:14) FULFILLED IN MATTHEW 1:18-25 AND LUKE 1:26-38.
JOHN THE BAPTIST IS A KEY CHARACTER AS WE BEGIN THE STUDY OF CHRIST. LUKE 1 PAINTS THE PICTURE OF HIS BIRTH. JOHN THE BAPTIST FULFILLS THE PROPHECY IN ISAIAH ABOUT THE MESSENGER WHO WILL LIVE OUT IN THE BARREN WILDERNESS AND WILL PROCLAIM THAT EVERYONE MUST STRAIGHTEN OUT HIS LIFE TO BE READY FOR THE LORD'S ARRIVAL. HE WORE CLOTHES WOVEN FROM CAMEL'S HAIR AND HE WORE A LEATHER BELT. HE ATE LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY. HE DID NOT DRINK WINE OR HARD LIQUOR. HE WAS FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, EVEN BEFORE HIS BIRTH. HE BAPTIZED PEOPLE IN THE JORDAN RIVER AS AN OUTWARD SIGN OF A REPENTANT HEART. HE BAPTIZED JESUS.
ZACHARIAS, A JEWISH PRIEST, AND HIS WIFE, ELIZABETH, WERE OLD AND THEY HAD NO CHILDREN. ELIZABETH WAS THE AUNT OF MARY (THE MOTHER OF JESUS). ZACHARIAS WAS IN THE SANCTUARY PERFORMING HIS PRIESTLY DUTIES ONE DAY WHEN SUDDENLY GABRIEL, AN ANGEL, APPEARED TO HIM AND ANNOUNCED THAT HE AND ELIZABETH WOULD HAVE A SON AND THEY WERE TO NAME HIM JOHN. GABRIEL TOLD ZACHARIAS THAT JOHN WOULD BE THE LONG AWAITED MESSENGER THAT WOULD PRECEDE THE MESSIAH. ZACHARIAS DOUBTED GABRIEL AND GABRIEL STRUCK HIM SILENT UNTIL JOHN'S BIRTH. WHEN ELIZABETH WAS 6 MONTHS PREGNANT, MARY CAME TO VISIT HER. MARY WAS PREGNANT WITH JESUS AT THAT TIME AND JOHN THE BAPTIST LEAPED IN THE WOMB WHEN MARY ARRIVED.
LUKE RECORDS IN THE FIRST CHAPTER ABOUT GABRIEL APPEARING TO MARY IN NAZARETH, A VILLAGE IN GALILEE. MARY WAS A VIRGIN AND WAS ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED TO A MAN NAMED JOSEPH, A DESCENDANT OF KING DAVID. HE TOLD MARY THAT SHE WOULD BECOME PREGNANT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT AND GIVE BIRTH TO THE MESSIAH AND SHE WAS TO NAME HIM JESUS. IN THE FIRST CHAPTER OF MATTHEW WE FIND GABRIEL APPEARING TO JOSEPH. HE TELLS HIM THAT MARY IS GOING TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS, THE LONG AWAITED MESSIAH. JOSEPH IS FRIGHTENED AT FIRST, BUT FOLLOWS GABRIEL'S INSTRUCTIONS TO MARRY MARY. MARY REMAINS A VIRGIN UNTIL AFTER JESUS IS BORN. IN THE SECOND CHAPTER OF LUKE WE DISCOVER HOW THE COUPLE GETS FROM THEIR HOME OF NAZARETH TO BETHLEHEM (A 70 MILE TRIP SOUTH). CAESAR AUGUSTUS, THE ROMAN EMPEROR, DECREED THAT A CENSUS SHOULD BE TAKEN THROUGHOUT THE NATION. THIS CENSUS WAS TAKEN WHEN QUIRINIUS WAS GOVERNOR OF SYRIA. EVERYONE WAS REQUIRED TO RETURN TO HIS ANCESTRAL HOME FOR THIS REGISTRATION. JOSEPH WAS REQUIRED TO GO TO BETHLEHEM IN JUDEA BECAUSE HE WAS OF THE ROYAL LINE OF KING DAVID AND THIS WAS HIS ANCIENT HOME. WHEN THEY ARRIVED IN BETHLEHEM, MARY GAVE BIRTH TO JESUS. THEY COULDN'T FIND A ROOM IN ANY OF THE INNS BECAUSE THE TOWN WAS SO FULL OF OTHER TRAVELERS ALSO REGISTERING FOR THE CENSUS. THEY FOUND A STABLE, WHICH WAS PROBABLY A CAVE IN THE SIDE OF THE HILL.
THAT NIGHT SOME SHEPHERDS WERE IN THE FIELDS OUTSIDE THE VILLAGE GUARDING THEIR FLOCKS OF SHEEP. SUDDENLY AN ANGEL APPEARED AMONG THEM, AND THE LANDSCAPE SHONE BRIGHT WITH THE GLORY OF THE LORD. THEY WERE BADLY FRIGHTENED, BUT THE ANGEL REASSURED THEM. "DON'T BE AFRAID!" HE SAID, "I BRING YOU THE MOST JOYFUL NEWS EVER ANNOUNCED, AND IT IS FOR EVERYONE! THE SAVIOR-YES, THE MESSIAH, THE LORD-HAS BEEN BORN TONIGHT IN BETHLEHEM! HOW WILL YOU RECOGNIZE HIM? YOU WILL FIND A BABY WRAPPED IN A BLANKET, LYING IN A MANGER!" SUDDENLY, THE ANGEL WAS JOINED BY A VAST HOST OF OTHERS-THE ARMIES OF HEAVEN-PRAISING GOD: "GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST HEAVEN," THEY SANG, "AND PEACE ON EARTH FOR ALL THOSE PLEASING HIM."
WHEN THIS GREAT ARMY OF ANGELS HAD RETURNED AGAIN TO HEAVEN, THE SHEPHERDS SAID TO EACH OTHER, "COME ON! LET'S GO TO BETHLEHEM! LET'S SEE THIS WONDERFUL THING THAT HAS HAPPENED, WHICH THE LORD HAS TOLD US ABOUT." THEY RAN TO THE VILLAGE AND FOUND THEIR WAY TO MARY AND JOSEPH. AND THERE WAS THE BABY, LYING IN A MANGER. THE SHEPHERDS TOLD EVERYONE WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND WHAT THE ANGEL HAD SAID TO THEM ABOUT THIS CHILD. ALL WHO HEARD THE SHEPHERDS' STORY EXPRESSED ASTONISHMENT, BUT MARY QUIETLY TREASURED THESE THINGS IN HER HEART AND OFTEN THOUGHT ABOUT THEM. THEN THE SHEPHERDS WENT BACK AGAIN TO THEIR FIELDS AND FLOCKS, PRAISING GOD FOR THE VISIT OF THE ANGELS, AND BECAUSE THEY HAD SEEN THE CHILD, JUST AS THE ANGEL HAD TOLD THEM.
LUKE'S ACCOUNT TELLS US THAT EIGHT DAYS LATER, AT THE BABY'S CIRCUMCISION CEREMONY, HE WAS NAMED JESUS, THE NAME GIVEN HIM BY THE ANGEL BEFORE HE WAS EVEN CONCEIVED. AT THE TIME THAT JESUS' PARENTS OFFERED THEIR SACRIFICE FOR PURIFICATION, A MAN NAMED SIMEON, A JERUSALEM RESIDENT, WAS IN THE TEMPLE. HE WAS A GOOD MAN, VERY DEVOUT, FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND CONSTANTLY EXPECTING THE MESSIAH TO COME SOON. FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT HAD REVEALED TO HIM THAT HE WOULD NOT DIE UNTIL HE HAD SEEN HIM-- GOD'S ANOINTED KING. THE HOLY SPIRIT HAD IMPELLED HIM TO GO TO THE TEMPLE THAT DAY; AND SO, WHEN MARY AND JOSEPH ARRIVED TO PRESENT THE BABY JESUS TO THE LORD IN OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW, SIMEON WAS THERE AND TOOK THE CHILD IN HIS ARMS, PRAISING GOD.
"LORD," HE SAID, "NOW I CAN DIE CONTENT! FOR I HAVE SEEN HIM AS YOU PROMISED ME I WOULD. I HAVE SEEN THE SAVIOR YOU HAVE GIVEN TO THE WORLD. HE IS THE LIGHT THAT WILL SHINE UPON THE NATIONS, AND HE WILL BE THE GLORY OF YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL!" JOSEPH AND MARY JUST STOOD THERE, MARVELING AT WHAT WAS BEING SAID ABOUT JESUS. SIMEON BLESSED THEM BUT THEN SAID TO MARY, "A SWORD SHALL PIERCE YOUR SOUL, FOR THIS CHILD SHALL BE REJECTED BY MANY IN ISRAEL, AND THIS TO THEIR UNDOING. BUT HE WILL BE THE GREATEST JOY OF MANY OTHERS. AND THE DEEPEST THOUGHTS OF MANY HEARTS SHALL BE REVEALED."
ANNA, A PROPHETESS, WAS ALSO THERE IN THE TEMPLE THAT DAY. SHE WAS THE DAUGHTER OF PHANUEL, OF THE JEWISH TRIBE OF ASHER, AND WAS VERY OLD, FOR SHE HAD BEEN A WIDOW FOR EIGHTY-FOUR YEARS FOLLOWING SEVEN YEARS OF MARRIAGE. SHE NEVER LEFT THE TEMPLE BUT STAYED THERE NIGHT AND DAY, WORSHIPING GOD BY PRAYING AND OFTEN FASTING. SHE CAME ALONG JUST AS SIMEON WAS TALKING WITH MARY AND JOSEPH, AND SHE ALSO BEGAN THANKING GOD AND TELLING EVERYONE IN JERUSALEM WHO HAD BEEN AWAITING THE COMING OF THE SAVIOR THAT THE MESSIAH HAD FINALLY ARRIVED.
AT THE TIME THAT JESUS WAS BORN, ACCORDING TO MATTHEW, SOME ASTROLOGERS, FROM EASTERN LANDS ARRIVED IN JERUSALEM ASKING, "WHERE IS THE NEWBORN KING OF THE JEWS? WE HAVE SEEN HIS STAR IN FAR OFF EASTERN LANDS, AND HAVE COME TO WORSHIP HIM." KING HEROD WAS DEEPLY DISTURBED BY THEIR QUESTIONS, AND ALL JERUSALEM WAS FILLED WITH RUMORS.
HEROD CALLED A MEETING OF THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS LEADERS. "DID THE PROPHETS TELL US WHERE THE MESSIAH WOULD BE BORN?" HE ASKED. "YES, IN BETHLEHEM," THEY SAID, "FOR THIS IS WHAT THE PROPHET MICAH WROTE:
"O, LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM, YOU ARE NOT JUST AN UNIMPORTANT JUDEAN VILLAGE, FOR A GOVERNOR SHALL RISE FROM YOU TO RULE MY PEOPLE ISRAEL."
THEN HEROD SENT A PRIVATE MESSAGE TO THE ASTROLOGERS, ASKING THEM TO COME TO SEE HIM; AT THIS MEETING HE FOUND OUT FROM THEM THE EXACT TIME WHEN THEY FIRST SAW THE STAR. THEN HE TOLD THEM, "GO TO BETHLEHEM AND SEARCH FOR THE CHILD. AND WHEN YOU FIND HIM, COME BACK AND TELL ME SO THAT I CAN GO AND WORSHIP HIM TOO!"
AFTER THIS INTERVIEW THE ASTROLOGERS STARTED OUT AGAIN. AND LOOK! THE STAR APPEARED TO THEM AGAIN, STANDING OVER BETHLEHEM. THEIR JOY KNEW NO BOUNDS! ENTERING THE HOUSE WHERE THE BABY AND MARY, HIS MOTHER, WERE, THEY THREW THEMSELVES DOWN BEFORE HIM, WORSHIPING. THEN THEY GAVE HIM THE PRESENTS OF GOLD, FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH THAT THEY BROUGHT. WHEN THEY RETURNED TO THEIR OWN LAND, THEY DIDN'T GO THROUGH JERUSALEM TO REPORT TO HEROD, FOR GOD HAD WARNED THEM IN A DREAM TO GO HOME ANOTHER WAY.
WHO WAS HEROD? HE WAS ALSO KNOWN AS HEROD THE GREAT. HEROD IS REMEMBERED AS A BUILDER OF CITIES AND LAVISH REBUILDER OF THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM. BUT, HE ALSO DESTROYED PEOPLE. HE SHOWED LITTLE GREATNESS IN EITHER HIS PERSONAL ACTIONS OR HIS CHARACTER. HE WAS RUTHLESS IN RULING HIS TERRITORY. HIS SUSPICIONS AND JEALOUSY LED TO THE MURDER OF SEVERAL OF HIS CHILDREN AND THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE, MARIAMNE. HEROD'S TITLE, KING OF THE JEWS, WAS GRANTED BY ROME, BUT NEVER ACCEPTED BY THE PEOPLE. HE WAS NOT PART OF THE DAVIDIC FAMILY LINE, AND HE WAS ONLY PARTLY JEWISH. ALTHOUGH ISRAEL BENEFITTED FROM HEROD'S LAVISH EFFORTS TO REPAIR THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM, HE WON LITTLE ADMIRATION BECAUSE HE ALSO REBUILT VARIOUS PAGAN TEMPLES. HEROD'S COSTLY ATTEMPT TO GAIN THE LOYALTY OF THE PEOPLE FAILED BECAUSE IT WAS SUPERFICIAL. HIS ONLY LOYALTY WAS TO HIMSELF. BECAUSE HIS ROYAL TITLE WAS NOT GENUINE, HEROD WAS CONSTANTLY WORRIED ABOUT LOSING HIS POSITION. HIS ACTIONS WHEN HEARING FROM THE WISE MEN ABOUT THEIR SEARCH FOR THE NEW KING ARE CONSISTENT WITH ALL THAT WE KNOW ABOUT HEROD. HE PLANNED TO LOCATE AND KILL THE CHILD BEFORE HE COULD BECOME A THREAT. THE MURDER OF INNOCENT CHILDREN THAT FOLLOWED IS A TRAGIC LESSON IN WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN ACTIONS ARE MOTIVATED BY SELFISHNESS. HEROD'S SUSPICIONS DID NOT SPARE EVEN HIS OWN FAMILY. HIS LIFE WAS SELF-DESTRUCTING. IF JESUS REALLY WAS AN HEIR, TROUBLE WOULD ARISE. HEROD WAS RUTHLESS, BECAUSE OF HIS MANY ENEMIES, HE WAS SUSPICIOUS THAT SOMEONE WOULD TRY TO OVERTHROW HIM. HEROD DIDN'T WANT THE JEWS, A RELIGIOUS PEOPLE, TO UNITE AROUND A RELIGIOUS FIGURE. IF THESE ASTROLOGERS WERE OF JEWISH DESCENT AND FROM PARTHIA (THE REGION MOST POWERFUL, NEXT TO ROME), THEY WOULD HAVE WELCOMED A JEWISH KING WHO COULD SWING THE BALANCE OF POWER AWAY FROM ROME. THE LAND OF ISRAEL, FAR FROM ROME, WOULD HAVE BEEN EASY PREY FOR A NATION TRYING TO GAIN MORE CONTROL. HEROD DID NOT WANT TO WORSHIP CHRIST--HE WAS LYING. THIS WAS A TRICK TO GET THE ASTROLOGERS TO RETURN TO HIM AND REVEAL THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE NEWBORN KING. HEROD'S PLAN WAS TO KILL HIM.
JESUS WAS PROBABLY ONE OR TWO YEARS OLD WHEN THE ASTROLOGERS FOUND HIM. BY THIS TIME, MARY AND JOSEPH WERE MARRIED, LIVING IN A HOUSE, AND INTENDING TO STAY IN BETHLEHEM FOR A WHILE. THE ASTROLOGERS GAVE EXPENSIVE GIFTS BECAUSE THEY WERE WORTHY PRESENTS FOR A FUTURE KING. BIBLE STUDENTS HAVE SEEN IN THE GIFTS SYMBOLS OF CHRIST'S IDENTITY AND WHAT HE WOULD ACCOMPLISH. GOLD WAS A GIFT FOR A KING; FRANKINCENSE, A GIFT OF DEITY; MYRRH, A SPICE FOR MORTAL MAN WHO WAS GOING TO DIE. THESE GIFTS MAY HAVE PROVIDED THE FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR THE FAMILY 'S TRIP TO EGYPT AND BACK.
AFTER THE ASTROLOGERS WERE GONE, AN ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARED TO JOSEPH IN A DREAM. "GET UP AND FLEE TO EGYPT WITH THE BABY AND HIS MOTHER," THE ANGEL SAID, "AND STAY THERE UNTIL I TELL YOU TO RETURN, FOR KING HEROD IS GOING TO TRY TO KILL THE CHILD". THAT SAME NIGHT HE LEFT FOR EGYPT WITH MARY AND THE BABY, AND STAYED THERE UNTIL KING HEROD'S DEATH. THIS FULFILLED THE PROPHET'S PREDICTION, "I HAVE CALLED MY SON FROM EGYPT." HEROD WAS FURIOUS WHEN HE LEARNED THAT THE ASTROLOGERS HAD DISOBEYED HIM. SENDING SOLDIERS TO BETHLEHEM, HE ORDERED THEM TO KILL EVERY BABY BOY TWO YEARS OLD AND UNDER, BOTH IN THE TOWN AND ON THE NEARBY FARMS, FOR THE ASTROLOGERS HAD TOLD HIM THE STAR FIRST APPEARED TO THEM TWO YEARS BEFORE. THIS BRUTAL ACTION OF HEROD'S FULFILLED THE PROPHECY OF JEREMIAH.
"SCREAMS OF ANGUISH COME FROM RAMAH,
WEEPING UNRESTRAINED;
RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN,
UNCOMFORTED--
FOR THEY ARE DEAD."
WHEN HEROD DIED, AN ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARED IN A DREAM TO JOSEPH IN EGYPT, AND TOLD HIM, "GET UP AND TAKE THE BABY AND HIS MOTHER BACK TO ISRAEL, FOR THOSE WHO WERE TRYING TO KILL THE CHILD ARE DEAD." SO HE RETURNED IMMEDIATELY TO ISRAEL WITH JESUS AND HIS MOTHER. BUT ON THE WAY HE WAS FRIGHTENED TO LEARN THAT THE NEW KING WAS HEROD'S SON, ARCHELAUS. THEN, IN ANOTHER DREAM, HE WAS WARNED NOT TO GO TO JUDEA, SO THEY WENT TO GALILEE INSTEAD, AND LIVED IN NAZARETH. THIS FULFILLED THE PREDICTION OF THE PROPHETS CONCERNING THE MESSIAH, "HE SHALL BE CALLED A NAZARENE."
HEROD THE GREAT DIED IN 4 B.C. OF AN INCURABLE DISEASE. ROME TRUSTED HIM, BUT NOT HIS SONS. HEROD KNEW ROME WOULDN'T GIVE HIS SUCCESSOR AS MUCH POWER, SO HE DIVIDED HIS KINGDOM INTO THREE PARTS, ONE FOR EACH SON. ARCHELAUS GOT JUDEA, SAMARIA, AND IDUMEA; HEROD ANTIPAS RECEIVED GALILEE AND PEREA; HEROD PHILIP II GOT TRACHONITIS. ARCHELAUS, A VIOLENT MAN, BEGAN HIS REIGN BY SLAUGHTERING 3,000 INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE. HE WAS BANISHED NINE YEARS LATER. GOD DIDN'T WANT JOSEPH'S FAMILY TO GO INTO THE REGION OF THIS EVIL RULER.
WHEN JESUS WAS TWELVE YEARS OLD HE ACCOMPANIED HIS PARENTS TO JERUSALEM FOR THE ANNUAL PASSOVER FESTIVAL, WHICH THEY ATTENDED EACH YEAR. AFTER THE CELEBRATION WAS OVER THEY STARTED HOME TO NAZARETH, BUT JESUS STAYED BEHIND IN JERUSALEM. HIS PARENTS DIDN'T MISS HIM THE FIRST DAY, FOR THEY ASSUMED HE WAS WITH FRIENDS AMONG THE OTHER TRAVELERS. BUT WHEN HE DIDN'T SHOW UP THAT EVENING, THEY STARTED TO LOOK FOR HIM AMONG THEIR RELATIVES AND FRIENDS; AND WHEN THEY COULDN'T FIND HIM, THEY WENT BACK TO JERUSALEM TO SEARCH FOR HIM THERE.
THREE DAYS LATER THEY FINALLY DISCOVERED HIM. HE WAS IN THE TEMPLE, SITTING AMONG THE TEACHERS OF LAW, DISCUSSING DEEP QUESTIONS WITH THEM AND AMAZING EVERYONE WITH HIS UNDERSTANDING AND ANSWERS.
HIS PARENTS DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK. "SON!", HIS MOTHER SAID TO HIM, "WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS TO US? YOUR FATHER AND I HAVE BEEN FRANTIC, SEARCHING FOR YOU EVERYWHERE." "BUT WHY DID YOU NEED TO SEARCH?" HE ASKED, "DIDN'T YOU REALIZE THAT I WOULD BE HERE AT THE TEMPLE, IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE?" BUT THEY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT HE MEANT. THEN HE RETURNED TO NAZARETH WITH THEM AND WAS OBEDIENT TO THEM; AND HIS MOTHER STORED AWAY ALL THESE THINGS IN HER HEART. SO JESUS GREW BOTH TALL AND WISE, AND WAS LOVED BY GOD AND MAN.
LUKE 2:41-52
THE NEXT STAGE IN THE LIFE OF JESUS BEGINS WITH THE MINISTRY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. LUKE 3 GIVES US THIS ACCOUNT:
IN THE FIFTEENTH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF EMPEROR TIBERIUS CAESAR, A MESSAGE CAME FROM GOD TO JOHN (THE SON OF ZACHARIAS), AS HE WAS LIVING OUT IN THE DESERTS. (PILATE WAS GOVERNOR OVER JUDEA AT THAT TIME; HEROD, OVER GALILEE; HIS BROTHER PHILIP, OVER ITUREA AND TRACHONITIS; LYSANIAS, OVER ABILENE; AND ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS WERE HIGH PRIESTS.) THEN JOHN WENT FROM PLACE TO PLACE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE JORDAN RIVER, PREACHING THAT PEOPLE SHOULD BE BAPTIZED TO SHOW THAT THEY HAD TURNED TO GOD AND AWAY FROM SINS, IN ORDER TO BE FORGIVEN.
IN THE WORDS OF ISAIAH THE PROPHET, JOHN WAS "A VOICE SHOUTING FROM THE BARREN WILDERNESS. 'PREPARE A ROAD FOR THE LORD TO TRAVEL ON! WIDEN THE PATHWAY BEFORE HIM! LEVEL THE MOUNTAINS! FILL UP THE VALLEYS! STRAIGHTEN THE CURVES! SMOOTH OUT THE RUTS! AND THEN ALL MANKIND SHALL SEE THE SAVIOR SENT FROM GOD.'" HERE IS A SAMPLE OF JOHN'S PREACHING TO THE CROWDS THAT CAME FOR BAPTISM: "YOU BROOD OF SNAKES! YOU ARE TRYING TO ESCAPE HELL WITHOUT TRULY TURNING TO GOD! THAT IS WHY YOU WANT TO BE BAPTIZED! FIRST GO AND PROVE BY THE WAY YOU LIVE THAT YOU REALLY HAVE REPENTED. AND DON'T THINK YOU ARE SAFE BECAUSE YOU ARE DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM. THAT ISN'T ENOUGH, GOD CAN PRODUCE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM FROM THESE DESERT STONES! THE AXE OF HIS JUDGMENT IS POISED OVER YOU, READY TO SEVER YOUR ROOTS AND CUT YOU DOWN. YES, EVERY TREE THAT DOES NOT PRODUCE GOOD FRUIT WILL BE CHOPPED DOWN AND THROWN INTO THE FIRE."
THE CROWD REPLIED, "WHAT DO YOU WANT US TO DO?"
"IF YOU HAVE TWO COATS," HE REPLIED, "GIVE ONE TO THE POOR. IF YOU HAVE EXTRA FOOD, GIVE IT AWAY TO THOSE WHO ARE HUNGRY." EVEN TAX COLLECTORS--NOTORIOUS FOR THEIR CORRUPTION--CAME TO BE BAPTIZED AND ASKED, "HOW SHALL WE PROVE TO YOU THAT WE HAVE ABANDONED OUR SINS?" "BY YOUR HONESTY," HE REPLIED, "MAKE SURE YOU COLLECT NO MORE TAXES THAN THE ROMAN GOVERNMENT REQUIRES YOU TO. "AND US", ASKED SOME SOLDIERS, "WHAT ABOUT US?" JOHN REPLIED, "DON'T EXTORT MONEY BY THREATS AND VIOLENCE; DON'T ACCUSE ANYONE OF WHAT YOU KNOW HE DIDN'T DO; AND BE CONTENT WITH YOUR PAY!" EVERYONE WAS EXPECTING THE MESSIAH TO COME SOON AND EAGER TO KNOW WHETHER OR NOT JOHN WAS HE. THIS WAS THE QUESTION OF THE HOUR, AND WAS BEING DISCUSSED EVERYWHERE.
JOHN ANSWERED THE QUESTION BY SAYING, "I BAPTIZE ONLY WITH WATER; BUT SOMEONE IS COMING SOON WHO HAS FAR HIGHER AUTHORITY THAN MINE; IN FACT, I AM NOT EVEN WORTHY OF BEING HIS SLAVE. HE WILL BAPTIZE YOU WITH FIRE--WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. HE WILL SEPARATE CHAFF FROM GRAIN, AND BURN UP THE CHAFF WITH ETERNAL FIRE AND STORE AWAY THE GRAIN." HE USED MANY SUCH WARNINGS AS HE ANNOUNCED THE GOOD NEWS TO THE PEOPLE.
(BUT AFTER JOHN HAD PUBLICLY CRITICIZED HEROD, GOVERNOR OF GALILEE, FOR MARRYING HERODIAS, HIS BROTHER'S WIFE, AND FOR MANY OTHER WRONGS HE HAD DONE, HEROD PUT JOHN IN PRISON, THUS ADDING THIS SIN TO ALL HIS MANY OTHERS.)
**NOTE** TIBERIUS, THE ROMAN EMPEROR, RULED FROM A.D. 14-37. PILATE WAS THE ROMAN GOVERNOR RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROVINCE OF JUDEA. HEROD ANTIPAS AND PHILIP WERE HALFBROTHERS AND SONS OF THE CRUEL HEROD THE GREAT, WHO HAD BEEN DEAD MORE THAN 20 YEARS. ANTIPAS, PHILIP, PILATE, AND LYSANIAS APPARENTLY HAD EQUAL POWERS IN GOVERNING THEIR SEPARATE TERRITORIES. ALL WERE SUBJECT TO ROME AND RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING PEACE IN THEIR RESPECTIVE LANDS. PILATE, HEROD, AND CAIAPHAS WERE THE MOST POWERFUL LEADERS IN PALESTINE, BUT THEY WERE UPSTAGED BY A DESERT PROPHET FROM RURAL JUDEA. GOD CHOSE TO SPEAK THROUGH THE LONER JOHN THE BAPTIST, WHO HAS GONE DOWN IN HISTORY AS GREATER THAN ANY OF THE RULERS OF HIS DAY.
SOME PEOPLE WANTED TO BE BAPTIZED BY JOHN SO THEY COULD ESCAPE ETERNAL PUNISHMENT, BUT THEY DIDN'T TURN TO GOD FOR SALVATION. JOHN HAD HARSH WORDS FOR SUCH PEOPLE. HE KNEW THAT GOD VALUES REFORMATION ABOVE RITUAL.
REPENTANCE MUST BE TIED TO ACTION, OR IT ISN'T REAL. REPENTANCE HAS TWO SIDES--TURNING AWAY FROM SINS, AND TURNING TOWARD GOD. TO BE FORGIVEN, WE MUST DO BOTH. WE CAN'T JUST SAY WE BELIEVE AND THEN LIVE ANY WAY WE WANT TO, AND NEITHER CAN WE SIMPLY LIVE A MORALLY CORRECT LIFE WITHOUT REFERENCE TO GOD, BECAUSE THAT ALONE CANNOT BRING FORGIVENESS FROM SIN.
JOHN WAS THE FIRST TRUE PROPHET IN 400 YEARS. HE BLASTED BOTH KING HEROD AND THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS, SOMETHING THAT WAS NOT ONLY DARING, BUT FASCINATING TO THE COMMON PEOPLE. BUT JOHN ALSO HAD STRONG WORDS FOR THEM--THEY TOO WERE SINNERS AND NEEDED TO REPENT. HIS MESSAGE WAS POWERFUL AND TRUE. THE PEOPLE WERE EXPECTING A PROPHET LIKE ELIJAH (MALACHI 4:5), AND JOHN SEEMED TO BE THE ONE! BAPTISM WAS USED BY THE JEWS TO INITIATE CONVERTS TO JUDAISM, SO JOHN'S AUDIENCE WAS FAMILIAR WITH THE RITE. HERE, BAPTISM WAS USED AS A SIGN OF REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS. REPENT MEANS "TO TURN," IMPLYING A CHANGE IN BEHAVIOR. IT IS TURNING FROM SIN TOWARD GOD.
A CHANGED LIFE WITH NEW AND DIFFERENT BEHAVIOR MAKES YOUR REPENTANCE REAL AND VISIBLE. THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS LEADERS WERE DIVIDED INTO SEVERAL GROUPS. TWO OF THE MOST PROMINENT WERE THE PHARISEES AND THE SADDUCEES. THE PHARISEES SEPARATED THEMSELVES FROM ANYTHING NON-JEWISH AND CAREFULLY FOLLOWED BOTH THE OLD TESTAMENT LAWS AND THE ORAL TRADITIONS WHICH HAD BEEN HANDED DOWN THROUGH THE CENTURIES. THE SADDUCEES BELIEVED THE PENTATEUCH ALONE (GENESIS-DEUTERONOMY) TO BE GOD'S WORD. THEY WERE DESCENDED MAINLY FROM PRIESTLY NOBILITY WHILE THE PHARISEES CAME FROM ALL CLASSES OF PEOPLE. THE TWO GROUPS DISLIKED EACH OTHER GREATLY AND, AS A WHOLE, BOTH OPPOSED JESUS. JOHN THE BAPTIST CRITICIZED THE PHARISEES FOR BEING LEGALISTIC AND HYPOCRITICAL, FOLLOWING THE LETTER OF THE LAW WHILE IGNORING ITS TRUE INTENT. HE CRITICIZED THE SADDUCEES FOR USING RELIGION TO ADVANCE THEIR POLITICAL POSITION.
JOHN BAPTIZES JESUS - MATTHEW 3:13-17
THEN JESUS WENT FROM GALILEE TO THE JORDAN RIVER TO BE BAPTIZED THERE BY JOHN. JOHN DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT. "THIS ISN'T PROPER," HE SAID, "I AM THE ONE WHO NEEDS TO BE BAPTIZED BY YOU." BUT JESUS SAID, "PLEASE DO IT, FOR I MUST DO ALL THAT IS RIGHT." SO THEN JOHN BAPTIZED HIM. AFTER HIS BAPTISM, AS SOON AS JESUS CAME UP OUT OF THE WATER, THE HEAVENS WERE OPENED TO HIM AND HE SAW THE SPIRIT OF GOD COMING DOWN IN THE FORM OF A DOVE. AND A VOICE FROM HEAVEN SAID, "THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, AND I AM WONDERFULLY PLEASED WITH HIM."
**NOTE** JOHN HAD EXPLAINED THAT JESUS' BAPTISM WOULD BE MUCH GREATER THAN HIS, WHEN SUDDENLY JESUS WAS THERE TO BE BAPTIZED! JOHN DID NOT FEEL QUALIFIED. HE WANTED JESUS TO BAPTIZE HIM. WHY WAS IT RIGHT FOR JESUS TO BE BAPTIZED? IT WAS NOT FOR REPENTANCE FOR SIN BECAUSE HE NEVER SINNED.
JESUS WAS BAPTIZED BECAUSE:
(1)HE WAS PERSONALLY CONFESSING THE SIN OF THE NATION, AS NEHEMIAH, EZRA, MOSES, AND DANIEL HAD DONE.
(2)HE WAS SHOWING SUPPORT FOR WHAT JOHN WAS DOING.
(3)HE WAS INAUGURATING HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY.
(4)HE WAS IDENTIFYING WITH THE COMMON PEOPLE, NOT WITH THE CRITICAL PHARISEES WHO WERE ONLY WATCHING.
(5)HE WAS PORTRAYING HIS COMING MINISTRY OF DEATH AND RESURRECTION. GOD SHOWED HIS APPROVAL OF JESUS AS THE PERFECT MAN WHO DIDN'T NEED BAPTISM FOR SIN BUT ACCEPTED BAPTISM IN OBEDIENT SERVICE TO THE FATHER.
**NOTE** THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY MEANS THAT GOD IS THREE PERSONS AND YET ONE IN ESSENCE. IN THIS PASSAGE, ALL THREE PERSONS OF THE TRINITY ARE PRESENT AND ACTIVE. GOD THE FATHER SPOKE, GOD THE SON WAS BAPTIZED, GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT DESCENDED ON JESUS. GOD IS ONE, YET IN THREE PERSONS AT THE SAME TIME. THIS IS ONE OF GOD'S INCOMPREHENSIBLE MYSTERIES. OTHER BIBLE REFERENCES THAT SPEAK OF THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT ARE MATTHEW 28:19; JOHN 15:26; 1 CORINTHIANS 12:4-13; 2 CORINTHIANS 13:14; EPHESIANS 2:18; 1 THESSALONIANS 1:2-5; AND 1 PETER 1:2.
SATAN TEMPTS JESUS IN THE WILDERNESS - MATTHEW 4:1-11
THEN JESUS WAS LED OUT INTO THE WILDERNESS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO BE TEMPTED THERE BY SATAN. FOR FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS HE ATE NOTHING AND BECAME VERY HUNGRY. THEN SATAN TEMPTED HIM TO GET FOOD BY CHANGING STONES INTO LOAVES OF BREAD. "IT WILL PROVE YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD," HE SAID. BUT JESUS TOLD HIM, "NO! FOR THE SCRIPTURES TELL US THAT BREAD WON'T FEED MEN'S SOULS: OBEDIENCE TO EVERY WORD OF GOD IS WHAT WE NEED." THEN SATAN TOOK HIM TO JERUSALEM TO THE ROOF OF THE TEMPLE, "JUMP OFF," HE SAID, "AND PROVE YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD: FOR THE SCRIPTURES DECLARE, 'GOD WILL SEND HIS ANGELS TO KEEP YOU FROM HARM,'... THEY WILL PREVENT YOU FROM SMASHING ON THE ROCKS BELOW." JESUS RETORTED, "IT ALSO SAYS NOT TO PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO A FOOLISH TEST!" NEXT SATAN TOOK HIM TO THE PEAK OF A VERY HIGH MOUNTAIN AND SHOWED HIM THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD AND ALL THEIR GLORY. "I'LL GIVE IT ALL TO YOU," HE SAID, "IF YOU WILL ONLY KNEEL AND WORSHIP ME." "GET OUT OF HERE, SATAN," JESUS TOLD HIM, "THE SCRIPTURES SAY, 'WORSHIP ONLY THE LORD GOD. OBEY ONLY HIM'". THEN SATAN WENT AWAY, AND ANGELS CAME AND CARED FOR JESUS.
**NOTE** THIS TIME OF TESTING SHOWED THAT JESUS REALLY WAS THE SON OF GOD, ABLE TO OVERCOME SATAN AND HIS TEMPTATIONS. A PERSON HAS NOT SHOWN TRUE OBEDIENCE IF HE HAS NEVER HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE DISOBEDIENT. IN DEUTERONOMY 8:2, GOD LED ISRAEL INTO THE WILDERNESS TO HUMBLE AND TEST THEM. HE WANTED TO FIND OUT HOW THEY WOULD RESPOND AND WHETHER OR NOT THEY WOULD REALLY OBEY HIM. WE, TOO, WILL BE TESTED. BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT TESTING WILL COME, WE SHOULD BE ALERT AND READY FOR IT. OTHERWISE, AS MATTHEW 26:41 SAYS, "TEMPTATION WILL OVERPOWER YOU." REMEMBER YOUR CONVICTIONS ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS THEY ARE UNDER PRESSURE!
JESUS WAS TEMPTED BY SATAN, BUT HE NEVER SINNED! ALTHOUGH WE MAY FEEL DIRTY AFTER BEING TEMPTED, WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT TEMPTATION ITSELF IS NOT SIN. WE SIN WHEN WE GIVE IN AND DISOBEY GOD. REMEMBERING THIS WILL HELP US WALK AWAY FROM THE TEMPTATION.
JESUS WASN'T TEMPTED IN THE TEMPLE OR AT HIS BAPTISM, BUT IN THE WILDERNESS WHERE HE WAS TIRED, ALONE, AND HUNGRY, AND THUS MOST VULNERABLE. SATAN OFTEN TEMPTS US WHEN WE ARE VULNERABLE--WHEN WE ARE TIRED, LONELY, WEIGHING BIG DECISIONS, OR FACED WITH UNCERTAINTY. BUT SATAN ALSO LIKES TO TEMPT US THROUGH OUR STRENGTHS WHERE WE ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO PRIDE. WE MUST BE ON GUARD AT ALL TIMES AGAINST HIS ATTACKS. JESUS WAS ABLE TO RESIST ALL OF SATAN'S TEMPTATIONS BECAUSE HE NOT ONLY KNEW SCRIPTURE, HE OBEYED IT. EPHESIANS 6:17 SAYS THAT GOD'S WORD IS A WEAPON--LIKE A TWO-EDGED SWORD--TO USE IN SPIRITUAL COMBAT. KNOWING BIBLE VERSES IS AN IMPORTANT STEP IN HELPING US RESIST SATAN'S ATTACKS, BUT WE MUST OBEY THE BIBLE AS WELL.
***NOTE THAT SATAN, TOO, HAD MEMORIZED SCRIPTURE, BUT HE FAILED TO OBEY IT. KNOWING AND OBEYING THE BIBLE HELPS US FOLLOW GOD'S DESIRES RATHER THAN SATAN'S. SOMETIMES WE FEEL THAT IF THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS US, IT WILL ALWAYS BE 'BESIDE THE STILL WATERS'. BUT THAT IS NOT NECESSARILY TRUE. HE LED JESUS INTO THE DESERT FOR A LONG AND DIFFICULT TIME OF TESTING, AND HE MAY ALSO LEAD US INTO DIFFICULT SITUATIONS. WHEN FACING TRIALS, FIRST MAKE SURE YOU HAVEN'T BROUGHT THEM ON YOURSELF THROUGH SIN OR UNWISE CHOICES. IF YOU FIND NO SIN TO CONFESS OR UNWISE BEHAVIOR TO CHANGE, THEN ASK GOD TO STRENGTHEN YOU FOR YOUR TEST! FINALLY, BE CAREFUL TO FAITHFULLY FOLLOW WHERE THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS. WHY WAS IT NECESSARY FOR JESUS TO BE TEMPTED? FIRST,TEMPTATION IS PART OF THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE. FOR JESUS TO BE FULLY HUMAN, FOR HIM TO UNDERSTAND US COMPLETELY, HE HAD TO FACE TEMPTATION (SEE HEBREWS 4:15) SECOND, JESUS HAD TO UNDO ADAM'S WORK. ADAM, THOUGH CREATED PERFECT, GAVE IN TO TEMPTATION AND PASSED ON SIN TO THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE. JESUS, BY CONTRAST, RESISTED SATAN. HIS VICTORY OFFERS SALVATION TO ALL OF ADAM'S DESCENDANTS (SEE ROMANS 5:12-19)
LUKE 3:23 TELLS US THAT JESUS WAS ABOUT 30 YEARS OLD WHEN HE BEGAN HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY.
THE FIRST DISCIPLES FOLLOW JESUS - JOHN 1:35-51
THE FOLLOWING DAY AS JOHN WAS STANDING WITH TWO OF HIS DISCIPLES, JESUS WALKED BY. JOHN LOOKED AT HIM INTENTLY AND THEN DECLARED, "SEE! THERE IS THE LAMB OF GOD!" THEN JOHN'S TWO DISCIPLES TURNED AND FOLLOWED JESUS.
JESUS LOOKED AROUND AND SAW THEM FOLLOWING. "WHAT DO YOU WANT? HE ASKED THEM. "SIR," THEY REPLIED, "WHERE DO YOU LIVE?" "COME AND SEE," HE SAID. SO THEY WENT WITH HIM TO THE PLACE WHERE HE WAS STAYING AND WERE WITH HIM FROM ABOUT FOUR O'CLOCK THAT AFTERNOON UNTIL THE EVENING (ONE OF THESE MEN WAS ANDREW, SIMON PETER'S BROTHER.) ANDREW THEN WENT TO FIND HIS BROTHER PETER AND TOLD HIM, "WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH!" AND HE BROUGHT PETER TO MEET JESUS. JESUS LOOKED INTENTLY AT PETER FOR A MOMENT AND THEN SAID, "YOU ARE SIMON, JOHN'S SON--BUT YOU SHALL BE CALLED PETER, THE ROCK!" THE NEXT DAY JESUS DECIDED TO GO TO GALILEE. HE FOUND PHILIP AND TOLD HIM, "COME WITH ME." (PHILIP WAS FROM BETHSAIDA, ANDREW AND PETER'S HOME TOWN.) PHILIP NOW WENT OFF TO LOOK FOR NATHANAEL AND TOLD HIM. "WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH!--THE VERY PERSON MOSES AND THE PROPHETS TOLD ABOUT! HIS NAME IS JESUS, THE SON OF JOSEPH FROM NAZARETH!" "NAZARETH!" EXCLAIMED NATHANAEL, "CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME FROM THERE?" "JUST COME AND SEE FOR YOURSELF," PHILIP DECLARED. AS THEY APPROACHED, JESUS SAID, "HERE COMES AN HONEST MAN--A TRUE SON OF ISRAEL." "HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT I AM LIKE?" NATHANAEL DEMANDED. AND JESUS REPLIED, "I COULD SEE YOU UNDER THE FIG TREE BEFORE PHILIP FOUND YOU." NATHANAEL REPLIED, "SIR, YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD--THE KING OF ISRAEL!" JESUS ASKED HIM, "DO YOU BELIEVE ALL THIS JUST BECAUSE I TOLD YOU I HAD SEEN YOU UNDER THE FIG TREE? YOU WILL SEE GREATER PROOFS THAN THIS. YOU WILL EVEN SEE HEAVEN OPEN AND THE ANGELS OF GOD COMING BACK AND FORTH TO ME, THE MESSIAH."
**NOTE** WHEN THE TWO DISCIPLES BEGAN TO FOLLOW JESUS, HE ASKED THEM, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" FOLLOWING CHRIST FOR OUR OWN PURPOSES IS ASKING CHRIST TO FOLLOW US--TO ALIGN WITH US TO BUILD OUR CAUSE, NOT HIS. WE MUST EXAMINE OUR MOTIVES FOR FOLLOWING HIM--ARE THEY FOR HIS GLORY OR OURS? ANDREW ACCEPTED JOHN THE BAPTIST'S TESTIMONY ABOUT JESUS AND IMMEDIATELY WENT TO TELL HIS BROTHER, SIMON PETER, ABOUT HIM. THERE WAS NO QUESTION IN HIS MIND THAT JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH. NOT ONLY DID HE TELL PETER, BUT THROUGHOUT THE GOSPELS WE FIND ANDREW EAGER TO INTRODUCE PEOPLE TO JESUS.
**NOTE** JESUS SAW NOT ONLY WHO PETER WAS, BUT WHO HE WOULD BECOME. PETER IS NOT PRESENTED AS "ROCK-SOLID" THROUGHOUT THE GOSPELS, BUT HE BECAME A SOLID "ROCK" IN THE DAYS OF THE EARLY CHURCH AS RECORDED IN THE BOOK OF ACTS. BY GIVING PETER A NEW NAME, JESUS INTRODUCED A CHANGE IN CHARACTER. NAZARETH WAS DESPISED BY THE JEWS BECAUSE A ROMAN ARMY GARRISON WAS LOCATED THERE. NATHANAEL'S HARSH COMMENT REFLECTED THE COMMON VIEW. NATHANAEL'S HOMETOWN WAS CANA ABOUT FOUR MILES FROM NAZARETH. WHEN NATHANAEL HEARD THAT JESUS WAS FROM NAZARETH HE WAS SURPRISED AND QUESTIONED PHILIP. PHILIP RESPONDED BY SAYING "COME AND SEE FOR YOURSELF!" FORTUNATELY, NATHANAEL WENT TO MEET JESUS AND BECAME A DISCIPLE. IF HE HAD ACTED ON HIS PREJUDICE WITHOUT INVESTIGATING FURTHER, HE WOULD HAVE MISSED THE MESSIAH!
THE FIRST MIRACLE
JESUS TURNS WATER INTO WINE - JOHN 2:1-12
TWO DAYS LATER JESUS' MOTHER WAS A GUEST AT A WEDDING IN THE VILLAGE OF CANA IN GALILEE, AND JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES WERE INVITED TOO. THE WINE SUPPLY RAN OUT DURING THE FESTIVITIES, AND JESUS' MOTHER CAME TO HIM WITH THE PROBLEM.
"I CAN'T HELP YOU NOW," HE SAID, "IT ISN'T YET MY TIME FOR MIRACLES."
BUT HIS MOTHER TOLD THE SERVANTS, "DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU TO."
SIX STONE WATERPOTS WERE STANDING THERE; THEY WERE USED FOR JEWISH CEREMONIAL PURPOSES AND HELD PERHAPS TWENTY TO THIRTY GALLONS EACH. THEN JESUS TOLD THE SERVANTS TO FILL THEM TO THE BRIM WITH WATER. WHEN THIS WAS DONE HE SAID, "DIP SOME OUT AND TAKE IT TO THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES."
WHEN THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES TASTED THE WATER THAT WAS NOW WINE, NOT KNOWING WHERE IT HAD COME FROM (THOUGH, OF COURSE, THE SERVANTS DID), HE CALLED THE BRIDEGROOM OVER. "THIS IS WONDERFUL STUFF!" HE SAID, "YOU'RE DIFFERENT FROM MOST. USUALLY A HOST USES THE BEST WINE FIRST, AND AFTERWARDS, WHEN EVERYONE IS FULL AND DOESN'T CARE, THEN HE BRINGS OUT THE LESS EXPENSIVE BRANDS. BUT YOU HAVE KEPT THE BEST FOR LAST!"
THIS MIRACLE AT CANA IN GALILEE WAS JESUS' FIRST PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION OF HIS HEAVEN-SENT POWER. AND HIS DISCIPLES BELIEVED THAT HE REALLY WAS THE MESSIAH.
AFTER THE WEDDING HE LEFT FOR CAPERNAUM FOR A FEW DAYS WITH HIS MOTHER, BROTHERS, AND DISCIPLES.
**NOTE** JESUS WAS ON A MISSION TO SAVE THE WORLD, THE GREATEST MISSION IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND. YET HE TOOK TIME TO ATTEND A WEDDING AND TAKE PART IN ITS FESTIVITIES. WE MAY BE TEMPTED TO THINK WE SHOULD NOT TAKE TIME OUT FROM OUR IMPORTANT WORK FOR SOCIAL OCCASIONS. BUT MAYBE THESE SOCIAL OCCASIONS ARE PART OF OUR MISSION. JESUS VALUED THESE WEDDING FESTIVITIES BECAUSE THEY INVOLVED PEOPLE, AND JESUS CAME TO BE WITH PEOPLE. OUR MISSION CAN OFTEN BE ACCOMPLISHED IN JOYOUS TIMES OF CELEBRATION WITH OTHERS. BRING BALANCE TO YOUR LIFE BY BRINGING JESUS INTO TIMES OF PLEASURE AS WELL AS TIMES OF WORK.
"IT ISN'T YET MY TIME FOR MIRACLES" CAN ALSO BE TRANSLATED, "MY TIME HAS NOT YET COME." MARY WAS PROBABLY NOT ASKING JESUS TO DO A MIRACLE BUT TO HELP WITH THIS MAJOR DILEMMA AND FIND SOME WINE. TRADITION SAYS THAT JOSEPH, MARY'S HUSBAND, WAS DEAD, SO SHE PROBABLY WAS USED TO ASKING FOR HER SON'S HELP IN DIFFICULT PROBLEMS. JESUS' ANSWER TO MARY IS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND, BUT MAYBE THAT IS THE POINT. ALTHOUGH MARY DID NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT JESUS WAS GOING TO DO, SHE TRUSTED HIM TO DO THE RIGHT THING. THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS, BUT RUN INTO SITUATIONS THEY CANNOT UNDERSTAND MUST CONTINUE TO TRUST THAT HE WILL WORK IN THE BEST WAY. MARY SUBMITTED TO JESUS' WAY OF DOING THINGS. SHE RECOGNIZED THAT JESUS WAS MORE THAN HER HUMAN SON--HE WAS THE SON OF GOD. WHEN WE BRING OUR PROBLEMS TO CHRIST, WE MAY THINK WE KNOW HOW HE SHOULD TAKE CARE OF THEM, BUT HE MAY HAVE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PLAN. LIKE MARY, WE SHOULD SUBMIT AND ALLOW HIM TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM AS HE SEES BEST!
PEOPLE LOOK EVERYWHERE BUT TO GOD FOR EXCITEMENT AND MEANING. THEY SOMEHOW EXPECT GOD TO BE DULL AND LIFELESS. JUST AS THE WINE JESUS MADE WAS THE BEST, SO LIFE IN HIM IS BETTER THAN LIFE ON OUR OWN. WHY WAIT UNTIL EVERYTHING ELSE RUNS OUT BEFORE TRYING GOD? WHY SAVE THE BEST UNTIL LAST?
MIRACLES ARE NOT MERELY SUPERHUMAN HAPPENINGS, BUT HAPPENINGS THAT DEMONSTRATE GOD'S POWER. ALMOST EVERY MIRACLE JESUS DID WAS A RENEWAL OF FALLEN CREATION--RESTORING SIGHT, MAKING THE LAME TO WALK, EVEN RESTORING LIFE TO THE DEAD. BELIEVE IN HIM, NOT BECAUSE HE IS A SUPERMAN, BUT BECAUSE HE IS GOD CONTINUING HIS CREATION, EVEN IN THOSE OF US WHO ARE POOR, OR WEAK, OR CRIPPLED, OR ORPHANED, OR BLIND, OR LAME, OR WITH SOME OTHER DESPERATE NEED TO BE RE-CREATED. CAPERNAUM BECAME JESUS' HOME BASE DURING HIS MINISTRY IN GALILEE. LOCATED ON A MAJOR TRADE ROUTE, IT WAS AN IMPORTANT CITY IN THE REGION WITH A ROMAN GARRISON AND A CUSTOMS STATION.
JESUS SELECTS THE TWELVE DISCIPLES - MARK 3:13-19
AFTERWARDS HE WENT UP INTO THE HILLS AND SUMMONED CERTAIN ONES HE CHOSE, INVITING THEM TO COME AND JOIN HIM THERE; AND THEY DID. THEN HE SELECTED TWELVE OF THEM TO BE HIS REGULAR COMPANIONS AND TO GO OUT TO PREACH AND TO CAST OUT DEMONS. THESE ARE THE NAMES OF THE TWELVE HE CHOSE: SIMON (HE RENAMED HIM "PETER"), JAMES, AND JOHN (THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE, BUT JESUS CALLED THEM "SONS OF THUNDER"), ANDREW, PHILIP, BARTHOLOMEW, MATTHEW, THOMAS, JAMES (THE SON OF ALPHAEUS), THADDAEUS, SIMON (A MEMBER OF A POLITICAL PARTY ADVOCATING VIOLENT OVERTHROW OF THE ROMAN GOVERNMENT), JUDAS ISCARIOT (WHO LATER BETRAYED HIM).
**NOTE** JESUS WAS SURROUNDED BY FOLLOWERS, FROM WHOM HE CHOSE TWELVE TO BE HIS REGULAR COMPANIONS. HE DID NOT CHOOSE THESE TWELVE BECAUSE OF THEIR FAITH, BECAUSE THEIR FAITH FALTERED. HE DIDN'T CHOOSE THEM BECAUSE OF THEIR TALENT AND ABILITY, BECAUSE NO ONE STOOD OUT WITH UNUSUAL ABILITY. THE DISCIPLES REPRESENTED A WIDE RANGE OF BACKGROUNDS AND LIFE EXPERIENCES, BUT APPARENTLY THEY HAD NO MORE LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL THAN THOSE WHO WERE NOT CHOSEN. THE ONE CHARACTERISTIC THEY ALL SHARED WAS THEIR WILLINGNESS TO OBEY AND FOLLOW JESUS. AFTER JESUS' ASCENSION, THEY WERE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND CARRIED OUT SPECIAL ROLES IN THE GROWTH OF THE EARLY CHURCH. WE SHOULD NOT DISQUALIFY OURSELVES FROM SERVICE TO CHRIST BECAUSE WE DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT CREDENTIALS. BEING A GOOD DISCIPLE IS SIMPLY A MATTER OF FOLLOWING JESUS WITH A WILLING HEART.
WHY DID JESUS CHOOSE TWELVE MEN? THE NUMBER TWELVE CORRESPONDS TO THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL (MATTHEW 19:28), SHOWING THE CONTINUITY BETWEEN THE OLD RELIGIOUS SYSTEM AND THE NEW, BASED ON JESUS' MESSAGE. MANY PEOPLE FOLLOWED JESUS, BUT THESE TWELVE RECEIVED INTENSE TRAINING. WE SEE THE IMPACT OF THESE MEN THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
1. NAME: SIMON PETER (SON OF JOHN)
OCCUPATION: FISHERMAN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS: IMPULSIVE; LATER-BOLD IN PREACHING JESUS
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:ONE OF THREE IN CORE GROUP OF DISCIPLES; RECOGNIZED JESUS, AS THE MESSIAH; DENIED CHRIST AND REPENTED; PREACHED PENTECOST SERMON, A LEADER OF THE JERUSALEM CHURCH, BAPTIZED GENTILES, WROTE 1 AND 2 PETER
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:NAMED HIM PETER, "A ROCK"; CALLED HIM "SATAN" WHEN HE URGED JESUS TO REJECT THE CROSS; SAID HE WOULD BECOME A FISHERMAN OF MEN'S SOULS; HE RECEIVED REVELATION FROM GOD; HE WOULD DENY JESUS; HE WOULD LATER BE CRUCIFIED FOR HIS FAITH.
A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:CHRISTIANS FALTER AT TIMES; BUT WHEN THEY RETURN TO JESUS, HE FORGIVES THEM AND STRENGTHENS THEIR FAITH.
SELECTED REFERENCES: MATTHEW 4:18-20; MARK 8:29-33; LUKE 22:31-34; JOHN 21:15-19; ACTS 2:14-41
ACTS 10:1-11;18
2. NAME: JAMES (SON OF ZEBEDEE. HE AND HIS BROTHER JOHN WERE CALLED THE "SONS OF THUNDER"
OCCUPATION: FISHERMAN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:AMBITIOUS, SHORT-TEMPERED, JUDGMENTAL, DEEPLY COMMITTED TO JESUS.
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:ALSO IN CORE GROUP; HE AND HIS BROTHER JOHN ASKED JESUS FOR PLACES OF HONOR IN HIS KINGDOM; WANTED TO COMMAND FIRE TO FALL ON A SAMARITAN VILLAGE; FIRST DISCIPLE TO BE MARTYRED
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:CALLED JAMES AND JOHN "SONS OF THUNDER"; SAID THEY WOULD FISH FOR THE SOULS OF MEN; THEY WOULD DRINK THE CUP JESUS DRANK; THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND THEIR OWN HEARTS.
A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:CHRISTIANS MUST BE WILLING TO DIE FOR JESUS.
SELECTED REFERENCES:MARK 3:17; MARK 10:35-40; LUKE 9:52-56; ACTS 12:1,2
3. NAME: JOHN (SON OF ZEBEDEE), JAMES' BROTHER, AND "THE
DISCIPLE JESUS LOVED".
OCCUPATION: FISHERMAN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:AMBITIOUS, JUDGMENTAL, LATER-VERY LOVING MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:THIRD DISCIPLE IN CORE GROUP; ASKED JESUS FOR A PLACE OF HONOR IN HIS KINGDOM; WANTED TO CALL DOWN FIRE ON A SAMARITAN VILLAGE; A LEADER OF THE JERUSALEM CHURCH; WROTE THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AND 1,2,3 JOHN AND REVELATION
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:CALLED JAMES AND JOHN "SONS OF THUNDER"; SAID HE WOULD FISH FOR THE SOULS OF MEN; WOULD DRINK THE CUP JESUS DRANK; DID NOT UNDERSTAND HIS OWN HEART; WOULD TAKE CARE OF JESUS' MOTHER AFTER HIS DEATH. A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF THE LOVE OF CHRIST IS AVAILABLE TO ALL SELECTED REFERENCES:MARK 1:19; MARK 10:35-40; LUKE 9:52-56; JOHN 19:26,27; JOHN 21:20-24
4. NAME: ANDREW (PETER'S BROTHER)
OCCUPATION: FISHERMAN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS: EAGER TO BRING OTHERS TO JESUS
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:ACCEPTED JOHN THE BAPTIST'S TESTIMONY ABOUT JESUS, TOLD PETER ABOUT JESUS; HE AND PHILIP TOLD JESUS THAT GREEKS WANTED TO SEE HIM WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:SAID HE WOULD BECOME A FISHERMAN OF MEN'S SOULS A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:CHRISTIANS ARE TO TELL OTHER PEOPLE ABOUT JESUS SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 4:18-20; JOHN 1:35-42; 6:8,9; JOHN 12:20-22
5. NAME: PHILIP
OCCUPATION: FISHERMAN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:QUESTIONING ATTITUDE
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:TOLD NATHANAEL ABOUT JESUS; WONDERED HOW JESUS COULD FEED THE 5,000; ASKED JESUS TO SHOW HIS FOLLOWERS GOD THE FATHER; HE AND ANDREW TOLD JESUS THAT GREEKS WANTED TO SEE HIM
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:ASKED IF PHILIP REALIZED THAT TO KNOW AND SEE HIM WAS TO KNOW AND SEE THE FATHER A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:GOD USES OUR QUESTIONS TO TEACH US SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 10:3; JOHN 1:43-46; 6:2-7; JOHN 12:20-22; 14:8-11
6. NAME: BARTHOLOMEW (NATHANAEL)
OCCUPATION: UNKNOWN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:HONESTY AND STRAIGHT FORWARDNESS
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:INITIALLY REJECTED JESUS BECAUSE HE WAS FROM NAZARETH BUT ACKNOWLEDGED JESUS AS THE "SON OF GOD" AND "KING OF ISRAEL" WHEN THEY MET WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:CALLED HIM "AN HONEST MAN" AND "A TRUE SON OF ISRAEL" A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:JESUS RESPECTS HONESTY IN PEOPLE-EVEN IF THEY CHALLENGE HIM BECAUSE OF IT
SELECTED REFERENCES:MARK 3:18; JOHN 1:45-51; JOHN 21:1-13
7. NAME: MATTHEW (LEVI)
OCCUPATION: TAX COLLECTOR
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:DESPISED OUTCAST BECAUSE OF HIS DISHONEST CAREER. MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:ABANDONED HIS CORRUPT (AND FINANCIALLY PROFITABLE) WAY OF LIFE TO FOLLOW JESUS; INVITED JESUS TO A PARTY WITH HIS NOTORIOUS FRIENDS; WROTE THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW. WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:CALLED HIM TO BE A DISCIPLE. A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:CHRISTIANITY IS NOT FOR PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY'RE ALREADY GOOD; IT IS FOR PEOPLE WHO KNOW THEY'VE FAILED AND WANT HELP. SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 9:9-13; MARK 2:15-17; LUKE 5:27-32
8. NAME: THOMAS (THE TWIN)
OCCUPATION: UNKNOWN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:COURAGE AND DOUBT
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:SUGGESTED THE DISCIPLES GO WITH JESUS TO BETHANY--EVEN IF IT MEANT DEATH; ASKED JESUS ABOUT WHERE HE WAS GOING; REFUSED TO BELIEVE JESUS WAS RISEN UNTIL HE WOULD SEE JESUS ALIVE AND TOUCH HIS WOUNDS. WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:SAID THOMAS BELIEVED BECAUSE HE ACTUALLY SAW JESUS AFTER THE RESURRECTION. A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:EVEN WHEN CHRISTIANS EXPERIENCE SERIOUS DOUBTS, JESUS REACHES OUT TO THEM TO RESTORE THEIR FAITH SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 10:3; JOHN 14:5; 20:24-29; JOHN 21:1-13
9. NAME: JAMES (SON OF ALPHAEUS)
OCCUPATION: UNKNOWN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS: UNKNOWN
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:BECAME ONE OF JESUS DISCIPLES
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM: UNKNOWN
A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE: UNKNOWN
SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 10:3; MARK 3:18; LUKE 6:15
10. THADDAEUS (JUDAS, SON OF JAMES)
OCCUPATION: UNKNOWN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:UNKNOWN
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:BECAME ONE OF JESUS' DISCIPLES
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:UNKNOWN
A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:CHRISTIANS FOLLOW JESUS BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE IN HIM; THEY DO NOT ALWAYS UNDERSTAND THE DETAILS OF GOD'S PLAN.
SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 10:3; MARK 3:18; JOHN 14:22
11. NAME: SIMON THE ZEALOT
OCCUPATION: UNKNOWN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS:FIERCE PATRIOTISM
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:BECAME A DISCIPLE OF JESUS
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:UNKNOWN
A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:IF WE ARE WILLING TO GIVE UP OUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE, WE CAN PARTICIPATE IN JESUS' PLANS
SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 10:4; MARK 3:18; LUKE 6:15
12. NAME: JUDAS ISCARIOT
OCCUPATION: UNKNOWN
OUTSTANDING CHARACTERISTICS: TREACHEROUS AND GREEDY
MAJOR EVENTS IN HIS LIFE:BECAME ONE OF JESUS' DISCIPLES, BETRAYED JESUS; KILLED HIMSELF WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIM:CALLED HIM "A DEVIL", SAID HE WOULD BETRAY JESUS A KEY LESSON FROM HIS LIFE:IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO BE FAMILIAR WITH JESUS' TEACHINGS. JESUS' TRUE FOLLOWERS LOVE AND OBEY HIM.
SELECTED REFERENCES:MATTHEW 26:20-25; LUKE 22:47, 48; JOHN 12:4-8
THE FOUR GOSPELS RECORD ONLY A FRACTION OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE TOUCHED AND HEALED BY JESUS. BUT ENOUGH OF JESUS'S WORDS AND WORKS HAVE BEEN SAVED SO THAT WE ALSO MIGHT BE ABLE TO KNOW HIM AND BE HIS DISCIPLES IN THIS DAY.
JESUS' MIRACLES
**NOTE** MIRACLES ARE NOT MERELY SUPERHUMAN HAPPENINGS, BUT HAPPENINGS THAT DEMONSTRATE GOD'S POWER. ALMOST EVERY MIRACLE JESUS DID WAS A RENEWAL OF FALLEN CREATION--RESTORING SIGHT, MAKING THE LAME TO WALK, EVEN RESTORING LIFE TO THE DEAD. BELIEVE IN HIM, NOT BECAUSE HE IS SUPERMAN, BUT BECAUSE HE IS GOD CONTINUING HIS CREATION, EVEN IN THOSE OF US WHO ARE POOR, OR WEAK, OR CRIPPLED, OR ORPHANED, OR BLIND, OR LAME, OR WITH SOME OTHER DESPERATE NEED TO BE RE-CREATED.
JESUS USED MANY ILLUSTRATIONS, OR PARABLES, WHEN SPEAKING TO THE CROWDS. A PARABLE COMPARES SOMETHING FAMILIAR TO SOMETHING UNFAMILIAR. IT HELPS US UNDERSTAND SPIRITUAL TRUTH BY USING EVERYDAY OBJECTS AND RELATIONSHIPS. PARABLES COMPEL THE LISTENER TO DISCOVER TRUTH WHILE AT THE SAME TIME CONCEALING THE TRUTH FROM THOSE TOO LAZY OR TOO STUBBORN TO SEE IT. TO THOSE WHO ARE HONESTLY SEARCHING, THE TRUTH BECOMES CLEAR. WE MUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO READ TOO MUCH INTO PARABLES, FORCING THEM TO SAY WHAT THEY DON'T MEAN. ALL PARABLES HAVE ONE MEANING UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED BY JESUS.
FOR THE GOSPEL WRITERS, ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS FOR BELIEVING IN JESUS WAS THE WAY HIS LIFE FULFILLED THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES ABOUT THE MESSIAH. THE NEXT SEGMENT OF THIS STUDY IS DEDICATED TO THE PROPHECIES AND FULFILLMENTS.
MESSIANIC PROPHECIES AND FULFILLMENTS
OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES
NEW TESTAMENT FULFILLMENT
1.MESSIAH WAS TO BE BORN IN BETHLEHEM
MICAH 5:2
MATTHEW 2:1-6 AND LUKE 2:1-20
2.MESSIAH WAS TO BORN OF A VIRGIN
ISAIAH 7:14
MATTHEW 1:18-25 AND LUKE 1:26-38
3.MESSIAH WAS TO BE A PROPHET LIKE MOSES
DEUTERONOMY 18:15,18,19
JOHN 7:40
4.MESSIAH WAS TO ENTER JERUSALEM IN TRIUMPH
ZECHARIAH 9:9
MATTHEW 21:1-9 AND JOHN 12:12-16
5.MESSIAH WAS TO BE REJECTED BY HIS OWN PEOPLE
ISAIAH 53:1,3 AND PSALM 118:22
MATTHEW 26:3,4 AND JOHN 12:37-43 AND ACTS 4:1-12
6.MESSIAH WAS TO BE BETRAYED BY ONE OF HIS FOLLOWERS
PSALM 41:9
MATTHEW 26:14-16, 47-50 AND LUKE 22:19-23
7.MESSIAH WAS TO BE TRIED AND CONDEMNED
ISAIAH 53:8
LUKE 23:1-25 AND MATTHEW 27:1,2
8.MESSIAH WAS TO BE SILENT BEFORE HIS ACCUSERS
ISAIAH 53:7
MATTHEW 27:12-14 AND MARK 15:3-4 AND LUKE 23:8-10
9.MESSIAH WAS TO BE STRUCK AND SPAT UPON BY HIS ENEMIES
ISAIAH 50:6
MATTHEW 26:67 AND MATTHEW 27:30 AND MARK 14:65
10.MESSIAH WAS TO BE MOCKED AND TAUNTED
PSALM 22:7-8
MATTHEW 27:39-44 AND LUKE 23:11,35
11.MESSIAH WAS TO DIE BY CRUCIFIXION
PSALM 22:14, 16, 17
MATTHEW 27:31 AND MARK 15:20, 25
12.MESSIAH WAS TO SUFFER WITH CRIMINALS AND PRAY FOR HIS ENEMIES
ISAIAH 53:12
MATTHEW 27:38 AND MARK 15:27, 28 AND LUKE 23:32-34
13.MESSIAH WAS TO BE GIVEN VINEGAR AND GALL
PSALM 69:21
MATTHEW 27:34 AND JOHN 19:28-30
14.OTHERS WERE TO CAST LOTS FOR MESSIAH'S GARMENTS
PSALM 22:18
MATTHEW 27:35 AND JOHN 19:23, 24
15.MESSIAH'S BONES WERE NOT TO BE BROKEN
EXODUS 12:46
JOHN 19:31-36
16.MESSIAH WAS TO DIE AS A SACRIFICE FOR SIN
ISAIAH 53:5, 6, 8, 10-12
JOHN 1:29 & JOHN 11:49-52 & ACTS 10:43 & ACTS 13:38-39
17.MESSIAH WAS TO BE RAISED FROM THE DEAD
PSALM 16:10
ACTS 2:22-32 AND MATTHEW 28:1-10
18.MESSIAH IS NOW AT GOD'S RIGHT HAND
PSALM 110:1
MARK 16:19 & LUKE 24:50-51
THE LAST SECTION OF OUR STUDY OF THE GOSPELS IS THE COMPARISON OF THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST. YOU WILL NOT GET THE FULL PICTURE UNLESS YOU TAKE YOUR BIBLE IN HAND AND READ THE COMPARISON PASSAGES. THIS IS THE TRUE TURNING POINT IN HUMAN HISTORY. MAY GOD REVEAL TO YOU THE TONE OF THE DISCIPLES THAT HAD FOLLOWED HIM FOR THREE YEARS AND THEN SCATTERED AT HIS DEATH. WHAT BROUGHT THEM BACK TOGETHER? WHAT MADE THEM SPEND THE REST OF THEIR LIVES ON EARTH SPREADING THE MESSAGE OF JESUS, EVEN TO THEIR DEATH, IF THIS MESSAGE WASN'T TRUE? ARE YOU WILLING TO DIE FOR THIS MESSAGE?
I WOULD LIKE TO CLOSE THIS WRITING WITH A FEW QUOTES FROM THE BIBLE THAT SUM UP THIS STUDY FOR ME AND I HOPE IT WILL GIVE YOU COMFORT AND ASSURANCE AS WELL.
JOHN 14:6
JESUS TOLD HIM, "I AM THE WAY--YES, AND THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. NO ONE CAN GET TO THE FATHER EXCEPT BY MEANS OF ME."
JOHN 14:9b
"ANYONE WHO HAS SEEN ME HAS SEEN THE FATHER!"
JOHN 14:1-3
"LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED. YOU ARE TRUSTING GOD, NOW TRUST IN ME. THERE ARE MANY HOMES UP THERE WHERE MY FATHER LIVES, AND I AM GOING TO PREPARE THEM FOR YOUR COMING. WHEN EVERYTHING IS READY, THEN I WILL COME AND GET YOU, SO THAT YOU CAN ALWAYS BE WITH ME WHERE I AM. IF THIS WEREN'T SO, I WOULD TELL YOU PLAINLY."
JOHN 14:27-28
"I AM LEAVING YOU WITH A GIFT--PEACE OF MIND AND HEART! AND THE PEACE I GIVE ISN'T FRAGILE LIKE THE PEACE THE WORLD GIVES. SO DON'T BE TROUBLED OR AFRAID. REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU--I AM GOING AWAY, BUT I WILL COME BACK TO YOU AGAIN"
JOHN 3:16-21
FOR GOD LOVED THE WORLD SO MUCH THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON SO THAT ANYONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. GOD DID NOT SEND HIS SON INTO THE WORLD TO CONDEMN IT, BUT TO SAVE IT.
"THERE IS NO ETERNAL DOOM AWAITING THOSE WHO TRUST HIM TO SAVE THEM. BUT THOSE WHO DON'T TRUST HIM HAVE ALREADY BEEN TRIED AND CONDEMNED FOR NOT BELIEVING IN THE ONLY SON OF GOD. THEIR SENTENCE IS BASED ON THIS FACT: THAT THE LIGHT FROM HEAVEN CAME INTO THE WORLD, BUT THEY LOVED THE DARKNESS MORE THAN THE LIGHT, FOR THEIR DEEDS WERE EVIL. THEY HATED THE HEAVENLY LIGHT BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO SIN IN THE DARKNESS. THEY STAYED AWAY FROM THAT LIGHT FOR FEAR THEIR SINS WOULD BE EXPOSED AND THEY WOULD BE PUNISHED. BUT THOSE DOING RIGHT COME GLADLY TO THE LIGHT TO LET EVERYONE SEE THAT THEY ARE DOING WHAT GOD WANTS THEM TO."
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