Jesus made Capernum His home and began His ministry from there. Read v.17 a couple of times. What a message He had to begin His ministry! Those words came from His heart and He still feels that message deep in His spirit. He wants us all to be genuinely sorry for the sins we have committed against God (repent).
How close is the kingdom of heaven for those who have repented? It could be 2 seconds; it could be 80 years. We don't know when the kingdom of heaven will be our home. We must be repentant of our sins and live a new life for "the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Read the verse again. Jesus put His whole ministry into that one sentence. "Repent: the kingdom of heaven is at hand,"
After speaking those words of warning, and being filled with compassion, Jesus began to gather His disciples so He could begin His ministry. This group of men walked with Him throughout the last 3-4 years of His life. They learned while sitting at His feet or while walking by His side. They witnessed His death and His resurrection. They saw Him ascend into heaven and sit on the throne of David at the right hand of God. What a gathering of men it was !
While walking by the Sea of Galilee, He spied His first two disciples hard at work, fishing. They were named Simon and Andrew. This was the Simon who was later called Peter or Simon Peter. All He had to say was, "Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men." These two men immediately stopped what they were doing, left their fish and their boat and followed Jesus. Did they know who he was? Had they heard of the Messiah? What kind of power did this man called Jesus have over these two fishermen?
Then it happens again! Jesus finds His next two disciples, James and John. They were mending their fishing nets with their father, Zebedee. James and John dropped the torn nets, left their boat and their father to immediately follow Jesus. This man, whom they had never met, never heard of, called to them and they followed Him without so much as a, "By Dad."
This group of men walked all over Galilee with Jesus, learning about the kingdom of heaven, and the role Jesus and His followers had in it. Jesus taught about heaven and repentance and the Father. He healed all who came to Him, knowing that He could heal them. His fame spread to Syria and they brought their sick, their demon filled and mentally ill friends to be healed. People believed in Him by merely hearing the stories about Him. Great multitudes followed Him. People from Galilee, from Decapolis, from Jerusalem and even from as far away as Jordan. Why? Jesus, the Messiah, gave them hope.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Matthew 4:12-16
ON EVANGELISM: PREACH THE GOSPEL AT ALL TIMES: IF NECESSARY, USE WORDS.
(credit to Saint Francis) In other words, let people see Christ in you. Live a life that is Christ-like and then introduce them to Jesus with your words. Your own personal relationship with Him is the best place to start.
Ephesians 1:13 says, " In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye are sealed with that holy Spirit of promise."
I Thessalonians 1:5-6 says, "For our gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. (6) and ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost."
Old Testament kings would send decrees, invitations or announcements on scrolls to the largest cities and they would seal those scrolls with a drop of wax and an impression of their signet ring. That signet impression proved that the message was from the king. This practice was followed in England thru the 1800's. The king sealed the news with his signet just as Jesus sealed us with His blood and by our faith.
Thus began the start of the ministry of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist had completed his mission as the forerunner of the Messiah and was in jail for continuing to preach the gospel. John had to decrease in status so Jesus could increase before the children of Israel.
After His baptism, Jesus went from the Jordan River to Sycar which was about 40 miles from Jerusalem, then to Samaria and to Nazareth and then to Capernaum. This was near a lake near Zebulon and Nephthalim. This fulfilled a prophecy by the prophet Esaiah in Isaiah 9:1-2 stating that "the land of Zebulon and the land of Nephthalim, by way of the sea, beyond Jordan, to Galilee of the Gentiles. (2) The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up."
Such a beautiful verse for God to introduce His Son to the Gentiles. Take the time right now to read Isaiah 9:2 several times, then close your eyes and feel the Holy Spirit fill you up. What a way to get closer to God.
"Earth's crammed with heaven.
And every common bush alive with God,
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes.
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries."
from "Aurora Leigh" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
(credit to Saint Francis) In other words, let people see Christ in you. Live a life that is Christ-like and then introduce them to Jesus with your words. Your own personal relationship with Him is the best place to start.
Ephesians 1:13 says, " In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye are sealed with that holy Spirit of promise."
I Thessalonians 1:5-6 says, "For our gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. (6) and ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost."
Old Testament kings would send decrees, invitations or announcements on scrolls to the largest cities and they would seal those scrolls with a drop of wax and an impression of their signet ring. That signet impression proved that the message was from the king. This practice was followed in England thru the 1800's. The king sealed the news with his signet just as Jesus sealed us with His blood and by our faith.
Thus began the start of the ministry of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist had completed his mission as the forerunner of the Messiah and was in jail for continuing to preach the gospel. John had to decrease in status so Jesus could increase before the children of Israel.
After His baptism, Jesus went from the Jordan River to Sycar which was about 40 miles from Jerusalem, then to Samaria and to Nazareth and then to Capernaum. This was near a lake near Zebulon and Nephthalim. This fulfilled a prophecy by the prophet Esaiah in Isaiah 9:1-2 stating that "the land of Zebulon and the land of Nephthalim, by way of the sea, beyond Jordan, to Galilee of the Gentiles. (2) The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up."
Such a beautiful verse for God to introduce His Son to the Gentiles. Take the time right now to read Isaiah 9:2 several times, then close your eyes and feel the Holy Spirit fill you up. What a way to get closer to God.
"Earth's crammed with heaven.
And every common bush alive with God,
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes.
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries."
from "Aurora Leigh" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Matthew 4:1-11
Upon being baptized by His cousin, John, Jesus began His ministry. The Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness, where after fasting for forty days and forty nights, Satan appeared to Him. My mother always called me her "why child" so I wonder why the Holy Spirit led Jesus, the man, into the wilderness, knowing Satan would appear to tempt Him at the end of His fast.
I think the key here is that Jesus is now a man, and He had to defeat the temptations that Satan offered to Him in order to give us a plan, to prepare us to successfully resist Satan. The plan is really quite simple. Know the scriptures.
Picture Jesus in the wilderness for forty days and nights. I imagine He spent His time communing with the Father, getting hungrier every day. Satan caught Him in this physically weakened state and very slyly said to Him, "If You truly the Son of God, just turn those stones into bread."
Jesus was ready for him. "It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Notice that Jesus quoted Old Testament Scripture. In Deuteronomy 8:3, Moses wrote to the Israelites to remind them of all God had done for them in the wilderness. He wrote " . . . that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live."
Satan then took Jesus to the holy city. Remember, Jesus is still in a weakened state from not eating. From the pinnacle of the temple, Satan again tempted Jesus. It reads to me more like Satan was taunting Jesus. He even quoted Scripture for this one. Psalm 91:11-12 "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone."
Again, Jesus replied, "It is written. Thou shall not temp the Lord thy God." What if Jesus, the man, threw Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple and no angels appeared to catch him? The plan Jesus gives us is that we are to be true to the Scriptures, the holy Word of God.
Satan tried to tempt Jesus one more time. He took Him to the top of high mountain, showing Him all the beauty and grandeur of the world below Him. Satan offered to give all the beauty and glory before Him to Jesus if He would only bow down and worship him. Ah, the ultimate motive is revealed. Satan went through all this to get Jesus to deny God and to worship him by offering to Him a world that was already His.
Jesus responded with, "Get thee hence, Satan: For it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shall thy serve."
Realizing he was beaten, Satan left Jesus alone, and then the angels came and took care of His physical needs. 3 temptations, 3 wins for Christ. Jesus had to know that Satan's ultimate goal was to get Him to worship the great deceiver as he wants us to bow down before him.
Jesus showed us that when we are tempted by Satan, to search the Scriptures, to not tempt or challenge God and to not worship anyone or anything except the one true God.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
John the Baptist-Matthew 3
There is only one story told about Jesus in His youth, and it is not in the book of Matthew. Even though there is nothing written, I like to think of this young child growing up, playing in the sawdust and learning the carpentry trade in His father's workshop. Matthew jumps from their return from Egypt to the appearance of John the Baptist and Jesus's encounter with him. I'm basically writing a biography of John the Baptist because he was born to be a forerunner for the appearance of Christ, a voice crying in the wilderness, getting the people spiritually prepared to recognize and accept the Messiah.
Long ago, in the hill country of Judaea, lived an elderly and childless couple, Zacharias and Elizabeth. They yearned for a child, but it seemed to them that God was not listening. Elizabeth was way beyond her childbearing years when the angel, Gabriel, appeared to Zacharias in the Temple to let him know that God had heard their prayer. Elizabeth was going to have a son and would name him John.
Why Zacharias and Elizabeth? Zacharias was working in the Temple when the angel appeared to him. He was a descendant of Aaron thru King David and a priest from the tribe of Abijah. Zacharias was astonished at the news that Gabriel gave him and questioned him with a "Why me? I am old and my wife is beyond her childbearing years?" I can imagine his saying that, but because he voiced his astonishment, he was mute until John was born. Can you feel what Zacharias felt when he learned of having a son at his age and not be able to tell anyone about it?
Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron and thus, of David. Luke 1:6 says, "And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." (KJV) This fulfills the prophecy that the Messiah would come from the house of David.
Why is John so important? He was sent to spiritually prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah so they would accept Him when He came to them. He was filled with the Holy Spirit while he was still in his mother's womb. John's venue as a Nazirite was in the wilderness of Judaea. His clothing was made from itchy, coarse camel hair, and his food was locusts and wild honey. He and Jesus were cousins with John being about 6 months older than Jesus.
John started preaching about the coming of the Messiah about 26 or 27 A.D. Historically, this date puts his ministry near the Messianic period. The people weren't prepared for this age so John had to get them to prepare spiritually for the coming of Christ. Sadly, the people weren't looking for a spiritual leader but a political and military King who would end the oppression of the Jews by other nations who worshipped idols.
Instead of introducing to them a political leader, he preached about a Messiah who would bring salvation to any who would repent of their sins, invite Him into their hearts and exemplify a Godly life. Most of the Jews of that time believed they would go to heaven when they died because they were of the lineage of Abraham. John preached vehemently against this belief and angered the Jews who believed it. He told them that they had to accept Jesus into their hearts and turn from their sin. His was not a popular message.
After accepting Christ, John preached that they must be completely immersed in water to signify a public confession of faith by being cleansed of their sins. Baptism by water was not a new concept to the Jews; however, John's idea of baptism was different from the Jewish connotation of baptism. Levitical Law (Lev. 11-15) required cleansing after eating unclean food (11), purification after childbirth (12), priestly procedures for diagnosing leprosy (13), priestly methods for cleansing the leper as well as the house and everything he/she touched (14), and cleansing after touching any running sores on men or a woman's issue of blood (15).
An Old Testament in Ezekiel 36:25-26 says, "Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. (25) A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh" (26) [KJV]
The Levitical cleansing restored the person to their previous state while John preached that baptism would prepare them for a new type of life, one grounded in the Messiah. Huge crowds of believers flocked to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. Jesus came in one of the crowds. John insisted that he was unworthy to baptize Jesus, that Jesus should baptize him. "And Jesus answering said unto him, "Suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he suffereth Him." (Matt. 3:15) When Jesus came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove "And lo a voice from heaven, saying This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
John the Baptist understood that his ministry would be short for the Messiah was here and would take over the delivery of the message of salvation. Only a few of John's disciples stayed with him while the rest followed Jesus. We don't know what John continued to teach his disciples except that he taught them how to fast and pray. I think he would continue to teach about the Messiah until his death so his followers would accept the true Messiah.
The disciples of John the Baptist were loyal to him, taking care of his needs while he was in prison, lovingly caring for his body after his brutal murder and even twenty years later, Apollos from Ephesus, was still a follower of John.
We don't know for sure when John was in prison, but it was before Jesus began His ministry. After a short time in prison, John sent two of his followers to Jesus to ask Him if He was, in fact, the Messiah. What an odd question as that had been the entire purpose of John's ministry. He may have done it to reassure his own disciples, or he may have had some doubts of his own. Jews everywhere expected a great, cataclysmic arrival of a King which did not happen. John may have felt forgotten as he sat in prison and needed reassurance that he was in prison for the right reason and that Jesus remembered him. Jesus sent the two men back to John with reassurances of love.
All of this is not in Matthew 3 but comes from other study books, but I think is necessary to give credence to the ministry of John the Baptist, the forerunner for the arrival of Jesus Christ.
Long ago, in the hill country of Judaea, lived an elderly and childless couple, Zacharias and Elizabeth. They yearned for a child, but it seemed to them that God was not listening. Elizabeth was way beyond her childbearing years when the angel, Gabriel, appeared to Zacharias in the Temple to let him know that God had heard their prayer. Elizabeth was going to have a son and would name him John.
Why Zacharias and Elizabeth? Zacharias was working in the Temple when the angel appeared to him. He was a descendant of Aaron thru King David and a priest from the tribe of Abijah. Zacharias was astonished at the news that Gabriel gave him and questioned him with a "Why me? I am old and my wife is beyond her childbearing years?" I can imagine his saying that, but because he voiced his astonishment, he was mute until John was born. Can you feel what Zacharias felt when he learned of having a son at his age and not be able to tell anyone about it?
Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron and thus, of David. Luke 1:6 says, "And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." (KJV) This fulfills the prophecy that the Messiah would come from the house of David.
Why is John so important? He was sent to spiritually prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah so they would accept Him when He came to them. He was filled with the Holy Spirit while he was still in his mother's womb. John's venue as a Nazirite was in the wilderness of Judaea. His clothing was made from itchy, coarse camel hair, and his food was locusts and wild honey. He and Jesus were cousins with John being about 6 months older than Jesus.
John started preaching about the coming of the Messiah about 26 or 27 A.D. Historically, this date puts his ministry near the Messianic period. The people weren't prepared for this age so John had to get them to prepare spiritually for the coming of Christ. Sadly, the people weren't looking for a spiritual leader but a political and military King who would end the oppression of the Jews by other nations who worshipped idols.
Instead of introducing to them a political leader, he preached about a Messiah who would bring salvation to any who would repent of their sins, invite Him into their hearts and exemplify a Godly life. Most of the Jews of that time believed they would go to heaven when they died because they were of the lineage of Abraham. John preached vehemently against this belief and angered the Jews who believed it. He told them that they had to accept Jesus into their hearts and turn from their sin. His was not a popular message.
After accepting Christ, John preached that they must be completely immersed in water to signify a public confession of faith by being cleansed of their sins. Baptism by water was not a new concept to the Jews; however, John's idea of baptism was different from the Jewish connotation of baptism. Levitical Law (Lev. 11-15) required cleansing after eating unclean food (11), purification after childbirth (12), priestly procedures for diagnosing leprosy (13), priestly methods for cleansing the leper as well as the house and everything he/she touched (14), and cleansing after touching any running sores on men or a woman's issue of blood (15).
An Old Testament in Ezekiel 36:25-26 says, "Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. (25) A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh" (26) [KJV]
The Levitical cleansing restored the person to their previous state while John preached that baptism would prepare them for a new type of life, one grounded in the Messiah. Huge crowds of believers flocked to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. Jesus came in one of the crowds. John insisted that he was unworthy to baptize Jesus, that Jesus should baptize him. "And Jesus answering said unto him, "Suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he suffereth Him." (Matt. 3:15) When Jesus came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove "And lo a voice from heaven, saying This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
John the Baptist understood that his ministry would be short for the Messiah was here and would take over the delivery of the message of salvation. Only a few of John's disciples stayed with him while the rest followed Jesus. We don't know what John continued to teach his disciples except that he taught them how to fast and pray. I think he would continue to teach about the Messiah until his death so his followers would accept the true Messiah.
The disciples of John the Baptist were loyal to him, taking care of his needs while he was in prison, lovingly caring for his body after his brutal murder and even twenty years later, Apollos from Ephesus, was still a follower of John.
We don't know for sure when John was in prison, but it was before Jesus began His ministry. After a short time in prison, John sent two of his followers to Jesus to ask Him if He was, in fact, the Messiah. What an odd question as that had been the entire purpose of John's ministry. He may have done it to reassure his own disciples, or he may have had some doubts of his own. Jews everywhere expected a great, cataclysmic arrival of a King which did not happen. John may have felt forgotten as he sat in prison and needed reassurance that he was in prison for the right reason and that Jesus remembered him. Jesus sent the two men back to John with reassurances of love.
All of this is not in Matthew 3 but comes from other study books, but I think is necessary to give credence to the ministry of John the Baptist, the forerunner for the arrival of Jesus Christ.
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