A. Eve’s Temptation & Her Sin:
Capernaum & the First Passover
of Jesus’ Public
Ministry
24 John 2:12 “After
this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples:
and they continued there not many days.”
24 NOTE: Jesus had moved His
headquarters to Capernaum (meaning “village of Nahum”) out of Nazareth because
a. of the rejection He had received in His hometown after preaching in their synagogue.
(Luke 4:16-31)
24 b. to fulfill prophecy
Matt 4:14-16 “14 That it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet (Isa 9:2), saying,
24 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; they who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, on them the light has shined.
FIRST TEMPLE CLEANSING BY OUR HIGH PRIEST
(Second is in Matt
21:12-13 at the conclusion of Jesus’ ministry on earth)
John 2:13-17 “And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up
to Jerusalem,
14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and
sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
15 And
when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the
sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
16 And
said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an
house of merchandise.
17 And
his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me
up.” (PSA 69:9) also fulfilled (Mal 3:1,
Zech 14:21)
John 2:18-21 “Then
answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign do you show to us, seeing that you do these
things?
19 Jesus
answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
20 Then
said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and will you raise it up
in three days?
21 But he spoke of the
temple of his body.”
(Raise it up - the word used for the temple building was ST.
2411“hieron”as in verse 2:14. Jesus uses the word ST. 3485 “naos” here
which refers to the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.)
John 2:23-25 “Now when
he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when
they saw the miracles which he did.
24 But
Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,
25 And
needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.”
Jesus knew the corrupt
nature of whimsical man and that this belief was superficial, dependent on His miracles,
not upon Him.
Regarding the three
references in John to three Passovers, helps us to understand better the length of
Jesus’ ministry.
THREE PASSOVERS
IN JESUS’ MINISTRY
All Jewish
males were charged to keep the Passover. The Command of the Passover Exodus 12:14
“And this day shall be a memorial to you. And you shall keep it as a
feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by a law
forever.”
1st
Passover John 2:23 “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the
passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles
which he did.”
2nd
Passover - John 6:4-5 And the passover, a
feast of the Jews, was nigh.
“When
Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto
Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” Yet Jesus was in Jerusalem
for “a feast of the Jews” in John 5:1.
“And
the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.” This statement simply says that the
Passover was drawing nigh. It does not say that Jesus, or the 5,000 He is ministering to,
missed that Passover. John simply does not record attendance at it.
3rd
Passover: John
11:55-57, 12:1 The Jews' passover was nigh at hand: and many went out
of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves.
(In the Synoptics, only the
last passover is mentioned).
1. Genesis 22:8
2. John 1:29, 36
3. Rev 5:12
John 3:1 “And there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2 He came to Jesus by night and said to Him, Rabbi,
we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles which you
do unless God is with him. (This address by Nicodemus
is made in humility. For him to call any man “Rabbi” (meaning great one, and
later being a most respectful term that students could give their teachers)
3 (Jesus perceived in
Nicodemus, with his legalistic background, a problem he was having. Nicodemus knew that
the coming Kingdom of Messiah required a man to be righteous in order to enter in.
Nicodemus also knew his inability to keep all of the Law all of the time (the same
struggle that Paul encounters in Romans 7. Remember that the Law consisted of
justification by works – 613 laws: 248 required the believer to do something. 365
laws were prohibitions. Nicodemus is looking for what he must do to enter the Kingdom.) Jesus answered and said
to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus (means conqueror) said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless
a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God.
John 3:9-10
“Nicodemus answered and said to Him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said
to him, Are you the teacher of Israel and do not know these things?”
Several
noteworthy things:
1. Nicodemus’ statement to Jesus:
“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for
no man can do these miracles which you do unless God is with him.” This is an
admission that some members of the Sanhedrin knew
that Jesus was from God.
2. Jesus makes this
conversation difficult with His statement :” Are you
the teacher of Israel and do not
know these things?”Why does
Jesus do this? (We will discuss in class
in another session why Jesus was curt or difficult with certain people in His dialogues
with them. For now it is sufficient to say: Hebrews 11:6 “But
without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that
he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
3. Verse 5 has been
interpreted several ways: “Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
a. Some Christians believe
that the water mentioned here is Believer’s Baptism. This would make our salvation
dependent upon faith in Jesus and water baptism, e.g. the Church of Christ – baptismal regeneration.
b. Some teachers
seek to reconcile this Scripture with Eph 2:8-9 and Romans 10:9-10 by stating that
“water” in this passage refers to natural birth (the ambiotic fluid in which the
fetus is protected until birth when that water breaks.
This explanation is flawed. If someone did not get born in the ambiotic water of
the mother, there would be no one alive to ask such questions.
c. Using the Word of God to interpret the
Word:
Ephesians
5: 25-26 “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave
himself for it;
That he
might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,”
A reference is made to Israelites who believed God’s
promise through Moses regarding poisonous snake bites Numbers 21:8-9. Those who gazed upon
the Brazen serpent (symbolic of sin and a type of Christ in His crucifixion when He became
sin for us that we could have His righteousness.) (As a side note to man’s corruption and ritualistic religion, it
is worth noting that the Israelites continued to gaze upon this image and made it into an
idol, referred to as Nehushtan, which had to be destroyed by King Hezekiah. 2Kings 18:4)
Jesus tells Nicodemus that this world is already under condemnation. Men are not born neutral then declared unrighteous by their refusal of Jesus as Saviour. Men are born in sin, blinded by sin and live under condemnation. Jesus reveals the heart of God in John 3:16-17:
John 3:16-17
“For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but
that the world through Him might be saved.” NKJV Notice the emphasis on faith
(pistis), believing (pisteuo) in Jesus and the absence of any reference to
righteous works that we must do. Righteous acts flow from a saved, regenerated heart
yielded to the Holy Spirit.
Jesus returns from Judea but doesn’t travel the normal route of Jews who walked around, not through, Samaria. This shows us that Jesus, who most of all could rely on the Father’s protection with at least 12 legions of angels, Jesus walked in wisdom & prudence.
John 4:5-6 Then He came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar , near the parcel of ground
that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
And Jacob's well was
there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus upon the well. It was
about the sixth hour. (Noon).
John 4:7-10 “A woman
of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me to drink.
(For His disciples had
gone away into the city to buy food.)
Then the woman of Samaria
said to Him, How do you, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, who am a woman of Samaria? For
the Jews do not associate with Samaritans.
Jesus answered and said
to her, If you knew the gift of
God, and
who it is that says to you, Give Me to drink, you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you
living water.
John 4:16-24 “Jesus said to her,
Go, call your husband and come here.
17
The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You have
well said, I have no husband
18
for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your
husband. In that you spoke truly.
19 The woman said to Him, Sir, I
perceive that you are a prophet.
Notice how this woman changed the subject from sin to religion. She was apparently well-known in her town and despised by the wives in that town. Women usually gathered water early in the morning or later in the afternoon to avoid the noon days heat. There was also water closer to that town than Jacob’s well. She wanted to be alone when she fetched water.
20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21
Jesus said to her, Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you shall
neither worship the Father in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem.
22
You worship what you do not know, we know what we worship, for salvation
is of the Jews.
23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when
the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father
seeks such to worship Him.
24 God is a spirit, and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.
John 4:25-26 The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah is
coming, who is called Christ. When He has come, He will tell us all things.
Jesus said to her, I AM, He speaking
to you. (“He” is not in the Greek. Jesus said to her “Ego Eimee” or
“I AM” – the Name of God.
a. She identifies Jesus as a Jew
verse 4:9
b. She confesses that Jesus is a prophet verse 4:19 After her conviction of sin in her life (verses 4:16-18), the woman changes the subject and asks a question that Samaritans believed would be settled by the Messiah – should worship be in their temple on Mount Gerizim or in the Temple of Jerusalem? Jesus tells her that salvation is through the Jews.
d. Jesus responds
to her question about the Messiah by telling her that He is the Messiah verses 4:25-26
Why did Jesus clearly tell
this Samaritan woman that He is the Messiah when He didn’t do so with the Pharisees
including Nicodemus?
(Answer: Jesus meets us where we are. He will reveal Himself to the ignorant with more clarity than those claiming wisdom. With God ignorance is an excuse. We are held more responsible depending upon how much light we have been given. This was also going to be Jesus' last visit to the Samaritans so His proclamation is clear.)
John 4:40-43 “Then as
the Samaritans had come to Him, they begged Him that He would stay with them. And He
stayed there two days.
(Note the power of this woman’s testimony – The entire town went to Jesus as a result of her words about Jesus. – John 4:42) Remember. Jesus tells us in Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you. And you shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Jesus wants each of us to have our own testimony of His greatness and He wants to write that testimony on the tablets of your heart.)
The Excellent Example Jesus gives us in
soul-winning:
1. Jesus refuses to
argue with the woman.
2. He avoids getting
into theological concepts with her.
3. He never browbeats
her, speaks in a demeaning way to her nor judges her even though she is a great sinner.
4. Jesus spoke of
Himself as “living water” – He pointed her way to Himself.
5. Some Christians sow
seeds that another Christian reaps. Some Christians sometimes reap what another Christian
has sown.
Jesus sowed
here in Samaria. Later His disciples will reap in Samaria.
Jesus and
His disciples now return to Galilee. Jesus conducted His ministry in Galilee for several
reasons:
denounced the marriage of Herod to Herodias, wife of his brother,
Philip, as adultery. Herod also feared John’s popularity with the
people. Herod reasoned that John could easily lead people in a revolt
If Herod arrested John, he would surely arrest Jesus. Jesus’ time had
not yet come, therefore He needed to keep a distance from Herod.
Galilee was not under the jurisdiction of Herod.
2. The message that John preached was the
same that Jesus preached –
“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:2 Since
John was arrested. His message (and that of Jesus) had already been
rejected.
3. John 4:1-3 “Therefore, when the
Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than
John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize,
but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.” NKJV The Pharisees were already
When Jesus
arrived in Galilee, He stated that “a prophet has no honor in his own country”
John 4:44 This was the prophetic response of the majority of Galileans.
When Jesus
arrived in Galilee He was well-received by the Galileans. Many of them had seen Him at the
Feast performing miracles. It was presumed that the Messiah or any prophet of God would
focus the center of his ministry in or around Jerusalem.
In Luke 4:15
we see that Jesus taught the people in their synagogues thus performing the work of a
rabbi. Jesus taught them the Word of God and caused them to understand in ways that their
rabbis could not duplicate. The teacher in Israel was to teach the Word of God and to
teach the person of God. Jesus did this with more depth than any of their previous
teachers. The teacher was to instruct.
Jesus is
also called a preacher in Matthew 4:17 and Mark 1:14. The preacher is an exhorter and
one who proclaims. Our author makes only a minor distinction between the terms
“kingdom of heaven” (directed to Jews who do not use God’s name at all out
of fear of blasphemy – e.g. Messianic Jews today will refer to G-D and call Him
“Ha Shem” – the Name. In the other Gospels, the term “kingdom of
God” is used. There is a greater significance between these terms that we will review
in our 8th class session.
As a point
of correction: An error is quoted by our author from one of his sources – A. M.
Fairbairn. Studies in the Life of Christ p. 137
The
statement:
“The
kingdom of God has as its opposite the kingdom of evil, or Satan. The great empire of
anarchy and darkness…”
The Correction: (1) It is
wrong to think of Satan as the opposite of God and to think of his kingdom as the opposite
of the kingdom of God. Satan is a created being. He is not omnipresent, omniscient nor
omnipotent. (2) Satan’s kingdom is a well-functioning autocracy headed by a merciless
dictator. This is not anarchy!
Jesus stayed for awhile at Cana, probably at the home of Nathaniel who lived there. (John 21:2). It was in Cana that a royal official approached Jesus on behalf of his dying son. Jesus rebukes the people in general for wanting to see signs & wonders before they would believe. Jesus tells this man that his son shall live (John 4:49-50). The man accepted Jesus’ word and, when he returned home, discovered that his son had been healed in the very hour that Jesus spoke his word to the official.
(Luke
4:16-30) Jesus is next in Nazareth, His
hometown. On the Sabbath Jesus arose to read from the Scripture. The head of the synagogue
yielded to Jesus the task of reader or maphtir, who normally read from the prophets.
On this
occasion Jesus read from Isaiah 61:
Luke 4:18-22
"The
Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the
poor;He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,To proclaim liberty to the captives And
recovery of sight to the blind,To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the
LORD." The part that Jesus did not
read is Isaiah 61:2 in the last clause:
and the day of vengeance of
our God; to comfort all that mourn;This will be fulfilled when the terrible wrath of God
judges this earth in the “Day of the Lord” spoken of by the prophets.
Then He
closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who
were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, "Today this
Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." So
all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His
mouth. NKJV
Some who
knew Him from His childhood took offense at Jesus’ statement. Jesus then explains to
them that the message of Elijah was not heeded by Israel in his day – only the widow
of Zarephath benefited from his ministry. In like fashion the message of Elisha was not
heeded by Israel. The only beneficiary of this ministry was Naaman, the Syrian king
afflicted with leprosy.
Jesus
departed in a most subtle miracle:
Luke 4:27-30
“So all those in the
synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust
Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was
built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the
midst of them, He went His way.” NKJV
This is a miracle that a crowd surrounds Jesus with the intention of killing Him by stoning or by throwing him from the cliff. However the object of their wrath walks calmly through this angry crowd.
Forerunner of Messiah
Luke 1:36
indicates that John was born about six months before Jesus. Since Mary was cousin to
Elizabeth, Jesus and John the Baptist were related. John was a miracle birth from the
elderly couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth. John was also born into the priestly Levitical
line.
There is a
promise that there will be a forerunner of Messiah – Elijah. Malachi 4:5 “Behold,
I am sending you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the
LORD.”
John
was described by Jesus as Matt 17:11-13 “And answering Jesus said to
them, Elijah truly shall come first and restore all things.
But I say to you that
Elijah has come already,
(the Spirit of Elijah is the Holy Spirit. By referring to Elijah here, Jesus is
referencing the office of Elijah – not a contradiction in God’s Word with John
1:21) and
they did not know him, but have done to him whatever they desired. Likewise also the Son
of man shall suffer from them.
Then His disciples
understood that He spoke to them about John the Baptist.”
Zechariah
& Elizabeth lived in the hill county of Judea near Qumran. Since both were advanced in
years, it is likely that both parents passed away when John was about 13 years of age.
Living near the Essenes John probably received from them his education in the Scriptures
and the expectancy of Messiah’s coming. He knew that he was called by God to be the
forerunner of Messiah. Instead of going into Jerusalem and reviewing genealogical records
to identify Jesus, son of Mary, his mother’s cousin. It was necessary that both
Zechariah and Elizabeth were removed from the boy’s life so that he would listen only
to the Holy Spirit regarding how he would recognize Messiah. (F.F. Bruce in Second
Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls). The influence of the Essenes on John cannot be proven,
however John’s ability to live in the wilderness and despise sins of arrogance and
hypocrisy certainly bear some resemblance to the Essenes view of separation.
Luke 3:1-2 “And in the
fifteenth year of the government of Tiberius Caesar, (29AD) Pontius Pilate being
governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of
Iturea and the Trachonitus country, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene--
Annas and Caiaphas being the
high priests-- the
word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness”.
He began his
ministry in the wilderness of Judea west of the Dead Sea. He was probably east of Jericho.
Later his ministry would move north to Aenon near Salim (John 3:23) in Galilee under the
jurisdiction of Herod Antipas.
John
addressed his preaching to Jews announcing that they should repent for the Kingdom of God
is at hand. John warned that being descended from Abraham would not save them. He denied
being the Messiah, Elijah (Mal 4:5) or the promised Prophet like Moses (Deut 18:15). His
message was the Baptism of Repentance which addressed only the Jews in that special time
just before Jesus’ public ministry.
John’s
baptism is modeled from the Old Testament exhortation Ezekiel 36:25 “Then will I
sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from
all your idols, will I cleanse you.” The Essenes used ritual washing and water.
John’s message
is recorded by all of the Gospel writers: John 1:23 “He
said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord,
as said the prophet Isaiah. (Matt 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4)
Isaiah 40:3 “The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
Malachi
3:1 "Behold,
I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming," Says the LORD of hosts."
John’s Mission:
Matthew 3:13-17 "Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"The
Reasons for Jesus to be baptized by John:
| Offices | Anointings | Fulfillment |
| Prophet – oil only | Lev 8:12 | By Holy Spirit Matt 3:16 |
| Priest – all three | with water Lev 8:6 |
By
John Matt 3:15 |
| King – oil only | with blood Lev 8:23 |
By
Himself Matt 26:28
|
The
Three-fold Approval of God:
Jesus
anointed by the Holy Spirit – “And lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He
saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove , and lighting upon Him.” Matt 3:16
Jesus has
the approval of the Father: And lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is My Beloved Son in
whom I am well-pleased.”Matt 3:17
First
approval: Matt 3:17
Second
approval: Matt 17:5
Third
approval: John 12:28
Matt 4:1 “Then Jesus
was led by the Spirit up into the wilderness, to be tempted by the Devil.”
John 1:29 – 36 "
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world!
"This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me,
for He was before me.’
"I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came
baptizing with water."
And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove,
and He remained upon Him.
"I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon
whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the
Holy Spirit.’
"And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."
Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.
And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!"
After
preparing the way for the Messiah, John said to his disciples who asked him why Jesus was
also having people baptized, John 3: 28- 30 “You yourselves bear witness to me
that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him.
29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the
friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the
bridegroom's voice. Then my joy is fulfilled.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John was
acknowledged by Jesus as a great prophet sent by God:
Matt 11:11-15 “Truly I
say to you, Among
those who have been born of women there has not risen a greater one than John the Baptist.
But the least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. (Jesus said this
because John did not know the full scope of the Gospel. Also, after baptizing the Messiah
and recognizing that he must become less (John 3:30), John continued preaching repentance
and coming judgment.)
12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now
the kingdom of Heaven is taken by violence, and the violent take it by force.
(This is not a large span of time, only through John and Jesus’ life. The violent men
attempting to seize the Kingdom of Heaven by force are the religious establishment of His
day to whom He addressed this remark.)
13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until
John.
14 And if you will receive it, this is Elijah who is
to come.
15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
1John 2:16 The Three Types of all
Temptation:
“…If any man
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him
For all that is in the
world:
1. The Lust of the Flesh
2. The Lust of the eyes
3. The sinful pride of
life is not of the Father but is of the world”
A.
Eve’s Temptation & Her Sin:
1. DOUBT: ”Gen 3:1
“Is it so that God has said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”
2. DENIAL: Gen 3:4 “And the serpent said to the woman, You shall
not surely die,”
3. DISOBEDIENCE: Gen 3:6
“she took of its fruit, and ate.”
Adam’s sin: putting
his wife higher than his relationship of Almighty God.
B. Jesus’ Temptations & Victory
Matt 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13, Mark 1:12-13
1. The Lust of the Flesh
Turn stones into bread (Miracle & self-reliance)
Matt 4:4 quote from Deut
8:3 “Man
does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
2. The sinful pride of life Pinnacle of Temple – announce who you are with a miracle in the very presence of Levitical priests. Satan misquotes from the Word of God: Psalm 91:11-12 by saying Psalm 91:11-12 “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” (Temptation to force God’s plan now.)
Here is the phrase Satan took out of his Scripture quote: “to keep thee in all thy ways.”
3. The Lust of the
eyes - Ownership over the Kingdoms of the
World
Jesus responds - Matt 4:10 quote from
Deut 6:13, 10:20 (“You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall thou
serve.”)
If Jesus can be tested or
tempted, before His ministry, we can easily see how temptations can befall us. (Temptation
to fulfill Malachi 3:1 prematurely).
Did Satan really have
authority over the Kingdoms of the earth? Yes.
Rev 13:7, John 14:30
When
Jesus returned from the wilderness, He began His public ministry and began to call His
Apostles.
John
1:32-45 And John bore record, saying, I saw
the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and He abode on Him.
And
I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water, that One said to me, Upon
whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon Him, He is the One who
baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
And
I saw and bore record that this is the Son of God.
Again,
the next day afterward, John stood with two of his disciples.
And
looking upon Jesus as He walked, he says, Behold the Lamb of God!
And
the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
Then
Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, What do you seek? They said to Him,
Rabbi (which is called, being translated Teacher), where do you live?
He
says to them, Come and see. They came and saw where He lived, and stayed with Him that
day, for it was about the tenth hour.
One
of the two who heard John and followed Him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
He
first found his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah (which is,
being translated, the Christ).
And
he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus saw him, He said, You are Simon the son of
Jonah; you shall be called Cephas (which translated is, A stone).
The
day after, Jesus desired to go forth into Galilee. And He found Philip and said to
him, Follow Me.
Now
Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
Philip
found Nathanael and said to him, We have found Him of whom Moses wrote in the law
and the prophets, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
Nathanael
– One who has no guile & Jesus comparing Himself to Jacob’s Ladder.
John
1:45 - 51 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, We have found Him of whom Moses wrote in
the law and the prophets, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
46 And Nathanael said to him, Can there be any good
thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him and said of him,
Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile!
48 Nathanael said to Him, From where do You know me?
Jesus answered and said to him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig
tree, I saw you.
49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, Rabbi, You are
the Son of God. You are the King of Israel!
50 Jesus answered and said to him, Because I said to
you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than
these.
51
And He said to
him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Hereafter you shall see Heaven open, and the angels of
God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Jacob’s Ladder – Genesis
28:12 records Jacob’s dream about Heaven’s Ladder and the covenant of God
established with Abraham and Isaac was now extended to Jacob (supplanter), the Father of
Israel (God Prevails).
With 5 disciples Jesus attends the
Marriage Feast of Cana described only in the Gospel of John.
Marriage
Feast at Cana
KanaV
th'" Galilaiva" This was not a very well-known place. It is mentioned only here,
in 4:46, and 21:2, and nowhere else in the New Testament. Josephus (Life 86) says he once had his quarters there.
Probable location: present day Khirbet Cana (14 km north of Nazareth) or Khirbet Kenna (7
km northeast of Nazareth).
2 John 2:2-11 “And both Jesus was called, and his
disciples, to the marriage.
NOTE: This couple’s
families were friends with Jesus’ family. Jesus was invited. However, men who had
been his disciples for only days were given a general invitation, not knowing that there
were 5 disciples. We get the impression that this couple was not wealthy. One reason
offered for Jesus’ mother, Mary (Miriam) to approach her son was that he had brought
extra guests which didn’t help the depleted wine source. Since this is Jesus’
first miracle we should not suppose that Mary was used to seeing her son perform miracles.
She did, however, know that this special son was called from before his birth to be the
“saviour of His people”
3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus
said unto him, They have no wine.
4. Jesus said unto her,
Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
This is a Hebraism: The
Hebrew expression in the Old Testament had two basic meanings:
(1) When one person is
unjustly bothering another, the injured party may say "What to me and to you?"
meaning, "What have I done to you that you should do this to me?" Examples:
Judges 11:12, 2 Chron. 35:21, 1 Kings 17:18.
(2) When someone is asked to
get involved in a matter he feels is no business of his, he may say to the one asking him,
"What to me and to you?" meaning, "That is your business, how am I
involved?" Examples: 2 Kings 3:13, Hosea 14:8.
(1) implies hostility, (2)
merely disengagement. (2) is almost certainly to be understood here as better fitting the
context (although some of the Greek Fathers took the remark as a rebuke to Mary; I feel
such a rebuke is unlikely).
Also note that Jesus
addresses His mother as “woman” indicating that He is a man no longer under her
parental authority. This is how He will address Mary from the cross.
5 His mother said unto the servants, Whatsoever he
says to you, do it.
6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the
purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
NOTE: These
earthen vessels (18 gallon water pots) were
probably rather ugly, used for utility not for aesthetics. They were probably kept out of
sight of most of the guests as this poor couple attempts to hold their celebration without
a display of their modest to poor possessions. Notice how Jesus uses these earthen
vessels. He puts His word in them, signified by the water and they pour forth wine when it
is taken out. This is a good comparison to what Jesus would like to do with His Word in
us, his earthen vessels, Submitted to God, we can give out the Word of God which the Holy
Spirit will turn into the wine of the Spirit. (EPH
5:18)
7 Jesus
said to them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And
he said to them, Draw it out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare
it.
9 When
the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it
was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the
bridegroom,
10 And
said to him, Every man at the beginning sets forth good wine; and when men have well
drunk, then that which is worse: but you have kept the good wine until now.
11
This
beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and
his disciples believed on him."
Jesus moves His family and
disciples to Capernaum and will operate from their as the base point for His ministry.
Luke
4: 14-24 “And Jesus returned in the power of the
Spirit into Galilee. And a report went out throughout all the neighborhood concerning Him.
15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified
by all.
16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought
up. And, as His custom was, He went in to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to
read.
17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to
Him. And unrolling the book, He found the place where it was written,
18 "The
Spirit of the Lord is on Me; because of this He has anointed Me to proclaim the Gospel to
the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim deliverance to the
captives, and new sight to the blind, to set at liberty those having been crushed,
19. to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
Note: Quotation from Isaiah
61:1-2. Verse 2 from Isaiah reads as “2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of
vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Jesus did not read to the end of verse 2 or else the Day of God’s vengeance &
wrath would have begun.
20 And rolling up the book, returning it to the
attendant, He sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on Him.
21 And He began to say to them, Today this Scripture
is fulfilled in your ears.
22 And all bore witness to Him and wondered at the
gracious words which came out of His mouth. And they said, Is this not Joseph's son?
23 And He
said to them, You will surely say this proverb to Me, Physician, heal yourself. Whatever
we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in your native-place.
24 And He said, Truly I say
to you, No prophet is accepted in his native-place.”
In Capernaum, the
beginning of Jesus’ public ministry occurred at the Synagogue. Mark 1:21-28 And they went into Capernaum. And immediately on
the sabbath day He entered into the synagogue and taught.