OCTOBER 1-4, 2009 THURSDAY-SUNDAY
TEXT MATTHEW 4 http://www.biblica.com/bible/verse/index.php?q=matthew4&niv=yes
PARAPHRASE
“Powerful Word”
After being baptized by John Jesus is led into the desert by the Spirit of God to be tested like Israel was when they wandered in the desert for forty years.
Hungry after fasting for forty days and nights, the devil tempts Jesus to sin by using his power as the Son of God to provide for himself by turning stones into bread instead of submitting to God’s will as the Messiah by living according to His Word. Jesus resists this temptation by quoting God’s powerful Word from the Book of Deuteronomy to the devil, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
After this the devil tempts Jesus to sin a second time by taking him to the top of the Jerusalem temple and using his status as the Son of God to force God into using His power to save him. Trying to turn the tables on Jesus’ use of God’s Word to resist temptation, the devil misapplies a Psalm about God commanding his angels to protect those who trust Him in encouraging Jesus to throw himself off the top of the temple. Recognizing the devil’s attempt to trick him into demanding God miraculously prove He cares for him, Jesus resists this temptation by accurately quoting God’s powerful Word to the devil from another part of the Book of Deuteronomy, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Then, taking Jesus to a place where he shows him all the world’s kingdoms in their grandeur while hiding their sin, the devil tempts Jesus to sin a third time by telling him he can have everything he sees if he bows down and worships him instead of God. Recognizing the devil’s attempt to turn him into a worldly Messiah who avoids the Cross and engages in idolatry, Jesus resists this temptation by commanding the devil to leave as he tells him what it says in God’s Word in another part of the Book of Deuteronomy, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”
And after this the devil left Jesus as angels came to be with him and care for him.
“Preaching Ministry”
Hearing John the Baptizer was now in prison, Jesus returned to Galilee a region of the Gentiles outside Judea. And, after leaving his hometown of Nazareth, he went to live in Capernaum by the Lake of Galilee in the areas of Zebulun and Naphtali which fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy about these Gentile Galilean regions which were considered despicable – “…the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” And from this time on Jesus began his preaching ministry continuing John’s message, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is near,” but within the context that with a light having dawned in the darkness of this region of the Gentiles, the kingdom of God was not only near, it had arrived with him – with his baptism and with his testing in the desert.
“Calling Disciples”
Walking along the Sea of Galilee, Jesus, seeing brothers Simon (called Peter) and Andrew as they are fishing, tells them to “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately leave their nets to follow him. Farther along, Jesus, seeing brothers James and John in a boat with their father Zebedee preparing their nets calls them and they too immediately leave their boat and father to follow him.
“Healing Ministry”
Jesus teaches in the synagogues, preaches the good news of the kingdom and heals every disease and sickness the people have as he goes throughout Galilee. News of Jesus’ healing ministry spreads all over Syria leading to people with various diseases, those with severe pain, those who are demon possessed, those with seizures, and those who are paralyzed to come to him and he heals them all. People from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from across the Jordan make up the large crowds who begin following Jesus. Jesus’ healings further announce the kingdom of God has arrived; that he is the Messiah, the Son of God; and that the good news of the arrival of the Messiah and the kingdom has to do with God’s plan for dealing with sin – what John the Baptizer referred to as Jesus’ purifying baptism of the soul by the Holy Spirit and fire.
PRINCIPLES
1. The Gospel writer, Matthew, tells his first century readers (and us today) that Jesus was prepared for his ministry.
2. How does Matthew tell his first century readers (and us today) that Jesus was prepared for his ministry?
-Jesus was led by the Spirit of God into the desert to be tested like the Nation of
Israel had been.
-Jesus fasted for forty days & nights which made him hungry and vulnerable to the
devil’s temptations.
-Jesus fasted alone in the desert for a long time and learned that the Word of God,
not food, gives life.
-Jesus learned the how the devil worked in tempting him to sin:
-by tempting him to follow his own will
-by tempting him to misapply God’s Word
-by tempting him to put God to the test
-by tempting him with power
-by tempting him to worship other gods
-Jesus learned to resist and stand up to the devil’s temptations to sin by using
God’s powerful Word.
3. What does Matthew tells his first century readers (and us today) Jesus’ ministry was?
-Jesus’ ministry was to preach the “repentance of sin”.
-Jesus’ ministry was to be a “great light” shining in the spiritual darkness of
Galilee of the Gentiles
-a great light shining in the spiritual darkness of a despised group of
people
-a great light that would therefore shine in all the nations on earth
-Jesus’ ministry was one of disciples “catching” people so they could be saved from
their sin
-Jesus’ ministry was to “teach” people what the kingdom of God was like.
-Jesus’ ministry was to “preach” the good news of the kingdom
-that the Messiah had come
-that Salvation had come
-Jesus ministry was to physically, emotionally and spiritually “heal” people
-confirming he was the Messiah
-confirming the kingdom had come
-confirming God’s good news for sin
-that Jesus’ baptism by the Holy Spirit & fire purifies the soul of its
sinful nature
PRAYER
Our Father, We thank You for Your Son’s ministry, for the repentance of sin, for His being a light in the darkness to the despised Galilean Gentiles, for his being a light in the darkness to all nations of the world. Father, we praise You for this.
Our Father, We praise You and thank Your Son for his ministry of teaching, preaching and healing. We praise You for Your Son’s teachings about what Your kingdom is like and for preaching the good news about what it means that Your kingdom has come on earth as it is in heaven.
Our Father, We praise You for your plan for sin, for Your Son, the Messiah, the Suffering Servant, who identified with our sinfulness in his baptism, who you prepared in the desert to resist the temptations of the devil in order to obey your will – to follow and obey Your will even to the point of dying on the Cross for our sins – providing us the baptism of the Holy Spirit & fire that purifies our soul of its sinful nature.
Our Father, We thank Your Son for his healings for not only what they announced at the time but for what they mean for us today because of Your plan for our problem with sin.
Our Father, We ask that through the power of the Holy Spirit, Your Son would touch our bodies, minds and souls and cure us from all sickness and disease - that which relates to sin and that which doesn’t – and Your Son would cast out from our lives anything that is binding us, holding us hostage and keeping us from being restored to health. We pray that Your Son will cast out from our lives anything physical, emotional or spiritual that perpetuates any suffering in our lives whether we are aware of it or not. And Father, we give You the glory for forgiving us, restoring us, and for saving us through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Our Father We thank you for Your Son’s disciples, for those in our lives who helped to catch us as if we were fish in an ocean, who in following and obeying You and Your Son sought us out, found us and witnessed Your great light in this world to us, to our hearts and minds, so that we were able to hear, understand, and accept Your Good News.
Our Father, we ask that You test us, that You place us in the desert and tempt us so that we can be prepared for the ministry you have for us, so that we will be able to obey Your will instead of following our own.
Our Father, we ask that you strengthen us through our time of fasting and when we are alone for 40 days and nights and become hungry and more vulnerable to the devil’s attacks and temptations. Father, help us to know that Your Word is life itself and the only thing that can sustain us, that when tempted by the devil, if not for Your Word, our only option would be death.
Our Father, Help us to discern the devil’s ways of tempting us, the devil’s schemes of trying to get us to follow our will not yours, to misapply and twist Your Word to try and force You to get what we want, to crave worldly power and to worship other gods. Help us to stand up to temptation through Your powerful Word and by telling the devil to flee.
Our Father, Forgive us when we sin, when we fail to recognize the devil’s temptations, when we knowingly or unknowingly give in to them and when we fail to stand firm against temptations with Your Word.
Our Father, Forgive us when we fall short and do not obey You, when we fail to respond to Your Son’s call, when we have not been effective as disciples and when we have not let our light shine in this world.
Our Father, prepare us and use us as Your Son’s disciples, as fishers of men, creating in us the response you did in them when they obeyed Your will, not their own and followed Your son when he called. Help us to not put off Your Son’s calling in our life to some later date or time, help us to immediately go and follow Him when He calls.
Our Father, We pray all of this in the Name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, AMEN.
PRAISE Listening to 'Psalm 119 "Man does not live on bread al...' by BDPam @imeem http://x.imeem.com/KVyTR1x1oP
No comments:
Post a Comment