Devotions

The Lamb of God

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Jesus is baptized by John and the Holy Spirit descends to rest on Him and a voice from heaven says “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”. God Himself is the first witness to Jesus Christ. Jesus is led into the wilderness and tempted for forty days. The accusers tactics are still the same today. He says, “if you are the son of God …” and when Jesus replied with “it is written (God’s revealed Word)”, the devil had no hold or influence and departed. This is the beginning of Jesus ministry and he calls his disciples to follow him and says, “I will make you fishers of men”.

You Are My Beloved Son

Mark 1:9–11
Mark records, in Mark 1:10-11 “the Spirit descending like a dove … and a voice came from heaven”. God himself was the first witness to who Jesus Christ is. Then came the twelve.

To Fulfill All Righteousness

Matthew 3:13–17
In Matthew 3:1 “Jesus came to John to be baptized by him”. There are no exceptions to the law. Jesus, God himself, subjected himself to them. How could he not? As Jesus said to John in Matthew 3:15 “it is right for us to”.

Jesus Also Was Baptized

Luke 3:21–22
Luke also witnesses to the baptism of Jesus, saying in Luke 3:21 “when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized”. 

The Lamb of God

John 1:29–34
John had just, in John 1:24-26, answered those “sent from the Pharisees … saying, ‘I baptize with water. In your midst stands one whom you do not know—'”. Jesus was already among them and they didn’t know him. Now, John begins to introduce him in

John 1:29 (LEB) On the next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

And in

John 1:33b (LEB) ‘The one upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him—this one is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

Then John says in

John 1:34 (LEB) And I have seen and testify that this one is the Chosen One of God.

This is still our role today, to testify to the world, at least to those around us, of this one, Jesus Christ, the chosen of God, savior of the world, now King of kings and Lord of lords.

Being Tempted by Satan

Mark 1:12–13
After Jesus was baptised and baptised with the Holy Spirit, he went into the wilderness. After this, Jesus took on His work of ministry as He proclaimed “believe in the gospel”, “the Kingdom of God has come near” in Mark 1:15. See notes from The Kingdom of God Has Come Near 

The Tempter Approached

Matthew 4:1–11
Jesus was being led by the Spirit and he was in the wilderness and “he had fasted forty days” in Matthew 4:2. It is then, “when he was hungry” that the tempter approached. Then, in Matthew 4:3 “the tempter … said … If you are the son of God”. It really doesn’t matter what the tempter said after that, it is the seed of doubt that he was trying to plant. And every time the challenge comes, Jesus answers with “it is written”. Finally in Matthew 4:8-10 the real motivation of the tempter comes out, “fall down and worship me”.

Being Tempted by the Devil

Luke 4:1–13
The temptations are the same as those recorded by Matthew. There is here though, a sense that Jesus was being tempted for the whole forty days with these final challenges coming at the end, when Jesus was the weakest. Jesus answers every challenge and in Luke 4:13 it says “when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed”. There is a limit to temptation, the devil’s schemes are numbered. 

We Have Found the Messiah

John 1:35–51
Jesus begins gathering disciples. John 1:37-39 “two disciples heard him (John the Baptist) speaking, and they followed Jesus”. We find that one of them is Andrew in John 1:40 and he brings “his own brother Simon” in John 1:41. In John 1:42 Jesus said … you will be called Cephas (Peter)”. And, in John 1:43 “on the next day … he found Philip”. Then in John 1:45 “Philip found Nathaniel” but Nathaniel hesitated saying in John 1″46 “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” but in John 1:47-50, Jesus sets Nathaniel at ease. Then, Jesus says to all of them in

John 1:51 (LEB) And he said to him, “Truly, truly I say to all of you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Follow Me

Mark 1:16–20
Mark also recounts the call of Simon (Peter) and Andrew in Mark 1:16. They were brothers. They were fishermen. Then in Mark 1:19-29 Jesus calls James and John. They were also brothers and also fishermen.

And Immediately They Followed Him

Matthew 4:18–22
Matthew also recounts the call of Peter and Andrew and James and John. Peter and Andrew left their business, their livelihood to follow. James and John also left their business and they left their father, and the family business.

Let Down Your Nets

Luke 5:1–11
Luke gives us a much better picture of why these fishermen left their business and followed Jesus. He didn’t just walk up to them a lone individual. Like 5:1 says “while the crowd was pressing around him”. People were following and pressing in to hear what Jesus had to say. In fact, they pressed so much that Jesus was looking for a way to separate a little so he could teach them. This, in Luke 5:3, is how Jesus introduced himself to Simon (Peter). After Jesus taught, in Luke 5:5-9 “he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep'”. When Peter and the others saw what happened, the catch of fish, “Peter fell down at Jesus’ knees … for amazement had seized him”. They followed Jesus because they experienced who he is, the son of God, the Messiah.

Whatever He Says to You, Do It!

John 2:1–11
Jesus honors the marriage feast and turns water into wine. Their tradition was not that different than ours in this way, the family put on a feast for the guests. It would have shamed the family to run out of provisions at a time like this. Jesus covers them, at his mothers request. But this must not be the first time she has seen Jesus do something miraculous. She says in John 2:5 “Whatever he says to you, do it!”. Why would she say that if she didn’t have an expectation that what he said would come to pass.

What if we also, took Mary’s advice and stopped for a minute, looked at what was provided around us, and listen for what God wanted to do.

Jesus Went Up to Jerusalem

John 2:12–25
John 2:23 (LEB) Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name because they* saw his signs which he was doing.

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Matthew 4:1–11, 18-22
  • Mark 1:12–13, 16-20
  • Luke 4:1-13
  • Luke 5:1-11
  • John 1:29-51
  • John 2:1-25

The Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ – The Gospels

We began the year reading the gospel of Mark and this is often often the way we read the Bible, one book at a time. As we begin going through the gospels again, this time we will follow the order of readings from the Tyndale One Year Chronological Bible. This means we will move back and forth throught Matthew, Mark Luke and John but with little emphasis on Mark. Covering these events chronologically as they happened, gives a much different context and helps us understand the move of God as He is introducing the Saviour, the Light of the world, Jesus Christ. This series begins with Return To Me And I Will Return To You which ends in Malachi and introduces the “Witnesses” writing the Gospels.

Operation Exodus

is helping Jewish people return to their homeland. You might fund one that desires to go home. http://operationexodususa.org/Overview