Day 278—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels. 

    Day 278 – Matthew 4, Luke 4 – 5 (Jesus tempted, calls disciples, great crowds healed)

Matthew 4 and Luke 4 tell what happens immediately after Jesus is baptized and God expresses His pleasure in His Son. The Holy Spirit leads the Son of God into the wilderness for a 40-day fast… to be tempted by the devil.  WHY? We might ask.  

When John baptized Jesus, He identified with us sinners, only without sin.  And where and how did mankind first sin? In a beautiful garden where their every need was met when they were tempted by the devil in three distinct ways.

(These temptations are listed in 1 John 2:16, and Satan uses these three temptations on all of us often. They are: 1) the lust of the flesh (a desire to indulge self), 2) the lust of the eyes (a desire to acquire something), and 3) the pride of life (a desire to impress others.) See if you can see all three in Genesis 3:6.

And so Jesus also encountered these temptations by Satan as well, but in a harsh environment when he was hungry and physically weak. 

Luke 4.  1) “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”  (Satisfy your physical hunger, indulge yourself.) 

Jesus resisted by using Scripture. “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.” (Deut. 8:3)

2)  “If you will worship me, I will give you ALL THE WORLD’S KINGDOMS.” (Satisfy your desire to acquire power and glory.)

Again, Jesus resisted by speaking God’s Word. “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.”  (Deut. 6:13)

3)  “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from this pinnacle of the temple, for you know angels will bear you up lest you strike your foot on a stone.” (Satisfy your pride by proving you are “special” to God.)

Here also, Jesus replied with Holy scripture: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Deut. 6:16)

After the Devil’s three-fold temptation (Jesus the clear winner), he left the Son of God “until an opportune time.”  As Jesus nears the time of His crucifixion, Satan will intensify these temptations for Jesus to choose a different path than the one “set before Him” for our salvation (and the devil’s own head-crushing). 

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Luke 4. Leaner and tested, Jesus “returns in the power of the Spirit to Galilee” to begin His ministry.  He goes into his hometown synagogue in Nazareth.  As any Jewish man could do, Jesus stood up to read. That day, it was the scroll of Isaiah.

He read Isaiah 61:1-2.  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus then rolled up the scroll and sat down.  All eyes were upon him, expecting Him to teach from the passage. Instead, he shocked them by saying, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

WHAT! WAS THIS JESUS, JOSEPH’S SON, CLAIMING TO BE THE MESSIAH???   Yep.

They told Him to “do some miracle” as He’d done in Capernaum to prove his claim. But Jesus said He couldn’t because of their unbelief.  Then they got furious and actually rose up, drove Him out of town, and tried to throw Him off a cliff.  WHAT??? 

But Jesus, the Son of God, their unrecognized Messiah, simply walked through the crowd…unnoticed. 

After that, Jesus moved from Nazareth to live in Capernaum (possibly at Peter’s house).

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Luke 5 and Matthew 4 tell of Jesus beginning His ministry by choosing His disciples.  Walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Peter and Andrew casting a net into the sea and said, “Follow me,” and they did.  Next, Jesus spotted James and John in a boat with their father and called them.  They also immediately left everything to follow Him. (Remember, these men had earlier met Jesus and been convinced He was the Messiah.)

Luke gives more detail, telling how Jesus got into Peter’s boat and pushed out a little way so he could teach the crowds who were flocking to him.  Later, when Jesus showed the fishermen a huge swarm of fish to catch, Peter fell down at Jesus’s knees and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”  Jesus answered him, “Don’t be afraid; from now on, you will be catching MEN.”

Then, Jesus went on a massive teaching and healing campaign in Galilee, cleansing lepers, delivering those oppressed by demons, healing diseases and disabilities of all kinds (one time even telling a paralytic that his SINS WERE FORGIVEN, which freaked the religious leaders who said only GOD could do that.  Well…yeah.)

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Probably to the shock of the four young fishermen following him, Jesus also called a hated TAX COLLECTOR to join them, and Levi (or Matthew) eagerly left his tax booth to follow Jesus.  Later, Levi held a big feast for his tax collector friends and introduced them to Jesus.  Of course, this incensed the religious leaders. How can he be a Rabbi and eat with such despicable people???

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call “the righteous” but sinners to repentance,” was Jesus’ response.

Then they raise the question about “fasting often,” complaining that Jesus’ disciples don’t do it.  

No, of course not.  The wedding guests don’t fast while the bridegroom is with them. One day, He’ll be gone, and then they will.  Then Jesus gives them a parable about NEW WINE put in OLD WINESKINS.

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Tomorrow’s reading will find Jesus at an actual wedding and dealing with a shortage of wine.