Mt 3:1 ¶ In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4 And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
Now John and Jesus were cousins and were the same age, John being 6 months older. The Bible is not clear about the amount of time that they spent together growing up, but their families would no doubt get together for the Lord's Feasts.
John was a great prophet whom was sent by God to prepare the way for Jesus. He had a softer side that Jesus knew and is depicted in this painting by Leonardo DaVinci.
Mt 3:13 ¶ Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
John saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove come from heaven and light on Jesus. Every one there heard God the Father speak from Heaven "THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED."
Of course the demons under the rule of Satan reported back what they had heard. After 4000 years, Satan finally found the seed of the woman who would bruise his head. This is what God had spoken to the serpent in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve had disobeyed God's command. Satan had searched for this Promised One but had never found Him.
Now Jesus had the Holy Spirit without measure and the favor and blessing of His Father so He was ready for anything. He had given up His Royal position temporarily to become a man to defeat the devil and redeem mankind. Now he was filled with the Holy Spirit as a man and was ready to face temptation from the devil himself.
Mt 4:1 ¶ Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Jesus was quoting the Word from Deu 8:3 in which God was describing the Manna which was bread coming from Heaven to feed the Israelites, but that the Word was what man needed to make it in life as well as food. Satan did not realize that this man was the bread of life. Even though Jesus was starving, He was not going to give in to this temptation. He knew His Father loved Him and would take care of Him.
Joh 6:35 Jesus said unto them. I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Mt 4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Satan knows the Word, but does not believe it and will twist it or pull from context to deceive. Here he is quoting Ps 91 but the phrase "at any time" is not in the text.
Jesus who is the Living Word of God replies by quoting Deu 6:16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God...
Jesus knew that the angels would save Him if he fell, but tempting God was another thing all together.
Mt 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
In this temptation, Satan is showing off by taking Jesus from the Temple wall to Jericho in a moment of time to go 16 miles. Notice that Jesus never disputed the devil's claim to the kingdoms of the world, even though the devil took this dominion from Adam by deception, the dominion is valid. Again we see the temptation here for by bowing the knee to the devil, Jesus is promised the kingdoms of the world...this would be easier than the brutal torture and the spiritual torture of taking the sins of the world, but He knew that was the only way to remove Satan from any power and deliver man.
Jesus' answer comes from Deu 6:13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
Plain English for "get thee hence" would be; Get out of my sight.
Plain English for "get thee hence" would be; Get out of my sight.
Mk 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.
6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;
7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.
8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.
Now John grew up in the wilderness and there spent time in communing with God. He was raised in a Godly home and learned the law from a child. He may have actually ate locusts (grasshoppers) but there is also a locust bean in Israel, similar to a Mesquite Bean in the Southwest.
9 ¶ And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.
The word Baptism means to submerse or surround, and John did so with those he Baptized. Paul teaches us it is like our old self dying and our new self in Christ coming up from the water.
10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
"Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I AM well pleased." Mark confirms that Jesus is God's delight. Jesus knew from the time of Adam's sin that He would become a man and atone by himself the reconciliation between God and man. As the 2nd in the Godhead, He gave Himself for this purpose.
The Jordan River near the Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth, about 1400 feet below sea level. Later in Jesus' ministry, He took James, John, and Peter, His inner circle, and ascended Mt Hermon, 9200 ft, and there was transfigured before them to show them His Heavenly Glory. There God again spoke and said, "This is My Beloved Son. Hear ye Him.", Mt 17. So from the lowest spot on earth to the highest mountain in Israel, God proclaimed Jesus as His Beloved.
Mk 1:12 And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.
13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.
Mark is short and to the point. What we need to extract here is the the harshness of the Judean wilderness.
Also that Jesus was temped by the devil here for 40 days, but never gave in or in any way sinned.
As well as the beasts, who recognized Him and did him no harm. Some of the animals there are:
The Ibex,
The Onager or Wild Ass
The Red Fox
The Lion
All creation awaits for the manifestation of the Sons of God, Rm 8:19. So the creation knew and recognized Jesus as the Son of God, not only at His birth in a humble stables,
But also here with Him in the wilderness;
For He is the Lion from the Tribe of Judah, and the Lamb of God.
Also we need to glean that after Jesus' fast and victory over Satan's temptation, that He was tired and weak and the Angels came and ministered to Him.
Luke was a Doctor, and depicts much detail in his Gospel. He states, Lk 1:3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,... So, we see that he has a perfect understanding of the Gospel of Jesus and writes in order the things that happened. Theophilus is not necessarily a name of a person, but means one who studies God.
Luke is very exact in Ch 3 of the time of John the Baptist's ministry and what John preached. The story of the miraculous birth of John to Zachariah and Elizabeth who were Mary's Aunt and Uncle is also told in detail.
4 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
7 Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
9 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
10 And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?
11 He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.
12 Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?
13 And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you.
14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
15 ¶ And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;
16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
21 ¶ Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
In all of the Gospel accounts of Jesus' Baptism, we see the Father speaking of His Delight. Jesus is ready for His ministry with God's covering over Him.
The rest of Lk 3 is the genealogy of Jesus through Mary. Mt 1 is the genealogy of Jesus through Joseph, His earthly father. Both are descendants of David the King.
Lk 4:1 ¶ And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
Some scholars think that the devil showed Him a copy of the commandments.
We have been conditioned to believe that the commandments written by the finger of God were on common stone. However, the only stone mentioned in the context is Sapphire of which is part of God's throne. Jewish tradition believes that the commandments were written inside of cubes of Sapphire. It was Jesus that was involved in the making of the commandment stones.
Regardless of how it was presented to Jesus, the point is He was hungry and starving after 40 days and this was a temptation.
But Jesus, the Bread of Life, would not waver.
4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
The words here mean the habitable world, that which Satan had stolen by deception with Eve and Adam in Gn 3.
7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
The traditional spot for this is a place near Jericho where there is a Monastery.
This is the Monastery of the Mount of Temptation.
Jesus who knew the law, and was part of its creation (as He was part of ALL Creation) knew that the first commandment is "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me", Ex 20:3.
Later in His ministry when asked what are the greatest commandment, He answered, Deu 6:4 ¶ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
This is known as the Shama which is part of the law that is placed literally on the doorposts of houses, lashed to the wrist, and lashed to the forehead. Basically you only worship God.
Lk 4:9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
Now the pinnacle of the temple was quite high. Here is a picture of a model of the temple at the time of Jesus.
The only remnant of Herod's temple at this time is the Western Wall which is a retaining wall for the Temple Mount. The level surface where the Al Aqsa Mosque, and the Dome of the Rock sit today are part of the surface where the temple stood.
Here is a wall that was built by the Turks at Jerusalem. It gives you an idea of the height where Jesus stood.
Continuing with the devil's temptation:
Lk 4:10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Here is the actual scripture that the devil was quoting from:
Ps 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
You can see that "at any time" is not there. Satan is the deceiver.
Lk 4:12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
We saw from our study of Matthew's account that Jesus quoted from Deu 6:16.
We know from the other Gospels that the Angels ministered to Jesus after His temptation, even though Luke did not mention it.
In all points Jesus was tempted like we are, but without sin.
John tells us, 1 Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
So Satan tried the same tactics on Jesus that he had tried on Eve. Gn 3:6 ¶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
These temptations would be the lust of the flesh in the stones to bread, the lust of the eyes with the kingdoms of the world, and the pride of life with the pinnacle of the temple. Jesus passed every one, and lived sinless his whole life. He battled Satan with God's Word, which is what Jesus has given us in the Sword of the Spirit of our armor.
After this Jesus returned to His home in Galilee by the power of the Holy Spirit. And he taught in their synagogues and was glorified of all.
And here is what Jesus taught out of Isaiah 42:
Lk 18:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
This was His message, the Kingdom of God is at hand, change the way you think, and believe the good news of the Gospel, I have come to save the world.
He was the Messiah, Emmanuel, God's Chosen, God's only begotten son from the virgin Mary. Yet the religious Jews had Him executed. But, He rose from the dead and presides King of the Universe forever.
Through Jesus you can come to God, for belief in Jesus cleanses you from sin and you come to God by Jesus' righteousness, and not your own so you are always accepted. The benefits of receiving the Salvation that Jesus bought with His life include: health, provision, wholeness, protection, and being part of the Kingdom of God which is forever.
Quotes are from authorized KJV. Pictures/art from Internet credit given if known.
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