Epaggelia

 Key Text: Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13

Jesus went straight into war after His baptism, and Satan knew who he was up against.  Messengers of Satan are defeated and used against Paul, 2Cor. 12:7ff.   Sometimes when it seems like Satan has the advantage in our life, remember God has allowed it, only to show His power through us, which is a privilege!  WHY BE TEMPTED?  God wanted Jesus to be proved, Ezk 40:2, he was forced by  the Spirit, just as Ezekiel was taken by the Spirit.  God led him to be tempted but didn’t do the tempting, Jas. 1:13.  We can benefit by overcoming and being exposed to  temptation ICr 10:13, we should pray that we do not FALL into temptation, Mt  6:13.  Jesus wanted to show us and give us the power to resist even when we are capable of falling, Hb 2:17‑18, 4:15‑16.   

40 is in connection with sin and responsibility for strength to overcome it.

Noah, 40 nights & days of rain because of sin, Gen. 7:4,12. 

Moses (Ex.34:28) because of his leadership against sin in mediating the 10 commandments, 40 days Moses intercedes in prayer for sinning Israel, Dt 9:25. 40 years of wilderness wanderings for sin, Num.14:33.  40 stripes sinning offenders were to be beaten Dt.25:3.

Elijah, (IKg19:1-8) because of his fight in killing false prophets and trying to protect Israel, he finished running from his enemy Jezebel and fasted 40 days. He also appeared with Moses in the  transfiguration (Mt 17:3). 

Ezekiel, 40 days Ezekiel bears Judah’s transgressions, Ezk 4:6.

Jonah, 40 days Ninevites proclaim a fast, Jon  3:4.

Jesus, Jesus wants us to know that he was tempted to the degree that he takes on the battle against our sinful state and puts himself in it. 40 stands  in connection with sin. He made fasting to be from our own volition and was to help us, not harm us, Mat. 6:16-18, to be closer to God or when we feel the strength of Jesus isn’t in our life. When we want to be active and closer to him again, it can be used as an act of preparation for a ministry. Jesus actually wants us to fast and said so, Mat. 9:15. The church used prayer and fasting to prepare themselves for service, Acts 13:1-3, 14:23, it was an obvious attempt to show God, not man, that they were serious about relying on Him for their strength to do the job. Faith is powerful, IJn 5:4.  We need to be humble enough to say we need stronger faith, so that what we need done can be done or provided for.   

The fact of weak faith in the church today is because of the lack of prayer and fasting in our lives, Mk 9:23‑29.  Faith comes from Gods word, Rom 10:17, but if Gods word is spoken to us all day and night, it will not increase the faith given unless we pray in the Spirit! Jude 20-21, Eph. 6:18.   Prayer and fasting to increase our faith is  just as important as the Bible in providing faith in the first place. Never forget the father of the  sick child came kneeling, Mt 17:14-21. We must mix faith with the word so that we can profit, Heb. 4:2.   Satan left Jesus for a time, until another opportunity  came, Lk 4:13, Satan didn’t give up even on the cross, Lk 23:39ff.  Satan will  not give up on us, and as long as we have Christ as our goal, we won’t lose.

Key Text: Mat. 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22

When Jesus was going to the Jordan river with John’s baptism in mind, he was responding to a divine appointment. Every human being should hear this calling, it is good news. John revealed it to everyone he could and Jesus reverberated the same call, John 3:22-24 & 4:1-2. His apostles echo it today, Matthew 28:28-29. The reason Jesus Himself refrained from baptizing people, but encouraged his apostles to baptize is because He did not us boasting in WHO baptized us, but rather we should boast in WHY we are baptized. Paul anticipated this problem in 1Corinthians 1:11-15. 

The purpose of Baptism for Jesus, is different, but not the act itself in obedience. His purpose was “becoming to fulfill all righteousness” and be identified with the Holy Spirit Mt. 3:15-16.

The voice made everyone aware that God was pleased with Jesus, therefore putting him into service.  See Isa. 53:11; Mark 10:38; Luke 12:50. Jesus said he was to be about his Fathers house or business, when John the Immersionist started preaching the Kingdom was at hand, Jesus went straight to the  initiatory rite of baptism in order to fulfil all righteousness. Mt 3:1‑2. 

Notice how John’s administration of Baptism had no connection or link to the Holy Spirit of Christ for his disciples, Acts 19:2-4, but for Jesus it was the defining mark and official declaration of His Divine Sonship in the Trinity.  

The purpose of baptism for us, is to receive forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:38-39, 22:16. Children of God have put on Christ  in baptism, Gal 3:26‑27, which is our identity.  Having God’s Spirit in us, puts us  in service to love one another, ICor. 6:19‑20, which is our responsibility. People fearing God and doing what is right makes OUR SOUL acceptable to God, Acts 10:34‑35. God’s righteousness makes our SOUL, eminent, distinguished, proper, becoming or fitting, not  necessarily in the eyes of man, but certainly in the eyes of God.  For the Bereans,  THEIR MIND was more noble for searching the Scriptures, Acts 17:11.

God’s approval by the voice & dove. When this is done, God speaks and acts as prophesied in Psa. 2:7 & Isa. 42:1.   

The Voice: This is my beloved son, today I’ve begotten you, Ps 2:7, showing that announcement to be a beginning of service.  Note, “agapetos” means Beloved,   Three times in the Gospels the Father’s voice is heard by those who had ears to hear (at the Baptism, at the Transfiguration, and before the Crucifixion week (Mat 3:17 & 17:5 & John 12:28)

The Dove: Behold, my servant, who I uphold, my chosen one, who my soul delights, I’ve put my Spirit upon Him, Isa. 42:1. This shows the Son to be serving from  this act onwards.  In “My soul delights”,  Eudokhsa, means “delights” – it is in the aorist tense, conveying to us that  God has constantly found delight in the Son from  eternity. He is  the Son of God, God’s own proper Son, not by creation, nor  by  adoption, nor by office; He is the natural, essential, only-begotten Son of God, note that we have the Trinity of God mentioned in Mat 3:16-17. Jesus refers to His own place in the Trinity when He quotes David from Psalm 110:1-4 in Matthew 22:42-45.

The 17th century Poet, John Milton said, “Loneliness is the first thing which God’s eye named not good ”.  Since the beginning we have not evolved to remedy our problem of loneliness, even with over 6.5 billion people on earth together at the same time, we still have a suicide rate that staggers the imagination, fuelled by the ancient problem of loneliness.  God from the start of our existence has worked to help us solve it, yet we still ignore the very answer to the problem. Even with greater communication skills and transportation technology, loneliness still sometimes gets the better of us. When God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper who is right for him” (Gen. 3:18).  He gave us the answer in preventing loneliness. That is, admit we need help! It is our prideful arrogance that suggests we need no help, which can put us out on a limb without a friend. Can we admit that there is no better friend than Jesus? Solomon’s insight proclaims, “a man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Prv. 18:24). Jesus promised everyone His eternal presence, if we obey him in making disciples. 

Jesus said “…I am always with you until the end of time”. Matthew 28:20 God’s promise to give Himself to everyone who obeys Him, should be a delightful prospect for us, Acts 5:32, but sadly many of us lack faith in His promise of fellowship, sharing Himself with our spirit. Herein lay the root cause of our loneliness, that is a lack of faith in God and each other. If we do not believe that God or even our spouse doesn’t really want to be with us, then the pain of loneliness sets in. The world we live in today, is bent on convincing us that God doesn’t want to be with us. There are more agnostics and atheists in our Media than Christians, and we are influenced by them when we give more time to them, than to God’s word. The apostle John writes, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith”, 1John 5:4.  Worldly people often deny God’s presence in our life, but a Christian should never even dream of the Spirit of Christ not residing in our body. The apostle Paul ratified the divine promise when he wrote to Christians, “…you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God abides in you, Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Rm. 8:9). A sense of belonging and being wanted, conquers loneliness. God doesn’t want us to live our life here on earth, feeling like orphans. He wants to be an ever present loving Father, giving Christians the Spirit of Christ, defeating the ever encroaching problem of loneliness which this world of sin shoves upon us from time to time in our life.  

In 1935, the novelist H.G. Wells at age 65 on his birthday, wrote, “I am lonely and have never found peace”. Why? Because H.G. Wells never found Jesus as his personal Savior and friend! It does not matter how famous we are, or how rich we are, or how smart we are, if we do not know Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we never get to experience peace with our Creator & Judge. There is a divine friendship which God wants every human spirit to explore and enjoy. Jesus equals peace because peace is friendship with God our Creator & Judge.  A favourite phrase of Jesus was to say, “Peace be unto you…”, He used it several times, but we should learn exactly what He meant when He said, “ My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives…(Jn 14:27). 

Ancient Gideon testified that God is peace, Judges 6:24, do you believe this?

This big word was a theme of John the Immersionist and Jesus the Christ. Mark 1:4, Matthew 4:17. Repentance means change!  Is this present and ongoing in our lifestyle? In the parable of the Prodigal Son, both the younger son and older son had to change. The younger son showed change in coming back to the Father, the older son had to change in his attitude towards the Father. Luke 15:20-28. Would the older son, come in? Repentance should constantly affect every Christian throughout the whole of our life long walk closer and closer to God.  One day we will be changed to be like “Him” in every aspect and in all of His glory. 1Corinthians 15:52.  Changing from being foolish to being wise, Matthew 6:19-20 

Changing from being less physical to being more spiritual. Acts 28:27. Changing from being short-sighted to being joyful, hopeful and long-sighted. Philippians 4:4 

Changing from relying on my righteousness to relying on God’s righteousness. Hebrews 6:1-2, Romans 3:26. Changing from being taught to teaching others. Hebrews 5:12

The result of not changing can be … …to perish, Luke 13:3.  …to bring upon us the wrath of God, Matthew 11:20, Romans 2:5.  …frustration or discouragement from not growing the fruit of the Spirit, Gal. 5:18-23.   

Without begging for God’s strength in our bodies by prayer, we cannot expect to change towards God, because the strength to change, lay with God, not in our body.  Remember, Hebrews 12:4-12, divine discipline should not be self-inflicted, but we should be expecting consequences for our sins, and it is our responsibility to show appreciation for God’s loving forgiveness in our confession. Faith is powerful, IJn 5:4.  We need to be humble enough to say we need stronger faith, so that sin can stop in our lifestyle and changes can be made. The late outdoor evangelist Leonard Ravenhill from Britain, often said, “Men give advice, God gives guidance.” God knows repentance is the hardest thing we must do.  It is like moving a mountain, and sometimes we feel like nothing short of a miracle is going to make us change.  So what must we do to make ourselves available for God changing us?  

Matthew 21:21 shows us that the hypocritical fig tree Jesus killed, symbolizes the mountain we must move in our own life. Drastic action is commanded by Jesus, read Matthew 5:29.  Paul wrote twice, the command to mortify or crucify the desires of the flesh, Galatians 5:24 & Colossians 2:11-13.

Jesus put it this way, “Pick up your cross, deny yourself and follow me daily” Luke 9:23.

Elizabeth expressed her faith in the Lordship of Jesus, when she greeted Mary as the mother of her Lord, Lk 1:43-47. Elizabeth didn’t call Mary the mother of “God”, but the mother of “her Lord”, she understood God as raising the Messiah from her womb. Because of her faith, she raised John the Immersionist, giving the world a fulfilment to prophecy and one of the best examples of godly zeal. As parents we should make our children aware of God’s work around and in us, proving His Lordship as real.  Elizabeth & Zechariah were well acquainted with the powerful phrase, “hand of the Lord”, Luke 1:66, but never did John work a miracle. After 400 years of silence from God, God’s Spirit began to work again in John The Immersionist, he was full of the Spirit, (Luke 1:13-17). We too are commanded to grow in Him, Eph. 5:18. The effect of making ourselves aware of God’s power, is not miracles, but He does produce fruit, changing our character. We should all be wanting to grow His fruit, especially in view of John The Immersionist’s warning, God says through John, “And now also the axe is laid to the root of the trees; therefore every tree which does not bring forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire”, Matthew 3:10. 

God wants to grow the best in us, from the very beginning. Humanity has been too keen on an alternative fruit, which is seen in Adam & Eve eating the forbidden fruit.  We certainly do not want to live lives that make other people think we have grown fruit, but inwardly, we know we are empty, because of the way Jesus treated the fig tree, one “day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it. (Mark 11:12-14).

Later on “When evening came, they went out of the city. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered! “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered., Mark 11:19-22. 

If we have faith that God will provide fruit in our lives and quit trying to give ourselves or other people the false impression that we are fruitful spiritually, then God will bless us, strengthen us and help us enjoy being a Christian, so that others may become Christians too.  Jesus hates hypocrisy, and He killed the fig tree which gave a false impression.  It was “in leaf” but it was the wrong time of year to be “in leaf” and ready to pick fruit from, so when Jesus cursed it, he cursed it for it’s false hypocritical impression. Since this is the only record of Jesus killing something, we should make every effort to be honest with ourselves, God and others, when it comes to showing and using the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. So let us choose to give God everything we need to grow the fruit of the Spirit which can only be found in Christ. See Galatians 5:16-23, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, gentleness, self-control. 

 John the immersionist (the friend of the bridegroom) stated Jesus had a bride, Jn. 3:25-30. It is God’s intention for Christians to live as the Bride for Christ.  What is your intention to view Jesus as?  If we want to view Him as a judge, then we will live our lives cowering to his authority in fear of making mistakes, but if we view him as our husband, protector, a wise provider and loving head, that sacrifices himself for our eternal future, we will live life more abundantly.  Physically we are what we eat, Spiritually we are what we believe, think, read and watch. John the immersionist was the epitome of humility, John 1:27 & 3:30, Matthew 3:14.

Yet his zeal was the embodiment of Elijah’s spirit, why? Because John knew his greatness lay in service and it’s benefit, Mt. 11:11-14. John was a signal to Jesus, that it was time to serve. He gave Jesus the impetus to minister in the most humble subservient way and The Spirit led Him to obey His baptism. Every follower of Christ should begin serving with true humility in submiting ourselves to His baptism. Therein lay a promise for eternal greatness in equality with our heroes like John.

Jesus grew up in Nazareth (Luke 4:16) in a Jewish community, but there were Greeks, Romans and Samaritans mingling as minorities around Him. The ironic facet of his neighbourhood is that the smallest minority of Romans wielded power oppressively and Jews with a Greek or Samaritan culture would sympathize with the Romans’ government, taxation and benefits. Many Jews in Nazareth would have mixed ancestry with neighbouring Greeks and Samaritans. Pure Jewish pedigree was not common in northern Israel and marriage itself was not esteemed & respected in Nazareth as it would be in the south and Jerusalem. Divorce was common!

Nazareth was a small village of farmers and 4 miles north was a growing town called Sepphoris.
Nazareth’s Synagogue would have been a sort of refuge for Jewish piety in the face of a community swamped by foreign values threatening the sanctity of God’s people. This would one day be the scene of hypocrisy and hate, which would quickly turn into a miraculous escape for Jesus, Luke 4:28-30. During His childhood, the Romans built an armoury and Herod enlarged Sepphoris. Joseph the legal guardian of Jesus would indeed have worked there. The historian Josephus called Sepphoris “the ornament of Galilee”. According to tradition, Sepphoris was the home of Joachim and Anna, the parents of Mary, the mother of Jesus. If true, it could also mean that Joseph, a carpenter from Nazareth, perhaps while working on a building in Sepphoris, met the girl Mary and took her back to Nazareth as his bride. Jesus may have worked in Sepphoris for a length of time, so there is reason to believe that He was well acquainted with its predominantly Greek and Roman culture. When He used the word “hypocrite”, He may have been thinking of the meaning the word had in the theater at Sepphoris, “one acting under a mask,” (Mt. 7:5), the practice in dramatic productions. After Jesus died, and the Temple was destroyed, Sepphoris grew in importance as headquarters for the Sanhedrin. Later on around AD200 Sepphoris saw the codifying of the Mishnah. This was an attempt to establish the oral tradition of the Jewish Elders and their interpretation of the Old Testament, which Jesus had previously challenged.

Zealots & Tax Collectors: No two groups could be more at odds with each other. Zealots had the method of stealth and violence to disrupt Roman rule in Israel, and their strongholds were in Galilee where Jesus grew up. They were Jews which hated paying taxes to Rome and resented the Roman political system surrounding them. However, Tax Collectors were usually Jews which had lost hope in Israel’s future, and saw cooperation with Rome as an essential ally in defence of attacks from Persia and other enemies. Jesus would have seen both of these people, and it made him aware of the total opposite views God’s people held. While Jesus began to seek and save the lost, he would have faced the anger & frustration these two groups experienced in their debate. Luke 6:15-16, Mt. 10:3-4. Proves that Jesus faced the fact of deep personal convictions which cause conflict with brethren, but being resolved in God’s loving words in action and powerful truths taught.

Pharisees & Sadducees: Judaism flourished with various rabbinic theories about several types of Messiahs coming. Jesus grew up facing public confusion about His own type of Messiahship. He would have rarely, met a Sadducee, because they were the rich minority, elite in the Jewish Temple where Jesus probably met them first. But the Pharisees were almost every where (apx 7000 in AD80), Jesus would have met them as a boy. There could have been a few in Nazareth itself, and from the legalistic attitude they took toward Jesus returning to read in the Synagogue, it looks like they indeed were influential in Nazareth, Lk. 4:28-30.  Jesus would have known that the greatest strength of His faith was the resurrection, (Gen. 22:5-14) but even with that accepted amongst Pharisees, He did not have a favourable opinion of them, Mt.23:26-29, Jn. 8:52-59.

Faith in Christ, is a gift, we receive it when we hear God’s word, Romans 10:17, it is measured out to us by God the Father of spirits, Rom. 12:3, Heb. 12:9. It is our privilege to maintain and use the faith.  We should be praying to help our faith grow, Jude v20. Maybe the best place to grow in the Faith is in what the Hebrew writer said in, Hebrews 6:1-12, so we do not assume God is going to do it all for us, but that we are convinced cooperation is essential, if we don’t realize we have a part in growing our faith we can become, complacent or confused.  Heb. 6:1-ff, “Repentance from dead works”, “Faith toward God”, “Baptisms”, “Laying on of hands”, “Resurrection of the dead” and “Eternal Judgment” are all fundamentals of the faith from God’s perspective.  But from our perspective we might consider other subjects to be more fundamental, like, “What is the nature of the Church” and “Creation v Evolution”, or “Prayer”.  We have this dilemma because of our background being Gentile instead of Jewish, and our environment being 20 centuries removed from the ancient church’s beginning. God wants us to grow in the right direction with His priorities, being our priorities. This is one reason why we have so many ‘faiths’ even in the church.  A personal faith which is strong and having the same united priorities that God’s word has, is what God wants. 

Whatever our background, we need to be emphasizing the importance of prayer in every attempt to study the Bible. Eph. 3:16-20. Two different subjects in faith we need to be aware of, is this:

Facts of the Faith (from God), Acts 6:7, Jude 3. 

Feelings in our Faith (from prayer), Romans 10:1-5, Acts 15:36-40, 2Timothy 4:11.

Both are essential and good, but in this lesson, we will deal mainly with facts, because they will help shape our prayers to influence our feelings.  An example of this, is how we make decisions about our wardrobe.  For one Christian there is no sin in wearing a particular item of clothing in public, but to another Christian it is clearly a sin.  Why? Because our feelings in our faith are not always in unison with The Faith in God’s word.  Remember, we humans can easily pray about the wrong things. James 4:3.  From Peter we learn how even leaders in the church can suffer from not keeping the Fundamentals of The Faith in unison with our own personal faith. Galatians 2:9-13.   Remember these things that help us grow our faith…1. Your real teacher is the Holy Spirit, Matthew 23:8, 1John 2:20-27.

2. Devote time to Pray sincerely for God’s will in your reading, Col. 4:2, 1Tim. 4:15.

3. Consider God’s power in His word, Mat. 22:29.

4. Balance your interest in both the knowledge and the graciousness of Jesus, 2Peter 3:18, Matthew 23:23.

5. Pray, requesting God to increase your faith in your reading, Jude v20.

6. Patience is important, let the Bible interpret the Bible. Deut. 29:29, Dan. 8:1-14, 26, Rev. 1:1-3, 22:6-20.

7. Daily be ready to use “His Name” in facing temptation, praying to win, Mt. 6:12-15.