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Jesus Christ: Judean Ministry
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The Forerunner and the Baptism
The Preaching of John
(Matthew 3:1-12; Mark 1:1-8; Luke 3:1-18)
Time passed, and when Jesus was nearing His 30th year, Judea was agitated by the message of a stern preacher of righteousness who had appeared in the wilderness by the Jordan, proclaiming the imminent approach of the kingdom of heaven, summoning to repentance, and baptizing those who confessed their sins. Tiberius had succeeded Augustus on the imperial throne; Judea, with Samaria, was now a Roman province, under the procurator Pontius Pilate; the rest of Palestine was divided between the tetrarchs Herod (Galilee) and Philip (the eastern parts). The Baptist thus appeared at the time when the land had lost the last vestige of self-government, was politically divided, and was in great ecclesiastical confusion. Nurtured in the deserts (
The Coming Christ
John’s preaching of the kingdom was unlike that of any of the revolutionaries of his age. It was a kingdom which could be entered only through moral preparation. It availed nothing for the Jew simply that he was a son of Abraham. The Messiah was at hand. He (John) was but a voice in the wilderness sent to prepare the way for that Greater than himself. The work of the Christ would be one of judgment and of mercy. He would lay the axe at the root of the tree--would winnow the chaff from the wheat--yet would baptize with the Holy Spirit (
Jesus Is Baptized
(Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21,22)
The Temptation
Temptation Follows Baptism
(Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:13,14; Luke 4:1-13)
On the narrative of the baptism in the first three Gospels there follows at once the account of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. The psychological naturalness of the incident is generally acknowledged. The baptism of Jesus was a crisis in His experience. He had been plenished by the Spirit for His work; the heavens had been opened to Him, and His mind was agitated by new thoughts and emotions; He was conscious of the possession of new powers. There was need for a period of retirement, of still reflection, of coming to a complete understanding with Himself as to the meaning of the task to which He stood committed, the methods He should employ, the attitude He should take up toward popular hopes and expectations. He would wish to be alone. The Spirit of God led Him (
Nature of the Temptation
The scene of the temptation was the wilderness of Judea. Jesus was there 40 days, during which, it is told, He neither ate nor drank (compare the fasts of Moses and Elijah,
Stages of the Temptation
The stages of the temptation were three--each in its own way a trial of the spirit of obedience.
(1) The first temptation was to distrust. Jesus, after His long fast, was hungry. He had become conscious also of supernatural powers. The point on which the temptation laid hold was His sense of hunger--the most over-mastering of appetites. "If thou art the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." The design was to excite distrustful and rebellious thoughts, and lead Jesus to use the powers entrusted to Him in an unlawful way, for private and selfish ends. The temptation was promptly met by a quotation from Scripture: "Man shall not live by bread alone," etc. (
(2) The second temptation (in Luke the third) was to presumption. Jesus is borne in spirit (compare
(3) The third temptation (Luke’s second) was to worldly sovereignty, gained by some small concession to Satan. From some lofty elevation--no place on a geographical map--the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them are flashed before Christ’s mind, and all are offered to Him on condition of one little act of homage to the tempter. It was the temptation to choose the easier path by some slight pandering to falsehood, and Jesus definitely repelled it by the saying: "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (
Its Typical Character
The stages of the temptation typify the whole round of Satanic assault on man through body, mind, and spirit (
(a) to spare Himself;
(b) to gratify the Jewish signseekers;
(c) to gain power by sacrifice of the right.
In principle the victory was gained over all at the commencement. His way was henceforth clear.
The Testimonies of the Baptist
The Synoptics and John
While the Synoptics pass immediately from the temptation of Jesus to the ministry in Galilee the imprisonment of the Baptist (
Threefold Witness of the Baptist
(John 1:19-37)
The Baptist had announced Christ’s coming; had baptized Him when He appeared; it was now his privilege to testify to Him as having come, and to introduce to Jesus His first disciples.
a) First Testimony--Jesus and Popular Messianic Expectation:
(John 1:19-28)
John’s work had assumed proportions which made it impossible for the ecclesiastical authorities any longer to ignore it (compare
b) Second Testimony--Christ and the Sin of the World:
(John 1:29-34)
The day after the interview with the Jerusalem deputies, John saw Jesus coming to him--probably fresh from the temptation--and bore a second and wonderful testimony to His Messiahship. Identifying Jesus with the subject of his former testimonies, and stating the ground of his knowledge in the sign God had given him (1:30-34), he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world" (1:29). The words are rich in suggestion regarding the character of Jesus, and the nature, universality and efficacy of His work (compare 1
c) Third Testimony--Christ and the Duty of the Disciple:
(John 1:35-37)
The third testimony was borne "again on the morrow," when John was standing with two of his disciples (one Andrew, 1:40, the other doubtless the evangelist himself). Pointing to Jesus, the Baptist repeated his former words, "Behold, the Lamb of God." While the words are the same, the design was different. In the first "behold" the idea is the recognition of Christ; in the second there is a call to duty--a hint to follow Jesus. On this hint the disciples immediately acted (1:37). It is next to be seen how this earliest "following" of Jesus grew.
The First Disciples
Spiritual Accretion
(John 1:37-51)
John’s narrative shows that Jesus gathered His disciples, less by a series of distinct calls, than by a process of spiritual accretion. Men were led to Him, then accepted by Him. This process of selection left Jesus at the close of the second day with five real and true followers. The history confutes the idea that it was first toward the close of His ministry that Jesus became known to His disciples as the Messiah. In all the Gospels it was as the Christ that the Baptist introduced Jesus; it was as the Christ that the first disciples accepted and confessed Him (
a) Andrew and John--Discipleship as the Fruit of Spiritual Converse:
(John 1:37-40)
The first of the group were Andrew and John--the unnamed disciple of
b) Simon Peter--Discipleship a Result of Personal Testimony:
(John 1:41,42)
John and Andrew had no sooner found Christ for themselves ("We have found the Messiah,"
c) Philip--the Result of Scriptural Evidence:
(John 1:43,14)
The fourth disciple, Philip, was called by Jesus Himself, when about to depart for Galilee (
d) Nathanael--Discipleship an Effect of Heart-Searching Power:
(John 1:45-51)
"Son of Man" and "Son of God"
The name "Son of Man"--a favorite designation of Jesus for Himself--appears here for the first time in the Gospels. It is disputed whether it was a current Messianic title (see Son of Man), but at least it had this force on the lips of Jesus Himself, denoting Him as the possessor of a true humanity, and as standing in a representative relation to mankind universally. It is probably borrowed from
The First Events
An interval of a few weeks is occupied by a visit of Jesus to Cana of Galilee (
The First Miracle
(
Prior to His public manifestation, a more private unfolding of Christ’s glory was granted to the disciples at the marriage feast of Cana of Galilee (compare
After a brief stay at Capernaum (
The First Passover, and Cleansing of the Temple
(John 2:13-25)
The Visit of Nicodemus
(John 3:1-12)
As a sequel to these stirring events Jesus had a nocturnal visitor in the person of Nicodemus--a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, a "teacher of Israel" (
(1) The New Birth
Jesus in His reply laid His finger at once on the defective point in His visitor’s relation to Himself and to His kingdom: "Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (
(2) "Heavenly Things"
These "heavenly things" Jesus now proceeds to unfold to Nicodemus: "As Moses lifted up the serpent," etc. (
Jesus and John
(John 3:22-36)
Retiring from Jerusalem, Jesus commenced a ministry in Judea (
Journey to Galilee — the Woman of Samaria
Withdrawal to Galilee
Toward the close of this Judean ministry the Baptist appears to have been cast into prison for his faithfulness in reproving Herod Antipas for taking his brother Philip’s wife (compare
The Living Water
Jesus, being wearied, paused to rest Himself at Jacob’s well, near a town called Sychar, now ’Askar. It was about the sixth hour--or 6 o’clock in the evening. The time of year is determined by
The True Worship
The conversation next turned upon the right place of worship. The Samaritans had a temple of their own on Mount Gerizim; the Jews, on the other hand, held to the exclusive validity of the temple at Jerusalem. Which was right? Jesus in His reply, while pronouncing for the Jews as the custodians of God’s salvation (
Work at Its Reward
The woman went home and became an evangelist to her people, with notable results (