Study of
Jesus - Index
Sunday, September
12, 2010 am
THE LIFE OF JESUS (8)
The Beginning of Jesus Ministry (5)
His First Works
Today we continue our study of the life of Jesus.
Our past few lessons have examined the beginning of the ministry
of Jesus. We have noted the
message of John the Baptist, the baptism of Jesus, His temptation and
the choosing of His apostles.
Today we want to notice some events that take place early in His
ministry. These events are
recorded in the four gospels.
We do not know with certainty the chronological order of these
events but we can with confidence see them helping to establish who
Jesus was. In fact, it is
possible that some of the events we will discuss today actually occurred
before Jesus actually chose His apostles.
As a result of many of these events, people began to follow and
listen to Jesus. Furthermore, we
find at the beginning of His ministry, Jesus immediately begins engaging
his audience, performing miracles, teaching, gathering disciples, etc.
We will discuss each of these activities in our next section on
the life of Jesus.
In this final lesson dealing with the beginning of the ministry
of Jesus we want to notice some things He did early in His ministry.
After noting some of these events, I want to focus on some of the
things Jesus said early on and observations in the accounts.
A.
Matthew 4:12-17, Mark
1:14,15, Luke 4:14-15
B.
After John
the Baptist is put into prison Jesus departs probably from Judea to
Galilee. From there he
dwells in Nazareth for a short time and then leaves and dwells in
Capernaum. IT has been
observed that between vs. 12 & 13 there is a period of time in which
Jesus does a number of things.
Included in these are the events recorded in John 2-5 (cf. BW
Johnson, The People’s New Testament; Steven Cox, Harmony of
the Gospels, JW McGarvey, The Fourfold Gospel; etc.).
C.
Matthew
also refers to this as a fulfillment of prophecy – Isa. 9:1-2.
D.
His
message, like John’s, “Repent for
the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Concerning this message we note 3 things.
i.
Jesus validated the preaching of John the Baptist,
knowing it was from God. His
early message was the same as that of John (cf. Matt. 3:2), but Jesus
would acknowledge His part in the execution of God’s plan, while John
simply prepared the way.
ii.
Jesus taught repentance –
early on, AND often, repentance was called for.
Jesus understood the need for one to change the direction of his
life if he were to have hope of salvation.
Luke 13:3 & 5 says, “but unless you repent you will all likewise
perish.”
When He sent out the twelve, Mark 6:12 records that “they went out and preached that people should repent.”
More often than not, His message IMPLIED repentance as He called for
changes in behavior.
Friends, BEFORE we can become a Christian, we need to understand what
repentance is and act upon it (Acts 2:38, 17:30-31)
iii.
Jesus preached the imminent kingdom
-
Throughout His ministry, Jesus would develop the coming Kingdom.
Matthew speaks predominantly of the Kingdom of heaven, while the
other gospels speak mostly of the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 4:23 says, “And Jesus went
about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of
the kingdom,…” The same
idea is repeated in Matt. 9:35.
In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) Jesus would mention it no less
than 9 times.
He called for man to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness” (Matt. 6:33)
The apostles would be given “the keys to the Kingdom of heaven” (Matt.
16:19)
in His parables, Jesus often spoke of the Kingdom (cf. Matt. 13 – 7
parables).
Matt. 16:28 says, “Assuredly, I
say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till
they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
It is important that we understand the kingdom Jesus spoke of.
If we are saved, we are in the Kingdom of God.
It is associated with His church as well.
We will address this in more detail as we study the ministry of Jesus.
II.
Water turned to wine in Cana –
A.
John 2:1-12, recorded as
the first miracle of Jesus.
It was in Cana, a village in central Galilee, about 13 miles west of the
Sea of Galilee and east of the Mediterranean Sea, and about 8 miles
north of Nazareth.
B.
He changed
water to wine. We will
discuss His miracles at a later date in the midst of His ministry.
C.
A quick note: This passage is often used to justify social drinking today.
They reason that since Jesus turned water to wine, He approved of
drinking on social occasions.
I tremble at this argument for many reasons –
i.
The word
wine does not always have to mean alcoholic beverages, but it could.
ii.
The use of
“wine” in their culture was so different than ours today (i.e. not as
potent as our alcoholic beverages).
iii.
In an
environment where “wine” had already been greatly consumed (they ran out
of wine – 2), I have great difficulty accepting that Jesus made between
120-180 gallons of something that would make them drunker (more
intoxicated).
iv.
There is
NO clear evidence that the wine contained alcohol.
It is only speculation, based upon our English usage of the word.
v.
Be careful
before you seek to justify such actions.
D.
Note vs.
11, “This beginning of signs Jesus
did in Cana of Galilees, and manifested His glory; and His disciples
believed Him.” Friends,
this is the REASON this event is recorded.
This event would declare that Jesus was One to whom the people
ought to give earnest heed.
For, as Nicodemus would say in John 3:3, “Rabbi,
we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these
signs that You do unless God is with him.”
III.
Jesus cleanses the temple –
A.
John 2:13-21 – we have
recorded the first confrontation Jesus had with Jewish leaders.
As Passover approaches Jesus goes to Jerusalem.
While there He finds money changers and others doing business
selling oxen and doves, etc.
Observations:
It is said that there were instances where people were EXPECTED
to purchase animals from the temple stalls to sacrifice (i.e. animals
brought were inspected and declared insufficient), and these animals had
to be purchased with temple currency.
Therefore, when people brought money from other regions, they had
to exchange it (at a fee of course) so they could buy what they needed
to “worship God.” This
resulted in these dealers having great control over the sacrifices.
We call it “a racket”.
ALSO, with animals available, many would avail themselves of the
CONVENIENCE rather than offering the BEST OF THEIR OWN FLOCKS, which is
what the Law expected.
B.
Jesus made
a whip and drove out the animals and overturned the money tables.
He then said, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of
merchandise!”
Lesson: They
had made worshipping God into a business.
Is it different today with many churches that have totally
changed the work of the church into entertainment and business?
God is NOT pleased with such things.
C.
At some
point, His disciples would see in this act the fulfillment of Psalm 69:9
which says, “Zeal for your house
has eaten Me up.”
Lesson: The message of
this occasion is to take God seriously.
This applies in everything we do in worship to Him.
D.
(18-21)
Jesus’ authority for His actions is demanded. We read of many occasions
where Jesus was questioned as to His authority.
In this instance, they sought after a sign.
Jesus simply stated, “Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” It was not what
they expected and it was not immediately understood, even by His
disciples. We are told by
John that after Jesus arose, they remembered what He said.
Note:
From the very beginning of His ministry, Jesus KNEW what His destiny
would be. This would also set the
tone that challenged the leaders whose motives were self serving.
IV.
A
discerner of hearts –
A.
John 2:23-25 records an
interesting attribute of Jesus.
We note that Jesus did not commit Himself to those who believed
in Him in Jerusalem. Why?
i.
For many
of them, their belief was not yet total. Perhaps they had the
materialistic motive of the kingdom (i.e. casting out the Romans).
ii.
He had
other places to go. He could
not stay in Jerusalem and teach this small group exclusively.
iii.
Jesus “had
no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.”
In this I read there were some with less than noble motives.
B.
In this
text we are reminded of the deity of Jesus – His ability to read the
“thoughts and intents of the heart.”
You cannot hide from God EVER, and they could not hide from Jesus
either!
V.
Rejected at Nazareth
A.
Luke 4:14-30
(Matt. 13:54-58, Mk. 6:1-6) records Jesus going to the Synagogue on the
Sabbath and reading from the scroll of Isaiah.
He read Isaiah 61:1,2 a passage noting that the Messiah would
come and preach to the poor and oppressed.
Then, he closed the book and said, “Today,
this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
The significance of this is that Jesus KNEW and DECLARED early on His
mission.
B.
As He
taught, they marveled at His wisdom, but they also dismissed Him as the
carpenter’s son rather than the prophet of God.
This prompted Jesus to rebuke then noting that “a
prophet is not without honor except in his own country…” (Mk. 6:4).
This was followed by an observation that God, in Israel’s history
had shown favor to a remnant, even foreigners (both examples Jesus sites
are found in 1 Kings 17 & 2 Kings 5).
C.
The Point:
Jesus knew early that He would be rejected by the Jewish
“establishment”, the people that should have most easily accepted His
message. His rejection in
his hometown was just an early example of this.
He also declares here (by implication) that WHEN they do reject Him, God
will turn to WHOEVER would accept Him.
In other words, the gospel is for all (John 3:16).
WE noted earlier that the events of John 2-5 happened early in
His ministry. These include:
i.
The conversation of Jesus with the
Pharisee Nicodemus who was a
secret disciple (John 3) where Jesus declared the need to be born again
“of the water and the spirit” (Jn. 3:3,5).
Elaborating on this is John 3:16 which declares that “whoever
believes in Him should not perish.”
Further it is explained that those who love darkness will reject
the light.
ii.
His conversation with the Samaritan woman
(John 4:1-26) in which Jesus converses and converts one despised by the
Jews.
D.
As a
result of this conversation, Luke records that Jesus is led out of the
city to be thrown over a cliff, but passing through the midst of them,
He went His way (Luke 4:28-30).
E.
Mark 6:5-6 records that
Jesus could not do many miracles there, except to heal a few, because of
their unbelief.
VI.
Healing Peter’s mother-in-law –
A.
At
some point early in His ministry, Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law.
Luke 4:38-39 (Matt.
8:14-15, Mk. 1:29-31). Luke
mentions it before the call of fishermen, while Matthew and Mark mention
it after.
B.
From
this we know that disciples and even apostles could be married.
More than that, realize they had families and were ordinary
people. While families would
have presented challenges (cf. 1 Cor. 7:32-35) there is no passage that
forbids marriage and children while one serves God as a minister or in
any other capacity (provided you have the scriptural right to marry –
cf. Matt. 19:9).
C.
We
also note the immediacy of His miracles.
The fever described by Luke as a “high fever” would have
indicated a serious condition.
But when Jesus healed her, strength was instantly resorted as
well (no recovery time needed).
We will address this more at a later date when we discuss the
miracles of Jesus.
What is the point of all these miscellaneous events?
We can see that early in His ministry, Jesus began to establish
authority for Himself and He got right to work doing the will of His
Father. Matt. 4:23-25 (Mk.
1:35-39, Lk. 4:42-44) summarizes it well, “And
Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching
the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all
kinds of disease among the people.
Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him
all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments,
and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He
healed them. Great multitudes followed Him — from Galilee, and from
Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.”
Following the example of our Lord (1 Cor. 11:1), let us be busy
doing what we can to serve Him and tell others about Him.
With this, we will conclude for a while, our study of the life of
Jesus. In the near future,
when we resume, we will examine His teaching and works in more details
noting why He did what He did, what He taught and how.