Matthew 4, Luke 4-5, John 1: 15-51

I love the different accounts of the Gospels.....it was all real and perceived differently by each man.  One of my favorite parts is when Jesus preached in the synagogue.    The synagogues were places that were different than the temple.   10 families could come together and have a synagogue and traveling Rabbi's would stop and preach.   Jesus took advantage of this and stood up and fufilled the words that Isaiah had written.  Jesus' ministry is in full swing now.   I love the picture that Patricia selected for her blog:

Posted October 5, 2010 by Patricia in John, Luke, Matthew. 12 Comments

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I have prayed to keep it short today.  So here it goes!
Matthew:  Many people totally grasp the reality of Jesus but struggle with the reality of the devil.  As if the devil might be a fictional character.    Please take away not only the realness of the devil but his character.  Not only was he the tempter, he knows what to tempt and how to do it.  He tempted with physical desire, possession,  power, and pride.  But what  was his back up plan…to use scripture.  Did you notice that? He quoted Psalms. Satan knows the Scriptures BETTER than I do.  The smallest twist in them and it’s called FALSE.   Please be very alert! 
Second, so what in the Old Testament Law applies to us?  Very Important if you are wanting to live according to His ways.  Here is how you know: If Jesus repeats it in the New Covenant, it is for US.  So you don’t have to get out a piece of paper or a clay tablet to jot them down let me tell you, Jesus came to fulfill the Law.  Fulfill means to “render into effect’ or ‘to expand’.  He came not to demolish the Law but to  expand on the Law, and as you read you will see them weaved throughout the Scriptures, like in Matthew 4:10…Jesus is quoting from the 10 Commandments already.
Did you look up, Psalm 91:11-12 to match Satan’s quote or Isaiah 9:1 matching Matthew 4:15
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Luke:  The devil left until an “opportune time” (vs 13).  Guys, we know this.  Keep your guard up and our Sword ready!  Do you know what your Sword is?? 
Now for my favorite part!  Picture the Scene:  Jesus, on the Sabbath, goes into the synagogue  Verse 16, and opens the Old Testament Scriptures of Isaiah and reads Isaiah 61 ABOUT himself!

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
      because he has anointed me
      to preach good news to the poor.
   He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
      and recovery of sight for the blind,
   to release the oppressed,
    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:18-21.

(I promise I will keep this short!..I will bullet my thoughts)

• 4:28  They were furious BECAUSE the stories were of Gentile Healings.
• 4:34 Even the Demons know of God’s Destruction and that He is the HOLY ONE of God
• “Be quiet”.  Jesus has Ministry work to do first.
• 4:42 In Galilee (Gentile area) and Judea (Jews), Jesus says why He is sent

 Luke 5…Good grief, we can brew a pot of cawfee and sit here all day.  I would if you would.  I am going to skip to 27 to spare you a long blog.  Jesus eats at a Sinner’s house.   (Levi is Matthew).  First, know it is rare for a Teacher or Rabbi to say Follow Me.   Usually they were so pompous that people had to earn a right to follow them.  Not Jesus way.  Anyway, this is a VERY special story for me because a friend in my life, Beth, came with a Christ Like heart when I was an atheist and friended me in the Buckle of the Bible Belt.  She loved me.  Prayed for me.  Yes, invited me to church (I said NO WAY ARE YOU GETTING ME IN A CULT) and she STILL was willing to let me have ”dinner” with her family.  Jesus comes for the Lost, so don’t turn your back when they ACT lost.  Beth didn’t and God used her to bring me to Him.

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

 John: WOW. (I promise…short!) Take a moment to feel what you are reading.  You are reading the fulfillment of the Scriptures SO THAT was know this Jesus is THE Messiah.  Please flip back to Isiah 40.  And then in verse 29 we hear the words “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the World”  After reading the Old Testament I am heartbroken that HE will be the Unblemished Lamb that will be put on the Brazen Altar to substitute our life.  The Lamb of God.  Born for that very purpose….a Sacrifice.
For those of you have read the Old Testament, take a minute to really soak in.  Everything we have read is now being fulfilled.  Jesus didn’t come to abolish the Law but to fulfill the Law.  We end the reading with a great vision Scripture “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” This statement goes all the way back to Genesis 28, when Jacob had a vision of a ladder that shows a Way to Heaven.  Something can take us from this Earth to the Heavenly Heaven!  The JACOB’S LADDER is standing in front of them.  Jesus is that WAY.