December 1929
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might go and worship. But he did not say this because he really wanted to wor ship the baby King. He was very wicked and hoped to find a way to put the new born King to death. So the Wise Men left Jerusalem and journeyed toward Bethlehem, and as they journeyed they saw again the beau tiful star they had seen in the East; and this star, boys and girls, led them on to the very house (note “house,” not “man ger”—Jesus was now more than a month or less than two years old) where the baby King was. How happy they must have been! They alighted from their faithful cam els, and with their gifts entered the house; and what do you think they saw? There was Mother Mary, and with her the little Lord Jesus, the baby King whom they had sought to find. And when they saw Him they knelt down before Him to worship Him and lay their gifts of frankincense and gold and myrrh before Him. These costly gifts told of their worship and praise for the baby King, the Lord Jesus Christ. (These Wise Men were led to Jesus by a star. Speak of children being led to Him today. The Wise Mfen brought gifts. You receive gifts on your birthday. Christmas is His birthday. What gift have you brought to Him? Jesus loves most the gift of your acceptance of Him as Saviour. Will you give your heart to Jesus as His birthday present?) Prayer. —o— January 12, 1930 Baptism and Tem ptation of Jesus Lesson: Matthew 3:1-4:11. {Lesson Text: Matt. 3:13-4:11.) L esson in O utline Introduction: Historical Setting—John’s Ministry of Preaching and Baptizing. 3: I. The Baptism of Jesus. 3 :13-17. i Jesus’ Journey from Galilee to the Jordan. V. 13. 2 . John’s Hesitancy to Baptize Jesus. V._ 14. 3. His Final Acquiescence. V. IS. 4. The Baptismal Scene. Vs. 16, 17. a. The Act of Baptizing Jesus. V. 16a. b. The Descent of the Holy Spirit. V. 16b. c. The Father’s Voice of Com mendation. V. 17. II. The Temptation of Jesus. >4:1-11 (cf. Lk. 4:1-13). 1. His Journey from the Jordan to the Wilderness. V. 1 (cf. Mk 1:12). 2. His Fast of Forty Days. V. 2. 3. The Temptations: a. To turn stones into bread. Vs. 3, 4. b. To leap from the wing of the Temple. Vs, 5, 6 . c. To worship the Tempter. Vs.
idly “decreased’’ and Jesus “increased” (John 3:30). T h e word “then” points back to John’s bap tizing and preach ing which had just been described. V. 13. Then som came from Nazareth (Mark 1 :9) where Jesus had lived since His infancy. To Jordan. The exact place cannot be lo cated. The language implies that He came to the Jordan for the express purpose of being baptized by John. V. 14. John would have hindered. The verb is emphatic; John earnestly pro tested. His hesitation is further brought out in the emphatic use of personal pro nouns in the next clause. His surprise is great; he confesses his need to take the place before Jesus of a humble penitent needing purification. V. IS. Suffer it now. Jesus asked to be permitted to take the place of humilia tion. Fulfil all righteousness. To fulfill means to perform fully. Baptism was commanded of God. With all others it implied the confession of sin and ac knowledgment of repentance. Jesus need ed no repentance, but He took His place with other men under the law (cf. Rom 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 2:6-11). V. 16. Straightway. Mark explains that immediately following His coming out of the water He saw the heavens opened. Events followed one another quickly. - The heavens w e r e opened. This signifies an opening of the heavens for His benefit. Luke reminds us (3:21) that Jesus was praying at the time. Un doubtedly this was a miraculous • occur rence (cf. Ezek. 1:1; Isa. 64:1; Acts 7: 56; Rev. 4:1). He saw the spirit. The reference is to Jesus (cf. Mark 1:10), but John also beheld the scene (cf. John 1:32). We are not told whether there were other witnesses. Descending like a dove. Expositors are ,divided in opinion as to the meaning of this statement, whether there was the form of a -dove, or merely a dove’s manner o f descending. There was evidently some bodily form; that of the dove would be natural (cf. Matt. 10:16). Coming ‘upon him. John later testified that it abode, or remained, on Him (John 1:32), symbolizing the fact that Jesus was to be permanently un der the power of the Holy-Spirit in all His ministry (cf. Acts 10:38). V. 17. A voice. The Divine Trinity is here; the Son of God is in the midst of the scene. God, the Holy Spirit, comes upon Him. God, :the Father,-speaks from the heavens, “This is my beloved Son” (cf. Psa. 2:7). The same words were spoken on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:5; 2 Pet. 1:17).' In whom I am well pleased. The tense suggests God’s continual delight in His Son—from eternity to eternity. II. The Temptation (Matt. 4:1-11). V. 1. Then. That is, after the baptism. Led up into the wilderness. “Led,” not •“driven,” by the Holy Spirit. Mark’s language is very striking; literally, “the Spirit!casts Him forth into the wilder ness.” It was a divine impelling. To be tempted. The word signifies to make trial of, or to test (cf. Heb. 2:17, 18). The motive of the testing may be either good or bad. God tests to bring out the good, eth. That is, makes His appearance. He
or to expose faults in order that they may be corrected. Satan tempts to entice men to sin; the latter is the meaning here. The word diabolos (devil) is used in the Septuagint for the Hebrew name Satan. The latter word means, literally, adver sary, while the Greek for devil means slanderer or accuser. In New Testament usage they are often practically equiva lent terms. . V. 2. When he had fasted. Abstinence from food for forty days made Him hunger. Typically, the number forty speaks of a period of testing. Doubtless the time was spent by Jesus in commun ion with the Father, and in meditation upon the work He was about to begin. When He hungered, Satan urged Him to transform a stone into bread. His appe tite was legitimate; He had the power to gratify it. Had He exercised this power, however, He would have takPn Himself out of God’s hands and chosen a way for Himself without hunger, or weariness, or sorrow, or death. The pur pose for which He had come would have been defeated. V. 3. I f thou be the Son o f God. The tempter asks Jesus to manifest His deity by a miracle. The word “Son” is em phatic; Satan seems to argue that it was improper and unnecessary for Jesus to hunger, because He was the Son of God. Some interpreters, however, would have it that Satan really doubted whether Jesus was the Son of God. Command. Or, speak. Luke reads (4:3), “Speak to this stone,” as if pointing to a certain stone. Be made bread. Literally, may become bread or loaves. The word in the original is plural. V. 4. It is written. Literally, it stands written. That is, it was true in the past and is forever true. Man shall not live . .■ . This quotation is from Deuteronomy 8 : 3 . Note that all the passages which Jesus here applies to Himself were precepts given to Israel in the wilderness. One commentator (Godet) suggests that per haps Jesus had been meditating on the story of Israel’s forty years in the wil derness. Jesus took to Himself the lesson that God would sustain His life just as surely as He had by a miracle preserved Israel, He would not be driven by fear nor would He make the gratification of His appetite the first thingun life. He would trust the goodness of God. He identifies -Himself with humanity when He says, '“Man shall not” —the lesson is for all. V. 5. Then. Luke reverses the rorder of the last two temptations. Taketh him. Literally, takes Him along with Him. This does not necessarily mean that He was forced to go or was carried supernatur- ally. The holy city. That is, Jerusalem, .counted holy because the temple was there. A pinnacle o f the temple. Jesus was not of the priestly tribe of Levi. Therefore, so far as we know, He never entered the inner temple, but only the courts. Somewhere on the walls of the outer court this pinnacle was located. V. 6 . Cast thyself down. This tempta tion was the opposite of the preceding one. Jesus, is asked to put God to the test, placing Himself in peril and expect ing God to deliver by a miracle. It would have meant presumption, not faith. It is written. Satan backed up his sugges tion by a quotation from Scripture (Psa. 91:11), which encourages trust in God. Some commentators note that Satan omitted a clause, "to 'keep thee in all thy
I, The Baptism (Matt. 3:13-17). 'T'HE baptism of Jesus marks the transi tion from the ministry of John to that of Jesus. From that time John rap
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