This week's reading is Matthew 3 and 4. Here's some questions to ask yourself as you read it:
1. Take note of the description of John the Baptist. And yet he was this big deal, got to baptize Jesus, and became such a key figure in the Bible. Why do you think this is?
2. Why do you think Jesus needed to go into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan? What was gained from that ordeal?
3. Why do you think Jesus picked 4 fishermen to be his first key followers?
4. What was the purpose of Jesus going around and healing the sick, casting out demons, and teaching in the synagogues?
I look forward to reading your comments as you work your way through this section of the Bible.
1 comments:
Here's some of what we discussed in class:
John the Baptist was an interesting character. He wasn't the best dressed (as his clothes were made from camel hair) and he dined on locust and wild honey. On top of that, he lived in the wilderness. Yet somehow people were drawn to him. It's interesting if you think about that today as we would have a hard time imagining a guy who lives in the woods being someone people go to listen to.
His characteristics were important though because he needed to live in the wilderness to fulfill prophesy. Also, him being this less than high class person helped with the humility of Jesus. He wasn't born in the best place to the richest people. And he wasn't baptized by the highest or most famous Priest either.
Jesus going into the wilderness is an interesting story. It says the Holy Spirit led him out there to be tempted by Satan. Which is interesting. It makes Jesus go through a bit of a trial by fire. Because if Jesus never faced tough temptation, then he can't claim to understand what it's truely like to be tempted by sin. Also, there's a bit of end time prophesy in that story. See if you can find it and point it out. If I see someone post it, I'll try to bring donuts on the Sunday of the first person's choosing (that way if you're at school right now, you can pick it to be the next Sunday you're home). We discussed it in class so the three people there today have an advantage.
When Jesus picked 3 fishermen to be the first of his key followers, we learned a few things. First, it says they followed him immediately. It doesn't say they took a day or two to think it over. It really paints the image of these people dropping their nets and following Jesus. Now that's quite odd. How many of us would quit school or our careers because some guy came up to us and said "Follow me."? I doubt I would. Which tells me that these three men could instantly see the power, grace, and importance of Christ. It makes me believe that these men were quite in tune with God and his plan for their lives. And that's something that can only come from a relationship with God.
When Jesus went around healing people who were sick or possessed or taught in the synagogues (sorry for the typo the first time there), I think he did this to announce that he was on the scene. Imagine if some guy walked into Pastor Tom's office and started having a really deep discussion about God with him and even went above Pastor Tom's understanding of the Word. Wouldn't that get Pastor Tom's attention? I would say it would. So Jesus showed that he had this strong connection to God by walking into synagogues and showing them what he knew about God. This had to impress at least a few people. And then the healing and casting out of demons is interesting as well as it shows his power. And, as Kerry mentioned in class, it shows that God does care about the individual more than the whole. It's the whole idea that God knew who you were before you were born and the very hairs on your head have been counted mentality. God cares about each and every one of us. So Jesus took his time to show that care to individuals (by healing them) as well as his care for the whole (by dieing on the cross).
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