Read This: John 1:19-28 While Jesus was being tempted by the Devil, John the Baptist faced challenges of his own. The religious leaders showed up to confront him on his activities. Anyone drawing crowds (“all the country” and “all the people of Jerusalem”) was sure to attract the attention of the Romans. Plus, John was baptizing […]

Since I’m learning to follow Jesus, I’m interested in learning from His experience with temptation. Here are a few things I noticed: 1.) The word temptation in these passages means to try, examine, or assay. It’s testing to see what’s inside. Picture holding a magnet over metal filings. They jump to the magnet. Testing is like holding […]

Read This: Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13 Today’s passage begins like a horror movie. A man, alone in a desolate place, encounters the most evil creature who ever lived. Satan. Yet, it wasn’t anything like that. The man in the story is the Creator of the universe. He even created this creature, and has complete […]

Read This: Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 3:23a; Luke 4:1-13 Jesus is thirty years old. He’s just been baptized by John and anointed by God as priest and king. This event linked Jesus to another Old Testament prophecy and equipped Him for ministry. Being anointed with the Holy Spirit is not a symbolic metaphor. It’s not […]

Read this: Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22 Spiritual awakenings are rare, thus remarkable. People typically drift from God rather than toward Him — unless He kindles their desire to know Him. When “all the people” from Judea and Jerusalem rush out to hear John the Baptist’s preaching, it signals God’s involvement. It also reveals how compelling John’s message was. He described the […]