Part IV

THE PUBLIC APPEARANCE OF THE MESSIAH

The Autumn of AD. 26

24 The Baptism of Jesus

The Jordan River

Matt 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-23a

(Mk1:9) At the time (Lk 3:21) when all the people were being baptized, (Mk) Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee (Mt.3:13) to the Jordan to be Baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter to deter, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteous." Then John consented. (Mk1:9b) and Jesus was baptized by the Jordan. 10 And as Jesus was praying coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and he saw the spirit of God descending in bodily form like a dove, and light on him . 11 And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." (Lk.3:23) Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry.

25. The Temptation of Jesus

The wilderness of Judea.

Matt 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13

(Lk4:1) Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and (Mk1:12) at once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, 13 and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, (Lk4:1) he ate nothing during those days and at the end of them he was hungry.

Part I.

(Mt4:3) The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the son of God tell these stones to become bread." 4 Jesus answered, "It is written 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word of God.'"

Part II.

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. (Lk4:9b)

"If you are the son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here.

10-11 For it is written,

(Mt4) Jesus answered him,

"It is also written:

Part III.

8 Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.

9 "All this I will give you, " he said, "if you will bow down and worship me.

I will give you all the authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours."

Jesus said to him,

"Away from me, Satan! For it is written:

(Lk4:13) When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time, (Mt4:11b) and angels came and attended to him.

26. The Baptist's Testimony to a Sanhedrin Delegation

Bethany, beyond the Jordan

John 1:19-28

19 Now this was John's testimony when the Judeans of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ." 21 They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?"

He said, "I am not."

"Are you the Prophet?"

He answered, "No."

22 Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet,

24 Now some of the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him,

"Why then do you baptize if you are not he Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

26 "I will baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one who you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie." 15 John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'" 28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

27 John the Baptist's Introduction of Jesus as the Promised Messiah.

John 1:29-34

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, 'a man who comes after me he has surpassed me because he was before me.' 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel."

32 Then John gave this testimony: "I saw Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The one whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' 34 I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God."

28 Christ's First Contact with Some of the Twelve.

John 1:35-51

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the lamb of God!" 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?" They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"

39 "Come," he replied, "and you will see." So they went and saw where they were staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour. 40 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah." (that is the Christ) 42 Then he brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas." (which when translated is Peter) 43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me." 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathaniel and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets wrote -- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathaniel asked.

"Come and see," said Philip.

47 When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."

48 "How do you know me?" Nathaniel asked.

Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."

49 Then Nathaniel declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." 50 Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."