Matthew 4:1-11

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Check out I John 2:15-17--15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, ``If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.'' 4 But He answered and said, ``It is written, `MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.' '' LUST OF THE FLESH-Dependence-The Devil always wants to get your dependence upon anything other than God.

5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said* to Him, ``If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, `HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU'; and `ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.' '' 7 Jesus said to him, ``On the other hand, it is written, `YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.' '' PRIDE OF LIFE-Dominance-The Devil always wants you to put God to the test, pushing you to the edge.

8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, ``All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.'' 10 Then Jesus said* to him, ``Go, Satan! For it is written, `YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.' '' 11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him. LUST OF THE EYES-Desires-The Devil always wants to give you more at a very high cost-to do it his way, to bow down and worship him instead of God!

NOTE: As soon as Jesus was announced and affirmed by His Father and His Spirit He was led by the Spirit into an encounter with the Devil. 1-You will find this same thing happening in your life. Immediately after one of your highest points, expect the real attacks and testings from the Evil One.

2-The same 3 temptations Jesus faced were the same as Eve and Adam encountered in the garden and the same we encounter today.

3-In every encounter with the Evil One Jesus came back at him by quoting the truth from Scripture right at him. The same is true for you today.

4-To counteract the counterfeit temptations from the Evil One you must know the genuine truth of God very well.

5-Your greatest temptations will come, when you are hungry, angry, lonely or tired-H.A.L.T.

6-Check out James 4:6-7: ``GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.'' 7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Matthew 3

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1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, primarily along the Jordan River Valley to the Dead Sea saying, 2 ``Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew uses "kingdom of heaven" in place of "kingdom of God" 32 out of 36 times. This kingdom is not a place, but a rule-a presence of God on earth.

'' 3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, ``THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, `MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!' John's ministry was announcing the end of the old and introducing the new that is to come through the coming of the Messiah. '' 4 Now John himself had a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem was going out to him and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; 6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

Who were going out to be baptized? Those who went out from Jerusalem must have heard of John's preaching and were interested enough to check him out. They must have had some discontentment with what they were experiencing. When they heard John's preaching to "repent", they submitted themselves to be baptized in this new way, confessing their sins of rejecting the way of the Messiah.

NOTE "repent" means to change your mind about what you believe or are doing and turn around in your thinking or behavior. The Jews had more reason to REPENT-to turn around and back to a personal relationship with their God.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ``You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 ``Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; 9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, `We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 10 ``The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

John wasn't easy on the religious who came out to the wilderness to be baptized. He pointed out that they were so close to the axe and/or fire of judgment before making this decision to repent.

11 ``As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 ``His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.''

John came to open the door of change-to repent-to make way for God's Messiah. John baptized with water to move people into repentance. Jesus will come and baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Jesus' baptism will be an inside job by His Spirit and will be a purifying work of fire.

13 Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, ``I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?'' 15 But Jesus answering said to him, ``Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.'' Then he permitted Him. 16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ``This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.''

John didn't want to baptize Jesus, the One he spoke about earlier as mightier than he. However Jesus was determined that John would baptize Him to fulfill all righteousness. Why is it that Jesus was determined to submit Himself to this baptism?

1. Example to follow-Jesus set the way for all those who will live out the Kingdom lifestyle. 2. Identification with sinners-Jesus wanted to identify Himself with sinners. This is very interesting. He identified Himself with sinners, so that we sinners would trust in Him and identify ourselves with Him. 3. Affirmation of John's ministry/teaching-Jesus wanted to give affirmation to the teachings of John to prepare the way for the Kingdom of Heaven.

BAPTISM-The meaning of baptism is identification. The root meaning of "baptize" is to immerse or dip something into something else. For example, if you take a cloth that is identified by "white" and dip it (baptize) into a bucket of "red" dye, the white cloth will have a new identification-RED. When a person is baptized into Jesus, he is identified as a follower of Jesus-in one with Him.

I see water baptism as the "kingdom ID card" for all of those who want to walk with Jesus in His kingdom. New Testament baptism seems to be believer's baptism and not infant baptism. There are all kinds of good reasons given for baptizing babies, but this "kingdom ID card" is for those who have made a willing decision to be identified with Jesus in His kingdom.

So, have you picked up your "kingdom ID card" yet?

Matthew 2

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1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 ``Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.

NOTE they referred to "His star" as being identifiable. I believe the heavens declare the story of God-the message of creation, the Fall and the story of salvation through God's Messiah. Psalm 19:1-2 says: The heavens are telling of the glory of God and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech and night to night reveals knowledge. Those astronomers who have studied the stars can learn God's plan from beginning to end. This is not the modern day astrologer or the fortune-telling astrology in the newspapers or from a "spiritually gifted" person reading your lifeline. The astrology of today has picked up on a real truth about the stars, but it is a counterfeit to what God is really saying through the heavens. One of the best known sources of the genuine message of God's plan revealed through the stars is E.W. Bullinger's Witness of the Stars.

'' 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, ``In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 6 `AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.' ''

NOTE there are location prophecies regarding the Messiah given here in this section. First, the God's Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. The reason this is important to note is that there are all sorts of attacks on the story of Jesus' birth and place of origin, but these 4 location prophecies clear it up.

7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared

Apparently the star had been noted by the magi quite some time ago, probably over a year earlier. They analyzed the meaning of the star and made their way to Jerusalem by camel, not by plane.

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem Just as God had the king of Nineveh gather the people to hear Jonah's message from God, so does the Lord use another non-believer king to point the way to Bethlehem for the magi. and said, ``Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him Yeah, rightW'' 9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star which they had seen in the east went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was

NOTE the star they first saw sent them to Jerusalem and not Bethlehem. Now, having learned where to go from Jerusalem, the star reappears and directs them right to where Jesus was living. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy Their journey had been made complete as this star that they had followed rested over the place of the Messiah. Their faith was rewarded coming all this way and now what they believed was true was true. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother

NOTE that the Messiah was no longer in a stable, but in a house. He is well over a year old at this time. and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him

NOTE that the magi knew that they were dealing with God's Messiah, worthy of worship, because this is the promised gift to the world, testified in the stars. Also, note that this would have been a great time to worship Mary, if that would be appropriate. But they didn't. Their entire focus of worship was upon Jesus.

Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh How many "wise men" were? This is where we get that there were 3, because of the 3 types of gifts, but we don't really know. It's just another Christian rumor.

12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way God first guided them to Jesus through Herod and now is directing them to avoid Herod.

Now, given Herod's great desire to come and "worship" the new King who was born and that Herod knew where He was, it was time to "get out of Dodge" to protect God's Messiah.

13 Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared* to Joseph in a dream and said, ``Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.'' 14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. 15 He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ``OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON.'' Here's the 2nd location prophecy. The Messiah will live in Egypt for a time.

16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: 18 ``A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH, WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNIN, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN; AND SHE REFUSED, TO BE COMFORTED, BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE.'' Here is the 3rd location prophecy associated with the Messiah's birth and early days. Apparently, in Herod's rage and determination to destroy this new King of the Jews he ordered that all babies under the age of two (just to be safe) be killed. Rama was within a circle of about 10 miles that included Bethlehem and its vicinity. Jeremiah, the prophet, noted that this mass killing of children by the jealous, evil Herod would be felt all the way to Rama. What a horrible tragedy!

19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, 20 ``Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child's life are dead.'' 21 So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there Archelaus had been mentored by his father and was just as bad. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, 23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: ``He shall be called a Nazarene.'' Here is location prophecy number 5. Jesus will live and grow up in Nazareth. Some today who are prone to attack the validity of the bible point to Jesus' being from Nazareth as the place He most likely was born and not Bethlehem. They make this assumption, because people were not prone to move about that much. However, Jesus and His family were moved about by God for His protection.]

NOTE: Who were these Magi? They came from Babylon or Persia. They weren't sorcerers or magicians, but astrologers/astronomers. They knew what they were looking for as they had searched the stars. They seemed to know something about the Messiah who was to come. Some believe that these men were of the religious persuasion of the Zoroastrians, who believed that God would someday send His Messiah to redeem the earth and its inhabitants. Note that they were non-Jews from a foreign country. How could they know such things to look for? The answer is that someone told them. It was Daniel. Daniel had been in Babylon and was made the head of the "magicians" (Magi). He no doubt taught them God's ways and Daniel is the prophet whom God used to pinpoint the exact timing of the birth, presentation of Him as King and the death of the Messiah. What Daniel had taught had been passed down from generation to generation.

What does this say to us? 1. The supernatural birth of God's Messiah, Jesus, was a most monumental event in history worthy of divine direction even to non-Jews. 2. God will guide those who are interested in searching out the Messiah. I especially have seen this of the Jewish people. God seems to give them more clues and indicators than He does the rest of us. All God requires of any of us is that we be interested, then He directs the path to truth. 3. If we are willing to search out God's Messiah, then the greatest joy imaginable will be the result. He is the way, the truth and the life! This is not a search in order to defend Christianity, but to search for the Christ-God's Messiah. Searching to know a religious system is worthless, unless you want to win debates. Searching for a relationship with God's Messiah will bring you joy, peace and the fullness of life that only God can give.

Matthew 1:18-25

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18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph [Engagement/betrothal was considered as good as being married in Jewish culture, any children conceived during this time were considered legitimate. The penalty for fornication with a betrothed woman was more serious than with a fully married women.], before they came together she was found to be with child, by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ``Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 ``She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.'' 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 ``BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD, AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,'' which translated means, ``GOD WITH US.'' 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

NOTE the names and titles given to this baby. JESUS--This is more than "name him Robert or Frank". Jesus is from the Hebrew name "Yeshua" and means "God will save"

LORD--This is from the Hebrew term "Adonai" which is used in the Hebrew in place of Jehovah (YHVH--Yahweh). They believe that Jehovah (YHVH), the name for their God was too holy to even be written down, so they used "adonai" (Lord). In fact, you will see today many Jewish writers use the term "G-d" for "God" out of respect for not writing down God's name.

CHRIST--This is not Jesus' last name, but a significant title for God's Messiah, meaning anointed One or Messiah. There have been over 50 people claiming to be Messiah (or claimed by their followers) since Jesus' time (Yeshua). Two of the more famous were Simon Bar Kokba in the 2nd century who led a failed revolt against the Romans. The other was more recent-Rabbi Menachem Scheerson of Brooklyn, who passed away a few years ago. In the case of Schneerson it is interesting that his followers believed he would be resurrected 3 days after his death. They quoted Hosea 6:2: "After two days he will revive us, on the third day He will raise us up."

IMMANUEL--This is literally "with" (IM) "us" (ANU) "God" (EL for Elohim meaning God). He will be known as the "with us God" or "God with us". Other Messianic names were Shiloh, Branch, Sprout, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Immanuel means "God with us." He can't be Immanuel-God with us, unless he is virgin born. That's the only way! And notice, unless He is Emmanuel, He cannot be Jesus, the Savior. The reason they call Him Jesus, Savior, is because He is God with us. This is the first Old Testament prophecy noted in the New Testament.

Can you see that this is not just another religious story or even the beginning of the religion known as Christianity? This is the fulfillment of God's promise to send to mankind His Messiah.

Matthew 1:1-17

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The traditional way to view the Gospels is to see them as 4, but I would rather think in terms of 5-Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts. The first 4 provide different snapshots and Acts is a continuation of Luke. Here is an overview that might prove helpful:

Each of these books present a little different snapshot of Jesus. MATTHEW presents Jesus as the Messiah, the King. MARK presents Jesus as the Messiah, the Servant. LUKE presents Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of Man. JOHN presents Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. ACTS is the continuation of Luke's Gospel and really presents a revolutionary marketing plan.

The Gospel of Matthew quotes more of the Old Testament than the others, because it is aimed at a Jewish audience. I like this Gospel so much because of the many speeches by Jesus throughout. So much insight into His teachings can be gained from this book.

Many people have a difficult time beginning this book because of the list of impossible names. Matthew and Luke both present genealogies of Jesus, but they are different, different, yet the same generational lines flowing out of the family of David. The easiest way to understand the differences in these two genealogies is that Matthew presents the genealogy of Joseph and Luke presents the genealogy of Mary-both presenting the godly line of Jesus traced back to the family and throne of King David.

What's most interesting is that the godly line of the Messiah had to be traced back through Abraham and David, but after the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D., no one could lay claim to the Messianic lineage. The records were destroyed!

Now let's move through the genealogy. Pronounce the names the best you can. Just get through it, because there is a special gem on the other end.

From Abraham to David. 1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: You just can't get more Jewish than this! This is a book about the Jewish Messiah, whose lineage is from the father of the Jews-Abraham, and from the royal lineage of the great Jewish King David. The promise of the Messiah was that He would come through the line of David, of his family and all of the Jews believed this would be so. You wouldn't be able to convince any Jew that Jesus was the Messiah without this proof. He was also to be a descendant of Abraham. The promise was given in Genesis 12:3; 21:12.

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. 4 Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. 5 Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. 6 Jesse was the father of David the king.

From David to Babylonian Captivity. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa. 8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah. 9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah. 11 Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

From Babylonian Captivity to Messiah. 12 After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor. 14 Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud. 15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob. 16 Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

NOTE the change of wording here. All of the "begetting" or the "father of" was used throughout, UNTIL we come to Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Matthew is careful to note that Joseph is not the father of Jesus, but listed as the husband of Mary. THEN "by whom" (Mary) Jesus was born and He was called the Messiah. Although Joseph was not the physical father of Jesus, He was still a descendant of the family of David.

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

In Jesus' day it was unusual to find in a genealogy a woman's name, yet here we have four names. They are four women who are Gentiles. As you know, God in the Law said that His people were not to intermarry with pagan and heathen tribes. Even Abraham was instructed by God to send back to his people to get a bride for his son Isaac. Also, the same thing was done by Isaac for his son Jacob. It was God's arrangement that monotheism should be the prevailing belief of those who were in the line that was leading down to the Messiah. Yet in His genealogy are the names of four gentile women-two of them were Canaanites, one was a Moabite, and the fourth was a Hittite! So why?

"Tamar" is the first one. Her story is in Genesis 38, and there she is called Tamar. That chapter is one of the worst in the Bible. Tamar got into the genealogy, because she was a sinner.

"Rahab" is the next one mentioned. She's not a very pretty character in her story back in Joshua chapter 2 where she is called Rahab. But she did become a wonderful person after she came to a knowledge of the living and true God. "By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace" (Heb. 11:31). She got into the genealogy of the Messiah for the simple reason that she believed. Note the progression here. Come as a sinner and then reach out the hand of faith.

"Ruth" is the next one mentioned. She is a beautiful person and you won't find anything wrong with her. But at Ruth's time there was the Law which shut her out, because it said that a Moabite or an Ammonite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord (see Deut. 23:3). Although the Law kept her out, there was a man by the name of Boaz who came into his field one day and saw her. It was love at first sight. Boaz loved Ruth at first sight, and he extended grace to her by putting his mantle around her and bringing her, a Gentile, into the congregation of Israel. She asked, "Why have I found grace in your eyes?" (Ruth 2:10). You and I can ask that same question of God regarding His grace to us. Again, note the progression. We come as sinners and hold out the hand of faith, and He by His amazing grace brings salvation to us.

"Bathsheba", called "her that had been the wife of Uriah" (v. 6). She got into the genealogy of Christ because God does not throw overboard one of His children who sins. A sheep can get out of the fold and become a lost sheep, but we have a Shepherd who goes after sheep and always brings them back into the fold. He brought David back. So this is the whole story of salvation right here in this genealogy.

God's amazing grace. How sweet the sound.