Jesus begins His earthly ministry when He is about thirty years old (Luke 3:23). This first phase of Jesus’ earthly ministry will last about a year and a half. Let’s look at the circumstances surrounding this momentous occasion. Jesus’ ministry starts when the heavens are rolled back and His Father speaks. Wow! What would it …
The Father spent the first thirty years of Jesus’ life preparing Him to be the model leader and the shepherd of His people. Thirty years living as a human being — tempted, suffering, experiencing life growing up in a dry land that was under occupation by a strong Roman force. Jesus was prepared by the …
If you had any doubt that Jesus suffered for you after yesterday’s study, today’s might hit you hard. In Psalms, we get a glimpse into Jesus’ relationship with His brothers and His community. The picture is a sad one. It shows what life was like for Jesus on a daily basis. Take a moment to …
Today, we will be leaving the gospels and looking at the Old Testament Messianic passages. A Messianic passage is a section of scripture in the Old Testament in which God shines light on the coming Messiah, giving people a view of what is to come. We will be doing this from time to time because, …
When we left the story yesterday, the Magi (wise men) had just visited Jesus and His family and had brought Him some very expensive gifts. During the night, His father has a dream in which the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and escape …
The next morning, Joseph and Mary took the baby Jesus and went to look for family in the Judean Hills of Bethlehem. Remember, this is the land of both their families, which is why they had returned here for the worldwide census, issued by Caesar of Augustus. Jesus’ family was going to settle in and …
Each day we will be looking deep into the life of the God/Man — Jesus. We will be walking through the 33 years of the earthly life of our Lord. Let’s begin by looking at Jesus’ first look at the world. Start your time asking God to open the eyes of your understanding as He …
Our study will begin with the birth of Jesus and go all the way to His death, resurrection and ascension. In this first phase of the movement, we will be looking at how the Father prepared His Son to be the greatest leader that has ever lived on earth. In King David, Jesus gives us …
As I read the early chapters of the Gospels, I see Jesus speaking the same command to almost everyone he meets: follow me! For decades Christians have understood this to mean “say a prayer of repentance and commitment to Jesus, attend church regularly, and live a generally good life”. There is a problem with this. …
A number of years ago John Piper wrote “Fifty Reasons Why Christ Suffered and Died” (The Passion of Christ [Wheaton: Crossway, 2004]; PDF). Christ Suffered and Died . . . To Absorb the Wrath of God (Rom. 3:25; Gal 3:13; 1 Jn. 4:10) To Please His Heavenly Father (Isa. 53:10; Eph. 5:2) To Learn Obedience …