E100-55

 

Jesus' Baptism and Temptation

Matthew 3:13-4:17

Kevin's Commentary on Baptism and Temptation

You are encouraged to go through steps or process scripture in these steps:

• Pray = in anticipation of what God wants you to discover. Lord, there is so much good help for me in the Bible. Help me today to learn more from it.
• Read = with purpose look for what God is trying to communicate. You may want to read out of several translations and highlight key words.
• Reflect = on the context and put yourself in the shoes of people at that time. What can you learn from this account of Jesus’ temptation that will help you when you are tempted? What temptations affect you the most?
•     God is ... What do we learn about God?
•     We are ... What do we learn about people?
• Apply = information without application is fruitless. Decide on some practical steps you can take for fulfill what God wants you to do. List the biggest temptations in your life. For each, jot down some practical strategies for resisting.
• Pray = yielding to God to empower you to do what the word convicted you to do. Lord, I pray that throughout this day and the days ahead, You will help me to resist temptation and honor You.

For deeper Bible study and more resources go to Life of Christ Blog notes.

For other parts of the Essential 100 Scripture Series, click on the link with the topic #E100.

Links

#Baptism

#Temptation

When those who are called to fish don’t fish, they fight.

Jesus told John the Baptist, “It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness” (Mt 3:15). Jesus followed God’s will by resisting the devil’s temptations and by teaching, preaching, and healing.
Jesus gave his disciples the most rewarding job. He taught them to reach out to people with the Good News of God.
When I was in high school, our family used to fish every year during spring break. One year my brother and my mom couldn’t go, so my dad let me invite a friend. I asked Mark. He was a good pal and a great sport. He got permission from his parents, and we began planning our trip.
We loaded our camper and set out for the lake.
We arrived late at night, unfolded the camper, and went to bed—dreaming of tomorrow’s day in the sun. But during the night, an unseasonably strong norther blew in. It got cold fast! The wind was so strong that we could barely open the camper door the next morning. The sky was gray. The lake was a mountain range of white-topped waves. There was no way we could fish in that weather.
“No problem,” we said. “We’ll spend the day in the camper. After all, we have Monopoly. We have Reader’s Digest. We all know a few jokes. It’s not what we came to do, but we’ll make the best of it and fish tomorrow.”
We were in for a surprise. The next morning it wasn’t the wind that made the door hard to open, it was the ice!
It was a long day. It was a long, cold night.
When we awoke the next morning to the sound of sleet slapping the canvas, we didn’t even pretend to be cheerful. We were flat-out grumpy. Mark became more of a jerk with each passing moment; I wondered what spell of ignorance I must have been in when I invited him. Dad couldn’t do anything right; I wondered how someone so irritable could have such an even-tempered son. We sat in misery the whole day, our fishing equipment still unpacked.
The next day was even colder. “We’re going home” were my father’s first words. No one objected.
I learned a hard lesson that week. Not about fishing, but about people.
When those who are called to fish don’t fish, they fight.
But note the other side of this fish tale: When those who are called to fish, fish—they flourish!
Are you a faithful worker in God’s service? Is it easier for you to share your faith or argue with another Christian? Ask God to help you become a successful fisher of people.