Matthew 4 -- His Temptations

Boy, my commentary had a lot of "meat" today!

"It is important to note that Jesus faced the enemy as man, not as the Son of God ... We must not think that Jesus used His divine powers to overcome the enemy, because that is just what the enemy wanted Him to do!  Jesus used the spiritual resources that are available to us today:  the power of the Holy Spirit of God and the power of the Word of God.  Jesus had nothing in His nature that would give Satan a foothold, but His temptations were real, just the same.  Temptation involves the will and Jesus came to do the Father's will."

"The first temptation was a subtle suggestion that our Father does not love us.  But there was another suggestion:  'Use Your divine powers to meet Your own needs.'  When we put our physical needs ahead of our spiritual needs, we sin.  When we allow circumstances to dictate our actions, instead of following God's will, we sin."

"The second temptation was even more subtle.  This time Satan also used the Word of God.  'So You intend to live by the Scriptures,' he implied.  'Then let me quote You a verse of Scripture and see if You will obey it!' ... Satan then quoted from Psalm 91:11-12, where God promised to care for His own.  'If You really believe the Scriptures, then jump!  Let's see if the Father cares for You!' ... Satan had cleverly omitted the phrase 'in all thy ways' when he quoted from Psalm 91.  When the child of God is in the will of God, the Father will protect him.  He watches over those who are in His ways."

"We tempt God when we put ourselves into circumstances that force Him to work miracles on our behalf."

"The devil offered Jesus a shortcut to His kingdom ... If He bowed down and worshiped Satan just once, He could enjoy all the glory without enduring the suffering.  Satan has always wanted worship, because Satan has always wanted to be God ... There are no shortcuts to the will of God.  If we want to share in the glory, we must also share in the suffering."

Satan continued to tempt Jesus during His lifetime on earth.  He does the same with us.  "One victory never guarantees freedom from further temptation.  If anything, each victory we experience only makes Satan try harder."

Wow, Father!  What it must feel like to have nothing in our nature that Satan could use as a foothold!  Help me never to doubt Your love for me.  Help me not to put my physical needs ahead of my spiritual needs.  Don't let me allow circumstances to dictate my actions instead of following Your will.  Keep me in Your ways.  And remind me often how Satan uses "just once" as an enticement to sin, trying to make us believe that just once won't hurt.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Matthew 3 -- Validating Jesus

My commentary said roughly 30 years passed between chapters 2 and 3.  They were the hidden years in Nazareth when Jesus grew from a boy to a man.  "Was He still qualified to be King?  Had anything taken place that would disqualify Him?" my commentary asked.  Matthew gives us witnesses who proved that the answers to those questions were "No!".

It's so easy for me to recall their own upbringings and their own failures and wonder how Jesus made it through those turbulent years without sin.  But we have to remember that He had simply changed His location from the throne room of Heaven to earth.  He had already existed since eternity and He carried that knowledge with Him into His human form.

Why was Jesus baptized?  My commentary said John's baptism "was authorized from heaven ... it was a baptism of repentance looking forward to the Messiah's coming ... Jesus was not baptized because He was a repentant sinner.  Even John tried to stop Jesus, but the Lord knew it was His Father's will.  Why was Jesus baptized?  First, His baptism gave approval to John's ministry.  Second, He identified Himself with publicans and sinners, the very people He came to save.  But mainly, His baptism pictured His future baptism on the cross when all the waves and billows of God's judgment would go over Him.  Thus, John the Baptish bore witness to Jesus Christ as the Son of God and also as the Lamb of God."

"The coming of the Holy Spirit like a dove identified Jesus to John, and also assured Jesus as He began His ministry that the Spirit's ministry would always be His."

God the Father also spoke from Heaven and His statement "also relates Jesus Christ to the Suffering Servant prophesied In Isaiah 40-53 ... Finally, the Father's statement approved all that Jesus had done up to that point.  His hidden years in Nazareth were years of pleasing the Father." 

Father, I apologize again that my years growing up do not meet Your same approval.  Thank You for the forgiveness You've given me.  Help me to grow in Christ and strive to be more like Him every day.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Matthew 2 -- A Little Fact-Checking About Christmas Lore

My commentary reminds us that some of our Christmas images are somewhat inaccurate.  There were wise men who sought out Jesus because of the star, but they weren't kings.  We don't know how many there were, either.  People assumed there were three because of the three gifts mentioned.  "But when their caravan arrived in Jerusalem, there were enough of them to trouble the whole city."  They were also Gentiles.

"King Herod was not a full-blooded Jew; he was actually an Idumaean, a descendant of Esau.  This was a picture of the old struggle between Esau and Jacob that began even before the boys were born," it said.

"The magi were seeking the King; Herod was opposing the King; and the Jewish priests were ignoring the King.  These priests knew the Scriptures and pointed others to the Savior, but they would not go to worship Him themselves!  They quoted Micah 5:2 but did not obey it.  They were five miles from the very Son of God, yet they did not go to see Him!  The Gentiles sought and found Him, but the Jews did not."

By the time the wise men arrived, "Joseph had moved Mary and the baby from the temporary dwelling where the Lord Jesus had been born.  The traditional manger scenes that assemble together the shepherds and wise men are not true to Scripture, since the magi arrived much later."

Herod wanted to destroy the newborn King.  God warned Joseph to flee to Egypt with his family.  "Egypt was close.  There were many Jews there, and the treasures received from the magi would more than pay the expenses for traveling and living there."  I'd never even thought of what became of them!  And Joseph's obedience fulfilled another prophecy:  "I called My Son out of Egypt."

The wise men, warned by God, went home a different way, so Herod didn't learn from them where Jesus was living.  To cover his bases, Herod had all boys under two in Bethlehem killed.  My commentary estimated the number to be close to twenty, based on the size of the town.

Herod died in 4 B.C.  His son Archelaus took his place.  "The Jews discovered that, in spite of his promises of kindness, Archelaus was as wicked as his father.  So they sent a delegation to Rome to protest his crowning.  Augustus Caesar agreed with the Jews and made Archelaus an ethnarch over half of his father's kingdom ... Joseph knew that he and his family were no safer under the rule of Archelaus than they had been under Herod the Great ... Common sense told him to be careful; faith told him to wait.  In due time, God spoke to Joseph in a dream, and he took his wife and her Son to Nazareth, which had been their home earlier."

God Himself was sovereign, weaving the prophecies into the life of His Son, proving that He was the Son of God.  Thank You for bringing my Savior to this world, Father, to pay for my sins to assure me of life forever with You!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Matthew 1 -- Heredity Is Important

In chapter 1, Matthew presented "the Heredity of the King", for "royalty depends on heredity."  My commentary said, "Jesus Christ is the only Jew alive who can actually prove His claims to the throne of David!  All the other records were destroyed when the Romans took Jerusalem in A.D. 70."

"All of Jewish history prepared the way for His birth.  God in His providence ruled and overruled to accomplish His great purpose in bringing His Son into the world.  This genealogy also illustrates God's wonderful grace."  Tamar was Judah's daughter-in-law, but she was listed as the mother of two of Judah's children, due to his sin.  Rahab was a harlot from Jericho -- the city destroyed by God when Joshua marched around its walls.  It even mentions that Solomon's mother had been Uriah's wife, and David had arranged for Uriah to be killed to cover up his own adultery with Uriah's wife.  And Manasseh, perhaps the vilest of Judah's kings, was Jesus' ancestor as well.  God overruled his sin to bring His Savior into the world!

Another interesting item from my commentary:

"Every child born into the world is a totally new creature.  But Jesus Christ, being eternal God, existed before ... any of His earthly ancestors."  It's amazing to think of Jesus watching from Heaven as David grew up, knowing that the product of his sin with Bathsheba would be overruled to carry His royal line on down to Him when He was incarnated on earth!

Father, I love and cherish Your grace.  To think that You can us me, in spite of my sin, as You have used millions in the past, is so incredible.  Thank You for Your grace!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Acts 28 -- We Never Know

Paul and all of the survivors of the shipwreck had landed on Malta.  276 people had all survived!  The Maltans built a large beach fire to warm them.  Paul, never one to sit back and claim privilege, busied himself collecting wood and adding it to the fire, and a poisonous snake residing in the pile of wood bit him as it was trying to escape.  God kept him healthy, however, to the amazement of all.

I liked a discussion about it in my commentary:

"Was the viper a weapon of Satan to get Paul out of the way?  The storm didn't drown him, but a hidden trap might catch him.  As Christians, we must constantly be alert, for either the serpent or the lion will attack us.  We should keep in mind that we are being watched, and we must use every opportunity to magnify Christ."

Father, You really impressed upon me the importance of that last sentence.  Everything we do, every minute of every day, can either magnify Christ or turn others away from Him because of our actions.  We never know who is watching, and our actions could cause others to disbelieve if we aren't careful.  Guard my heart.  Help me to remember this.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Acts 27 -- What A Shipwreck!

"What A Shipwreck" really describes this chapter!  Getting from Caesarea to Rome was a multi-month ordeal back then, much akin to hitchhiking by ship, and travel by sea was very restricted in the fall and winter of the year due to weather.

The centurion reminded me a lot of my dad when we took the car on vacations, trying his very best to get as far down the road as possible before stopping for the night.  But God had His own timetable and slowed the ships.

Paul acted as a counselor, encourage, and helper, my commentary said, as they vainly tried to buck the weather, and his advice -- given by God -- safely brought everyone to shore, though wet and quite a bit thinner for having not eaten in two weeks.

I liked some practical lessons my commentary saw in this chapter:

1)  storms often come when we disobey the will of God

2)  storms have a way of revealing character

3)  even the worst storms cannot hide the face of God or hinder the purposes of God

4)  storms give us opportunities to serve others and bear witness to Jesus Christ.

Father, these remind me of "storms" I've endured, and I thank You that You've taught me to trust You through it all!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Acts 26 -- Paul's Hearing, and mine, too.

Paul didn't rant about his treatment.  Instead, he simply told his story:

"I lived a Pharisee...

I saw a light ...

I heard a voice ...

I was not disobedient...

I continue unto this day..." my commentary said.

"We must remind ourselves that Paul and the other apostles did not have the New Testament, but used the Old Testament to lead sinners to Christ and to nurture the new believers ... He simply shared with others what he had learned and experienced as a follower of Jesus Christ."  That's all it takes!

Something else I read really brought back memories:

"Jesus Christ spoke to Paul in the familiar Aramaic tongue of the Jews, called him by name, and told him it was futile for him to continue fighting the Lord."  I remember getting that same message, and like a tired kid, I gave in and gave up, and I've never regretted it for a moment.  Have you reached that point?  It's crazy to keep fighting a battle you'll never win just because.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford