The Story: Week 11

Recap

All of human history has brought us to this point.

YHWH, the self existent creator of the heavens and the earth has now landed on Earth as a man.

God Himself, clothed in flesh and bone in order to heal the broken hearted, liberate the captives, restore right relation between humans and Himself, and to cut down the rebellious dark spirits that harm us.

The champion promised in Genesis 3 has come to crush the serpent.

Prophets spoke of Him.

Poets and warriors wrote about Him.

Kings longed to see Him.

And now He is here.

The war for the hearts of men and women is about to begin.

The Early Years

As I told you last week, Herod the current king of Judea heard that the Christ had been born by wise men that sought Him.

In an attempt to retain his own power, Herod sent troops to Bethlehem to Kill every child under the age of 2.

Joseph and Mary heard about Herods plans and fled to Egypt.

After an unspecified amount of time, Herod dies of old age, and Joseph moves his family back to Judea.

Settling in a town called Nazareth.

Jesus would spend most of His childhood in Nazareth.

But it was apparent from the beginning that Jesus was not an ordinary child.

It was common for Jewish people to make a yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem so they could visit the Temple.

The Gospel of Luke details something that happened on one of these trips.

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 2

41 Now Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem every year for the Feast of the Passover.

42 When he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.

43 But when the feast was over, as they were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it,

44 but (because they assumed that he was in their group of travelers) they went a day’s journey. Then they began to look for him among their relatives and acquaintances.

45 When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.

46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

47 And all who heard Jesus were astonished at his understanding and his answers.

48 When his parents saw him, they were overwhelmed. His mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.”

49 But he replied, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

Did you notice that?

At 12 years old, Jesus is sitting with the religious leaders.

These are men that have diligently studied the scriptures their entire life.

People that have memorized the entire Old Testament.

“and all who heard Jesus were astonished at His understanding and His answers.”

More time passed and Jesus got older.

Until, finally it was time for Jesus to begin His ministry.

To reveal His true Identity and usher in the Kingdom of Heaven.

It begins with a baptism.

The Baptism of Christ

Remember that man we talked about last week?

John the Baptist.

The one who walks in the spirit of Elijah to announce the coming of the Messiah.

Who lives in the wild eating locusts and Honey, dressing Himself in animal furs?

Well he has grown up too, and began his ministry.

John would call people to repentance, and Baptize them with water.

Baptism bears immense symbolic meaning.

Remember Noah and the Flood?

Evil spiritual beings came and bred with human women, they established corrupt kingdoms ruled by demonic demi gods?

So God sent a flood to destroy the Earth, but preserved Noah and his family?

Baptism mirrored that Event.

It was a statement that you were drowning all the wickedness in your life and being raised out of the waters in association with Noah's family, as a person loyal and obedient to YHWH.

It was a personal declaration of war, where you clearly identified whose side you were on.

Like saying “I will not side with the dark forces, instead I fight for the one who rescued Noah from the waters”.

Because of the Intense symbolic meaning of John the baptists ministry, people thought John might be the Messiah they were waiting for.

When they question him about this, John gives them a intimidating answer:

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 3

15 While the people were filled with anticipation and they all wondered whether perhaps John could be the Christ,

16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water, but one more powerful than I am is coming—I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clean out his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.”

In other words: “I am not the Christ, but the one who is will not just clean you with water, but will purify you with the immediate presence of God and burn away all the filth with fire! He will gather the people that are loyal to Him, and everything else will be burned away.”

Pretty intense stuff.

Now that you understand the meaning of Baptism, as an outward declaration of whose side you fight for.

It makes sense that this is the way that Jesus begins his ministry

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 1

9 Now in those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan River.

10 And just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my one dear Son; in you I take great delight.”

Jesus is letting every spiritual force in the world know who He sides with.

Then, the person of the Father makes a declaration.

The Greek word that we translate as “One dear Son” is Monogenes.

It doesnt just mean “this is my son” it describes something that is an exact copy.

God is telling the entire world right here that the man Jesus is an exact copy of God, walking around in the form of a Human.

All 4 gospel accounts record this event because it is that important.

God himself says that He is this man, and this man is Him.

Immediately after the baptism Jesus goes out into the wild alone.

The Temptation of Christ

Do any of you remember the day of atonement ritual?

On the day of atonement, the Israelites were to select 2 goats.

Both of them were to be spotless and without blemish.

One would be sacrificed to YHWH and its blood was sprinkled around the tabernacle.

This was to remind the Israelites that they were in sacred space. That blood and life was needed in order to be in the presence of God.

Then the second goat had the high priest place his hand on the goats head and symbolically transfer the sins of the Israelite people to the goat.

Then they would take the goat out of the camp and release it in the wilderness.

Showing that they were to cast their sins away to the wilderness where they belong.

Outside and away from the presence of YHWH.

So what does it mean when Jesus goes out to the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil?

Do any of you watch UFC?

You know what a face off is right?

Where the two fighters meet before the match and they stare each other down?

That’s whats happening in this moment.

The presence of God is walking directly into enemy territory to call out and challenge the enemy.

Jesus is going out to pick a fight.

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 4

4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

2 After he fasted forty days and forty nights he was famished.

3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.”

4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the highest point 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 ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

7 Jesus said to him, “Once again it is written: ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur.

9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me.”

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ ”

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and began ministering to his needs.

This is really cool, but it can be a little difficult to understand.

So, let me break it down for you.

This is a battle of wits, with bribes, threats, and mockery.

First off, the enemy doesn't know everything.

He knows that Jesus is God in flesh.

He knows that God has come to crush the forces of darkness and to bring all of humanity into right relation with YHWH.

But the Devil doesn't know how God intends on doing this.

He also doesn't know if God may have weaknesses while he is walking in flesh and bone.

And so the face off begins with the Devil trying to gather information.

“If you are…command these stones to become bread”

Jesus is obviously hungry, He has been fasting for 40 days.

But the temptation isn't about hunger at all.

The enemy wants to know if Jesus can be persuaded to act independently of Gods will.

Will you give in to normal human needs and desires, if it means stepping outside of your Fathers Immediate will?

Jesus responds with a quotation from the Old Testament.

His answer is incredible.

“My nourishment comes from the Father, and the Father alone. I will not break from His will.”

The Devil then takes Jesus up to the top of the temple and QUOTES SCRIPTURE to Jesus!

“Why don't you come and reveal your full glory to the world right now? Go ahead, throw yourself off! You said yourself that you would be protected and not be harmed!”

Again, the enemy is fishing for information.

What is it he wants to know?

“In this fleshly form, can you be killed?”

The enemy has no Idea that in order for Gods plan to work, Jesus has to be killed!

If Jesus had thrown Himself off and was carried down safely, the enemy would conclude that he couldn't kill the Messiah.

He would have checked that off his plan of attack.

Jesus claps back again with scripture, “You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.”

Essentially saying “you wont learn anything from me, you're wasting your time.”

In an act of mockery, the Devil takes Jesus up to a mountain and shows Him all the nations of the Earth.

Now remember, all of the nations are in rebellion against God.

God divorced them at the tower of Babel.

At this moment in time they legally belong to the Enemy according to Gods own word.

The Devil knows that Jesus came in order to reclaim all of Humanity.

To bring us back home to God!

The Devil said “I know what you came for! Here, no need to fight, Ill give it all to you, you just have to bow to me!”

So Jesus responds, “I will not bow to you. I did not come to make a deal, I came to take back what is mine! Run!”

With that, the enemy turns back.

The presence of God has gone to the enemies domain and said “I challenge you, and I wont budge.”

Closing

Jesus has announced to the forces of darkness who He is.

And who he fights for.

He walked straight into enemy territory and challenged the enemy.

From this point on, the war for humanity has begun.

With Jesus leading the crusade.

We will continue with “The Story” next week.