Lesson 17 - Senior
Memory Verse
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).
Cross References
I Jesus' Meeting with John at the Banks of Jordan
1. His approach through the multitude to be baptised of John, [MAT:3:13]; [MAT:3:5-6]; [LUK:3:21-23].
2. The deference John pays to Jesus in his reluctance to baptise Him, [MAT:3:14]; [JHN:1:26-27].
3. Jesus baptised to fulfill all righteousness, [MAT:3:15].
II Jesus' Baptism and Anointing Divinely Sanctioned
1. The descent of the Spirit upon Jesus as He come up out of the water, [MAT:3:16]; [ISA:11:2]; [ISA:42:1].
2. The Voice of the Father witnessing to the Son's anointing and baptism, [MAT:3:17], [MAT:21:25].
3. The Holy Trinity -- Father, Son, and Holy Ghost -- revealed at the baptism, [MAT:28:19]; [1JN:5:6-7].
III Jesus' Temptation and Triumph over Satan
1. His forty days' fasting in the wilderness immediately after His baptism, [MAT:4:1-2; [MAK:1:12-13].
2. Satan's tempting Jesus when He hungered, and His triumph over the flesh, [MAT:4:3-4]; [DEU:8:3].
3. Satan's tempting Jesus through the Word, and His triumph over presumptuous sin (tempting God), [MAT:4:5-7]; [PS:91:11-12]; [DEU:6:16]; [PS:19:13].
4. Satan's tempting Jesus with an earthly kingdom, and His triumph over worldly glory, [MAT:4:8-11]; [JHN:18:36].
IV The Beginning of His Ministry at Nazareth
1. His return, after His temptation, "in the power of the Spirit into Galilee," [LUK:4:14-15; [MIC:3:8].
2. His sermon and text from Isaiah, at Nazareth, on the Sabbath day, [LUK:4:16-19]; [ISA:61:1-2].
3. His declaration: "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears," [LUK:4:20-21]; [DEU:18:15].
Notes
Jesus no doubt worked at His trade as a carpenter until He reached the age of thirty. He left Galilee and went down to Jordan where John was baptizing. John had been informed of His coming, for he said: "He that sent me to baptise with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptiseth with the Holy Ghost" (John 1:33). As He went up out of the water the Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove, and a Voice from Heaven witnessed to what had occurred: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
Jesus' baptism and temptation took place at the beginning of His ministry, for He returned into Galilee "in the power of the Spirit" and began His preaching. And entering into the synagogue at Nazareth on the Sabbath day, He read from the book of Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." And closing the Book He declared, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears."
Thus Isaiah's wonderful prophecy of the coming Messiah found its fulfillment seven hundred years later in the Lord Jesus Christ when at the banks of Jordan the Spirit of God came upon Him, and His glorious ministry of three and a half years began. This is the One of Whom Moses spoke: "The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken."
There are other great truths revealed in this scene at Jordan. Jesus first appeared; then the Spirit of God descended like a dove; and finally the Father Himself was manifested in the Voice from Heaven. Here were God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost -- Three in One, the Holy Trinity -- lending divine authority to Jesus' baptism, to His anointing, and to His ministry. And at the close of His ministry Jesus again verified the fact of the Holy Trinity in His commission to the disciples and in instituting the Christian water baptism: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28: 19) -- a truth which is further vindicated by the Apostles Paul and John: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all" (II Corinthians 13:14); "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word [the Son], and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one" (I John 5:7).
And Jesus furthermore demonstrated the mode of baptism when he "went up straightway out of the water," indicating that He went down into the water and came up out of the water, and was thus baptised by immersion.
Before Jesus began His ministry, however, He was "led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." And a great victory was won while "He was there in the wilderness forty days . . . with the wild beasts." He fasted those forty days and hungered, but He gained the victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil; and His weapon of defence all the way through was the Word of God. Satan, with his cunning devices, ignominiously defeated the first Adam in Eden, but he was completely put to rout by the last Adam in the wilderness. And all who believe in Him may obtain the victory in the same way. Jesus could well say to His disciples, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
Questions
1. With what was Jesus probably occupied from His boyhood days up to the age of thirty when He was baptised?
2. How did John know for what purpose Jesus appeared before him at Jordan? Why did John hesitate to baptise Him?
3. In what way was this baptism given heavenly sanction? In what way were the three Persons of the Godhead there manifested?
4. What great teaching in the Bible was corroborated by the manifestation of these three Persons?
5. What prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled at the baptism of Jesus? What did Jesus receive at that time?
6. What sermon did Jesus preach which indicates that Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled at His baptism?
7. Through what trial did Jesus pass that made His temptation in the wilderness particularly hard?
8. What were the temptations through which He passed? And what was His weapon of defence?
9. How did Jesus' victory over Satan compare with Adam's temptation in the Garden?
10. What name did the Apostle Paul attach to Jesus in comparing Him with Adam in the Garden?