41 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil . 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights , He then became hungry . 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God , command that these stones become bread ." 4 But He answered and said , "It is written , ' MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE , BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD .' " 5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle 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 'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE .' " 7 Jesus said to him, "On the other hand , it is written , ' YOU SHALL NOT 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 glory ; 9 and he said to Him, " All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Go , Satan ! For it is written , ' YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE Lord YOUR GOD , AND SERVE HIM ONLY .' " 11 Then the devil left Him; and behold , angels came and began to minister to Him.
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody , He withdrew into Galilee ; 13 and leaving Nazareth , He came and settled in Capernaum , which is by the sea , in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali . 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet : 15 " THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI , BY THE WAY OF THE SEA , BEYOND THE JORDAN , GALILEE OF THE GENTILES - 16 " THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT , AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH , UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED ." 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say , " Repent , for the kingdom of heaven is at hand ."
18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee , He saw two brothers , Simon who was called Peter , and Andrew his brother , casting a net into the sea ; for they were fishermen . 19 And He said to them, "Follow e Me, and I will make you fishers of men ." 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers , James the son of Zebedee , and John his brother , in the boat with Zebedee their father , mending their nets ; and He called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father , and followed Him.
23 Jesus was going throughout all Galilee , teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom , and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people . 24 The news about Him spread throughout all Syria ; and they brought to Him all who were ill e , those suffering with various diseases and pains , demoniacs , epileptics , paralytics ; and He healed them. 25 Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan .
41 Jesus , full of the Holy Spirit , returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days , being tempted by the devil . And He ate nothing e during those days , and when they had ended , He became hungry . 3 And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God , tell this stone to become bread ." 4 And Jesus answered him, "It is written , ' MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE .' " 5 And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time . 6 And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory ; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever e I wish . 7 "Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours ." 8 Jesus answered him, "It is written , ' YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE Lord YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY .' " 9 And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple , and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God , throw Yourself down from here ; 10 for it is written , ' HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD YOU,' 11 and, ' ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE .' " 12 And Jesus answered and said to him, "It is said , ' YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE Lord YOUR GOD TO THE TEST .' " 13 When the devil had finished every temptation , he left Him until an opportune time .
14 And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit , and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district . 15 And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all .
16 And He came to Nazareth , where He had been brought up; and as was His custom , He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath , and stood up to read . 17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written , 18 " THE SPIRIT OF THE Lord IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR . HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES , AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND , TO SET FREE e THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED , 19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE Lord ." 20 And He closed the book , gave it back to the attendant and sat down ; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing ." 22 And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips ; and they were saying , " Is this not Joseph's son ?" 23 And He said to them, "No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, 'Physician , heal yourself ! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum , do here in your hometown as well .' " 24 And He said , "Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown . 25 "But I say to you in truth , there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah , when the sky was shut up for three years and six months , when a great famine came over all the land ; 26 and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only e to Zarephath , in the land of Sidon , to a woman who was a widow . 27 "And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet ; and none of them was cleansed , but only e Naaman the Syrian ." 28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things ; 29 and they got up and drove Him out of the city , and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built , in order to throw Him down the cliff . 30 But passing through their midst , He went His way .
31 And He came down to Capernaum , a city of Galilee , and He was teaching them on the Sabbath ; 32 and they were amazed at His teaching , for His message was with authority .
33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon , and he cried out with a loud voice , 34 "Let us alone ! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth ? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are- the Holy One of God !" 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying , "Be quiet and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm . 36 And amazement came upon them all , and they began talking with one another saying , "What is this message ? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out." 37 And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district .
38 Then He got up and left the synagogue , and entered Simon's home . Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever , and they asked Him to help her. 39 And standing over her, He rebuked the fever , and it left her; and she immediately got up and waited on them.
40 While the sun was setting , all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them. 41 Demons also were coming out of many , shouting , "You are the Son of God !" But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak , because they knew Him to be the Christ .
42 When day came , Jesus left and went to a secluded place ; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. 43 But He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also , for I was sent for this purpose." 44 So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea .
51 Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God , He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret ; 2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake ; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets . 3 And He got into one of the boats , which was Simon's , and asked him to put out a little way from the land . And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat . 4 When He had finished speaking , He said to Simon , "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch ." 5 Simon answered and said , " Master , we worked hard all night and caught nothing , but I will do as You say and let down the nets ." 6 When they had done this , they enclosed a great quantity of fish , and their nets began to break ; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats , so that they began to sink . 8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet , saying , "Go away from me Lord , for I am a sinful man , O Lord !" 9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions e because of the catch of fish which they had taken ; 10 and so also were James and John , sons of Zebedee , who were partners with Simon . And Jesus said to Simon , " Do not fear , from now on you will be catching men ." 11 When they had brought their boats to land , they left everything and followed Him.
12 While He was in one of the cities , behold , there was a man covered with leprosy ; and when he saw Jesus , he fell on his face and implored Him, saying , "Lord , if You are willing , You can make me clean ." 13 And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying , "I am willing ; be cleansed ." And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He ordered him to tell no one , "But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing , just as Moses commanded , as a testimony to them." 15 But the news about Him was spreading even farther , and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses . 16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray .
17 One day He was teaching ; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem ; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing . 18 And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed ; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. 19 But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd , they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher , into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus . 20 Seeing their faith , He said , "Friend , your sins are forgiven you." 21 The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason , saying , " Who is this man who speaks blasphemies ? Who can forgive sins , but God alone ?" 22 But Jesus , aware of their reasonings , answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts ? 23 "Which is easier , to say , 'Your sins have been forgiven you,' or to say , 'Get up and walk '? 24 "But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins ,"-He said to the paralytic -"I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home ." 25 Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God . 26 They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God ; and they were filled with fear , saying , "We have seen remarkable things today ."
27 After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth , and He said to him, "Follow Me." 28 And he left everything behind , and got up and began to follow Him. 29 And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house ; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. 30 The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples , saying , "Why e do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners ?" 31 And Jesus answered and said to them, " It is not those who are well who need a physician , but those who are sick . 32 "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance ."
33 And they said to Him, " The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers , the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same , but Yours eat and drink ." 34 And Jesus said to them, "You cannot e make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while e the bridegroom is with them, can you? 35 " But the days will come ; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days ." 36 And He was also telling them a parable : "No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment ; otherwise he will both tear the new , and the piece from the new will not match the old . 37 "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins ; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined . 38 "But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins . 39 "And no one , after drinking old wine wishes for new ; for he says , 'The old is good enough.' "
15 John testified about Him and cried out, saying , "This was He of whom I said , ' He who comes after me [1]has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.' " 16 For of His fullness [2]we have all received , and [3]grace upon grace . 17 For the Law was given through Moses ; grace and truth [4]were realized through Jesus Christ . 18 No one has seen God at any time ; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father , He has explained Him.
19 This is the testimony of John , when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" 20 And he confessed and did not deny , but confessed , " I am not [5]the Christ ." 21 They asked him, "What then ? Are you Elijah ?" And he said , "I am not." "Are you the Prophet ?" And he answered , "No ." 22 Then they said to him, "Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself ?" 23 He said , "I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS , 'MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE Lord ,' as Isaiah the prophet said ." 24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees . 25 They asked him, and said to him, "Why then are you baptizing , if you are not the [6]Christ , nor Elijah , nor the Prophet ?" 26 John answered them saying , " I baptize [7]in water , but among you stands One whom you do not know . 27 "It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie ." 28 These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan , where John was baptizing .
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said , "Behold , the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world ! 30 "This is He on behalf of whom I said , ' After me comes a Man who [8]has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.' 31 "I did not recognize [9]Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel , I came baptizing [10]in water ." 32 John testified saying , " I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven , and He remained upon Him. 33 "I did not recognize [11]Him, but He who sent me to baptize [12]in water said to me, 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes [12]in the Holy Spirit .' 34 "I myself have seen , and have testified that this is the Son of God ."
35 Again the next day John was standing [14]with two of his disciples , 36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked , and said , "Behold , the Lamb of God !"
37 The two disciples heard him speak , and they followed Jesus . 38 And Jesus turned and saw them following , and said to them, "What do you seek ?" They said to Him, " Rabbi (which translated means Teacher ), where are You staying ?" 39 He said to them, "Come , and you will see ." So they came and saw where He was staying ; and they stayed with Him that day , for it was about the [15]tenth hour . 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew , Simon Peter's brother . 41 He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah " (which translated means [16]Christ ). 42 He brought him to Jesus . Jesus looked at him and said , "You are Simon the son of [17] John ; you shall be called Cephas " (which is translated [18] Peter ).
43 The next day He purposed to go into Galilee , and He found Philip . And Jesus said to him, " Follow Me." 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida , of the city of Andrew and Peter . 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote -Jesus of Nazareth , the son of Joseph ." 46 Nathanael said to him, " Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ?" Philip said to him, "Come and see ." 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, "Behold , an Israelite indeed , in whom there is no deceit !" 48 Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree , I saw you." 49 Nathanael answered Him, " Rabbi , You are the Son of God ; You are the King of Israel ." 50 Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree , do you believe ? You will see greater things than these ." 51 And He said to him, "Truly , truly , I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man ."
(Read John 1:15-18)
As to the order of time and entrance on his work, Christ came after John, but in every other way he was before him. The expression clearly shows that Jesus had existence before he appeared on earth as man. All fulness dwells in him, from which alone fallen sinners have, and shall receive, by faith, all that renders them wise, strong, holy, useful, and happy. Our receivings by Christ are all summed up in this one word, grace; we have received "even grace," a gift so great, so rich, so invaluable; the good will of God towards us, and the good work of God in us. The law of God is holy, just, and good; and we should make the proper use of it. But we cannot derive from it pardon, righteousness, or strength. It teaches us to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour, but it cannot supply the place of that doctrine. As no mercy comes from God to sinners but through Jesus Christ, no man can come to the Father but by him; no man can know God, except as he is made known in the only begotten and beloved Son.
(Read John 1:19-28)
John disowns himself to be the Christ, who was now expected and waited for. He came in the spirit and power of Elias, but he was not the person of Elias. John was not that Prophet whom Moses said the Lord would raise up to them of their brethren, like unto him. He was not such a prophet as they expected, who would rescue them from the Romans. He gave such an account of himself, as might excite and awaken them to hearken to him. He baptized the people with water as a profession of repentance, and as an outward sign of the spiritual blessings to be conferred on them by the Messiah, who was in the midst of them, though they knew him not, and to whom he was unworthy to render the meanest service.
(Read John 1:29-36)
John saw Jesus coming to him, and pointed him out as the Lamb of God. The paschal lamb, in the shedding and sprinkling of its blood, the roasting and eating of its flesh, and all the other circumstances of the ordinance, represented the salvation of sinners by faith in Christ. And the lambs sacrificed every morning and evening, can only refer to Christ slain as a sacrifice to redeem us to God by his blood. John came as a preacher of repentance, yet he told his followers that they were to look for the pardon of their sins to Jesus only, and to his death. It agrees with God's glory to pardon all who depend on the atoning sacrifice of Christ. He takes away the sin of the world; purchases pardon for all that repent and believe the gospel. This encourages our faith; if Christ takes away the sin of the world, then why not my sin? He bore sin for us, and so bears it from us. God could have taken away sin, by taking away the sinner, as he took away the sin of the old world; but here is a way of doing away sin, yet sparing the sinner, by making his Son sin, that is, a sin-offering, for us. See Jesus taking away sin, and let that cause hatred of sin, and resolutions against it. Let us not hold that fast, which the Lamb of God came to take away. To confirm his testimony concerning Christ, John declares the appearance at his baptism, in which God himself bore witness to him. He saw and bare record that he is the Son of God. This is the end and object of John's testimony, that Jesus was the promised Messiah. John took every opportunity that offered to lead people to Christ.
(Read John 1:37-42)
The strongest and most prevailing argument with an awakened soul to follow Christ, is, that it is he only who takes away sin. Whatever communion there is between our souls and Christ, it is he who begins the discourse. He asked, What seek ye? The question Jesus put to them, we should all put to ourselves when we begin to follow Him, What do we design and desire? In following Christ, do we seek the favour of God and eternal life? He invites them to come without delay. Now is the accepted time, 2 Corinthians 6:2. It is good for us to be where Christ is, wherever it be. We ought to labour for the spiritual welfare of those related to us, and seek to bring them to Him. Those who come to Christ, must come with a fixed resolution to be firm and constant to him, like a stone, solid and stedfast; and it is by his grace that they are so.
(Read John 1:43-51)
See the nature of true Christianity, it is following Jesus; devoting ourselves to him, and treading in his steps. Observe the objection Nathanael made. All who desire to profit by the word of God, must beware of prejudices against places, or denominations of men. They should examine for themselves, and they will sometimes find good where they looked for none. Many people are kept from the ways of religion by the unreasonable prejudices they conceive. The best way to remove false notions of religion, is to make trial of it. In Nathanael there was no guile. His profession was not hypocritical. He was not a dissembler, nor dishonest; he was a sound character, a really upright, godly man. Christ knows what men are indeed. Does He know us? Let us desire to know him. Let us seek and pray to be Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile; truly Christians, approved of Christ himself. Some things weak, imperfect, and sinful, are found in all, but hypocrisy belongs not to a believer's character. Jesus witnessed what passed when Nathanael was under the fig-tree. Probably he was then in fervent prayer, seeking direction as to the Hope and Consolation of Israel, where no human eye observed him. This showed him that our Lord knew the secrets of his heart. Through Christ we commune with, and benefit by the holy angels; and things in heaven and things on earth are reconciled and united together.
