Sermon Tone Analysis

Review

Last week we finished looking at Jesus’ testing and temptation in the wilderness.

If you remember we talked about the purpose of testing from a biblical perspective.

That God is sits in the heavens as the teacher and we are his students, that while it’s perfectly within the bounds of Scripture for God to test us it is clearly out of the bounds of Scripture for us to put him to the test as the Israelites put God to the test in the wilderness.

That we are not in the position to demand anything from God but rather we are commanded to trust him both in little and in plenty.

We also examined the Scriptures and found when he tests us that it is not for his benefit but for ours.

That he doesn’t test us in order to discover something about our hearts that he doesn’t already know, rather the testing is so that we might know what is in our hearts.

We affirmed that God is omniscient, that is he’s all knowing.

Then we looked at the last two temptations that Jesus endured.

How he was tempted to test his Father’s competence and dependability, yet he resisted and rebuked the devil.

How he was tempted to exalt himself and avoid the Father’s plan of redemption at the cost of bowing down and worshipping satan, but again, Jesus resisted and rebuked the devil.

All of the temptations Jesus faced were categorically the same kinds of temptations we’re faced with every day, and while we may stumble in our pursuit of holiness, we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, that stood in our place and attained a righteous we could not attain for ourselves.

It’s an alien righteousness that we posses by faith in Christ.

This week we’re going to follow Matthew as his narrative concerning Christ turns now to his earthly ministry.

Jesus begins his ministry

This week we’re going to follow Matthew as his narrative concerning Jesus turns now to his earthly ministry.

In verse 12 we read, “Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee.”

Now if we only had the Gospel of Matthew then we might conclude that John the Baptist is almost immediately arrested after Jesus’ testing in the wilderness, but that’s not quite the whole story.

Matthew abbreviates this portion of Jesus’ life in order to get to a particular point which we’ll look at here a little bit later, but remember that every Gospel writer has a particular aim in mind, so what they’ve included in their narratives is hand selected to highlight particular aspects of Jesus’ life.

Each gospel writer often had different audiences in mind when they wrote, but you and I have the benefit of being able to examine all four of the written Gospels.

Now it’s not recorded here in Matthew’s account but it’s believed that approximately a year or so goes by between Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness and “when [Jesus] had heard that John had been arrested” here in verse 12.

The beginning of Jesus’ ministry would certainly begin in large part here in Galilee, but before that would happen there would be a transitional period between the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus.

Between Jesus’ temptation and John’s arrest

Jesus returns to the Jordan River

During this time Jesus would first travel back to the Jordan River, to the place where John was baptizing, and presumably the site of his own baptism.

We can pickup the story in John’s Gospel, in chapter 1 starting in verse 19,

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

21 And they asked him, “What then?

Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you?

We need to give an answer to those who sent us.

What do you say about yourself?”

23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)

25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Jesus the Son of God

If you notice in verse 26 John tells these priests and Levites that there is someone that stands among them, even now, that they do not know, they’re unaware that the Messiah himself is present within the crowd of people.

We read on starting in verse 29,

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

John exclaims that this man in the crowd with whom he witnessed the “Spirit [descending] from heaven like a dove” coming to rest upon him is the very the Son of God himself.

If you remember the words recorded in it’s obvious why John calls him the Son of God, “and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'”

God had already publicly declared that this was is his beloved Son.

Disciples Peter and Andrew follow Jesus

The Apostle John continues in verse 35 of chapter 1 by saying,

The

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?”

And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which 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 tenth hour.

40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).

42 He brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John.

You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

Jesus is found for a third time amongst the crowd at the Jordan River, and John the Baptist again sees Jesus and declares, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

And it’s at this time that two of John’s disciples hear John and follow Jesus.

They realize that this is the Messiah that John has been pointing them to, so they spend the day with Jesus.

These disciples are of course very familiar to us, they are Simon Peter and his brother Andrew.

We’ll hear more about them as we read on, but this appears to be Jesus’ first encounter with them.

Disciples Philip and Nathanael found along the way to Galilee

“The next day Jesus decided to to Galilee.”

We continue in verse 43,

Jesus is making his way back toward home and along the way he find Philip and Nathanael

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee.

He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, 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 anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward 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 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!”

Jesus decides to make his way back toward Galilee, his home, and along the way he finds Philip and Nathanael, and brings them with him.

In fact, these men happen to be from Peter and Andrew’s hometown of Bethsaida on the north side of the Sea of Galilee.

The Scriptures don’t mention it specifically but it seems to be fair assumption to think that both Peter and Andrew are with Jesus as he makes his way back to Galilee.

to the Sea of Galilee, or what we might call in our modern times the Lake of Galilee, from the wilderness to where John was baptizing at the Jordan river.

Jesus turns water into wine

When Jesus arrives in Galilee we find him in the town of Cana with the disciples and his mother attending a wedding.

It’s here where most of us recall Jesus performs his first miracle of turning water into wine.

Jesus travels to Jerusalem for Passover

Next we read in John chapter 2 verse 13,

13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.

15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen.

And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.

16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”