Lenox Federated Church - Firm Foundations, Creation to Christ

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Firm Foundations

Creation to Christ

Lesson 35 - Jesus Began His Ministry

Questions for the LFC Firm Foundations Coordinator may be emailed to firmfoundations@lenoxchurch.org

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REVIEW QUESTIONS:

1. Why did Satan tempt Jesus?

a. Because Satan wanted Jesus to sin so that Jesus wouldn’t be able to deliver us.

b. Because Satan wanted Jesus to be under his control.

c. Because Satan wants to take the position of God.

2. Why didn’t Jesus turn the stones into bread even though He was hungry? Because His Father didn’t tell Him to. Jesus would only do whatever His Father commanded Him to do.

3. What is more important than food? Knowing and believing what God says in the Bible.

4. Does Satan know and use God’s Word? Yes, Satan knows God’s words, but he twists them around to suit his own purposes.

5. Why could Satan offer Jesus the position of ruler over all people in every part of the earth? Because, when Adam obeyed Satan, he became ruler over Adam and all of the human race.

6. How did Jesus fight against Satan? Jesus used the words of God, written in the Old Testament.

7. Who is greater, Jesus or Satan? Jesus is greater. He created Lucifer, who is now called Satan, and will one day throw Satan into the everlasting fire.

If John the Baptist were to come to our area today and preach a message of repentance, do you think anyone would listen?

- Would you and I listen?

- Who needs repentance?

John faithfully taught God’s message to prepare the people to trust in Jesus the Deliverer. Some of the people changed their minds about themselves and their sin.

- They knew that they needed a Savior to save them from the punishment for their sins.

- They were looking and waiting for the Deliverer to begin His work. Others, like the Pharisees, trusted in themselves and thought that they were good enough for God.

- Consider:

We might compare them with people today who say they are religious and even come to church, but who are trusting in their own good works to save them from everlasting punishment. They really don’t believe God when He says in His Word that there is nothing we can do to make ourselves acceptable to Him.

King Herod, who was living a very sinful life, did not like some of the things which John said. So Herod put John in prison and finally killed him.

Before he was killed, John had finished his work of preparing the way for the Lord. It was now time for Jesus to begin teaching. As we mentioned, Jesus was now about thirty years old. He began to teach the people by commanding them

- To change their attitude

- To agree with God that they were helpless sinners

- To believe the good news that He had come to tell them.

If we don’t believe God, we cannot please Him, and we will not be accepted by Him. Hebrews 11:6 says that “…without faith it is impossible to please him…”

- Recall:

Why was Abel accepted by God? Was it because Abel wasn’t a sinner? No, it was because Abel believed God’s Word and trusted in Him. When the Lord told Noah to build the ark because God was going to destroy the earth, Noah believed God, and the Lord saved him and his family. God told Abraham to leave his own country and to go to a country that the Lord promised to show him. Abraham believed the Lord, and the Lord led him to the land of Canaan. Moses trusted in the Lord and told the Israelites to put the blood on the doorposts of their houses. The Lord protected them from the angel of death. Joshua and Caleb believed that God would give the land of Canaan to them even though there were giants in the land. They were the only two of that generation of Israelites who entered the promised land.

If you want to be accepted by God, you must believe Him and trust in what He has told us in the Bible.

The word “Gospel” means “good news.” Jesus told the people that they must agree with God and believe the Good News, because God’s rule on earth was soon to begin.

- Satan had become the ruler of this world when Adam disobeyed God and followed Satan.

- Because God is loving, merciful, and gracious to sinners, He sent Jesus into the world to overcome Satan and to deliver people from Satan’s control.

- All of us, when we were born into this world, were born under the control of Satan (in Satan’s kingdom).

- Jesus said that the only way for anyone to escape Satan’s control is to agree with God and believe His Good News. This is God’s good news to each one of us: by believing God and trusting in the Savior, we can escape Satan’s control and come into friendship and oneness with God.

Jesus began to call men to follow Him.

- He was going to teach them.

- He was going to send them out to tell others the message of God’s coming rule on the earth.

- When He said He would make them fishers of men, Jesus was talking about teaching them to bring men to God by telling them the Good News!

Locate Capernaum on the Map above.

As we mentioned in an earlier lesson, the Jews met in places called synagogues in towns throughout Israel and even in surrounding countries.

- There in the synagogues, the writings of Moses and the prophets were read and taught to the people.

- Jews living outside of Jerusalem went to the temple there only for important feasts, as God had instructed them through Moses.

The people who heard Jesus speak were surprised by the authoritative way in which Jesus explained the meaning of God’s Word. Jesus taught very differently from the way the scribes taught.

- The scribes were the men who wrote copies of the Old Testament.

- They were also the teachers of God’s Word.

- But the majority of them did not really have faith in God and believe His Word.

- They were trusting instead in their own good works and their own supposed knowledge of His Word to save them.

- They knew a lot about God’s Word, but they didn’t really know God.

- And because they were relying on their own knowledge and didn’t really know God, they did not clearly understand His Word; therefore, they could only tell the people what they thought God’s Word meant.

But Jesus is God.

- He knew His Father, and He clearly understood God’s Word.

- When Jesus taught, He told the people exactly what God was saying to them through the writings of Moses and the prophets.

Demons are angels who long ago rebelled against God and followed Satan.

- They like to live in and control people who are the children of Satan.

- Satan and the demons know that Jesus is God, their Creator.

- They also know that He is holy.

- They know He is perfect and hates all sin.

- This demon knew that someday he would be thrown into the Lake of Fire, and he knew that Jesus had the power to throw him into the fire right then!

Jesus commanded the demon to be quiet.

- He did not want the demons to be the ones to tell people about Him.

- Satan is a liar; Jesus came to speak the truth.

- Jesus Himself would tell the people God’s truth and show them His power by the miracles He did.

Again, the people were seeing that Jesus had tremendous power and authority.

Because Jesus is God, all things are under His power. God is the greatest power in Heaven and on earth.

Jesus felt compassion for these sick and demon-possessed people. He knew that all of these sad things are in the world because of man’s sin and the rule of Satan.

- Consider:

The Lord is also concerned for you and for me. He has not changed. He is still the same today. He knows whether or not we are still under the power of death. The Lord desires to rescue everyone from Satan’s control.

- Explanation:

The word used in the Bible for leprosy includes several skin diseases. Some of these diseases would cause death of the nerves in the body extremities, resulting in infection that would decay the flesh, causing the sick person to lose parts of his body, such as fingers, hands, or even part of his face. Back during that time, there wasn’t any medicine to heal leprosy.

This man knew he couldn’t heal himself, and he knew that men couldn’t help him.

But Jesus was different.

- Yes, Jesus was a man, but He had the power of God, because He was God!

- The man who had leprosy realized that Jesus could help him even though no one else could.

He did the only thing he could do.

He came to Jesus asking for His mercy and His help.

- Consider:

The sickness of leprosy is like the sin in our lives. There is no way that we can rid ourselves of sin. God hates sin. Only Jesus, the Savior, can help us. That is why He came into the world. And that is why we are studying God’s message: so each one of us will understand clearly what Jesus did to deliver us from Satan, sin, and death.

Lepers were outcasts in Bible times, and no one would even come near them. But Jesus touched this man because He loved him.

- Jesus reached out His hand, touched the man and spoke, and the leprosy was gone.

- He could have merely spoken and the man would have been healed.

- No one else would dare to touch a leper.

- But Jesus did, because He wanted to show God’s great love for this man.

We should all be able to identify with that leper:

- Because of our sins, we are “unclean” in the eyes of God.

- There is nothing we can do by ourselves to remove the guilt and penalty for sin.

- No one else can really help us.

- Sadly, those people who are aware of our sinfulness may not want to help us; they may have rejected us, just like the leper was rejected.

- We may feel that if anyone knew what we are really like inside they would never want to associate with us, either.

- We may even think that God looks at us that way, too. But God knows every horrible detail of our lives and still wants to be our Savior.

He not only cares and is willing to reach out to us, but He alone has the power to save us.

QUESTIONS:

1. Why didn’t the Pharisees and other religious leaders accept John’s teaching?

2. What did Jesus tell the people that they must do?

3. What is the only way a person can please God?

4. What was the occupation of some of the men whom Jesus called to follow Him?

5. What was the difference between the way Jesus taught and the way the scribes taught?

6. What were demons originally?

7. Why were the demons afraid of Jesus?

8. How does leprosy remind you of sin?

Suggested Daily Bible Readings:

Day 171: Matthew, Chapters 4 and 5

Day 172: Matthew, Chapters 6 and 7

Day 173: Matthew, Chapters 8 and 9

Day 174: Matthew, Chapters 10 and 11

Day 175: Matthew, Chapters 12 and 13