The Bible Course Muestra

Temptation, Healing, and Preaching – the ministry of Jesus 

Reflect  

Is God distant? Would he rather keep people at an arm’s length?  

Sometimes we might think that would have been best for him. Involving yourself in the mess of this world at times doesn’t feel worth it.  Luke’s Gospel bats that notion away. Luke wants us to know Jesus is the savior of all people. To save people he had to get dirty. Today we have a God who doesn’t turn his nose up at our mess but rather takes it on himself.  

What does the story of Jesus mean for him then and for us now?   

God’s Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness for a period of temptation. Note that your wilderness season has a purpose too.  

Hebrews 4.15 speaks of Jesus being a leader who is not ‘unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses’, but rather was ‘tempted in every way, just as we are’. Jesus went through everything we go through. He is the only one who, when we turn to him with our struggles and hurt, can respond with ‘I know’. Jesus understands. He knows what you’re going through.  

Jesus also left the wilderness victorious. After fasting from food for 40 days he was pretty hungry. So Satan came and urged Jesus to turn a rock into a loaf and tuck in. This temptation echoes the opening scene of the Bible when the first humans ate in disobedience. As a new Adam, he gives humanity a new start. In the wilderness, he defeated evil so that we could one day be restored to the Garden of Eden. 

What do we learn about the priorities of Jesus' ministry here?  

Jesus knows what it is to be busy, but he never lost his compassion and his time for people. He healed and drove out spirits because he cared deeply for the individual. Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out evil, and provided for the poor. This is the king giving us a glimpse of how his world was meant to be and one day will be. 

Luke records that ‘at daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place’. Jesus prioritized soul replenishment. He was not moved by the demands of other people. Instead, he kept his focus on why he had come: ‘to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom’. The kingdom is what things are like when God is in charge and everything is under his blessing. That’s why the kingdom arriving is such good news!  

Respond 

How do you feel? Tired? Weary? Ask yourself: ‘Does my life reflect the priorities of Jesus?’ Only then can you start to experience the abundant life of Jesus.