Matthew 3:13

Matthew 3:13 says, Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.  Jesus came to John one day to be baptized by him.  This, among other things, would show the legitimacy of John's ministry. and would also show the validity of baptism.  John was not just acting on his own, but was following the leadership of God.  We need to make sure that God endorses our actions today when we say we are doing anything in His name.  Verse fourteen declares, But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?  John was not going to baptize Jesus, saying he needed to be baptized by Jesus instead.  John questioned why Jesus came to him instead.  I don't believe that it is wrong to question whether or not what we believe God is calling on us to do is the right thing or not, but only for clarification and not claim that we know more than God does.  Verse fifteen states, And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.  Jesus told John that it was the right thing to do for the sake of righteousness.  Then, John baptized Jesus.  Jesus set the example for us to follow.  Baptism did not save a person then and it doesn't now.  Baptism then and now identified a person as a follower of Christ.  Though Jesus could not follow Himself, he could identify Himself as the Messiah Whose actions were to be followed.  We need to follow the example of Jesus, but we also must listen to Him to know what we need to do in life.  Verse sixteen declares, And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:  When Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending on Him.  Jesus' baptism was a little more dramatic than any other before or since.  God showed His approval of what Jesus had done.  Though we will not have that dramatic sign of approval when we are baptized, we still have God's approval when we are baptized after we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord because it identifies us as followers of Christ.  Verse seventeen adds, And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  God gave His endorsement of Jesus as the long awaited Messiah and His own Son.  Jesus alone is the only begotten Son of God, but we can become the adopted sons and daughters of God by putting our faith in Him.

Matthew 3:1

Matthew 3:1 says, In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,  In those days would be when Jesus was grown.  John the Baptist was Jesus' first cousin by earthly standards, and he was preaching in the wilderness.  Verse two adds, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  John's message was simple.  He called for the people to repent because the kingdom of God was at hand.  John was referring to the kingdom of God that would come when the Messiah came.  Today, we have the same message, but we should call for people to repent because the kingdom of God is at hand because Jesus Christ, the Messiah Who came in John's day will one day return.  Since in this lifetime alone can we repent and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, His kingdom is always at hand for every individual.  Verse three states, For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  The coming of John the Baptist had been foretold by Isaiah.  Again, John was not just acting out a role, but by his actions God's people could see the fulfillment of the prophesy.  Verse four declares, And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.  John did not dress and act like everyone else.  Today, with his actions and his words we might just write him off as an oddball instead of listening to him, and many people write off anyone who does proclaim Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation as an oddball or a mentally ill person.  Verse five says, Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,  People came from all around the area to hear John preach.  I believe they may have come more out of curiosity than out of believing what he preached, but they came and they heard.  It does not matter today why people come to hear the gospel preached as much as it matters that they come.  Verse six adds, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.  Some believed and were baptized in confession of their sins.  They were putting their faith in the coming Messiah just we who are Christians today put our faith in the Messiah Who has come.  Verse seven declares, But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  When John saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming, he called them a generation of vipers and asked who had warned them to flee.  These were the religious leaders, and some religious leaders today might be asked the same question.  Verse eight adds, Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:  John called on the religious leaders to truly repent.  Verse nine declares, And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.  John warned the Pharisees and Sadducees to not rely on their earthly status as descendants of Abraham, since God could create descendants of Abraham out of stones.  Once more, the people of Israel were not special because of who they were  but because of Who their God was.  We today as Christians are not special because of who are in the world, but because of Who our God is.  Verse ten adds, And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  John said that the people would be judged by their actions and not just by who they were in the eyes of the world.  A tree was a tree, but not all bore fruit and and those that didn't were therefore useless.  A Jew was a Jew, but not all bore fruit for the kingdom of God and were about to be cut down by the coming Messiah.  We as followers of Christ today are called on to bear fruit for the kingdom of God, and we need to ask ourselves if we are being productive.  Verse eleven adds, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:  John knew that he was not the promised Messiah, Who would baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire instead of just with water.  We today, as followers of Christ. once we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord are immediately filled with the Holy Spirit to lead us through the fires that will come.  Verse twelve concludes, Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.  John said that Jesus would separate the true believers, the wheat, from those who didn't believe, the chaff.  The believers He would gather unto Himself. but the nonbelievers would be cast aside into the unquenchable fire.  These are the only two choices that there are.   

Matthew 2:13

Matthew 2:13 says, And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.  An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph once again, telling him to take the young Child and His mother and flee to Egypt.  Joseph was told to stay there until he received word that it was safe to return, because Herod would seek the young Child, Jesus, to kill Him.  Herod was not as powerful as he thought he was, just as many people today who attempt to destroy God and His people are not as powerful as they think they are.  Verse fourteen declares, When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:  Joseph arose and left for Egypt that night.  When we know what God wants us to do, we don't need to  hesitate, but need to simply do what He tells us to do as soon as possible.  Verse fifteen adds, And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.  Joseph and his family remained in Egypt until Herod was dead, and this also fulfilled a prophesy about Jesus, the Messiah.  Verse sixteen declares, Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.  At the time of the visit of the wise men, when they didn't return to tell Herod where Jesus was, he had all the children in Bethlehem and the coastal area around it, two year old and younger, killed.  This was probably based on the length of time that the wise men had been following the star, and also on Herod's determination to make sure that the One that the wise men called the King of the Jews did not survive.  Verse seventeen adds, Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,  Then verse eighteen continues, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.  Herod's action also fulfilled a prophesy of Jeremiah that there would be weeping in Rama and that Rachael would not be comforted because her children were dead.  The women of Bethlehem and the area would not have been comforted, because their children were dead at the hand of Herod.  Verse nineteen declares, But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,  After Herod died, the angel once again appeared to Joseph, in a dream again this time.  Verse twenty adds, Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life.  Joseph was told by the angel that it was safe and he was to take Mary and Jesus and return to Israel.  Verse twenty-one states, And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.  Joseph once again obeyed the angel, God's messenger, just as we must obey the leadership of the Holy Spirit as followers of Christ today.   When we know what God wants us to do, we should do it as quickly as possible.  Verse twenty-two declares, But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:  When Joseph heard that Herod's son was in power, he was afraid and went into Galilee.  He was also warned by God in a dream to go into Galilee.  This time, we are not told that an angel warned Joseph, but that God Himself warned Joseph in a dream.  Verse twenty-three adds, And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.  This also resulted in the fulfillment of a prophesy.  Once more, I do not believe that God was forcing events to happen to fulfill prophesies, but that events were unfolding that fulfilled the prophesies of God.  God's prophesies will always be fulfilled, but they will be fulfilled in His time frame.

Matthew 2:1

 Matthew 2:1 says, Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,  After the birth of Jesus, which occurred during the reign of Herod, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem seeking Jesus.  They came to the rulers seeking Jesus, but Jesus was not born to be an earthly ruler.  I sometimes read the names of the wise men, but have yet to find their names recorded in the Bible.  Verse two adds, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.  The wise men asked where they could find the One born to be King of the Jews so that they could worship Him.  They said that they came because they had seen His star.  This was probably quite a shock to Herod.  When we seek Jesus, we should not go to leaders of the world to find Him, but should simply look to God to reveal Him to us.  Verse three declares, When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.  Herod was troubled by this revelation of a new King of the Jews, and we are told all of Jerusalem was troubled with him.  These were the people who were supposed to be God's people, and they were troubled by the wise men from another country announcing the birth of One Who was to be the King of the Jews.  We as followers of Christ should make sure that we are following God and not just the leaders of the world.  Verse four adds, And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.  Herod gathered all the chief priests and scribes together and demanded to know where Christ, the awaited Messiah was to be born.  At least Herod looked to the religious leaders, but Jesus' birth was not announced to the religious leaders, which says something about them I believe.  We as Christians today have the responsibility of proclaiming Jesus Christ to the world, but if we fail, God will still reveal Him.  Verse five says, And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,  Then verse six adds, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.  The chief priests and scribes at least knew what the scripture said, and told Herod that Christ was to be born in Bethlehem.  Of course, knowing scripture does not mean that a person has a relationship with God.  Verse seven declares, Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.  Herod called the wise men privately to ask when the star appeared.  We are not told a specific time frame here, but know that Herod was not asking in order to worship Christ, which is why he called the wise men privately.  Verse eight continues, And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.  Herod gave the wise men a mission, and that was to go to Bethlehem, find the young Child, and come back and tell him where He was so that he could go and worship Him.  Like Herod, not everyone who professes to seek Jesus to worship Him really want to do so.  Verse nine declares, When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.  After the wise men left Herod, the star guided them to where Jesus, the young Child, was.  This was probably not the day Jesus was born, but possibly up to two years later.  I don't believe that we can say that for certain, but based on the time the wise men were following the star, we now usually say that it was when Jesus was about two years old.  I personally do not believe that His age at that time is important, but the fact that God led the wise men to Him is.  It is not important how long it takes a person to come to Jesus today, but is only important that he or she comes to Jesus in faith to accept Him as Savior and Lord.  Verse ten adds, When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.  When the wise men saw the star again, the rejoiced, since it was leading them to Jesus.  However we are lead to Jesus today, we should rejoice that God has led us there.  Verse eleven states, And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.  When they found Jesus and His mother Mary, they fell down and worshipped Jesus, but not Mary.  Some people basically worship Mary today, but this was never God's intention.  The wise men brought gifts of gold, frankincense,  and myrrh, and because there are three gifts listed, we usually say that there were three wise men, but we are not really told this in the Bible.  When we come to Jesus, accepting Him as our personal Savior and Lord, then we should bring to Him all that we are and have.  We should live under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. and worship God in all that we do.  Verse twelve declares, And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.  God warned the wise men to not return to Herod, so they went back to their country another way.  They obeyed God and not Herod, just as we today must obey God above all earthly rulers if we are followers of Christ and the earthly rulers are doing anything that is against God.

Matthew 1:18

 Matthew 1:18 says, Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.  Matthew tells us about the miracle of the birth of Jesus.  Mary was with child while she was still a virgin by the Holy Ghost.  This was while she was espoused to Joseph, but before they had sexual relations.  Verse nineteen states, Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.  We are told that Joseph was a just man and was going to quietly divorce Mary.  He did not want to cause Mary any public humiliation, so he still cared about her.  Today, the world would ask what the big deal was, but Mary would likely have been an outcast then.  Verse twenty declares, But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.  While Joseph thought about what to do with Mary, an angel appeared to him in a dream, telling him to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because she had not been unfaithful to him but had conceived by the Holy Ghost.  Now, Joseph could have just written this off as a strange dream or wishful thinking, but he recognized it as a message from an angel of God.  Verse twenty-one adds, And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.  The angel told Joseph that Mary was to have a son and His name was to be JESUS, and He would save the people from their sins.  This was not just the people in that day, but all the people who had put their faith in the coming Messiah and all the people who have put their faith in Him since His coming.  It may now be common for a couple to know the sex of their child and even name the child before he or she is born, but it certainly wasn't in that day.  Verse twenty-two says,  Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,  Then verse twenty-three adds, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.  Matthew tells us that this was done to fulfill a prophesy that a child would be born to a virgin and His name would be Emmanuel, which means God with us.  This was to be the fulfillment of a prophesy made to Isaiah, which he never lived to see happen.  We have the prophesy of the second coming of Christ, which we may not live to see, but it is just as certain as the birth of Christ was.  Verse twenty-four declares, Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:  Joseph had to have a lot of faith to believe in the message that came to him in a dream.  The angel did not even appear when he was awake, but only in a dream, but Joseph did what God through the angel had told him to do.  As followers of Christ today, we need to be open to hearing the message that God has for us in life today, no matter how He delivers it.  Verse twenty-five adds, And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.  Joseph married Mary and did not have a sexual relationship with her until after the birth of the baby Boy, whom he named Jesus.  Joseph obeyed the message of God, just as we must today when God speaks to us.

Matthew 1:1

 Matthew 1:1 says. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  The first several verses of Matthew are the genealogy of Jesus, beginning with Abraham.  Verse two states, Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were the ones that God made the promise to that He would make them a great nation if they obeyed Him.  Verse three says, And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;   Verse four states, And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;  Verse five says, And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;  Some of the names are spelled differently, such a Booz instead of Boaz, but they are the same person.  Verse six states, And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;  David, the first king chosen by God for Israel, was in the lineage of Jesus, just as God had said he would be.  God always fulfills His promises.  Verse seven says, And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;  Verse eight adds, And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;  Verse nine states, And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;  Verse ten says, And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;  Verse eleven adds, And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:  The good and the bad times of Israel did not change the promise of God, and the good and bad times in our lives today will not change the promise of God that we are His forevermore if we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse twelve states, And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;  Verse thirteen says, And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;  Verse fourteen states, And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;  Verse fifteen adds, And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;  Verse sixteen adds, And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.  We have the lineage of Jesus from Abraham to Joseph and Jesus Himself.  Verse seventeen concludes, So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.  It had been forty-to generations since the promise of God to Abraham to the coming of Jesus, the promised Messiah, and this may seem a long time to us, but God's promise was in effect the whole time.  No matter how many years may pass before the return of Christ, God's promise is still in effect.  Jesus Christ will return one day to claim those who are His.

Leviticus Summery

We will review some things learned from the book of Leviticus.  First, we need to realize that God gave Moses many laws on Mt. Sinai, and not just the Ten Commandments.  God gave Moses many specific laws concerning worship, both the nature of the worship and the role of the priests in the worship service.  Today, God expects us to worship Him in accordance with His guidance and under His authority.  Moses did not just make up the rules for worship, but God gave them to Him.  Moses did not just make up the rules for the priests, but God gave them to Him.  God also had Moses to continually remind the people of Israel of their covenant relationship with God.  We must never forget that we are in a covenant relationship with God as followers of Christ.  God reminded the people of Israel that He was the One Who had delivered them from Egypt and that He had the right to have authority over them.  As Christians, God has forever delivered us from the power of sin in our lives and from the penalty of sin as well, so He has every right to expect us to be obedient to Him.  God also gave Moses the blueprint we might say for the tabernacle, and how it was to be set up after it was constructed.  As followers of Christ, our bodies are the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit and should be kept under the guidance of God.  God also gave Moses laws concerning sacrifices, both what was an acceptable sacrifice and how and when it was to be sacrificed.  We do not have to be concerned with these laws of sacrifice today, because Jesus Christ is the only acceptable sacrifice.  God gave Moses laws concerning holy days and years, which included laws concerning the sabbath day, the sabbath years, and the jubilee years.  All were to be kept holy to God, with limited work being done.  We today set aside the Lord's Day to worship God, but we often do not keep it holy unto Him for even the whole day.  God gave Moses laws concerning the redemption of property that was sold by one of the people of Israel.  God gave Moses many rules concerning the relationships between people and their redemption if they had been sold into servitude.  We today have only one way to redemption, and that is through putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. Of course, this was really true for the people of Israel in that day as well as they looked ahead to the Messiah that was to come.  God also told Moses that the priests were to be treated differently than the rest of the nation, and as Christians today we are a priesthood of believers, and we are to be different than the rest of the world. These are but some of the things learned from the book of Leviticus.