The King Goes Public
During this two-week series on Matthew 3 and 4, we will take a closer look at Jesus, the great King, at the very beginning, tracing key events such as His baptism, the temptations in the desert, and His very first message to the public.
How did Jesus go from obscurity to the name which is above every other name? These 2 chapters of Matthew trace the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.
As Matthew puts it, in those days just before the Messiah, in the days just before the Great King was to step out on a public stage, preparations had to be made. But in this case, it is the everyday people themselves who had to prepare.
Jesus is right now building a church or raising up a people for himself. He has out of His mercy delayed the day of wrath so that He might extend the hour of mercy.
Jesus will take upon himself the role of a servant. He will stoop down and wash the feet of His disciples. He will say that the son of man came not to be served but to serve. In the end, He will be utterly humiliated as He is slandered, beaten, tortured and killed. His baptism is but the first symbol of His willingness to take the road of humility.
The Spirit led Jesus into that place of solitude and prayer so that He might be tempted by the devil.
Satan’s temptations were designed to make Jesus into an evil messiah and evil king. AND if we carefully observe the temptations for what they are we may find they are our worst temptations as well.
Even though Capernaum was not Jerusalem Jesus established himself there so that his preaching ministry would have the largest impact possible. The location was perfect
When Jesus began His public ministry, He was keenly aware that, not only would He preach to great crowds, but He would handpick a group of select men whom He would give the title “apostles”. He would train them and to them, He would entrust the task of taking His gospel to the entire world.lic.
In a world ravaged by sin, Jesus was announcing that He was the great king. His kingdom would destroy not only Satan, wickedness, and sin it would also destroy the effects of sin.