Come, Follow Me - Feb 4th to Feb 10th

Come, Follow Me – Feb 4^th to Feb 10^th

Monday – Temptation #1 - Matthew 4:1-4; Luke 4:1-4
Matthew 4:1-4 – “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

After being baptized, Jesus was “led up of the Spirit into the wilderness.”

This was a time for him to fast and pray and prepare spiritually for his mission

While he was fasting, Satan came to him and tempted him to eat even though he was fasting, he said, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”

The most important word here is “if.” Satan wouldn’t benefit from miracle bread and he already knew that Jesus was the Son of God. What he was saying to Jesus was “do you really know you are the Son of God? If you do this miracle, then you will know for sure.” He’s not just tempting Jesus to break his fast, but more importantly he’s getting Jesus to doubt who he really is.

The second reason why Satan’s statement is important is because he’s tempting Jesus to use his priesthood power to perform a miracle that hasn’t been commanded by Heavenly Father.

Jesus responded “it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Jesus used the scriptures to resist temptation.

 

Tuesday – Temptation #2 – Matthew 4:5-7; Luke 4:9-12

 

Matthew 4:5-7 – Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall given his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest any time thou shalt dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” 

 

This time Satan also used the scriptures to convince Jesus to do what he wanted.

This time, Satan was tempting Jesus with celebrity status and acceptance.

Satan was saying that if Jesus jumped down from a high place on the temple, he would be saved by angels. Neither Jesus nor Satan would benefit from this action, so the temptation would be for people to see Jesus perform a miracle.

The temptation might be that if people saw Jesus be saved by angels after jumping from a great height that they would believe in him. This might make Jesus think about doing it because it might ultimately end up converting people.

The biggest lesson I had to learn about miracles is that miracles don’t convert, they only strengthen existing testimony.

Later in his ministry, Jesus performed many miracles but it didn’t convince people to believe in him who didn’t already have positive feelings toward him.

Jesus’ response showed that even if you think it might have a beneficial outcome, priesthood power must only be used to accomplish God’s commandments, which can also come through personal revelation. 

 

Wednesday – Temptation #3 – Matthew 4:8-11; Luke 4:5-8

 

Matthew 4:8-11 – Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceedingly high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou salt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” 

 

Satan couldn’t have given Jesus all the kingdoms and treasures of the world, he didn’t have authority to do that, so he was lying.

He probably could have given Jesus some power and wealth, but that would have come through corruption.

Jesus showed that the rewards for serving God and keeping his commandments are much greater than even all the treasures of the earth.

When the devil left Jesus, this wasn’t the only time in Jesus’ life that he was tempted. Just like we are tempted constantly throughout our lives, Jesus was tempted throughout his life.

Was it easier for Jesus when he was tempted than it is for us? There is a saying that basically explains that the person who is tempted and gives in doesn’t know how bad the temptation will be if he waited. Therefore, Christ is the only one who knows just how bad every temptation is because he endured them all without ever giving in. 

 

 

Thursday – The Announcement – Luke 4:13-30

 

Luke 4:13-30 – “And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esasis. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and sex months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brown of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way.” 

 

The scripture that Jesus read was known to be a prophesy of the Messiah. By saying “this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” Jesus was proclaiming that he was in fact the Messiah they had been waiting for.

They were confused because this is where Jesus grew up and they knew that he had been raised by Joseph, who they assumed was his father.

They wanted Jesus to prove that he was the Messiah by performing a miracle like he had done in other places, but he gave them examples of when people they considered unworthy were granted miracles because of their strong faith.

Jesus knew that they only wanted to see a miracle to be entertained, so he declined to do a miracle for them.

They were furious and took him to throw him off the cliff, but because he had power over his own life and death, he simply slipped out from among them.

 

Friday – The Call – Matthew 4:17-22 

 

Matthew 4:17-22 – “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.” 

 

Simon, Andrew, James, and John had all been followers of John the Baptist. They had been prepared to receive the Savior by hearing and following the teachings of John the Baptist.

These men were successful fishermen, meaning that they had sufficient money for their needs, but not enough to be educated.

Jesus didn’t choose the experts in the law and he didn’t choose those who were “professionals,” he choose those who were humble and teachable, just like he chose Joseph Smith, a farm boy.

The four men called were spiritually prepared to recognize Jesus as a spiritual leader and to leave everything immediately and follow him.

 

Saturday – Healings – Matthew 4:23-25; Luke 4:33-44

 

Luke 4:33-41 – “And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, Saying, Let us alone; what have we do to with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word if this! For with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out… Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. And devils also came out of many, crying out, sad saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.” 

 

The unclean devils were the 1/3 of spirits who followed Satan and were sent to earth.

They do not have the veil over their eyes like we do, so they remember the pre-mortal world. They remember Jesus and know that he is the Christ.

Jesus has power to dictate what evil spirits can do, he has power over disease and disability, and he has power over all the elements.

He did these miracles to bless the lives of others, not to make himself famous. Even with all these miracles being done, many people did not believe that he was the Messiah, thus proving that Satan’s suggestion that throwing himself off the top of the temple would convince people to believe in him. Miracles do not convert, only strengthen what is already there.