Author : Keith Sharp
Bible Survey : Lesson Eighteen (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-11)
“When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son” (Galatians 4:4). He was the Savior prophesied before by Isaiah (Luke 1:30-33; 2:11). Salvation is only through Him (Acts 4:10-12). He is the fulness of God’s plan for man (Colossians 1:19). God’s eternal plan of human redemption had entered the phase of perfection. The third and greatest of the three promises the Lord God had made to Abraham almost two thousand years previously was about to be fulfilled. The long awaited Seed of Woman, Seed of Abraham, Seed of Judah, Seed of David had come.
At the time Jesus was born Augustus Caesar, the first Roman Emperor, ruled the mighty Roman Empire, of which little Palestine was an insignificant part. Cruel Herod ruled Palestine as the King appointed by the Romans. Herod apparently died almost immediately after Jesus’ birth (4 B.C.). When Herod died, the Romans divided his kingdom between three of his sons. Archelaus ruled Judea and Samaria, Antipas ruled Galilee and Perea, and Philip was over the area Northeast of the Sea of Galilee. After ten years, the Romans deposed Archelaus for misrule, and Judea and Samaria became one Roman province ruled by a Roman procurator. Pontius Pilate, the fifth procurator of this region, ruled from 26 to 36 A.D.
The Jewish leaders were divided into parties. The Pharisees were the conservative party who held tightly to the traditions of the fathers and were self-righteous. The Sadducees were the priestly leaders who had inherited power and prestige and were unbelieving toward the spirit realm. The Herodians backed the rule of the Herod family. The Zealots were willing to kill Romans to gain Jewish independence.
The word translated “gospel” in the New Testament means good news. This term is used to describe the entire message which came through Christ, the New Testament. However, the books which record the life of Jesus – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – are popularly called “the Four Gospels.” They are the only authoritative sources of information on virtually all the life of Christ. These books are the only accurate records of the historical facts of His life and the primary records of what He taught. They were “written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).
Six months before Jesus was born, his cousin John was born to the aged priest Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth. John the Baptist was the promised forerunner who prepared the way for Jesus by preaching to the Jewish people they must repent to be prepared for the beginning of the promised Kingdom, which was about to be established.
In fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah and Micah, Jesus, the divine Son of God, was born of the virgin Mary in the village of Bethlehem, in the hill country five miles south of Jerusalem.
To escape Herod’s murder of the baby boys, Joseph, Mary’s husband, took his little family to Egypt. Then they returned to their home in the village of Nazareth in Galilee.
Jesus grew up like other children. The only incident we know of his childhood occurred when he was twelve. Joseph and Mary took Jesus with them to the Passover feast in Jerusalem. There He amazed the great teachers of the law with His wisdom and knowledge and expressed to Mary his realization He was the Son of God. Otherwise, as all children should, he grew physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually, and was subject to His parents (He behaved toward Joseph as if he were His father) in all things. He even learned the carpenter’s trade from Joseph.
When Jesus was thirty, He went to the Jordan River and was baptized by His cousin John. As He came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove. He then began His ministry.
Before Jesus began preaching, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. He fasted forty days, after which Satan came to Him and tempted Him through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, all the ways in which we are tempted. Jesus overcame all these temptations by appealing to the Word of God. Of all men, Jesus Christ alone never sinned, and His life is our perfect example.
The ministry of the Master lasted only about three years. He never wrote a book, and He never traveled far from Palestine. Yet His three year ministry changed the course of history and brought hope and spiritual light to a hopelessly sinful, spiritually darkened world.
The Lord first taught in Judea, especially Jerusalem, the center of Judaism. There John first testified that Christ was the promised Savior, and He there called His first disciples, worked His first miracle, first cleansed the Temple, and spoke with Nicodemus, a Jewish ruler, about salvation.
Jesus then walked with his small group of disciples through Samaria to Galilee. Along the way in Samaria, He spoke with a sinful Samaritan woman about true worship and led her to believe and to testify to others.
When Jesus arrived in His home country, Galilee, He began His Galilean ministry, which lasted most of His career. He only returned to Jerusalem for the Jewish feasts, at which times He would engage in exchanges with the Jewish leaders and give evidence to all that He was the Son of God.
Jesus made Capernaum, on the Sea of Galilee, His headquarters and went with His disciples around Galilee three times, preaching, as John had, that people should repent because the Kingdom of God was about to come. He worked many great miracles to demonstrate He is the Son of God.
Jesus then chose twelve of His disciples to be apostles. He delivered to them and to all the disciples the principles of the Kingdom of Heaven in the Sermon on the Mount.
During His second circuit of Galilee, the Jewish leaders demonstrated their stubborn dishonesty by accusing Him of casting out demons by the power of Satan. Thereafter, Jesus characteristically taught in parables. These stories concealed His message from the dishonest, made His message understandable to the honest, and helped them remember His message.
The Master sent His twelve apostles out to preach only to the Jews about the soon to come Kingdom of God.
Jesus condemned the Pharisees because they bound their traditions and loosed God’s Law. The main point of conflict was the Jewish traditions about the Sabbath. Jesus observed all God’s Law and taught others to do so, but He refused to be bound by their traditions.
After His third trip around Galilee, Jesus withdrew into Gentile territory just North of Galilee. On a high mountain he was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, and the Father spoke from heaven, confirming Jesus is His only begotten Son.
Jesus finally went to Jerusalem for His last Passover supper, knowing He would be crucified at this time. He triumphantly entered Jerusalem as the long awaited Christ and once again cleansed the Temple.
During this last week of His life the Lord taught in the Temple, engaged in exchanges with the Jewish leaders, announced God’s rejection of the Jewish nation as His Kingdom, predicted the destruction of the Jewish nation and the Temple, and warned His disciples to be ready for His return.
At His last Passover supper, the Master instituted the Lord’s Supper for His disciples to remember His death. He spoke at length to His apostles, preparing them for His death and promising them the Holy Spirit to take His place as their Helper.
Jesus then retired to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray for strength to face the crucifixion. Judas, one of His apostles, betrayed the Lord by leading the Jewish leaders to the Garden.
The Jewish leaders arrested Jesus and took him to the house of the High Priest to try to find charges to bring against Him. Early Friday morning of the Passover week they took Him to the Roman governor Pilate and accused Him of trying to be a king in violation of Roman rule. Pilate knew the charges were false, but he lacked the courage to dismiss them. He sent Jesus to Herod, who mocked the Lord and sent Him back to Pilate. Then Pilate, unwilling to resist the clamor of the Jews, condemned Jesus to die.
The soldiers mocked and beat Jesus and put a crown of thorns on His head. They took Him to Calvary and crucified Him between two thieves.
Jesus died for the sins of the world. He willingly gave Himself as the only sacrifice that will take away our sins.
He was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, a tomb that had never been used for burial. A large stone was rolled across the mouth of the cave, the Roman seal was placed on the stone to prevent anyone tampering with it, and a Jewish guard was posted to insure no one touched the stone.
There the body of Jesus Christ remained for three days, according to the Jewish way of counting days. But early on the first day of the week, the stone was rolled away, and Jesus arose from the dead.
He appeared repeatedly to His apostles and others for forty days. They saw Him, gazed intently at Him, heard Him speak, and even touched Him. His resurrection from the dead is the ultimate proof He is the Christ, the Son of God.
The Lord, claiming all authority in heaven and earth, delivered to His apostles the Great Commission to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
After forty days, while with His disciples on the Mount of Olives, He ascended with the clouds from their sight. He has returned to Heaven where He now reigns as Lord of lords and King of kings. Some unknown day He will return in the same way He left to receive His faithful disciples to be with Him in Heaven. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
