A Biblical Vision, Part II: Mastering the New Testament Witness to Christ

Ses s i on 3: The Gospe l s : The Man i fes tat i on of Chr i s t , Par t I I 67

[32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, [33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”

2. His baptism and temptation reveal the depths of his own righteous character.

a. The baptism reveals God’s divine favor, Matt. 3.16-17 – And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descend ing like a dove and coming to rest on him; [17] and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” b. The temptation reveals his resolve to obey the Father to the absolute exact degree that the Father desires and demands, Matt. 4.10 – Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” 3. His entire Galilean ministry (the first year of his public ministry) was not ease and comfort, but engagement and spiritual warfare, Matt. 4.23-25 – And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. [24] So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. [25] And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

4. He glorified the Father in all that he said and did, John 17.3-5 – “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.