Transcript of Radio Show #344:
Event #4, Beginning of Jesus Ministry, Part 1,
from “the Four Gospels series by events" based on the book "Horizontal Chronology of the Four Gospels"

Radio Show...

This program continues on various series of different topics on theology such as end times, prophecies, daily living, etc. as the subject matter comes up.

The e-book on End times, Prophecies and Revelation, answering the questions “where are we in the events of the end times?” and “Are we now in the tribulation?” is available on this web site, which you can find throughout the pages.

Opening Narrative

Hello and welcome to another exciting radio program today on end times and prophecies and scriptures to live by... which is all about old-time gospel and worship music, praying for needs and preaching the Word of God....

Today as we begin a brand new Fall season with new school year and church ministry activities, and so on... so will a new series begin in these radio shows to do with the Four Gospels... actually, as well, this season also starts the 8th year of this “Virtual Church for the Spiritual Unchurched” weekly radio programs.

That's right, it's been 8 years since the Lord called me to produce and host these radio shows that deliver the good news of Jesus Christ, our Lord God and Saviour, and God the Father and God the Holy Spirit – which is all about the beginning of time and the whole of God's Creation as we know it... and all the rest of the Word of God which He gave us to know where we are and who we are.

So right now I have just started a new series based from my book “The Horizontal Chronology of the Four Gospels” which the Lord's been telling me to do for some time.

So this is going to be different and I will explain as I go through the material -- which is not some new narrative, or novel, or anything like that, but it is pure scripture from the Word of God...

So I'll get into that right after the usual opening music, prayer and worship time...

Prayer
Praise God Doxology
Worship music

Narrative #1

Alright, so I continue today in the new series based on my book “The Horizontal Chronology of the Four Gospels” where we look at the four gospels as they are presented by chronological events taking place, rather then by the four gospels separately presented in the Bible by the four writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John ...

As mentioned it is still the same gospel.... but in order of events...

As you will recall if you were with us in the first couple of programs, there are 9 particular events that we are working through -– and if you miss any of the programs at any time, you can still hear them on my web site TimingRevelation.com where each one is available on replay for up to 4 weeks.

The 9 events we're looking at in this series are:

#1—Pre-human existence of Christ
#2 – Pre-natal to Jesus's Incarnation
#3-- Birth and Childhood of Christ

which we have already covered so far...

#4-- Beginning of Jesus' ministry

which is where we are today...

And next we will continue with the rest in the next weeks:

#5-- Galilean ministry
#6-- Judean and Perean ministry of Jesus
#7-- Jesus' last week
m#8-- Jesus' last 6 hours
#9-- From the Resurrection to the Ascension

So we are now today picking up from #4 in the “Beginning of Jesus' ministry”... and we will get to it right after the opening music, prayer and worship time...

Music Interlude

Narrative 2

Alright so let's carry on with the next event, which is #4, “Beginning of Jesus' ministry”.....

As you will recall last week we ended with the last verses of John the apostle recording John the Baptist in chapter 1, the last 3 verses 26, 27 and 28:

26, “... I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;

27, “He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

28, “These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

16:42

#4 Beginning of Jesus' ministry

Now today with this #4 event of Jesus' beginning ministry, we pick up where Jesus is baptized. Here we have records of all four gospel writers who wrote about this... let's begin with the first gospel written by Matthew,

Matthew, chapter 3 verses 13 to 17:

13, “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

14, “But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

15, “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.

16, “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:

17, “And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Then we have Mark, with chapter 1, verses 9 to 11:

9, “And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.

10, “And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:

11, “And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Then we have Luke, with chapter 3 verses 21 and 22:

21, “Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,

22, “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

Then, John the apostle, with chapter 1, verses 29 to 34:

29, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

30, “This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.

31, “And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

32, “And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

33, “And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

34, “And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

So, again John gives us a little more details than the others and also confirms how John didn't know him but God had prepared him and old him that the one on whom he would descend upon like a dove would be the one, and that's exactly whom John the Baptist introduced to the crowd.

So, let's continue now, where one of the gospel writers gives us a look at Jesus' age and his genealogy from Joseph to Adam...

Again we find Dr Luke giving us this important information where as the other three do not...

Luke 3, verses 23 to 38 --

23, “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

Now just before we continue, you will notice here what this verse 23 says in bracket -- “as was supposed). Two things might come into your mind in reading this, i.e.: why would the King James put this bracket in referring to “the son of Joseph”... and why give this genealogy if Jesus is not the son of Joseph...

Well, good questions. In my Hebrew Bible, this verse actually reads this way:

“Yeshua was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry. It was supposed that he was a son of Osef who was of Eli,”

You will recall that earlier we saw that genealogies are very important and critical to the Jews – especially at this very moment of the New Testament being unfolding before their very eyes within their current knowledge of the Old Testament or the Torah.

Dr Luke knew this very well and this is why he made sure to give them the genealogy of Joseph at this time. Because he knew that the Jews were still skeptical about Jesus – skeptical in a “safe” way. They were hearing the gospel but it was all new to them coming out of the Old Testament.

So, as such they were having a bit of a time to understand the doctrine of the virgin birth. And so believed that Jesus was indeed the “son of Joseph”. So for the time being, it was very productive to show them the genealogy of Joseph, as well as the genealogy that was given to them by Matthew way back at the beginning (Matthew 1:1-17), where there too the Jews thought that Jesus was born of Joseph – remember the 14 -14 -14 generations... from Abraham to David, David to the carrying away into Babylon, and from there to the Christ.

But, there in Matthew the genealogy begins by saying “... Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham...” even though Matthew refers to the last generation as being, “... Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”

But, right after, in verse 18, Matthew gets into the explanation of the virgin birth, which we read in the previous events, I think it was our #3 event, Birth and Childhood of Christ.

Now, in my Jewish Bible, there is a commentary on this verse of Matthew's chapter 1, verse 16: “Yosef the husband of Miryam, from whom was born... Yeshua”: it says, “the change of language in this passage reveals that Yeshua was not conceived in the usual way, for as other passages state, the Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit) overshadowed Miryam (Mary), causing her to become pregnant without sexual union (vv.18, 20 of Matthew chapter 1; Luke 1:27, 31, and 34-38).:

Very interesting...

Music interlude...

Narrative #3

Alright, let's get back to Luke Luke chapter 3, verses 23 to 38 that we were reading before the music....

so v. 23, “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

v. 24, (Joseph) “Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph,

25, “Which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son of Naum, which was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagge,

and it goes on and on to... let's jump on to verse 36...

you can read all of this in your Bible...

Verse 36, “Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech,

37, “Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan,

38, “Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

As you probably noticed the last names there go way back to the beginning of the Genesis account of the creation of man... so that was done for the benefit of the Jewish people particularly of the time of Jesus, the beginning of the New Testament...

Temptation of Jesus in the wilderness

So, moving on, we now get into the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, which is the next sub-event of our #4 event “Beginning of Jesus' Ministry”... which takes us to Matthew 4, verses 1 to 11... around Spring of A.D. 27, in the Wilderness of Judea...

Matthew 4:1-11

1, “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

2, “And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

3, “And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

4, “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.

5, “Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

6, “And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

7, “Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

8, “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

9, “And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

10, “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

11, “Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Wow, you have to imagine yourself as a human being, being tempted... and how the devil thought he could tempt Jesus but Jesus was different from any other human being, because He was god in the flesh... and that is amazing...

Then on the same event, we have the writing of Mark:

Mark, chapter 1, verses 12-13:

12, “And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness.

13, “And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him. And that's all we get from Mark.

Then, Luke, chapter 4, verses 1 to 13:

1, “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

2, “Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

3, “And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

4, “And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

5, “And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

6, “And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

7, “If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

8, “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

9, “And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:

10, “For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:

11, “And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

12, “And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

13, “And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

So here again Dr Luke gives us some more details that we don't get from the other writers... and the only way that we can see that specifically is by looking at it side by side under particular events.

Music interlude...

Narrative #4

So, with what we covered today, we are about half-way through our #4 event in this series – the “Beginning of Jesus' ministry”.

In the next program we will get into when Jesus came back from His 40-
days in the wilderness, in Bethabara where John was baptizing, beyond Jordan...

Interestingly the name comes up only once in the bible and that is in John chapter 1 and verse 28... the name means "house of the ford", and is described in the Blue Letter Bible as “a place beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. This may correspond to Bethbarah (fords of Abarah), the ancient ford of the Jordan on the road to Gilead.”

In Bible Study Tools, it says, “Bethabara is identical with Beth-barah (fords of Abarah) the ancient ford of Jordan on the road to Gilead;

What is a “ford” you might ask... it is a shallow place in a river or stream allowing one to walk or drive across.

Again, just a tidbit of historical information or details...

Very interesting...

Closing Narrative…

Before I dismiss the service today, I want to read to you the Blessing that was read to the people of God in Numbers 6:24-26 which is the benediction from God to you today:

“The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."

I hope and pray that you will come back next Sunday at SpiritFM.ca, 7 am and 7 pm pacific time. And if you want to hear the service again at any time, you can go to my website at TimingRevelation.com, and click on the Radio Shows navigational tab along the left side. The replays are available there for five weeks, then they are transcribed into articles as new radio shows are put up.

I encourage you to go to your Bible and read further on the scriptures that were given throughout the program today. And if you like these programs and you've been blessed, call or write the station and let them know... if you said the prayer and have accepted the Lord or you've been healed or touched in some way by the Holy Spirit, write to me on the contact form of this web site...

...and this web site is also where you will find the Free Offer of the “Christian Growth and Maturity Chart” that I talked to you about in the last weeks... you will see the graphic on any page called “Get your free CGM Chart”, click on it and it will take you to a page that will tell you about it and how you can subscribe to my newsletter to get your free copy of the Chart sent to you.

Until next week, Maranatha, the Lord is coming, very soon. Goodbye and Blessing.

/DMH

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/DMH

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Blessings,