Kids Blog-Jesus begins His ministry
God fulfilled His divine plan by sending His Son, Jesus to be born as a baby, raised by Mary and Joseph, and baptized by John the Baptist before Jesus began His ministry.
Bible Story: John the Baptist prepares the Way and Jesus is tested in the Wilderness Matthew 3-4
Bible Verse: This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" Matthew 3:3
In those days, John the Baptist preached in the wilderness, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan, confessed their sins, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John the Baptist said, "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Then Jesus came from Galliee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. John said, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus replied, "Let it be so now, it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water, at that moment, heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased." Jesus was Son of God, yet hehumbly submitted to God's Will in order to fulfill His plan, he went to Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Even though Jesus was hungry and he had the power and authority to perform miracles, he did not turn the stones to bread. Instead, Jesus answered, "It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Jesus showed how important it was to consume and nourish our body and mind with spiritual food, which is God's Word. Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. He said, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." But Jesus answered him, "It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test." Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. He said, "All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written, Worship the Lord you God, and serve him only." Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Jesus defeated Satan with God's Word every single time and commanded him to leave. Satan was persistent in his attempt to fail Jesus, but Jesus overcame physcial hunger, temptations to test God, and even overcame temptations of worldly fame, power, and riches. Jesus put His complete trust in God and firmly believed in God's Word when he was tempted. There will be times that we will also be tempted by Satan because Satan's plan is to steal, kill and destroy us. But when we consume God's Word daily and live by His Word, He will equip us to stand against the enemy.
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