The following is from OBC’s daily devotional for today:

After Jesus’ baptism, which signaled the beginning of his public ministry, he was tempted by the devil (vv. 1-13).  Jesus rebuffed each temptation by quoting God’s written Word.

Jesus’ ministry involved going to synagogues and teaching (vv. 14ff). An example is given in verses 16-20 when Jesus taught in the synagogue of his hometown, Nazareth. He read Isaiah 61:1-2, stopped in the middle of a sentence, and proclaimed that what he read was fulfilled—he was the promised Messiah and he came to save the lost. The rest of Isaiah 61:2 (that Jesus did not read) would be fulfilled at his Second Coming (Rev 19:11ff). The Nazarene Jews did not believe Jesus was the Messiah (v. 22) and Jesus pronounced judgment on their unbelief (vv. 23-27). Though the Jews sought to kill him it was not yet his time and so he simply left them (vv. 28-30).

Jesus continued proving he was Israel’s promised Messiah and King through his teaching and miracles (vv. 31-44).

Truths to Nail Down and Meditate On

1. Temptation is a solicitation to live contrary to God’s revealed character and will. Satan’s first temptation began by questioning God’s authority (Gen 3:1). Temptation is thus an invitation to rebel against God for immediate gratification. Christian, you must respond like Jesus did to every temptation to rebel against God, by resisting the Devil and obeying God (Jam 4:7; 1 Pet 5:9).
2. Miracles are supernatural acts of God that infrequently occurred in biblical history. Miracles served as supporting signs of God’s messengers and their message, verifying such were truly from him (1 Kings 17:24; Matt 11:2-6; Acts 2:22; 4:29-30; Heb 2:4). Jesus’ miracles proved he was the Savior of sinners by effectively dealing with the effects of sin.
3. The Kingdom Jesus preached (v. 43) was not different in any way from what God said about it in the OT. Jesus picked up right where the OT prophets had left off. The basic character of God’s promised, coming Kingdom is that God in the flesh will enter a rule of loving sovereignty and fellowship with His people and dwell with them forever (Isa 2:4; 11:6-10; 12:1-6; 32:1-4; 56:6-8; 61:1-9). All the physical, political, moral, ethical, and social blessings that will be present in the Kingdom are based on and flow from God’s spiritual blessings of salvation. Jesus came declaring he was Israel’s promised King, and that Jews must believe him to be that in order to enter the Kingdom.