One of the amazing things about the story of the Bible is the way it is grounded in real human history. The places the Bible mentions can be found on a map. The ruins of towns listed by Scripture thousands of years ago are still there.
Read MoreWhen the angel Gabriel came to Mary, she was living up in the north of Israel, in the town of Nazareth a few miles from the Sea of Galilee. When she realized the amazing thing that God was going to do in her, she went away from her hometown.
Read MoreThe Spirit of the Lord had come to anoint the Son of God in a special and powerful way. After Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit led Jesus away from the Jordan and the bustle of ministry that surrounded John. Jesus was compelled to go out to the wilderness and to the silence of utter nature.
Read MoreThe time had come for the most important work in human history to begin...the ministry of Christ. But He didn't go it alone. During His final days at John the Baptist's encampment, John continually pointed out to his own followers that Jesus was the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. This lit a fire under some of the men and they went to Jesus, seeking Him as their rabbi.
Read MoreThe world of the Jews was being shaken. In the midst of their great, national Passover celebration, the young man named Jesus was turning everything upside down.
Read MoreAfter the Lord and His disciples left Jerusalem, they went out to the hilly region of Judea. Jesus spent time with His disciples there and they baptized those that came to Him. John the Baptist was baptizing people in an area called Aenon. There was plenty of water there and many people journeyed to him as well. His disciples began discussing something that they thought was a real problem.
Read MoreAs the ministry of Jesus began to grow in influence, a lot of people weren’t happy. John the Baptist’s disciples weren’t the only ones who noticed how popular Jesus was becoming. The Pharisees were taking notice of Him, too.
Read MoreAs Jesus made His way through Galilee to tell the people of the region the Good News of the Kingdom of God, He traveled to His home town of Nazareth. They had waited for so many years through history for the Kingdom of God to come.
Read MoreWe have already learned about the writers of the book of Luke and the book of Matthew. Let’s refresh our memories, and then we’ll go on to learn about the writer of the book of Mark. Matthew was written by Jesus’ disciple, the tax collector. He wrote his book for the Jewish people to help them understand that Jesus was really the promised Messiah of Old Testament prophecy.
Read MoreIn the early days of Christ’s ministry, He spent His days preaching and teaching in the northern region of the nation of Israel around the Sea of Galilee. One day while Jesus was in Capernaum, He went for a walk along the edge of the water.
Read MoreAfter His great confrontation with the religious leaders in Jerusalem (see Story 44), Jesus made the journey with His disciples back home to Galilee.One day, Jesus and His disciples were going for a walk through the grain fields of the countryside.
Read MoreJesus was doing massive amounts of healing and preaching to the multitudes. The Jews from Galilee and Judea that came to Him early on in His ministry were being joined by Gentiles from cities hundreds of miles away.
Read MoreAs Jesus preached to the people throughout the region of Galilee, the powerful religious leaders began rejecting His message. But it wasn’t just the religious leaders that refused to hear the message of God through John and Jesus.
Read MoreJesus had begun to speak to His disciples in parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. The rest of the crowd was still there as Jesus preached from the boat, but for most of them, these stories would be a mystery.
Read MoreIn this story, Jesus was continuing to give His faithful witness of the Gospel in the region Galilee in spite of the hard-heartedness of the people. Where was the repentance that should have marked the children of God when their Savior came?
Read MoreIt was dangerous. The fame and influence of Christ had spread throughout the nation of Israel. Thousands upon thousands had heard His powerful teaching. They had seen Him work miracles that had never been done before.
Read MoreJesus and His disciples made their way in secret to Jerusalem. The Jews at the Feast were all looking out for Him, awaiting His arrival. The people debated whether He was sent by God or was a deceiver bent on leading the people far from the Lord.
Read MoreThe great Feast of Tabernacles had begun in Jerusalem. Everyone wondering when Jesus was going to come. Rumors were swirling around that the Jewish leadership was planning to have Him killed. Yet many of the people who had travelled many miles to the Feast had also travelled miles to listen to Jesus preach.
Read MoreIt was the second day of the week. The exaltations of Christ’s triumphal entry the day before and the havoc He had created in the morning as He threw out the businesses that clogged the worship in the Temple courts were still ringing in the atmosphere of the Feast.
Read MoreJesus had given His disciples the lesson that all of Israel had longed to hear. As they sat together on the Mount of Olives, He laid out God’s plan for the end of human history. Times would continue to be hard in the world of sin, and the hardships would grow worse until the time of the Great Tribulation.
Read More