Matthew 12:22-50 | Mark 3:20-35 | Luke 8:1-21

Jesus is becoming very popular in His ministry, with multitudes following Him wherever He goes.  Jewish leaders out of Jerusalem come and claim that Jesus is casting out demons by the power of the devil, yet the Lord points out the insanity of their logic, and tells them that their generation will be judged more harshly than even Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba (gentile nations and people who didn’t have the benefit of God’s law).  Jesus tells them that the words of their mouth demonstrate what is actually in their hearts, and states that the judgement of God will accurately reflect the condition of each person’s heart.  The hearts of men are like fruit trees, which demonstrate what they are by what comes from within.

Luke 7 | Matthew 8:1, 5-13, 11:2-30

It is notable to consider the faith of the Centurion, who’s servant was sick, and who asked Jesus to heal the servant.  The passage tells us that Jesus was blown away by the faith of this (Gentile) Centurion, who not only understood that Jesus had the authority to heal, but he understood that the Lord only needed to say the word, and it would happen.  Jesus told the crowd that He had not seen the like of this man’s faith in all of Israel.  The faith of this man was not something that was built up within him, but it was just a reflection of his confidence in the power and authority of the Lord’s Word.

Jesus did many other great miracles in these passages, including raising a young man from the dead, and also demonstrating that He had the power to forgive sin, with the woman he encountered at Simon’s house. 

When John the Baptist was in prison he sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus if He was The Christ, which represented a low point in his life, just before Herod was going to have him killed.  Jesus responds with grace and love, telling them to go back to John and describe the many miracles that Jesus was doing.  After they leave, Jesus admonishes the crowd regarding John, saying that he was the greatest man who had lived until that time, and that he was the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophesy about Elijah coming in advance of The Christ.

Matthew 6-7 | Luke 6:37-49

In Matthew 6 the Lord tells His disciples how to pray, and the critical necessity for us to forgive others if we hope to be forgiven by God.  In like manner, Jesus tells us to treat others in the way that we want to be treated, which speaks of how God will treat us (in light of how we treat others).

Jesus stresses the importance that we do the things He said, and that there will be some in the judgement who are not His, because they failed to do what He commanded.  Of course, we are not saved by the things we do, since we know that salvation comes by God’s grace, and our faith in Jesus Christ.  However, Jesus is saying that those who belong to Him also experience a change of heart, and each person wants to do what He has commanded, even though such practice may be far from perfect.

Matthew 5 | Mark 3:13-19 | Luke 6:12-36

The 12 apostles are called by Jesus, and then He begins to teach them.  In Matthew 5-7 we find the Lord’s sermon on the mount, which begins with Him calling His disciples together, and then teaching them the principles of the kingdom of God.  Matthew 5 includes the so-called Beatitudes, where Jesus lays out the behavior and attitudes of those who belong to God’s kingdom.  The rules that Jesus describes in these chapters are even more difficult than the laws of Moses, since they speak to the attitudes of the heart, and they demonstrate the righteousness required of anyone who seeks to be saved through his own actions.  These are impossible for men and women to obey in every aspect, and at all times, demonstrating the need for Christ’s righteousness in all who will be accepted by God, since He is the only one who actually kept all of God’s laws (both the OT law, as well as the intent of God’s laws, as cited by Jesus).  We can look ahead to these being the laws of the kingdom when Jesus rules on the earth.

John 5 | Matthew 12:1-21 | Mark 2:23-3:12 | Luke 6:1-11

On many occasions Jesus healed people and cast out demons on the Sabbath, which drove the Pharisees crazy with anger, yet the Lord was grieved on account of their hard hearts, and lack of compassion for the needy.  Jesus told them that they did not understand that the Sabbath was ordained by God as a gift to men, and not as a means of fulfilling religious obligation.  In John 5 Jesus tells the Pharisees that they also misunderstand the scriptures and the law, since they would love Him if they followed the law of Moses as it was intended from God.  He also told them that all of the Old Testament scriptures were actually written about Himself, and everything there was included by God to point forward to the coming of Jesus.

Matthew 9:1-17 | Mark 2:1-22 | Luke 5:17-39

The city of Capernaum was located at the north end of the Sea of Galilee, and very near to the city of Bethsaida.  Capernaum became the headquarters city for Jesus and His disciples, where they went out from during His three years of ministry in Galilee.

Jesus heals a paralytic, and places His call upon Matthew/Levi.  Pharisees complain that Jesus is associating with tax collectors and sinners, but He tells them that it was for the sick and helpless that He came to minister, and not those who considered themselves to be healthy and sin free.  He then makes an analogy about putting new wine in old wineskins, or patching an old garment with new material, saying that both examples will fail, and that He was instituting a new work in the world with all that He was doing.

Mark 1:16-45 | Matthew 4:18-25 | 8:2-4 and 14-17 | Luke 4:31-5:16

Even though some of the men had started following Jesus when He was first baptized, and in Judea, now the Lord places His call on Peter, James, John, and Andrew, saying that they will become fishers of men.  Jesus is ministering and teaching in Galilee, performing many miracles and casting out demons.

John 4 | Matthew 4:12-17 | Mark 1:14-15 | Luke 4:14-30

After Jesus met with Nicodemus, He took His disciples into the area of the Jordan River for a while, but then determined to go into Galilee, some 70 miles north of Jerusalem, where He had grown up.  Most of the Lord’s 3 and 1/2 years of ministry occurs in Galilee, and it was most of the final 6 months that Jesus spent most of his time in and around Jerusalem.

On the way towards Galilee they stop in a small Samaritan town named Sychar, where Jesus meets a Samaritan women at the well.  Samaritans were descendants of marriages between Gentiles and Jews, where a small number of Jews were sent back to the northern kingdom of Israel following the Assyrian captivity, and they were expressly hated by pure-bred Jews.  However, Jesus stops and ministers to them as descendants of Abraham, and always treats Samaritans with compassion during His ministry.  Jesus declares to her that He is the source of everlasting water (which God had demonstrated to Moses and Israel for 40 years in the desert wanderings, with the river of water that came from the Rock).  He tells her plainly that He is the Messiah, and Jesus stays in that town another 2 days, with many becoming believers.

From Sychar Jesus goes into Galilee, and when they are in the town of Cana (again), Jesus performs His second miracle by healing the son of a Gentile ruler from Capernaum.  Most of the miracles reported in John’s gospel were done without many people even noticing, as was the case with His first 2 miracles reported in John.

Jesus initiates His Galilean ministry, and in Luke 4 He goes to the synagogue in Nazareth and reads from Isaiah 61:1-2, telling them that the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled in their presence on that day, but He was immediately rejected by the people of His own town.

John 1:35-3:36

According to John 20:31, this gospel was specifically written so that people might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that He is the Son of God, so all of the accounts included in this gospel were placed there to accomplish this end.  Much of what was recorded in the other 3 gospels was not included in John, as he was not trying to just repeat what the others had written decades earlier.

In this passage we see the beginning of the Lord’s ministry, where He starts gathering disciples, He cleanses the temple of vendors and money changers, and He performs His first miracle in Cana, turning water into wine.  This first miracle is a picture of what He can do with plain earthen vessels (like us), where He miraculously transforms the common into the extraordinary.

In chapter 3 Jesus meets with Nicodemus, a leading Pharisee among the rulers in Israel, telling him of the need for every person to be born again, if they are going to be a part of God’s kingdom.  Then Jesus tells Nicodemus that He must be lifted up (on the cross), just like Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, so that whoever looks up Him might be saved from the curse of satan’s bite (just like the people were saved from the serpent bites when they looked upon the bronze serpent lifted up on a pole).  He tells Nicodemus that it is for this purpose He came, because it was never God’s desire to judge the world for sin, so He sent Jesus into the world to save all who will believe on Him.

Matthew 3:1-4:11 | Mark 1:2-13 | Luke 3:1-23, 4:1-13 | John 1:19-34

John the Baptist appeared out of no where, coming from the desert, preaching repentance to the people in Israel, and of the imminent coming of the Christ.  He was not the Christ, or the prophet that Moses promised (Deuteronomy 18:15).  He said he wasn’t the promised appearing of Elijah, as Malachi predicted 400+ years earlier, however Jesus testified later that he was indeed Elijah.  As John predicted, Jesus appeared at that time, and He was baptized by John, and God testified that He was His Son, and the Spirit of God came and stayed upon Him.

Jesus was led into the desert to be tempted by the devil, and after fasting for 40 days, satan came to Him.  Satan tempted Him three times, trying to get Jesus to disobey His Father, however each time He only responded with scripture, quoting from Deuteronomy 6 and 8 all three times.  He is our example of how to battle satan and temptation, by relying on God’s Word, and not on our own intellect or strength.

Matthew 1:18-2:23 | Luke 2

Here are the stories of the Lord’s birth in Bethlehem.  When it was learned that Mary was pregnant, an angel appeared to Joseph, telling him that the baby was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and gave him instructions to not put Mary away, and to name the child Jesus.  The name Jesus is the same as Joshua in Hebrew, and it means “Jahweh is Salvation”.  Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth (in Galilee), but were forced to travel to Bethlehem as she was preparing to deliver Jesus, because of a census that required everyone to register in their ancestral cities.  The announcement of Jesus’ birth was made by shepherds and angels, and wisemen from the east (Persia) came and worshipped Him in Bethlehem.  King Herod attempted to kill Jesus, but the Lord told Joseph to take Him to Egypt until the king died.  After Herod’s death, they returned from Egypt, and then went to live again in Nazareth, where Jesus was raised.  At 12 years of age Jesus went with Joseph and Mary to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, and even then His wisdom astounded the temple priests, and He knew His mission to serve His heavenly father in life and death.

Luke 1:5-80

The gospel of Luke was penned by the only Gentile to contribute to the New Testament scriptures, who was a Greek, and a disciple of Paul.   Luke writes like a journalist, who goes and interviews all of the eyewitnesses of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.  Some scholars have speculated that Luke wrote this gospel, and the book of Acts as written statements to be presented at Paul’s defense before Caesar.  Luke is very detailed, and was also a trained physician, so he was the best educated of all the gospel writers.

Luke tells the story of John the Baptist’s birth to Zechariah and Elizabeth in their old age.  Elizabeth was a cousin of Mary, and John was born 6 months before Jesus.  Mary went and visited Elizabeth for the final 3 months of her pregnancy, and John was filled with the Holy Spirit when he was 6 months in the womb.  Elizabeth understands that Mary will be the mother of the Messiah, and Zechariah prophesies concerning the ministry of their son John.  After John is raised from infancy, he lived in the desert until he was called by God to preach about the coming of Christ to Israel.

John 1:1-18 | Mark 1:1 | Luke 1:1-4, 3:23-38 | Matthew 1:1-17

These passages mark the beginnings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which includes three genealogies of Jesus.  John 1:1 provides the first, and earliest genealogy of Jesus, stating that He was in the beginning with God, and He was God, so that all that was created was made through Him.

Matthew 1:1-17 gives us the genealogy of Jesus through His (step) father Joseph, which proves that he was descended from the line of king David, and eligible to be king in Israel.  The genealogy of Luke 3:23-38 is through mother Mary, who was also a blood descendant of David, thereby proving that Jesus fulfilled OT prophecies stating that He would be a son of David.

Mark 1:1 and Luke 1:1-4 also declare the writer’s intentions of telling the history and story of Jesus Christ.

As background, the 1st four books of the New Testament are called The Gospels, which relate the story of Jesus Christ’s birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection from the dead.  The first 3 gospels are called “synoptic”, which means that they cover much of the same history and stories of Jesus, and focus the majority of their witness on the Lord’s ministry in Galilee.  John’s gospel was written several decades after the synoptic gospels, and tells the story of Jesus to specifically prove that He is the Son of God, so that the reader might be saved.  Much of John’s gospel includes stories and details not included in the synoptic gospels, and focuses much of the narrative in Jerusalem, and during the final week before He is crucified.

1 Chronicles 8:28-9:44

After listing the genealogies of Israel, it is stated that Judah, Benjamin, some Levites, and some of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh went into captivity in Babylon. 

Chapter 9 lists the names of the prominent men who returned to Judah and Jerusalem following the Babylonian captivity.

This ends the Old Testament!

1 Chronicles 7:1-8:27

Chapter 7 gives the genealogies of the tribes of Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh, and Ephraim.

Chapter 8 provides a more detailed treatment of the tribe of Benjamin, with focus on the line that went down to Kish, and then Saul, the first king of Israel.

1 Chronicles 6

Chapter 6 gives the genealogies of Levi (3rd son of Jacob), who had three sons - Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.  The Levites were the only tribe in Israel that was not given a territory of land, but they rather received cities within each of the territories inherited by the other tribes.  This was not only the case because they were the priests of God, but Jacob had prophesied in Genesis 49:7 that Levi (and Simeon) would be divided in all of Israel.  This was fulfilled in how the Levites were spread throughout the tribes, and also because the tribe of Simeon ended up receiving land within the territory of Judah.

1 Chronicles 3-5

Reuben was the oldest son of Jacob, and by tradition the birthright belonged to him, which speaks of the position of leadership, or paterfamilias.  However, because he slept with one of his father’s concubine, that honor was stripped from him.  Likewise, Simeon and Levi (2nd and 3rd in birth order) lost that right of succession because of the murders they committed against Shechem.  Judah was 4th, and took the leadership role of the family, even though Jacob gave the birthright to Joseph, and the double portion of his inheritance was included for Joseph’s sons (Ephraim and Manasseh).

Chapter 5 gives the genealogy of Reuben, and also describes the inheritance of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh.  These three tribes were allotted land on the east side of the Jordan River, whereas all of the rest of the tribes (plus the other half of Manasseh) received their inheritance in the land of Canaan, to the west of the Jordan.

1 Chronicles 1-2

The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles gives the genealogies of key families from Adam to Abraham, and then the descendants of Abraham through the return of Judah following the Babylonian captivity.

Chapter 1 lists the descendants of Adam through Abraham, the descendants Ishmael, and the descendants of Isaac’s oldest son Esau.

Chapters 2-4 primarily focuses on the descendants of Judah, who was the fourth son of Jacob, through whom came king David, and the promise of the Lord’s Messiah (Who would be a descendant of David, and eventually sit on David’s throne).

Malachi

Nothing is known about who Malachi was, or even when this book was written, however tradition has him as the last of the Old Testament prophets, and that he wrote this book following the days of Nehemiah and Zechariah.  His name means “my messenger”.

The Lord tells the priests, through Malachi, that He is displeased with their treatment of Him, and how they profane His Name by offering sacrifices that are lame and blind.  They treat the Lord as a pain, but God promises in chapter 1 that He will be treated with great honor among the Gentiles.  In chapter 2 the Lord indicts them for their unfaithfulness to Him, and to their wives, who they have treacherously put away without mercy, saying that He hates divorce.

In chapter 3 the Lord tells of the future appearance of His messenger, and God will bring about a purification in Israel, with judgement upon those who hate Him, who lie, who take advantage of the helpless, and who rob God in failing to bring their tithes into His temple.

The finals words of Malachi foretell of the coming of Elijah, which was fulfilled in the appearing of John the Baptist, and will be fulfilled again in the days of the great Tribulation, just before the Day of The Lord, when Jesus will return and execute judgement upon all who hate Him.

With these final words of Malachi, the Lord goes silent for more than 400 years, and speaks no word through any prophets until John the Baptist comes, and announces the imminent appearance of The Christ.

Nehemiah 11-13

Nehemiah oversaw all of this revival in Judah and Israel as the king’s Governor over the land, and made sure that everything was in proper order.  There were people chosen by lot to live in Jerusalem, while 90% of the people lived in their own cities in Judah and Benjamin.  The people were chosen by lot to bring provisions to Jerusalem for the priests and Levites, and to give their tithes to the temple for their upkeep, and the care of the temple.  He also oversaw the dedication of the fully constructed walls of Jerusalem, and then after 12 years in Israel he returned to Persia to serve the king, as he had promised before he left.

However, after further time in Persia Nehemiah hears bad things from Israel, so he goes back to investigate, and discovers that the people are already going back on the things they had promised in writing.  They were not bringing tithes and provisions to the temple.  They were intermarrying with the pagan gentiles around them.  They were allowing ungodly gentiles into the temple.  They were working and doing business on the Sabbath, etc…. Nehemiah strongly reprimanded the people for their disobedience to God, and again worked to put things back in order.