Life of Jesus in Chronological Order

John's role was to introduce and prepare the way for the Messiah. John was a very prominent figure teaching about the Messiah and of the need for people to repent of their sins and to be purified by the action of baptism. He did this by his forceful teaching and later identifying Jesus as the Messiah.

It clearly marked the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. It showed the humility of Jesus as He obeyed God's command (Matthew 3:15). He identifies Himself with sinners through His baptism, although He was without sin. This identification was the first step in taking on the sins of man. As Paul states in Romans 6, baptism signifies death so Jesus was showing a clear start by His baptism. It fulfilled prophecy (Isaiah 11:1-2; Isaiah 42:1). These prophesies from Isaiah occurred and were witnessed and recorded in the gospel. An additional note, the baptism of Jesus also is a record of the appearance of all members of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was led into the desert for this event. Satan temps Jesus after an extensive period of fasting when Jesus would be physically and emotionally worn down. Satan temps Jesus with three events.

If Jesus used His powers as Satan tempted, then He would have failed in His faithfulness. This would be a repetition of the sin of Adam and Eve. Satan would have won. The temptations represented doubting the power of God, taking a shortcut to what Jesus set out to accomplish, and lacking faith and trust in God the Father.

Jesus relied on His faith in God the Father and used scripture to show the way of God.

We too must rely on our faith in God, especially in our weakest moments. We must become knowledgeable and use that knowledge of scripture as a defense against Satan's schemes (Ephesians 6:13-18).

John preached about the imminent coming of the Messiah. He showed that his role was only as the messenger and the people were to be ready through repentance and the purification of baptism. After John baptizes Jesus, the Holy Spirit appears as a dove signifying to John who Jesus was.

This was a fulfilment of prophecy (John 1:32-34).

Jesus calls men to be His disciples (later apostles) who did not come from the elite, religious or ruling class. He selected ordinary men which ordinary lives.

This underscores a lot of Jesus' teachings regarding humility. It further shows the power of God. It was not these men's position, intellect or personal power that furthered the spread of the gospel, but their submission to God. Even the Apostle Paul, although a member of the influential Pharisees, was brought to humility and obedience before God would use him.

This is a valuable lesson for us. We do not teach ourselves or use our own influence but allow God to use us as His instruments. The abilities we have are turned over and directed towards God as we glorify Him. We grow in our abilities and adapt new ones so we can serve God in other ways. Paul stated this many times as he moved himself into the background and projected Jesus to the foreground. Peter learned this throughout his life as well. Peter began his ministry focusing more on himself but through humility would become the leader Jesus desired him to be. These men and others serve as examples for us.

As with any historical figure, legends and myths abound. We don't have the details of the early life of Jesus before or after His presence in Jerusalem when He was 12.

As a result, there are many unverifiable stories about Him. Without documentation, however, these are just stories. By stating this as His first miracle, the writer of the gospel is exposing these other fictional accounts as simply stories. There is danger here in that once these are exposed as such, some may question the actual record we have thus preventing some from believing or weakening the faith of actual believers. Our role is to present the simple truth of the scriptures without adding or changing the written record.

We must teach Jesus as Lord. John points us to Jesus as the Messiah. God the Father and God the Holy Spirit validate this identify. Jesus shows His Lordship in His early ministry by fulfilling prophecy. The starting point in our spiritual journey is submission to our calling to become disciples. We then teach others about Jesus and how they can become disciples so their journey can begin. We don't teach the church, we teach Jesus. Upon obedient response to the calling of Jesus (repentance and baptism – Acts 2:38) the Holy Spirit adds us to the church (Acts 2:47). We then continue in our discipleship by learning and following the teachings of Jesus.

God does not demand perfection, but He does require faithfulness. This faithfulness begins with our obedience to the gospel (Mark 16:15-16) and continues as we learn and grow. If we recognize our relationship with Jesus, then we will also recognize our role to teach others.

Jesus began His ministry at home and He approached those who knew Him. This is not always easy, and when we do this we also are often rejected. However, we are shown by example and told by command to do this (Acts 1:8). Jesus instructs His apostles to begin in their home and eventually go into all the world. Later, following the death of Stephen (Acts 8) and the beginning of persecution (Acts 9), the converts to Jesus would take this same approach as they were scattered throughout the known world, and today the entire world. We are now part of this effort if we have become disciples of Jesus. We start with ourselves, witness to those we know and move on to witness our faith to an ever-growing number of people. As we grow spiritually, we also grow in knowledge and ability. We turn these over to God and His power through the Holy Spirit equips us to do even more in our service to the Lord. In all things, we give Him the glory.