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Luke 4:1 (New English Translation) Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he endured temptations from the devil. Luke 5:16 (New English Translation) Yet Jesus himself frequently withdrew to the wilderness and prayed. I love those God-filled revelations that grab me when I read the scriptures. I had one of those recently...

“In those days there was another large crowd with nothing to eat. So Jesus called his disciples and said to them, ‘I have compassion on the crowd, because they have already been here with me three days, and they have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will faint on the way, and some of them have come from a great distance.’ His disciples answered him, ‘Where...

“When they saw him walking on the water they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them: ‘Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.’ Then he went up with them into the boat, and the wind ceased. They were completely astonished, because they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.”...

Jesus’ ministry exposed him to constant pressure. The crowd pressed upon him in public places (3:9-10; 4:1; 5:31). People with diseases pressed toward him in order to touch him for healing. When he went to his home, the crowd pressed him so much that he was not even able to eat a meal with his family (3:20). His family pressured him for attention (3:31). The religious people pressured him to...

“As [Jesus] went along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen). Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.’ They left their nets immediately and followed him. Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother in their boat mending nets. Immediately...