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 when I read Luke’s gospel, chapters 4 and 5. Like most readers who are familiar with the gospel writings, I was aware that the Judean wilderness was the place where, […]
Read more →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 conform to their traditions of acceptable behavior (3:2; 3:22). A synagogue ruler pressed him to come immediately to heal his daughter while, at the same time, a hemorrhaging woman pressed […]
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