It is so easy to take for granted things that are familiar to us. The people of Nazareth have known Jesus for 30 years. Because they are so used to Him, they refuse to believe what He has to say. We can get used to owning Bibles, we can get used to hearing God’s Word preached, we can get used

When Christ comes to the synagogue He comes to a place where the Lord’s Day and God’s Word are meant to be taken seriously. It is common practice in those days for a visiting teacher to read and teach from God’s Word. Jesus picks Isaiah 61:1-2, a prophecy of the kind of work the Messiah is going to do. Then,

It should never surprise us if we are tempted by the devil. But it should also comfort us that Christ understands what it feels like to be tempted. Three times Satan tempts Christ. First he tries to persuade Him to doubt God’s care for Him. For forty days Jesus has been fasting as part of this trial God is putting

Why does Christ come to John to be baptised? He’s not a sinner, so He doesn’t need His sins forgiven. Why then is He there? He is there to identify Himself with His people. For the same reason He comes to earth and lives among men, He submits Himself to baptism. He, the King of kings, becomes one of us.

One of the first effects of faithful preaching of God’s Word is that it gets people thinking - thinking about spiritual things. They may hate it or they may love it, but they are at least thinking about it. Their apathy has been dissolved. This is what happens to the Jews as they hear John’s preaching - they start thinking. A

John is sometimes called the last of the Old Testament prophets, and his preaching has a tremendous effect upon the Jews. He is a very bold preacher. He doesn’t hesitate to speak plainly and call sin sin. He isn’t distracted by his popularity, and he isn’t worried about offending someone. The spiritual disease of those who are there is desperate

The Jews can’t say that when the Messiah comes, He comes with no notice. John the Baptist is sent before Jesus to get the nation’s attention. It is a time of great apathy on the part of the people and wickedness on the part of the rulers. Of the rulers listed in the first two verses we know very little

Every year Mary and Joseph go to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. For a poor family this is no easy task, the journey is long and tiring, and the cost of leaving work for 10 days or more is hard to bear. But their love for the Lord makes them faithful in keeping His commands no matter the cost. They

Anna is a wonderful example of a Godly woman. She is only married 7 years before she becomes a widow, and she spends 84 years as a widow. The trials and loneliness that go along with this must have been difficult, but she, by God’s grace, overcomes them all. Anna is a woman who loves God’s house. She desires to be

During the darkest time in Israel’s history, when the Pharisees and Sadducees have perverted and corrupted the faith, when a foreign power that knows not God rules over the people, and when most care very little about the things of God, God still has a believing people, He still has Godly men like Simeon. We must always remember this. Even