Understanding the Gospels

 Matthew 1: 18 -- 24

This is how Jesus Christ was born. His mother's name

was Mary. She had promised to marry a man called Joseph. Then she discovered that she was going to have a baby and was pregnant. This happened before they started to live together. It was the Holy Spirit that caused this to happen to her. Joseph was a good man. He wanted to do what was right. He did not want her to become ashamed in front of people. So he decided to stop their marriage secretly.”Joseph thought that Mary had sex with another man. When two Jewish people had promised to marry each other, it was not easy to stop the marriage. Joseph could have told people publicly that Mary had done something wrong. This would prevent marriage. The law said that they should then kill Mary. But Joseph wanted to be kind to Mary. Then the angel told him that Mary had not done anything wrong. So he should marry her”.

He thought about what he should do. Then an angel came from the Lord God to see him. The angel came to Joseph while he was dreaming. The angel said, “Joseph, you who are from the family of King David, take Mary home as your wife. Do not be afraid to do that. The baby that is growing inside her is from the Holy Spirit. Mary's baby will be a boy. He will save his people from his sins.” Jesus saves people from God's punishment for the wrong things that they have done.” Because of that, you must give him the name Jesus.

The Lord God had given a message about this to one of his prophets long ago. Now that message would become true. The prophet had said, “ A young woman who has never had sex will have a baby boy. People will call her son Immanuel.” This name means “ God is with us “. Then Joseph woke up from his sleep. He did what God's angel had said to him. He married Mary and he took her to his home.

Luke 2: 1 -- 21

At that time, Caesar Augustus was ruling the whole Roman world." Caesar Augustus was the most powerful ruler of the whole Roman world. He had a large army and he ruled over many countries. He lived in a big city called Rome. This was the capital of the Roman world."

He made a law and told his men, "Count everyone who lives in the Roman world". This was the first time the Romans had made a list of everyone's name, Quirinius was the Roman ruler of Syria when it happened.

Everyone went to his own hometown for the Romans to count them. So Joseph went to his hometown, Bethlehem.

He was living in the town called Nazareth, in Galilee. Bethlehem was in Judea. King David had been born there, so Bethlehem was called the town of David. Joseph belonged to the family of David. That is why he went to Bethlehem.

Joseph took Mary with him so that the Romans could count them. She went because had promised to marry him. She was going to have a baby.

While they were in Bethlehem, after some time, her baby was born. This was her first baby. and it was a boy. She put clothes around him. Then she put him in an animal feeding box. She did this because the rooms for visitors were full of people. " The many people that came to Bethlehem filled all the guest rooms. Mary and Joseph could not find an empty room. So, they had to rest where the animals lived."

That night some shepherds were living out in the fields near Bethlehem. They were Keeping their sheep safe. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to them. Bright light from God shone all around them. That frightened them very much. The angel said to them, " Do not be afraid. Listen! I bring you good news. This news will make everyone very happy.

Something happened today in the town of David. Someone special was born. He is the one who will save you. He is the Messiah. He is the Lord. I will tell you how you will know this baby. You will find him with clothes around him. He is lying in an animal feeding box.

Just then many more angels appeared in a great crowd. They were praising God. They said:" God is great! He lives in the highest place. He will be good to the people on earth that make him happy. They will have peace in their minds."

After that, the angels went away and returned to heaven. Then the shepherds said to each other, " We should leave the sheep and go to Bethlehem immediately! The Lord God has sent angels to tell us what has happened. We want to see this baby.

So they went in a hurry to Bethlehem. When they got there, they found Mary and Joseph with the baby. The baby really was lying in a feeding box. After they had seen the baby. they told everybody about him. They told them what the angel had said to them about him. Many people heard what the shepherds said. They were shocked. Mary remembered everything that the shepherds had said. She thought about it all for a long time. The shepherds then went back to their sheep. As they went they praised God. " How great you are! Everything that the angel told us was true! We have heard the good news. we have seen very special things!"

When the baby was eight days old, it was time for the priest to circumcise him. His parents gave him the name " Jesus". The angel had told Mary that they must give him that name. He said to her that before she had the baby inside her.

Mark 1: 12 -- 13

Immediately, the Holy Spirit sent Jesus out into the wilderness. Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days. During this time, Satan tried to cause him to do the wrong things. There were wild animals with Jesus in nature. God's angels took care of him.

Mattew 4: 1 -- 11

Then the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. While he was there, the Devil came to him. He tried to cause Jesus to do wrong things. "The Devil is a bad angel. He was once a good angel but he refused to obey God. Now he is the leader of all the bad spirits. He is also called Satan. He tries to cause people to do wrong things. Jesus was alone when the Devil came to him. He told his friends about it later.

Jesus did not eat anything for 40 days and 40 nights. At the end of this time, he was starving.

Then the Devil came to Jesus and said to him, "If you are the son of God, speak to these stones. Tell them to become bread."

"But Jesus replied, No! The Bible says that food alone cannot cause people to live. They need to hear every word that God speaks. That is what gives them true life."

"Jesus was very hungry. The Devil knew that Jesus could make stone become bread. He also knew that Jesus was God's Son. God had not told Jesus to make bread, so he did not obey the Devil. Jesus used God's word from Deuteronomy 8:3 to answer the Devil.

Then the Devil led Jesus to Jerusalem. He made him stand on the highest part of the temple. He said to Jesus," If you are the Son of God, jump down from here to the ground. You Know that the Bible says" " God will tell his angel to keep you safe.

They will hold you safely in their hands.

They will not let you hurt your foot on a stone.

" The Devil was using the words from Psalms 91:12. But the Devil was using the words incorrectly."

" Jesus replied, No! The Bible also says, " Do not test the Lord God, to see if he will save you."

" Jesus was remembering God's words in Deuteronomy. Jesus was standing on the highest part of the temple. This place was 600 meters above the ground. God had not told Jesus down. We must not do dangerous things if we do not need to. We must obey God. Then he will take care of us."

Then the Devil led Jesus up a very high mountain. He showed Jesus all the countries in the whole world. They were very grand and beautiful. The Devil said, " I will give you power over all these countries. Just go down on your knees in front of me. Worship me and I will give it all to you."

" Jesus then said to him, " satan, go away from me! The Bible says," Only worship your Lord God. He is the only one that you should obey."

Then the Devil left Jesus alone. Immediately angels came to Jesus and they took care of him.

Luke 4: 1 - 13 

Then Jesus returned from the Jordan River. Jesus was about to commence the task that God had assigned him to accomplish.d him to accomplish.

He was full of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness. He stayed there for 40 days and he did not eat anything. During this time the Devil tried to cause Jesus to do wrong things. The Devil is an angel who refuses to obey God. He also tries to cause people to do bad things.

At the end of 40 days, Jesus was very hungry. 

The Devil said to Jesus, If you are the son of God, speak to this stone. Tell it to become bread.

No! Jesus replied The Bible says that food alone cannot cause people to live.

The Devil knew that Jesus was very hungry, so he gave him the idea to make sure that he had the power to do anything. But he wanted only to obey God. He could make stones into food. But that was not what God wanted. Our bodies are not the most important part of us. Jesus came to give us food for our spirits. That part of us is more important. Jesus Knew what God said in his book. And he answered the Devil with words from Deuteronomy 8:3

After that, the Devil led Jesus up to a high place. In one moment, he showed Jesus all the countries in the whole world. He said to Jesus, I will let you rule the whole world. I will let you rule the whole world. I will give you power over all these things. that power all belongs to me. So I can give it to anyone that I choose. You must bend down low and worship me. Then I will give you power over the whole world.

The Devil was telling Jesus that his work could be easier. He would let Jesus rule the world now if he would obey him. Jesus knew that this was wrong. He knew that he must obey only God.

No! Jesus replied, The Bible says, Only worship your Lord God. He is the only one that you should obey.

Jesus was speaking the words in Deuteronomy 6:13

The Devil now took Jesus to Jerusalem. He took him to stand on the highest part of the temple. Then he said to Jesus, If you are the Son of God, jump down from here to the ground. You know that the Bible says:

God will tell his angels to keep you safe. They will hold safely in their hands. They will not let you hurt your foot on a stone.

The Devil was using the words from Psalms91:11-12. But he was not using them in the right way.

No! Jesus replied, The Bible says, Do not test the Lord God, to see if he will save you.

4:12 Jesus was speaking words from Deuteronomy 6:16. He was standing on the highest part of the temple. This was 600 meters above the ground. He knew that God did not want him to jump. We must not get into danger just to see God save us.

In those ways, the Devil tried to make Jesus do many wrong things. when he had finished this, he left Jesus alone. He waited for another chance.

Matthew14:22-32

Immediately after this, Jesus said to his disciples, Get in the boat and sail across to the other side of the lake. Jesus said that he would first send the crowd away. Then he would also leave. So Jesus sent the crowd away. After they had gone, he went up on a mountain alone to pray. When it became dark, he was still there alone. At this time the boat with the disciples in it was in the middle of the lake. It was a long way from the land. The wind was blowing against the boat and the water was hitting it. Then, when it was nearly dawn, Jesus walked on the water towards his disciples. The disciples saw him walking on the water. They were very frightened. It is a spirit, they said. They screamed loudly because they were afraid.

But immediately Jesus said to them. Be brave! It is I, Do not be afraid.

Peter replied, Lord, is it really you? If it is you, say to me, Come here! Walk to me on the water. Jesus said to him, Come to me. So Peter got out of the boat. He walked on the water and he came came towards Jesus. But then Peter saw that the wind was still blowing strongly. He became afraid and he began to go down into the water. He shouted to Jesus, Lord, save me!

Immediately, Jesus put out his hand and he took hook hold of Peter. He said to Peter, You should trust me more than you do. Why did you not believe that I could help you?

Jesus and Peter climbed up into the boat. Then the strong wind stopped.

Mark 6:45-52

Immediately after this, Jesus said to his disciples, Get into the boat and sail across the lake to Bethsaida. Jesus said that he would first send the crowd away. Then he would also leave. So he said ' goodbye' to the crowd. Then he went up on a mountain to pray.

That evening, the boat with the disciples in it was in the middle of the lake. Jesus was still alone on the land. But he could see his disciples. They were trying to make the boat move along. But it was very difficult for them because the wind was blowing in the opposite direction. Then, when it was nearly dawn, Jesus walked on the water towards his disciples. He seemed to be going on past them. But they saw that he was walking on the water. They thought, It is a spirit. And they screamed out. They all saw him and they were very afraid.

But immediately, Jesus said to them, ' Be brave. It is I. Do not be afraid. Then Jesus got into the boat to be with them. The strong wind stopped. The disciples were completely surprised about what had happened. They did not understand what Jesus had done with the loaves of bread. They were not ready to learn.

John6: 16--21

When it was evening, Jesus' disciples went down to the lake. They

got into a boat and they started to sail towards Capernaum. It had become dark and Jesus still had not come to them. A very strong wind was blowing and the waves became dangerous. The disciples were trying to move the boat through the water. When they had gone about six kilometres they saw Jesus. He was walking on the water and coming near to the boat. They were very afraid. But Jesus said to them,  " It is I. Do not be afraid." So the disciples were happy to let Jesus get into the boat. Immediately, the boat came to the shore where they wanted to be.

John 20:1-2

Early on the first day of the week, Mary from Magdala went to the hole in the rock. It was still dark. She saw that someone had removed the big stone from the front of the hole. 2 So she ran to where Simon Peter was. He was with the other disciples, the one that Jesus loved. She said to them, ‘Somebody has taken the Lord's body out of the hole. We do not know where they have put him!’

Matthew 28:1

After the day of rest had finished, Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of James got up early. It was dawn on the first day of the week. They went to the hole in the rock where Joseph had put the dead body of Jesus.

Mark 16:1

After the day of rest had finished, the women bought some spices. They wanted to mix these with some oil to put on Jesus' body.

16:1 The Jews rested on Saturdays until the sun went down. The women had bought the spices after that, during Saturday evening. The Jews always put these spices on a dead body when they buried it. These women were Mary from Magdala, Salome, and Mary the mother of James.

ary the mother of James.

Devotional

https://youtu.be/McUBe1uJJIw

Matthew 2:13-18

After the men had gone away, Joseph had a dream. In the dream, he saw one of the Lord God's angels. The angel said to him, ‘Herod will look for the child so that his soldiers can kill him. You must get up and take the child and his mother with you. Go immediately to Egypt. I will tell you when you can return again. You must remain there until then.’

14 So Joseph got up and he took the child and his mother with him. They started on the journey to Egypt that night. 15 They all remained in Egypt until Herod died. This happened so that the words of the prophet would become true. The Lord God had said by his prophet, ‘I have called my son to come out of Egypt.’ 

Herod's soldiers kill the baby boys in Bethlehem

16 When the wise men did not return to Herod, he was very angry. He knew that they had deceived him. So he sent his men to Bethlehem. He said to them, ‘Kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem. Kill the boys who live near there too. Kill all the boys who are two years old or younger than that.’ The wise men had told Herod how long ago they had first seen the special star. So he decided to kill the baby boys of that age. 17In this way, these words that God's prophet Jeremiah spoke long ago became true: 2:17 See Jeremiah 31:15

18 people heard a sad noise in Ramah

Someone is weeping with a loud voice.

It is Rachel and she is weeping for her children.

Nobody can help her to stop weeping,

because her children are dead.’

Exodus 14:5-31

Someone told the king of Egypt that the Israelites had run away. Then Pharaoh and his officers changed their minds about the Israelites. They said, ‘We have done a foolish thing. We have let the Israelites go. We have lost our slaves!’

6So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and he took his army with him. 7 He took 600 of his best chariots with him., as well as all the other chariots of Egypt. All the chariots had officers to drive them. 8 The Lord caused the mind of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to be hard. So Pharaoh followed after the Israelites when they left Egypt without any fear.

9 The Egyptian soldiers followed after the Israelites to catch them. They went with all Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and officers. The Egyptian army reached the place where the Israelites had put up their tents. That was beside the sea, near Pi-Hahiroth, across from Baal Zephon.

10 When Pharaoh came nearer, the Israelites looked up. They saw that the Egyptian army had followed them. The Israelites became very afraid. They called loudly to the Lord to help them. 11 They said to Moses, ‘Why have you brought us here, to die in the desert? Surely there were enough places in Egypt to bury dead people! You should never have brought us out of Egypt! 12 We said to you in Egypt, “Leave us alone. Let us work for the Egyptians.” It would have been better for us to be their slaves than to die here in the desert!’

13 Then Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid! Be brave! You will see how the Lord will save you today. Look at the Egyptians over there. You will never see them again! 14 The Lord will fight for you. You will only have to watch.’

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Do not continue to call to me for help! Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 You yourself must do this: Lift up your stick and hold your hand out over the sea. The water will become two separate parts. Then the Israelites can cross through the middle of the sea on dry ground. 17 This is what I, the Lord, will do: I will cause the minds of the Egyptians to become hard. They will follow the Israelites into the sea to catch them. I will show how great I am when I win against Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, his horses, and their riders. 18 When I do that, the Egyptians will know that I really am the Lord. They will know that I am great.’

19 The angel of God had been leading the army of the Israelites. Now he moved and he went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved and it stood behind the army. 20 It stood between the Egyptian army and the Israelite army. During the whole night, the Egyptians were in the dark, because of the cloud. But the cloud gave light to the Israelites. So the two armies did not come near to each other during the whole night.

21 Then Moses lifted up his hand over the sea. During that whole night, the Lord made a strong wind blow from the east. This caused the sea to become two separate parts. The ground between the water became dry land. 22 So the Israelites walked on the dry ground through the middle of the sea. The water was like a wall on their right side and on their left side.

23 The Egyptians followed the Israelites into the middle of the sea to catch them. All Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and their riders did this. 24 Just before dawn, the Lord looked down from the pillar of cloud with fire in it. He saw the Egyptian army and he made them become confused. 25 He stopped the wheels of their chariots so that the Egyptians could not drive them properly. So the Egyptians said, ‘Let us run away from the Israelite army! It is the Lord who fights for them against Egypt.’

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up your hand over the sea. Then the water will return back. The sea will cover the Egyptians, their chariots, their horses, and their riders.’ 27 So Moses lifted up his hand over the sea. At dawn, the sea returned to its proper place. The Egyptians tried to run away from the water, but the Lord made them drown in the middle of the sea.

28 The water returned to its proper place. It covered all of Pharaoh's army that had followed the Israelites into the sea. It covered all the chariots, the horses, and their riders. Not one of Pharaoh's soldiers was still alive! 29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the middle of the sea. The water was like a wall on their right side and on their left side. 30 On that day, the Lord saved the Israelites from the Egyptian army. The Israelites saw the dead bodies of the Egyptians, which lay on the shore.

31 The Israelites saw the great power that the Lord had used against the Egyptians. As a result, they respected the Lord and his power. They trusted the Lord to help them, and they also trusted Moses, his servant.

Matthew 3:13-17

Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River. He wanted John to baptize him. 14 But John tried to stop him. He said to Jesus, ‘I should ask you to baptize me. You should not ask me to baptize you.’

15 Jesus replied, ‘This time, do what I ask you to do. We must do everything correctly, as God wants it.’ So John did what Jesus asked him to do.

16 When John baptized him, Jesus came up out of the water. At that moment, the skies opened. Jesus saw God's Spirit coming down. He came down like a dove and he stayed on Jesus. 17 Then a voice spoke from heaven, which said, ‘This man is my Son and I love him. He makes me very happy.’

Matthew 4:1-11

Then the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. While he was there, the Devil came to him. He tried to cause Jesus to do wrong things. 4:1 The Devil is a bad angel. He was once a good angel but he refused to obey God. Now he is the leader of all the bad spirits. He is also called Satan. He tries to cause people to do wrong things. Jesus was alone when the Devil came to him. He told his friends about it later. 2 Jesus did not eat anything for 40 days and 40 nights. At the end of this time, he was very hungry.

3 Then the Devil came to Jesus and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, speak to these stones. Tell them to become bread.’ 4 But Jesus replied, ‘No! The Bible says that food alone cannot cause people to live. They need to hear every word that God speaks. That is what gives them true life.’ 4:4 Jesus was very hungry. The Devil knew that Jesus could make stones become bread. He also knew that Jesus was God's Son. God had not told Jesus to make bread, so he did not obey the Devil. Jesus used God's word from Deuteronomy 8:3 to answer the Devil.

5 Then the Devil led Jesus to Jerusalem. He made him stand on the highest part of the temple. 6 He said to Jesus, ‘If you are the Son of God, jump down from here to the ground. You know that the Bible says:

“God will tell his angels to keep you safe.

They will hold you safely in their hands.

They will not let you hurt your foot on a stone”.’ 4:6 The Devil was using the words from Psalms 91:12. But the Devil was using the words in a wrong way.

7 Jesus replied, ‘No! The Bible also says, “Do not test the Lord God, to see if he will save you”.’ 4:7 Jesus was remembering God's words in Deuteronomy. Jesus was standing on the highest part of the temple. This place was 600 metres above the ground. God had not told Jesus to jump down. We must not do dangerous things if we do not need to. We must obey God. Then he will take care of us.

8 Then the Devil led Jesus up a very high mountain. He showed Jesus all the countries in the whole world. They were very great and beautiful. 9 The Devil said, ‘I will give you power over all these countries. Just go down on your knees in front of me. Worship me and I will give it all to you.’

10 Jesus then said to him, ‘Satan, go away from me! The Bible says, “Only worship your Lord God. He is the only one that you should obey”.’

11 Then the Devil left Jesus alone. Immediately angels came to Jesus and they took care of him.