The Story of Jesus

This week we wrapped up Every Day Faith with a look at the life of Jesus. I realize that the whole Bible is part of His story, but we took a brief look at some moments He spent on Earth. The first day we studied Matthew 4:1-11 where Jesus is in the desert being tempted by Satan. Jesus, even after fasting 40 days and nights, wielded the most powerful weapon He had-His Word. It can be so easy to just give in to temptations when we're tired or aggravated. However, if we will wield God's word in those moments, then our lives will probably be a lot less stressful.

The next day we looked at Matthew 26:36-46 where Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is such a powerful and moving portion of scripture. It is hard to picture Jesus in this moment. None the less, we see Him wrestling in prayer over His imminent death. The magnitude of this moment seems to be lost on the disciples. They're sleeping. In verse 41 Jesus tells them to watch and pray so that they will not fall into temptation. The power in praying, of taking our concerns to God, is averting those things that might cause us to stumble.

On the third day we focused on Jesus and the woman at the well. In John 4:7-26, we saw how Jesus went against the customs and spoke with the Samaritan woman. At first the conversation is focused on the physical need for water, but moves to the more important spiritual need for living water. It always seemed a bit odd to me that Jesus asked her about her husband in the middle of this dialogue. This time it struck me that Jesus, ever full of grace and mercy, was touching on the one thing that she probably thought made her unworthy of living water.

Next we studied John 13:1-17 where Jesus is in the Upper Room and washes the disciple's feet. The example Jesus sets is so humbling and powerful. He illustrates fully that serving is the greatest part of leadership. No matter what our role is, we should not think ourselves better than another.

Finally we finished the week with Matthew 28:16-20. Jesus is in Galilee and gives the "Great Commission." The command is to go and make disciples, baptize them and teach them. As believers, it is our command too. Spreading the love and hope of Jesus is a privilege. May we all go with the knowledge that Jesus is ever with us.