Gary Gleans

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_First_Cleansing_of_the_Temple.htm Anger is an emotion that often leads to sin but is not sinful in and of itself.  There is no doubt that Jesus was angry as He came into Jerusalem and saw the people who were exploiting the sacrificial system as a means of financial gain.  People desperate to make a sacrifice to atone for their sins would pay inflated prices for animals to offer as a sacrifice.  This practice made a mockery of the Law and turned forgiveness into a business.  That which was supposed to by a symbol of the sacrifice Jesus had come to make had become a means of exploiting people.  The heart of man is very quick to turn anything into that which benefits him.  Churches today offer a place where people can come and hear the Word of God, practice corporate worship, minister to one another and to fellowship with other believers as a means of growing in our relationship with God.  However, church can easily become a place where people

John 2:12 12  After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and  His  brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days. I thought I would go ahead a post the whole verse today since there is only one.  This will obviously be a short post.  I debated skipping this verse or adding it to the next section, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to just focus on this verse this morning mostly because I have really never noticed it before.  I think that it is interesting that after the wedding Jesus stayed on with His family for a few days and He took His disciples with Him.  The dynamic between ministry, family and discipleship is worth our consideration and is an example from which we can learn. DISCIPLESHIP INCLUDES FAMILY: If my understanding (or Bible Hub’s) of the order of events is correct, at this time Jesus only has a small group of disciples.  They would be Andrew, John, Peter, Philip and Nathanael and perhaps James.  It seems that the o

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_First_Miracle_of_Jesus_at_Cana_in_Galilee.htm Validation is something that we all enjoy receiving.  When someone appreciates our work or expresses confidence in our abilities; this type of validation is reassuring and encouraging to us.  In reality, most of us seek for validation all too often and become upset when we don’t get as much of it was we think we should.  When Jesus turned the water into wine as His first miracle He was given much validation but He did not do the miracle for that purpose.  There were likely two motives behind this miracle.  The first may have been as simple as having compassion on the family that was hosting the wedding with so many thirsty guests.  Running out of wine would have been a huge embarrassment to them and Jesus spared them for that.  The more important motive behind this miracle was to promote and solidify the faith of His disciples in His identity as the Son of God.  Jesus knew all about the people’s

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_First_Disciples_of_Jesus.htm Skepticism can be a helpful trait in a day when it seems that there are so many false teachers.  It can also prevent us from being a part of some wonderful things.  We say that good news spreads fast.  The news that Jesus was Messiah was clearly declared by John.  However, in many ways it seems that there were very few who actually believed John’s testimony.  It seems that skepticism is winning the day.  Eventually there would be multitudes following Jesus but at this early stage in His ministry there are very few people who are following the Lord.  The reality is that Jesus did not match everyone’s preconceived ideas about what Messiah would be like.  They were expecting a rich ruler; not a suffering Savior.  Jesus is not concerned with or surprised by this reaction.  He simply moves forward with His plan to call men to become His followers.  He continues to seek men who will follow Him but, to this day, finds m

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_First_Disciples_of_Jesus.htm Follow the leaders is a game we used to play as children.  One child lines up behind the leaders and simply follows him wherever he goes.  Along the way other children begin to fall in line behind the first child as a means of joining in the fun.  The longer the line gets the more successful the game is deemed to be.  Christianity is really the longest game of follow the Leader in history.  Now that Jesus has been publicly identified as Messiah the focus of the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament turns to Him.  Many of the multitudes that had come out to see and hear John the Baptist will become followers of Jesus.  This is as it should be.  Today’s text records the actions of the first people to begin following Jesus.  They started a process that has continued through many generations and has finally come to ours.  Each of us must make a choice as to whether we will line up behind Jesus our Leader and foll

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/John_Identifies_Jesus_as_the_Messiah.htm Identity is something with which many people struggle.  When someone has a hard time understanding who they are we call this an identity crisis.  Many times this crisis in identity stems from a much more serious problem.  The most serious identity crisis is failing to correctly understand who Jesus is.  In fact most of the problems we face in life do not stem from our lack of understanding of self; they stem from a lack of understanding of God.  It is common for people to start thinking about themselves as gods.  We start thinking that we deserve certain pleasures or possess certain rights.  We question God and doubt Him when He doesn’t do what we think He should.  We treat God as if He were our servant and not the other way around.  The nation of Israel was waiting for a Messiah that would make them more comfortable and powerful through political liberation.  They did not see their need of repentance or

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/John_Witnesses_to_the_Committee_of_the_Sanhedrin.htm The fear of man is something that all of us struggle to conquer.  We like to have the approval of others and are often willing to sacrifice our standards in order to gain it.  This fear can become even more prominent in our lives when we are dealing with authority figures.  The Jewish leaders became accustomed to wielding power.  John posed a threat to them because of the large number of people who were following him and being baptized by him.  John’s influence made them very uncomfortable and his lack of fear of them scared them.  John had already called the Scribes and Pharisees snakes when they had come out to him so now the leaders decide to send out a different group in the Priests and Levites.  It is ironic as well as emblematic that John causes the fear of man in the Jewish leaders so they try to intimidate John into fearing them.  If we are going to serve the Lord faithfully, others wi

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Three_Temptations_of_Jesus.htm Creativity is not Satan’s strong point.  He has repeated the same kinds of temptations over and over again throughout history.  In reality, he does not need to be creative because most men keep falling into the same traps over and over again.  Satan’s attempts to tempt Jesus followed his normal patterns but this time he came against a resistance to his temptations that was greater than he had ever seen before or since.  Satan picked a time when he thought that Jesus would be the most vulnerable but no matter how hard he tried; Jesus would not give in to his temptations.  The apostle John states that the root causes behind all of our sins are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.  It is interesting to note that Satan seems to focus in on each of these three areas as he tries to get Jesus to give into these temptations.  As we look at these areas of temptation and consider the respons

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Three_Temptations_of_Jesus.htm Patterns help us to observe through repetition how things tend to work.  There are many patterns that become evident in Scripture.  As we observe these patterns we begin to learn about the ways that God tends to work as well as the ways Satan tends to work.  In today’s passage we see a familiar pattern that is found in Scripture being repeated in the life of Jesus.  As we have seen numerous times throughout the Old Testament; God exposes His own to the wilderness and Satan exploits those times of weakness.  The benefit of observing these patterns is that it helps us to be prepared for things that are likely to be experienced in our own lives.  God is consistent in the way that He works and Satan is also very consistent in the way that he works.  Another benefit to studying patters is when we see a change take place in the pattern it can help us to pay close attention to what made that change happen.  We have re

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Baptism_of_Jesus_in_the_Jordan.htm Baptism is a means of identifying with another person or their message.  John baptized people who wanted to identify themselves with his message of repentance.  We baptize people today who desire to be identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.  It is difficult for us to know why Jesus sought to be baptized by John because John’s message was one of repentance and Jesus did not have any sin from which to repent.  John recognized this fact and questioned Jesus about this very issue.  However, God the Father is pleased by what transpires and makes a verbal affirmation of this fact.  We may not fully understand all that transpires in this passage and the motives behind this event; but we can certainly learn valuable truths from the three characters mentioned in this narrative.  This marks a turning point in the record of the Gospels because Jesus is publically presented here and we see a tran

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/Johns_Picture_of_the_Messiah.htm Many pulpits in churches have a small plaque written to preachers that reads: “We would see Jesus.”  It is a fitting reminder that the purpose of preaching or any type of ministry is to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ.  John understood this purpose very well and he lived his life in such a way that he pointed others to Christ.  Public ministry can become a dangerous thing because it can easily begin to attract attention to ourselves.  The number of people following John and listening to his preaching was growing day by day.  People from all walks of life were gathering.  His message was genuine and unique.  Word began to spread and his popularity began to grow.  This is a dangerous stage in the life of any minister.  Popularity can easily distract us into a mentality that ministry is all about us.  Eloquent speakers, dynamic leaders, gifted administrators and pleasing personalities tend to attract crowds but can ofte

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Courage_of_John_the_Baptist.htm Biblical and authoritative instruction is a priceless blessing in our lives.  We are greatly blessed to have access to the Scriptures as they keep us from wandering aimlessly through a life of disobedience and rebellion against God.  John had just finished confronting the Scribes and Pharisees with harsh and sobering words of judgment.  That natural reaction of all of those who were observing this scene was to think: that if these religious leaders were under the wrath of God how much more were they?  Their question was simple: “What should we do?”  This is the question that all of us should ask every time we open God’s Word and every time we hear God’s Word being taught.  It is a blessing to receive instruction and John blessed them with very clear instructions about what it was that they should do.  John had told them that they needed to demonstrate the fruits of true repentance and now he is describing to t

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Courage_of_John_the_Baptist.htm Confrontation is something that very few of us like.  By that I mean that we usually don’t like to be confronted and we also don’t like to confront others.  Most of us prefer to be left alone and would rather just leave others alone as well.  The path of least resistance is a very popular one.  However, it is clear from Scripture that this is rarely the path that Jesus walked and is therefore rarely the path that God would have us to walk.  Today’s passage is a clear demonstration of that truth as illustrated in the life of John the Baptist.  Crowds from all different walks of life were coming out to him claiming to be repentant and desirous of baptism.  For most evangelists this would have been a golden opportunity to rejoice in a successful campaign, dunk the people, maybe collect an offering and move on to the next village.  Instead of taking the path of least resistance and providing a “path to God” withou

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Message_and_the_Messenger.htm When a world leader takes office there is usually an elaborate inauguration planned and a ceremony as that person assumes the power of that nation.  Jesus is the King of the universe and was about to be presented in Israel where, as a man, He was the rightful king.  John was given the task of preparing His inaugural parade so to speak.  However, as is almost always the case in the workings of God, this presentation of the King of kings is far different than anyone would have suspected.  John’s message and the manner in which he presented his message is not what most men, or any man for that matter, would have expected.  What John preached, why John preached and how John preached was precisely as God intended but far different from what people expected.  In our walk with God we must be very careful about our expectations and imaginations.  We should never be surprised when God acts in ways that are very different

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Time_of_the_Beginning_of_Johns_Preaching.htm Today’s passage is almost a second introduction to the Gospels.  We have seen the accounts of the birth and childhood of Jesus but now we are shifting gears to see how the ministry of Jesus began.  We are fast forwarding through over a decade of the life of Jesus where we have no biblical accounts as to what transpired during these years.  Clearly this information is not important or it would have been included.  Many have speculated as to what the childhood, adolescence and teen years might have been like.  In reality, these thoughts may be interesting or even entertaining but they are most likely inaccurate and most certainly not necessary.  We are now given the information that it necessary for us to have about the setting in which John the Baptist begins his ministry of preparing the way for Jesus. WHEN JOHN’S MINISTRY BEGAN: God has a purpose behind all that He does.  The times of our liv