Today's Readings

Lent I

The Epistle:

2 Corinthians vi. 1. KJV

WE then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain; for he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation; giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

The Gospel:

St. Matthew iv. 1. KJV

THEN was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

It is interesting that Satan approaches and asks a probing question. If thou be the Son of God.
If Christ was the Son of God then Satan would be in serious trouble.

However he wants he was The Son of Man.
He could have banished him from his presence, but he quotes scripture.

ludin said:

It is interesting that Satan approaches and asks a probing question. If thou be the Son of God.
If Christ was the Son of God then Satan would be in serious trouble.

However he wants he was The Son of Man.
He could have banished him from his presence, but he quotes scripture.

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Huh?????

it's just me said:

Huh?????

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Satan would dare not tempt the Son of God. He already knew the result.
Tempting the Son of Man on the other hand is different.

Satan was attempting to get Christ to retake up the mantle of Son of God.

It was a test to break the new covenant that was being forged between God and Christ.

it's just me said:

Huh?????

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Even though Jesus was perfect, he was still God's son in the flesh...a perfect human, like Adam and Eve were...so Satan attempted to appeal to Jesus's fleshly desires, just like he did Adam and Eve...only one difference...Jesus remained faithful...

Elvira said:

Even though Jesus was perfect, he was still God's son in the flesh...a perfect human, like Adam and Eve were...so Satan attempted to appeal to Jesus's fleshly desires, just like he did Adam and Eve...only one difference...Jesus remained faithful...

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He is fully man and fully God, you guys. Hebrews 2-5:18.

it's just me said:

He is fully man and fully God, you guys. Hebrews 2-5:18.

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Don't forget verse 17...he was capable of human feelings and desires, so therefore he was also capable of acting on them but he chose not to...unlike Adam and Eve...

"Consequently, he had to become like his “brothers” in all respects, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, in order to offer a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the people.

"No, but he emptied himself and took a slave’s form and became human." Phil. 2:7

Isaiah 53:5,6,7...he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."

Davey said:

Isaiah 53:5,6,7...he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."

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A prophecy fulfilled that some will deny to this day...

Elvira said:

Don't forget verse 17...he was capable of human feelings and desires, so therefore he was also capable of acting on them but he chose not to...unlike Adam and Eve...

"Consequently, he had to become like his “brothers” in all respects, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, in order to offer a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the people.

"No, but he emptied himself and took a slave’s form and became human." Phil. 2:7

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A human being can't make a propitiatory sacrifice for everybody.

it's just me said:

A human being can't make a propitiatory sacrifice for everybody.

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A perfect human just like Adam can, a perfect human is what lost everlasting life for mankind, Jesus is the perfect human who regained it...that is why he had to come to earth in human form in the first place...otherwise, he could have remained a spirit person...

"So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living person.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit." 1 Cor. 15:45

When Jesus knew he was going to die he sweated blood.

Elvira said:

A prophecy fulfilled that some will deny to this day...

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It is so fun to see a prophecy written in the perfect tense (i.e. completed when it was written) being fulfilled.

Elvira said:

A perfect human just like Adam can, a perfect human is what lost everlasting life for mankind, Jesus is the perfect human who regained it...that is why he had to come to earth in human form in the first place...otherwise, he could have remained a spirit person...

"So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living person.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit." 1 Cor. 15:45

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If Adam was a perfect human being why did he bring sin and death into the world? Romans 5:12 - 15. God's grace.

it's just me said:

If Adam was a perfect human being why did he bring sin and death into the world? Romans 5:12 - 15. God's grace.

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The Bible tells us that Adam was perfect in every respect...

“God saw everything he had made and, look! it was very good.” Gen. 1:31

It also tells us that Adam was not deceived by Satan...with full knowledge Adam willfully and deliberately chose to disobey and then like a criminal, he tried to hide...

"Also, Adam was not deceived, but the woman was thoroughly deceived and became a transgressor." 1 Tim. 2:14

And then he had the nerve to even try to blame God for his own willful sin by saying...

“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree and so I ate.” Gen. 3:12

Jesus ransomed or bought back for mankind what Adam had lost...that is why Jesus is called "the last Adam"...

Elvira said:

The Bible tells us that Adam was perfect in every respect...

“God saw everything he had made and, look! it was very good.” Gen. 1:31

It also tells us that Adam was not deceived by Satan...with full knowledge Adam willfully and deliberately chose to disobey and then like a criminal, he tried to hide...

"Also, Adam was not deceived, but the woman was thoroughly deceived and became a transgressor." 1 Tim. 2:14

And then he had the nerve to even try to blame God for his own willful sin by saying...

“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree and so I ate.” Gen. 3:12

Jesus ransomed or bought back for mankind what Adam had lost...that is why Jesus is called "the last Adam"...

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Adam was a created being, Jesus was God incarnate. Adam brought sin and death into the world, Jesus was able to remedy that because he was God, God is the only one who can save you. This isn't rocket science.

Elvira said:

"Also, Adam was not deceived, but the woman was thoroughly deceived and became a transgressor." 1 Tim. 2:14

And then he had the nerve to even try to blame God for his own willful sin by saying...

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Are you sure you're not my ex-wife? :roll:

it's just me said:

He is fully man and fully God, you guys. Hebrews 2-5:18.

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Yes.

Jesus did things that only God can do. Like, forgiving sins. Mark 2:1-12; Luke 7: 48-50.

Elvira said:

The Bible tells us that Adam was perfect in every respect...

“God saw everything he had made and, look! it was very good.” Gen. 1:31

It also tells us that Adam was not deceived by Satan...with full knowledge Adam willfully and deliberately chose to disobey and then like a criminal, he tried to hide...

"Also, Adam was not deceived, but the woman was thoroughly deceived and became a transgressor." 1 Tim. 2:14

And then he had the nerve to even try to blame God for his own willful sin by saying...

“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree and so I ate.” Gen. 3:12

Jesus ransomed or bought back for mankind what Adam had lost...that is why Jesus is called "the last Adam"...

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Being deceived, is not an excuse for Eve.
Furthermore, Eve fully knew that God forbade them to eat from that particular tree. She had chosen to believe the serpent instead of God. And, by the looks of it - she has her motive for doing so.


Genesis 3

The Fall

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.

Elvira said:

It also tells us that Adam was not deceived by Satan...with full knowledge Adam willfully and deliberately chose to disobey and then like a criminal, he tried to hide...

"Also, Adam was not deceived, but the woman was thoroughly deceived and became a transgressor." 1 Tim. 2:14

And then he had the nerve to even try to blame God for his own willful sin by saying...

“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree and so I ate.” Gen. 3:12

Jesus ransomed or bought back for mankind what Adam had lost...that is why Jesus is called "the last Adam"...

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We don't know the full details what Eve told Adam when she gave him the fruit.
One thing for sure we know that he listened to Eve, because God had told him, "Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife."
Did he listen to Eve's recounting of her encounter with the serpent.....or did Eve just cajoled him into eating the fruit from the forbidden tree?

If Eve told Adam the same deception that the serpent told her (which is more likely) - then, Adam was deceived, too (through Eve).


Genesis 3
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Davey said:

When Jesus knew he was going to die he sweated blood.

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Being also God - He knew everything that was going to happen to Him. (John 18:4)


Being also human, He experienced the same anxiety, fear and stress any normal human being would.
Sweating blood can be from a rare medical condition called Hematidrosis.

Hematidrosis, also called blood sweat, is a very rare condition in which a human sweats blood.[1] The term is from Greek haima/haimatos αἷμα, αἵματος meaning blood and hidrōs ἱδρώς meaning sweat.

Hematidrosis is a condition in which capillary blood vessels that feed the sweat glands rupture, causing them to exude blood, occurring under conditions of extreme physical or emotional stress.[4] Severe mental anxiety activates the sympathetic nervous system to invoke the stress-fight or flight reaction to such a degree as to cause hemorrhage of the vessels supplying the sweat glands into the ducts of the sweat glands.[5] It has been suggested that acute fear and extreme stress can cause hematidrosis.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematidrosis


Because as God, He knew in details, all the things that He was about to endure, as human - He reacted from that knowledge.

Elvira said:

"No, but he emptied himself and took a slave’s form and became human." Phil. 2:7

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This is the whole verse on that:

Phil 2

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

Here is a clear proof that Jesus was fully man, and fully God at the same time.
Because only God can forgive....... when Jesus was forgiving sins, He was forgiving them as God Himself.


Mark 2
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic

2 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately[a] many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”




Jesus didn't call the sinner, "brethren," or "brother." He referred to the sinner as His son.

Davey said:

Isaiah 53:5,6,7...he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."

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Amen Davey Amen