MATTHEW 4:12 part 7-B Living Water That Satisfies The Soul

Matthew 4:12 part 7-B

“Living Water
That Satisfies The Soul”

On His way to Galilee, Jesus came to Schechem, because He had to meet a woman and save the souls of a very old and troubles town. A town that has been in the center of many historical incidents recored in the Scriptures. It is first mentioned in Genesis 12:6;

Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.

It was Abram's First Halting Place in Canaan, it is referred to as Sichem or Schechem, depending upon the Scriptures you are reading. It is most natorious for the incident that took place in Genesis 34:1-29. This was the time Jacobs son's, Simeon and Levi, murdered the King, his son and all the men as revenge for the defilement of their sister Dinah. When Jacob's other sons saw what happened, they joined in on the plunder of the the city for it's wealth, along with all the sheep, oxen, donkeys, and anything of value in the city and what was in the field. They also took the children and the wives as captives.

Jesus stopped for a rest at Jacob's well while his disciples went ahead to find food. While resting, a woman came to draw water, and learned of water that is better than that which comes from a well.

Matthew 4:12 part 6 A Faithful Testimony

Matthew 4:12 part 6
“A Faithful Testimony”

One of the main themes of John’s Gospel is, those who genuinely love God and desire to know the truth will come to believe and have faith in Jesus. Those who would rather believe what they already know will never come to this faith. Those who are content to live a worldly life will reject Christ and ultimately reject eternal life, while those who long for spiritual truth will receive His message and gain eternal life. I personally believe that John chapter 3 is a "must read" chapter of the Bible. There are three prominent "must" verses that contain four must statements.

1.) The Sinner’s must:
a.) You must be born again (John 3:7)

2.) The Savior’s must:
a.) The Son of Man must be lifted up (John 3:14)

3.) The Sovereign’s must:
a.) He must increase (John 3:30)

4.) The Servant’s must:
a.) We must decrease (John 3:30)

Matthew 3:13-17

Matthew 3:13-17 
Cousins Meet At The Jordan

There are several reasons why it was fitting for John to baptize Jesus as HE began HIS ministry to embark on His great work. First off, it was appropriate that Jesus set the example to us all in by submitting to the will of HIS FATHER. HIS forerunner, John was the “voice crying in the wilderness” whom Isaiah prophesied, would call people to repentance in preparation for their Messiah (Isaiah 40:3). By baptizing Him, John was declaring to all that Jesus was the One they had been waiting for, the Son of God, the One he had predicted would baptize “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11).

Jesus’ baptism by John takes on an added dimension when we consider that John was of the tribe of Levi and a direct descendant of Aaron. In reality, John was one of the most qualified me ever to not only minister to God, but to also mediate things of men before God. Just compare John the Baptist's credentials to the credentials of the imposters who were High Priests of those days. I wrote about it in my post, "John The Baptist, The Last Aaronic High Priest".

In Luke's Gospel. he specifies that both of John’s parents were of the Aaronic priestly line (Luke 1:5). One of the duties of the priests in the Old Testament was to present the sacrifices before the Lord. John the Baptist’s baptism of Jesus could be seen as a priestly presentation of the Ultimate Sacrifice. There are more significances that yoiu can read in my commentary on the subject. Today, we look into the time John introduced Jesus by saying, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Matthew 3:8-12

Matthew 3:8-12

John the baptist Preaches Repentance

This is a continuance of John responding to the Pharisees and Sadducees. The doctrine John preached was that of repentance, in consideration of the kingdom of heaven being at hand; now here we have the use of that doctrine. Application is the life of preaching, so it was of John's preaching.

Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Matthew 3:8-12