Red Letters.

[B-A-C]

This thread is about nothing else but... the teachings of Jesus.
It's not about what James, John, Peter, or even what Paul taught... all of those are good and valid.
But I think to really understand the teachings of the New Testament...we have to start with Jesus.

Some churches never teach/preach anything that Jesus Himself actually said... they only teach
what the disciples taught... ( Peter, James, John, and especially Paul )
In fact some churches even focus on a specific disciple... we teach ONLY what John taught, or ONLY what Paul
taught, but never what Jesus taught. There are things written about Jesus.. (i.e. his mother was Mary,
He was born in manger, He died on a cross... etc... ) Those things are also good, but they aren't the
teachings of Jesus, they are merely verses about Jesus. In other words... if you have a "red letter" Bible...
this thread is about the passages written in red.
I'm not using a chronological Bible, but simply going through the verses in the order
they are written.

The first time we hear Jesus say anything in the Bible is in Matt 3:15;

Matt 3:15; But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he *permitted Him.

This is of course Jesus telling John the Baptist to baptize Him.
So if we start with this 1 verse... what was the context of it? What is meant by it?
Why did Jesus say it? How does it relate to our lives today?

Jesus doesn't speak at all in Matt 1 or Matt 2, and only speaks in one verse in Matt 3.
In Matt 4, Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

The the Matt account of the temptation of Jesus... Jesus only speaks 3 times.

Matt 4:4; But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'"

Matt 4:7; Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'"

Matt 4:10; Then Jesus *said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"

So if we start with those 3 verses... what was the context of them? What is meant by them?
Why did Jesus say them? How does it relate to our lives today?

... to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

This thread isn't really about baptism... but yet the first time we hear Jesus say anything... this is the context.

Matt 3:13; Then Jesus *arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.
Matt 3:14; But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?"
Matt 3:15; But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he *permitted Him.
Matt 3:16; After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him,
Matt 3:17; and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

Why did Jesus want to get baptized? Was it necessary? Why did John the baptist say he needed to be baptized by Jesus?
Why did Jesus tell John "permit it at this time" (to fulfill all righteousness).

Some people believe that the act of Jesus getting baptized... fulfilled all righteousness. (if that is true, why did He need to be sacrificed?)
But the more common interpretation is... there is a list of things I need to do in order to "fulfill all righteousness".. this is one of them...
now I can check this one off the list... "in order to fulfill all righteousness". Why did the heavens open? What was the purpose of the dove?
Was it the dove who spoke... or was it another voice that spoke? Who? Why did the voice identify who Jesus was? Why did the voice
pick this particular time (immediately after Jesus was baptized) to say that He was well pleased with Jesus?

 

[B-A-C]

In Matt 4:4; Jesus is quoting Deut 8;3;
The obvious interpretation of this... Our physical bodies need physical food to survive.
But our spirit needs spiritual food to survive. In John 6:35; Jesus said He was the bread (of life)
( John 6:41; John 6:48; etc... )
Also the other lesson in Matt 4:4; is that we don't need supernatural power to (turn stones into bread)
to defeat satan. All we need is the word of God.

In Matt 4:7; Jesus is quoting Deut 6:16; It's really amazing how often Jesus quotes the old testament.
(over 100 times) But again the interpretation here is... God will take care of us. But don't do stupid things
just to see if God is going to take care of you. Don't jump off a cliff just to see if He is going to catch you.

In Matt 4:10; Jesus is quoting one of the commandments in Exod 20:5; ( Exod 34:14; )
Obviously worshiping any other god is idolatry.

... to be continued ...

 

[rag4aCrown]

Yes, the letters in red. Be one with Him. Praise God. He is not a far off God; but very up close and personal. Amen.

 

[B-A-C]

The next time we see Jesus speak is also in Matt 4. He is calling two fishermen to Him.

Matt 4:17; From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Matt 4:18; Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
Matt 4:19; And He *said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Of course Jesus preached repentance.
The other thing of note here is... I will make you "fishers" of men. A curious phrase.
You will "catch" men. Is it possible some men would not be caught if there weren't fishers out there catching them?
This metaphor is used quite a bit by Jesus... as we will see...

.. to be continued ...

 

[Brad Huber]

There is no personal memoirs of Jesus. EVERYTHING was written by someone else by the power of the Holy Spirit. Think about that. Red letters are only that, red letters, the power is not in the red letters, it is what is motivated as true and good by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

[B-A-C]

Bu

ed letters are only that, red letters, the power is not in the red letters, it is what is motivated as true and good by the power of the Holy Spirit.

But the red letters are what He said. His words. Not what someone else said about Him. The power IS in the words of Jesus.

John 6:63; "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

John 6:66; As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.
John 6:67; So Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?"
John 6:68; Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have words of eternal life.

John 1:14; And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus IS the Word. There is nothing in the Bible that doesn't point to Him.

John 5:39; "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;

This isn't to say the teachings of the prophets and disciples aren't good and valid. But it is to say we can't build the teachings of Jesus
on top of the teachings of the disciples. It needs to be the other way around... We need to understand the teachings of Jesus, before
we can add the teachings of the disciples on top of this.

Paul isn't the word who became flesh, Jesus didn't tell Peter he alone had the words of life, The Bible doesn't say you search the scripture
thinking you have eternal life but they point to James. The Bible doesn't say John is the truth, the life and the way.

Believing in Paul, James, John or Peter won't get you into heaven. Believing in Jesus will.

 

[Brad Huber]

Bu

But the red letters are what He said. His words. Not what someone else said about Him. The power IS in the words of Jesus.

You lack in understanding. Again, there is no records made by Jesus Himself. They are words other flawed people said that He said. If they said them through the power of the Holy Spirit, they are Holy, end of story. Anything else is presumptive and laying a foundation of sand on any argument. The power of the Holy Spirit, so lacking in today's church, is what makes scripture HOLY. Far to many people see words as Holy regardless of the Holy Spirit's role. They want to divide the word and put it back together to suit their "own" understanding. Without the Holy Spirit to confirm their Holiness, you become either the atheist who sees them as mere words, or religious zealots who don't care what they mean as long as they line up with preconceived beliefs.

 

[B-A-C]

You lack in understanding. Again, there is no records made by Jesus Himself. They are words other flawed people said that He said. If they said them through the power of the Holy Spirit, they are Holy, end of story. A

Jesus IS the record. If God can control every single star, the course of rivers, and control every single
molecule of creation, being in control of what the Bible says is a small feat for Him.

Jesus is the Bible... the Bible is Jesus. Other books of the Bible point to Jesus, but the Gospels can save you.

 

[Brad Huber]

Jesus IS the record. If God can control every single star, the course of rivers, and control every single
molecule of creation, being in control of what the Bible says is a small feat for Him.

Jesus is the Bible... the Bible is Jesus. Other books of the Bible point to Jesus, but the Gospels can save you.

Resorting to an emotional reply adds nothing to the validity of your point. Use those words, those red letter words to prove what you say. The Pharisees knew the scriptures well, (not the gospels of course, but you just said "Jesus is the Bible... the Bible is Jesus", so per your words, its the old testament as well), but their knowledge did not save them, those that responded to the calling of the Holy Spirit to listen and do what Jesus said... those were the ones who were saved. An atheist who reads those red letter words are not moved by them like we might be.... because the Holy Spirit doesn't call to them the truth of it, or rather they ignore the Holy Spirit and put it down to indigestion or some such thing.