The third chapter of Luke tells us that in the 15th year of the emporer Tiberius, that John the Baptist began his ministry, he traveled all over the area's of the Jordan river preaching of Baptism and forgiveness. Jesus came to be baptized by John and as he was praying, the Holy Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove, and a voice from heaven was heard, "You are my son, I love you. I am very pleased." Thanks to the annals of history it is easy enough to figure out what year this took place. Tiberius reigned from 14 A.D. to 37 A.D. Therefore it is safe to say that Jesus was baptized in the year 29 of the common era. We are told that after His baptism that Jesus was lead by the spirit into the wildnerness (probably near the Dead Sea), where he fasted for 40 days, needless to say, he was starving, and true to form, when Satan knew he was at His weakest, Satan tempted him, saying, "If you are the Son of God, tell this rock to become bread." I envision Jesus weary, and perhaps he raised an irritated brow when he replied, "Man does not live by bread alone." I will tell you what the devil did next, and I urge you to pay attention to what he says, for it is true to this day. "Then the devil took Jesus and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. The devil said to Jesus, "I will give you all these kingdoms and all their power and glory. It has all been given to me,and I can give it to anyone I wish. If you worship me, all will be yours." Jesus answered, "It is written in the Scriptures:'You must worship the Lord your God. Serve only Him!' Then the devil led Jesus to Jerusalem and put him on a high place of the Temple. He said to Jesus, 'If you are the Son of God, jump off! It is written in the Scriptures: 'He has put his angels in charge of you. They will catch you with their hands and you will not hit your foot on a rock.' Jesus answered, "But it also says in the Scriptures; 'Do not test the Lord your God' After the devil had tempted Jesus in everyway, he went away to wait until a better time." These passages tell us several things, 1- the kingdoms of this earth are Satan's (for now) 2- Satan knows what is in the Scriptures which makes it easy for people to believe in his false religions. 3- Christ being human, knew temptation as we do, but, he did not give into to it. 4- Satan in these Scriptures let's us know, he knew Jesus was God made flesh. He just doesn't want you to know it! After his temptation in the wilderness, Jesus' ministry began. He preached the "good news" all over Galilee, and began picking his apostles beginning with Simon(Peter) and his brother, Andrew. His first miracle was performed at a wedding, they had run out of wine, and Mary, beseeched her son to do something about it, so, being a good son, he turned the water into wine. But that was only the beginning of the miracles he would perform, he cast out demons, raised Lazarus from the dead, healed the deaf, the blind and the lame, he fed huge multitudes with just a few fish and couple loaves of bread. Something I never realized about Jesus until I gave my life back to him was that, he was a rebel, a trouble maker, and the high up muckety mucks did not like him at all! He didn't hang with the priests and the Godly men of Israel, he hung with the thieve's, the prostitutes, and the "dregs of humanity." He denounced the Pharisees and the Sadduccees vehemently on many occasions, because, with all their emphasis on the Law, they had made it nearly impossible for the people to have a personal relationship with God, not to mention they didn't practise what they preached. They were more concerned with titles, and what everybody thought of them and not what God thought or wanted from them. Their hypocrisy disgusted him and he made no bones about it. The people loved him and sought him wherever he went, he had to have been charismatic, personable, kind, and deffinetly had to possess a sense of humor. He had to have had a strong and commanding personality, and the rulers and members of high society saw him as a major threat, and there were many that wanted him dead. And yes, he even had a temper. "Jesus went into the Temple. He threw out all the people who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables that belonged to the men who were exchanging different kinds of money. And he upset the benches of those who were selling doves. Jesus said to all the people there, 'It is written in the Scriptures, My Temple will be a house where people will pray. But you are changing God's house into a hideout for robbers. But one word leaps out at me when I think of the personality of Christ, and that is compassion, please read the following scripture, for it not only tells of his compassion and understanding, but, it applies to you and me two thousand years later. "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought a woman there. She had been caught in adultery. They forced the woman to stand before the people. They said to Jesus, 'Teacher, this woman was caught having sexual relations with a man who is not her husband. The law of Moses commmands that we kill with stones every woman who does this. What do you say we should do?' They were asking this to trick Jesus so that they could have some charge against him. But Jesus knelt down and started writing on the ground with his finger. They continued to ask Jesus their question. So, he stood up and said, 'Is there anyone here who has never sinned? The person without sin can throw the first stone at this woman.' Then Jesus knelt down again and wrote o the ground. Those who heard Jesus began to leave one by one. The older men left first, and then the others. Jesus was left there alone with the woman. She was standing before him. Jesus stood up again and asked her, 'Woman, all of those people have gone, Has no one judged you guilty?' She answered, "No one has judged me, sir." Then Jesus said, 'So, I also don't judge you, you may go, but don't sin again." John 8:3-11 Now, one would think the King of Kings would hang out with nobility as his station in life demanded, but, those closest to Jesus were common men. Most were fishermen, one was even a tax collector,(tax collectors were known to be corrupt in those days.)As we know there were twelve apostles, three in particular were his closest confidants, namely Simon whom Jesus called Peter(means rock) and the two brothers John and James whom he called Boanerges(or son's of thunder, which tells us they had strong, zestful personalities.) We then had Andrew (Peter's brother), Philip, Bartholomew (or Nathanael), Thomas, and Matthew. Then came James the less or(younger) often refferred to as Jesus' twin, Jude, and Simon, and history hints at the possibility of these three men being Jesus' actual brothers. And last but not least, Judas Iscariot, the man who woud betray Jesus when the time came. Of all the Apostles, Peter is the one I can relate to the most, he was compulsive on occasion, extremely curious and it is obvious he loved his good friend Yeshua with all of his heart. It was Peter who muttered those famous words, "Thou art the Christ" and it was Peter that Jesus promised to build his church upon. This ragtag lot ministered all over Israel, performing miracles, and the more Jesus' fame grew the more worried the Jewish leaders became, fearing the Roman's would come and destroy their nation. One day while in Jerusalem the apostles were oohing and awing over how beautiful the temple was, and Jesus prophecied that the time would come when not one stone would be left upon the other, and it would come true, nearly 40 years later when the emporer Titus and his army destroyed the Temple, the city and sent the Jew's into a 2000 year diaspora. Jesus' ministry would last a little over three years, and his fame had grown so much that as he went to Jerusalem to celebrate the passover for the last time, he was given a kings reception when entering the city, he rode in on a young ass while the people took palm branches and went to greet him while crying out, "Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord." St.John 12:13 I'm sure you've heard of the Last Supper, it was just before Passover, and Jesus knew his time had come, and so at this Supper he prepared his disciples for his death, and the ministry he would trust to them. After they ate supper, Jesus began washing the feet of his disciples, when he came to Peter, Peter was appalled and told Jesus he wasn't going let him do it, but Jesus replied, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." To which Peter replied, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." John 13:8-9 After Jesus finished washing the feet of his apostles he sat down and had this to say, "Do you understand what I have just done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and this is right, because that is what I am. I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet. So, you also should wash eachothers feet. I did this as an example for you. So you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth. A servant is not greater than his master. A messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you will be happy if you do them." John 13:12-17 Now, Jesus knew that Judas Iscariot would betray him and alluded to that while talking with his disciples, they were eager to know which one of them it was and Jesus told them it would be the man he gave a piece of bread to, he dipped the bread in a dish then handed it to Judas and told him to go do what he had to do. After Judas left, Jesus told the apostles that he would soon be going to a place they could not come, to this Peter replied, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered, "Where I am going you cannot follow now. But, you will follow later." Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you, now? I am ready to die for you!" Jesus answered, "Will you really die for me? I tell you the truth. Before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you do not know me." John 13:36-38 After supper, Jesus went to the Mt.of Olives with his disciples in tow, he told them to pray and then went off a little further on his own, he knelt down, pulled his prayer shawl over his head, and began to pray. Jesus knew exactly what was in store for him, and I want you to imagine what it would feel like if you knew exactly, when, where and how would you die, and you knew the day was just moments away, imagin the emotions that would war within you. That is what Jesus was experiencing as he prayed. He didn't want to face what was ahead, and even said as he prayed, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done." John 22:42 He was in agony and began praying even more fervently until he was sweating profusely and blood intermingled with his sweat. Sweating blood is a true medical occurence that happens in times of indescribable stress. When he finished praying he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping and not praying, he began to question them about it and as he spoke a huge crowd began approaching with Judas Iscariot leading them. When Judas approached Jesus he kissed him as a sign to those who came to arrest Jesus that this was the man they sought. Jesus said to him, "Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?" John 22:48 Up jumps Peter and takes his sword and cuts off the ear of the high Priest! (I told you he was compulsive!) Jesus said a few words to Peter and then healed the priests ear. "Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains fo the temple, and the elders which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves? When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness." John 22:52-53 Click the next button to read what happens next.