Path of Victory - Part 2 [Notes]

You’re invited to join us for "The Path of Victory"—a six-week journey through the life of Jesus. From His humble beginnings to His life-changing ministry, and ultimately to His death and victorious resurrection, we’ll follow His story all the way to Easter Sunday and beyond. Along the way, we’ll explore six defining attributes of Jesus and ask God to shape and grow these same transformational qualities in our own lives as His followers.

Takeaway: Trust the Father like the Son Trusts the Father 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.
– Proverbs 3:5-6 (CSB)

Trust God like the Son trusts the Father

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. But John tried to stop Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and yet You come to me?”
– Matthew 3:13 (CSB)

Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John allowed him to be baptized.
– Matthew 3:15 (CSB)

“The Law included no requirements about baptism, so Jesus could not have had in view anything pertaining to Levitical righteousness. But John’s message was a message of repentance, and those experiencing it were looking forward to a coming Messiah who would be righteous and who would bring in righteousness. If Messiah were to provide righteousness for sinners, He must be identified with sinners. It was therefore in the will of God for Him to be baptized by John in order to be identified with sinners.”
– Dr. Louis A. Barbieri Jr.

When Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”
– Matthew 3:16-17 (CSB)

The Father’s words at Jesus’s baptism blend together two important OT texts: Ps 2:7 and Is 42:1; Psalm 2 was a song sung at the crowning of Israel’s kings. The Father’s application of this text to Jesus identified him as a divinely appointed King who would rule with divine authority and whose kingdom would extend to the ends of the earth (Ps 2:1–12). The allusion to Is 42 identified Jesus as the Servant, the messianic figure whom Is 53:5 promised would be “pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities.” Matthew 12:18–21 explicitly applies Is 42 to Jesus, and Mt 8:17 explicitly applies Is 53 to Jesus. With this OT background in mind, we see that the Father’s words identify Jesus as King and Savior.
– Dr. Charles L. Quarles

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.
– Matthew 4:1-2 (CSB)

Then the tempter approached Him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
– Matthew 4:3-4 (CSB)

Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when He had come as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.
– Philippians 2:5-8 (CSB)

Then the devil took Him to the holy city, had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”
– Matthew 4:5-7 (CSB)

We can prove almost anything by the Bible if we isolate texts from the contexts and turn them into pretexts. Satan had cleverly omitted the phrase “in all Thy ways” when he quoted from Psalm 91. When the child of God is in the will of God, the Father will protect him. He watches over those who are “in His ways.”

Jesus replied with Deuteronomy 6:16: “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” We tempt God when we put ourselves into circumstances that force Him to work miracles on our behalf. The diabetic who refuses to take insulin and argues, “Jesus will take care of me,” may be tempting the Lord. We tempt God when we try to force Him to contradict His own Word. It is important for us as believers to read all Scripture, and study all God has to say, for all of it is profitable for daily life (2 Tim. 3:16–17).
– Warren W. Wiersbe

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to Him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.”
– Matthew 4:8-10 (CSB)

Then the devil left Him, and angels came and began to serve Him.
– Matthew 4:11 (CSB)

As He was walking along the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter), and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. “Follow me,” He told them, “and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father, preparing their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.
– Matthew 4:18–22

“Jesus Christ is the strongest, grandest, most attractive personality ever to grace the earth.”
– Jim Rayburn, Found of Young Life

Trustworthy // Who is Like the Lord // O What a Miracle // Oceans

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