Knowing Christ - by Mark Jones - chapters 11-14

Chapter 11 - Christ's Reading
A clever way of showing that the Old Testament is about Jesus.
Imagine Jesus reading it when He was 18 or 25 years old!
He read of His sufferings:
 - Genesis 3:15 - His heel would be crushed
 - Psalm 90:9 - He ended His days with a sigh
 - Psalm 22 - He was forsaken by God on the cross
 - 2 Samuel 15-17 contains a little-known parallel and foreshadowing of Christ's suffering.
 - there are many more, of course

He read of His coming glory
 - Isaiah 53 - He would see the fruit of His labor
 - Psalm 110 - He would reign and subdue His enemies
 - Psalm 2 - the Father would appoint Him King of kings, and give Him all the nations to own.

We also see in the Scriptures our own suffering and glory, as we are united with Christ.
(Romans 8:18)


Chapter 12 - Christ's Prayers
Jesus needed to pray.  It was part of His faithfulness to His Father while on earth.
He commands us to do what He did.
Communion with His Father was essential to His work on earth.
He prayed in Gethsemane:
 - better than Adam in his garden
 - submissive to His Father's will, yet asking
 - the blood a sign of his intense agony, though perhaps not physically real
He prayed as our priest in John 17: it continues in heaven, now.
He prayed as a righteous man asks God for what He has promised.


Chapter 13 - Christ's Sinlessness
God hates sin.  Jesus is God.  For Him to sin is unthinkable.
Many Scriptures assert this: 1 Peter 2:21; John 8:46; 7:18; Isaiah 53:9; 1 John 3:5.
He was holy.  He did what the law commands.  He was a walking picture of law-keeping.
His sinless sacrifice pleased God.
We should be more pleased by it, than distressed at our sins.
He was made sin for us.
His death was a sin-bearing death more terrifying and spiritually painful than any other.


Chapter 14 - Christ's Temptations
Could Jesus have sinned?  No!
He was always God, and it is unthinkable for God to sin.
His human will could not be contrary to His divine will.
He suffered temptation successfully in the wilderness, willingly, unlike Adam in the Garden.
He confronted Satan, as much as Satan attacked Him, in the wilderness.
 - (Aragorn shows himself to Sauron in the Palantir, defying and provoking him.)
 - Jesus had to believe He was God's Son, not prove it by a miracle
 - Jesus had to take the way of suffering, not the short-cut of glory Satan offered.
 - Jesus did not test God, experiment with Him, or give Him an ultimatum; nor may we.

His temptations were real: the more you resist successfully, the more force you feel.