Eric Lampe

Test essay

12/20/06

 

 

The Temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11)

            Jesus was lead by the Spirit into the desert to fast for 40 days and 40 nights. He was hungry and the devil came to him and tempted him to turn the rocks into bread if he was really the Son of God. Jesus said that people don’t live just by bread but also by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Then the devil took him onto a temple and told him to throw himself off the building because it is written that the Son of God will command his angels to save him. Jesus responded saying that you should not put the Lord your God to the test. Then the devil showed him all the kingdoms of earth and told Jesus that all could be his if he worshipped him but Jesus replied with the Lord your God should be the only one you worship. The devil left him.

           

It would be easy for us to just look at Jesus here as just fully divine and if so then this would be no big deal because he was God and could smite the devil however it is important to remember the human side of Jesus because then we can see the kind of faith that he had to have to make those decisions. It must have been hard to come to the realization of that you were the Son of God and be able to accept all of the responsibilities that came with it. When it comes down to it Jesus was human and it is in our human nature to want food and things like ultimate power but Jesus had such faith in God that he was able to turn it all down to please him.

 

The Healing of Two Blind Men (Matthew 9:27-31)

            Two blind men followed Jesus out of town and yelled to Him “Son of David have pity on us!” Jesus asked them if they really believed that he was able to do that and they said “Yes Lord.” Jesus touched their eyes and told them “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” Their eyes were opened and they were ale to see. Jesus told them not to tell anybody but they spread the word to everyone in the land anyways.

 

            I think this is a great example of Jesus’ teachings about faith because it shows how important it is to have faith and also the challenges to have faith. For the blind men it took an enormous amount of faith because being blind their entire life would lead them to believe that there is no measure that can be taken to make them be able to see yet this guy comes along who they have never even seen but yet they follow him throughout the entire city because they have faith that he is the Lord and can heal them if they truly believe. This story also shows the powers of faith. Jesus says that it is only because of their faith that they were healed. What possibilities are there for change in our life if we truly have faith?

 

The Healing of the Paralytic (Luke 5:17-26)

            Jesus was teaching and Pharisees and other teacher’s of the law came to hear him. The crowd was so thick that a paralyzed man on a stretcher could not be carried to see Jesus. The people who carried him climbed on a roof and carried him and then lowered him to where Jesus was. When Jesus saw their faith he told the men that their sins were forgiven. The Pharisees said he was blasphemous trying to forgive sins which only God could do. Jesus then told the paralyzed man to pick up his stretched and go home. The man got up and walked out praising God.

 

            I like this story about faith because it shows that even the healthy people who had faith were blessed for their work to help out the paralyzed man. The men had such faith that Jesus had the power to heal their friend that they were willing to carry him over roof tops just to get to Him. It also shows Jesus defying the Pharisees. He knew he could be persecuted or get in trouble or ridiculed for what he did but he did anyway because he had faith in God and faith that what he was doing was right.