After the amazing high of his Baptism, we come to the next part of the story for Jesus. After 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, Jesus has to face Satan and temptation in the first test of his ministry. We can rely on Jesus in situations of Temptation because we know that he too has been tempted. How do you cope when you are faced with situations of temptation?
As Christians today we can learn so much from this interaction in the Bible. First of all, we can learn a lot about the ways in which we will face temptation; we can see the plans, schemes and tactics of the Devil and recognise them in our own lives. We can also take real comfort from the way in which Jesus deals with the temptations and passes the test with flying colours.
Jesus miraculously provides for thousands of people through some loaves and fish, but haven't we heard this before? Simon talks about the reason for this second miracle and why Jesus warns his disciples against yeast!
Jesus never misses an opportunity to teach his disciples something about his good news. Here it's through a desperate woman who sees Jesus for who he really is!
As we come to two of the most well-known and widely spoken about miracles in the Gospels we see a common problem with the disciples. On both occasions, they fix their eyes on the problem in front of them rather than on Jesus.
From the outside it can look like Herod is the successful one compared to John. There is much for us to learn from this account!