2023 WEEK 5 [MATTHEW 4; LUKE 4-5]

“The Spirit of the Lord Is upon Me”

January 30 – February 5

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Hey everybody. Welcome back. This is week five of Creative. Come Follow me for the New Testament. And this week we just have three short chapters to study. We're gonna be in Matthew four, and then also Luke four and five. We're gonna cover a little different territory in each, so when you go into the Matthew section, this is where you're gonna see the Temptations of Christ.

They'll get mentioned in several of the gospels, but we're gonna zero in on those. in the Matthew account and go a little bit deeper than hopefully you have in the past. And then when you jump into Luke, we see more of the ministry of the Savior. Remember, this is the beginning of his ministry. So after he comes out of that 40 days of fasting and being tempted of the devil, then you see him surge forward.

There is this. There is a momentum that comes out of this 40 day fast where he's been communing with God and learning and growing in power, and you get to see how he uses it. I think the other thing that's really instructive about these chapters is you get to see how others react to it, and you'll see.

Gambit. You'll see some people who are like his newly called disciples who see his power and they kneel down and they pray for help and they follow. And you're gonna see people who have known him from his childhood who see his power or hear of his power, or hear him testify of his power and. Reject. In fact, they get to a point where they're so angry that they try to force him off a cliff.

That's a pretty wide spectrum, and there's many people in the middle. So you guys, there's, there's so much to learn, not just from the savior himself, but from those who react to the savior. And I feel like it's this open invitation to us to choose. The book Moron teaches us, we are free to choose how we're gonna react when we encounter light and truth, and you'll see that really clearly as you get into these verses.

So grab your scriptures, grab your notes. Let's get started. You guys.

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I had a teacher tell me once that integrity is what happens when no one is watching, and I think that's a piece of why the savior goes into the wilderness. This is a, a test on a bunch of different levels and an opportunity to commune with God. Remember we learned that with Mark last week, that he doesn't go into the wilderness to be tempted.

He's tempted at the end. He goes to the wilderness in order to come closer to God. He's led by the Spirit to do it, and I think it's, it teaches me something about wilderness, I think. . Sometimes I resist the spirit's imitation to go into the wilderness. You know, there's been times when I receive a calling that is way outta my comfort zone, like family history, for example,

That was way, way out of my comfort zone, and I saw it as this wilderness, and I was scared of that wilderness. But because I chose through the help of the spirit to lean in and accept it, I grew at a rapid rate. And that's what you're gonna see with the savior as he's in this 40 day period. We don't get.

See it exactly the same way. We didn't get to see what happened all the, we didn't get all the details of Moses's 40 days when he's communing with God. But you do see an increase of power and he uses that power to defeat the adversary, which is what happens in bulk of this chapter. So the first couple.

Verses are about him going into the wilderness to be with God and fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, and then you see he's hungry at the end of two and three. This is where Satan Swos in. He sees this opportunity. Satan is an opportunist at heart and he wants, he is constantly probing. I don't know if you feel like this with your kids, but I feel like with me, with my kids, you can almost see him just searching for.

a vulnerable spot, and he sees that Jesus is hungry and I think he thinks, oh good, this is my in. What he doesn't realize is over the last 40 days, the savior's been communing with God's father. Even though he is physically weak, he has never been spiritually stronger, I imagine. So he, he doesn't react the way the adversary assumes.

He will remember darkness can't comprehend light. He doesn't anticipate this reaction from the Savior, but it. quick and sharp and so powerful. In fact, what I wrote at the top of my margins is this is a samurai scene, . So we're gonna talk about this in the object lessons, but you guys, I see this like a samurai.

Have you ever watched one of those martial arts movies when you see they have this awesome sword and no matter what people are throwing at them or what obstacles come in their way, they just slice through them like butter. I mean, if you played Fruit Ninja, you know what I'm talking about. That is the idea behind the scene.

The sword that the savior is holding is the sword of. The reason I put those together is I was reading a talk from Elder Bednar where he talked about the savior wielding the sword of truth, and that's his response. He gets these three temptations from Lucifer and his response, almost like three things being thrown at him, he wields the sword of scripture, this word of God, and he slices straight through them.

It doesn't seem like he's afraid. It doesn't seem like he's troubled or he is not sure what to respond with. He cuts. Through it. And that's what what you read about in the doctrine covenants and in the Book of Mormon, that he will divide a under all the wil of the adversary and he will be able to persevere to continue on his trajectory no matter what comes at him.

So you'll see it play out in verse four. . Basically, the invitation from the adversary is, why don't you turn these stones to bread? You know, he knows he's hungry. So of course, Lucifer, in his weak-minded way thinks, oh, easy. I can get him to eat something and that will separate him from God. But the Savior doesn't fall for it.

He slices truth through that temptation of the adversary with truth, truth that he found in the scriptures that he learned. And so it says, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. . Xavier doesn't just have this verse memorized. I think he also has a backstory, like he knows the stories.

He knows that if God needed to fill his children, he doesn't need to give them bread. He can make manna. It's a substance. We still don't even know what manna is, but it fell from heaven and it filled bellies for 40 years. So if he needed the Savior to be full right now, the Savior doesn't need to take advantage and do it himself.

He can wait for God to fill that need. I listened to a live stream. One of you guys sent me a link actually cause I had missed it live. But if you go on Elder Redners, He did a livestream this week where he talked about this period in the New Testament, and he said, although there are different temptations here, they're all basically the same.

The temptation is for the savior to use his power for himself rather than for others, and that's not his way. , that's not his character. It's not the will of God. And so he never crosses that boundary. The way I taught this to my Y S A is that my kids is the savior, is sort of like a wizard in a muggle world.

He has all this power and all this ability, but he chooses to condescend. He chooses to live harder and more mortally because that's the arrangement he made. That's the promise he made. And so he holds back and he says to Satan, if God needs me to be full, he will fill me. I don't. I don't need to make my own bread.

So then Satan tries a different tactic. You know, he's probing, he's trying to find another weak spot. So this time, as the spirit takes Jesus up to the top of the temple for some reason, to see the land around him, Satan sees another opportunity and he swos in and he says, I've got an idea. You know, I don't know if in this moment when the spirit took the savior up to that temple mount, if he was seeing how much land he needed to cover or if he was seeing, you know, if he got a visual.

The enormity of his task, but in this moment, the savior tries to creep in with another one of those if statements of like, if you wanna prove yourself, this is all you need to do. Step off this temple. Step off his high peak and let the angels swoop in. You know, cuz there's scripture that says that the savior will have angels at his disposal.

In fact, we're gonna see that later. The, the Savior himself will testify that there are legion legions of angels at his disposal, but he doesn't use them for himself. He only uses them for good. And so he responds again with scripture. It is written, he shall give his angels charge. And the savior says, Jesus said unto him, it is written again.

Thou shall not tempt the Lord by God. , these are short verses. You don't have to memorize big, long passages to have power against the adversary. He knows his doctrine and he says back off. He will get followers and he will get people to know him, but he won't do it in a cheap way. He won't do it in this big production.

He will do it one by one. Uh, that that's what his ministry is. So he resists the power of the adversary. The last one comes in eight when Satan basically, Offers him the kingdoms of the world, you know? Which seems kind of crazy cuz Sadan can't offer anything like this, but he is the great deceiver, right?

So he's going to, he's gonna get desperate. The same way back in when we were studying Moses, when you saw, remember when Moses calls him on his lies and he's like, I can see you really clearly. I know you're not someone I should worship. And then Satan throws almost like a tantrum. He's so angry. I, I wonder if, if that's what's happening in this verse, if he's getting desperate and he's starting to kind of offer things that don't even make sense.

But basically what happens is he, the savior response, like it is written, thou shall worship the Lord that God and Him only shall th serve. This is not, I mean, the Savior could have easily come back at him and said, I'm, I'm gonna rule over all these things. I, I've been promised by God the father, that I will have all things.

His answer is one that is quicker and sharper it. It's a commandment of God and I keep the commandments the, I feel like it's the same thing we saw with Moses, or sorry, with um, Adam, remember when Adam was making an altar and the angel comes and says basically, why are you making this altar? And his response is, I don't know what God commanded it.

It is this clear statement of, I do the will of the father and the will of the father has nothing to do with you, Lucifer. And so his response then, back off. He basically says to him, get the hints. You know, like, I don't need this distraction. I don't need to listen to you. Get the hints. Get behind me, Satan.

And it's this empowering doctrine because every one of us has the power to. Wield that sort of truth. We will not look as graceful and smooth as the master. He is the master samurai in this chapter. But we can use those same strategies. We can study those same scriptures and get our own witness and know that when the Savior.

teaches us these powerful tools that we will have them at our, our disposal. We can wield that sword against whatever comes our way. And I just think there's so much power in that doctrine. It's why we need to teach our kids to understand the scriptures, not just know them. They need to know how they apply.

They need to understand how they relate to them, and hopefully that will give them the power they need to defeat the adversary with whatever he throws. There's a great Joseph Smith translation in verse 11 that I just don't want you to miss. Basically, the verse says that Angels came to minister to the Savior after this period of fasting and growth and temptation.

They come to help. And then if you see the J S D in the footnotes, it says that he sent those angels to John to minister to him in prison, and it's an odd. Odd shift, right? It almost is a completely different narrative. And this week as I was reading, I thought maybe those flow together. This isn't, I don't know this for certain by any stretch, but I thought it was lovely to think of them that way.

That maybe the angels did come to minister to the Savior and he, because of the character that he has said, I actually wanna send you over here. You know, the same way if my mom and I were both hungry and somebody brought us food, my mom would never. She would make sure I was filled first and then take care of herself, and that's kind of how I picture this interchange with Jesus and John.

I don't know if that's true, but I just think it's his nature. When you go a little bit further into the verse, you see that his ministry is going to reach lots of different lands. . He's not just gonna teach EMG Galilee. He's gonna spread around. And where he begins is this area like Erum type area. This kind of that top rounded corner of the Sea of Galilee.

He's gonna begin there and there's prophetic reasons why. So if you go in the Old Testament, you can learn more about this, that these were the first people that were carried into Babylon and they were promised that they would get light first. In fact, that's what you see in. The people which sat in darkness saw a great light and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

I love this cuz we don't really necessarily know if they were aware of the darkness. The reason , the reason I say it this way is, so just recently I was working in my office and I had all the lights on and I came out like around dinnertime. I came out of my office into the main floor. All of my kids were on the main floor and it was totally dark.

you know, cuz it gets dark so early these days. Nobody had even looked up to notice that there were no lights on in the whole house. And I was laughing at them like, you guys, it looks like a cave in here. But they of course, each have their devices that glow a little bit, and so they didn't even notice that the whole house is full of darkness.

And I think that's what happens with this group as well, that they may have become so accustomed to their little artificial light that they had, their portion of the light that they had that. didn't realize how much darkness had come around. So then when the savior comes in these areas, there is this burst of light, and when there is a burst of light, you get to choose how to react.

There will be an initial pain, almost the same way. If I, you know, like we talked about stepping out of a movie theater and you. Get the light in your eyes. It's like this. There's an initial shock that comes from that, and they can choose to lean into that and get curious and want to know where that light source came from, or they can resist and retreat back to the dark, and you're gonna see both choices play out.

The first one happens with those who lean in. So the invitation goes out, it speaks of the savior walking along the seashore and seeing these fishermen and inviting them to follow. This is a different account than we've read in other places, but I kind of loved seeing both. So when we get into Luke, you're gonna see that when he calls Peter and James and John, that there is that miracle of the multitude of fish that where the boats are so full that they almost sink.

One of the scholars I read this week said that it's very possible that these are two separate. That what we read in Matthew is the initial moment where they meet the savior and he basically just invites them to come learn a little bit more about me, be be around me, don't necessarily step away from all of your livelihood and everything, you know, so far, just get curious and come and see me.

And then maybe by the time he's done in camper and they're about to head out to all those other lands, that's when he has that multitude of fish moment, when they have to choose to step away. All of this big excess in order to become his very close disciples who will become apostles. And it's possible that these are two separate events.

But I kind of liked, I kinda like studying it that way. I don't know if it's accurate or not, but I think it was interesting. So that's what you're gonna see. He invites them, of course, to be fishers of men to change, and they immediately leave their nets. That's what you're gonna see in 20. They immediately leave their nets.

In fact, you see with James and John, they immediately leave their father and they all follow. So whether this is their first blush with the savior or the last, they, their obedience is the same. They choose to. Set aside, even though it must feel like light in your eyes, you know, they haven't experienced anything like this before, but something about the purity of their heart compels them to follow.

Where in other cases, when people encountered the savior and hurt him teach, they pull back these men. Follow. And I think it teaches us something about their character to start with. That their hearts are pure enough that they respond to the savior and they willingly drop their nets and they follow, and others do as well.

So if you look in the rest of the verses, you can see that he goes among the people, and this is where. , the miracles start to happen quicker and quicker. He cures all manner of diseases. He goes to other areas, even gentile areas, and he helps them and he heals them. In fact, I love in 23 the combination.

There's a talk from Elder Holland that talks about this, where he's teaching and preaching and healing, and I think that that triple play is a powerful one. That no matter who we're helping in the church, whether it be the youth or in a ward council meeting or in whatever calling or capacity we're in, we should be doing all three of those things.

We should seek to teach, to help people understand the gospel. We, we should seek to preach to them, to help 'em understand why it matters so much and we should seek to heal, to show charity, to lift up the hands that hang down to do what we can to heal. Cuz when we do all three of those the way the Savior did, then people.

Come and their hearts are knit and that's what we're seeking. And that seems to be what's happening here. Cuz no matter what city he goes to in 25, people start to follow.

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Luke four starts at a really similar place to Matthew four. You're gonna see the temptations of the adversary after that 40 days of communing with God, and it's really similar. The temptations are the same. They're laid out pretty much the same. They're just in a different order. But there are a few things that are in these verses that you don't see in Matthew that I just don't want you to miss.

So one of them is about glory and I just, you can learn more if you go into the notes, but I love what it teaches in five and six says, and the devil taking him up into a high mountain showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, all this power will I give the and the glory of them for that is delivered unto me and to whomsoever, I will give it if that will therefore worship me.

All shall be th one. We know this is a lie. He can't offer any of this power, but the bigger thing I think is he. He is offering the Savior a shortcut. It's a lie. Just like all of his shortcuts are lies, you know, there's no way the mess of Potage was really gonna satisfy as much as an inheritance when we're talking about Jacob and esa.

But it's a lie and sometimes we fall for that lie. And I think the Savior's trying to teach us how to combat those lies. It's that temptation. Take a shortcut, you can come back to the gospel anytime. Just take this detour, go off the path, go off the plan. And I think that's Satan's character. I think we saw this even at the very beginning.

Like if you go back to the grand council in heaven, his whole strategy was no agency. Right. And I think the reason he was pushing no agency is because that meant there could be no sin. And if there's no. , then there's no need for a suffering savior. He can have all the glory without any of the pain. In fact, without any of the connection, I think he had no love, no compassion for the children of God, and had no desire to die for them or to suffer for them.

He just wanted the glory. And so if you take agency out of the mix, then that all falls in line. But of course, that's not the plan of God. And so that never would've worked. But it's this idea that he's. He's trying to throw that into the savior as like maybe you could bypass all of that hard stuff that's still on the horizon for you.

You signed up for all these hard things that are coming. Maybe you could skip it. I'll give you power today. And every sin that I can think of in my lifetime is based on this temptation, this idea of give up something you really want long term for something your natural man thinks you want now. And sometimes we make that co.

And it just never leads to greater happiness the same way. Sometimes you see like lottery ticket winners, you know, they win like this huge number and then instead of taking that full amount over like 20 years, they say, I'll take 10% of it if you'll give it to me today. You know, like if they then guess check today, then they'll take this fraction of what they could have had.

And that's, I think what Luther's trying to tempt say or trying to tempt Jesus with is like, Take a fraction of the joy and then don't have any of the pain that comes with it. But of course you know you're talking to the savior who's just communed with God, God for 40 days and he knows the plan and he will never thwart the plan.

So he resists. In fact, I think when you see the phrase, so if you look in eight says, get the behind me, Satan, for it is written, thou shall worship the Lord that God and him own leash. Shout belzer. He comes at him with scripture and it is so clear and it is so sharp. It is that samurai slice. But I what I love.

It's this invitation. I think it's why we, I think it's why we focus on goals with the youth. This idea of when you choose to set a goal and push against the natural man to accomplish it, you are basically doing this. You are saying to the natural man, get the behind me. I am in charge of this body. I am in charge.

It's the same way we have the for strength of the youth standards, right? When you choose to make a connection with God and set a standard for yourself, you are saying, get the behind me sat. I am in charge. I get to make the choices. I, I just, there's empowering doctrine in the Savior's overcoming of temptation and I think it is tightly linked to understanding scripture.

This is why I think we have to teach it so powerfully, cuz I think our, we need our kids to understand that the scripture is what gives you a voice to speak out against the adversary. It gives you power and history and connection with God. That is power. And you don't wanna. So you're gonna see that play out over there.

I think it's important to understand. The savior could have succumbeded to any of these temptations. You can go in the notes and learn more about this from prophets and apostles, but sometimes we teach this and he seems almost unflappable, you know, like he couldn't have possibly done this, and it's not in his character to fall prey to the temptations of the adversary.

But he absolutely could have, and we have to acknowledge that, that he, he, there would be no test in his condescending if, if it wasn't an option for him to succumb to temptation. He just simp. , he did it not, you know, he chose not to pay attention. He chose not to give it time and space to mess with him. He told it Satan to get the behind me, and I just think there's power for that, especially as we teach our youth.

I think we can also take comfort in the fact that the savior who was perfect was tempted, even repeatedly tempted. You know, it says in the verses that he was able to cast Satan aside for a while, but he comes back. He comes back for all of us. So I think there's comfort in knowing, uh, The, the savior understands that he, that's one of the things he endured in order to sucker us better.

So if you feel like you are repeatedly battered with temptation, especially the same temptations, take comfort in the fact that the savior was too, and he chose to heed them knot. And so can we. So don't beat yourself up. Don't let your kids beat themselves up about it. That's. . That doesn't mean you're sinful.

It means you're mortal . You're gonna experience temptation, and he understands the difference between weakness and rebellion, and so you. to the throne of grace. Trust that he understands and do what you can. When you go a little further, you're gonna see his compassion in another way. In Nazareth, this is when he brings compassion in his teaching, so he is gonna go back to his hometown.

This is where he grew up and was raised. The reason I think that's important in this case, because his fame has started to spread, in fact, you'll see that in verse 14, that as he goes about in Galilee, his frame, his fame, his ability to do miracles is spreading and people are talking. and that trickles back into Nazareth.

So when he goes there on a Sabbath, he goes to teach in the synagogue, or at least to be in the synagogue. And he is invited to be one of those who will read a part of scripture and then comment on it. And the scripture, either he's handed it or he's, he chooses it. It's from Isaiah. And he reads about the Messiah and what the Messiah will do.

And there must have been, I mean, I think you have to keep in mind. These people, at least the vast majority of them would've grown up with Jesus. So they would've seen a perfectly obedient son grow up. None of us have experienced that or seen it in anyone like they, I can't imagine what that's like. It means every time there's a scuffle on the playground, he handled it perfectly.

I mean, I think he had to grow just like all of us do, but he doesn't. He doesn't rebel, he doesn't disobey, he doesn't do any of those things, and these people have witnessed that firsthand. Decades. You know, they've seen him. They know his character as a child and as a teenager and as a twenties, and they should know him.

They should, I don't think they know him as the Messiah yet, but they should know him as this. , perfectly good person, and you gotta kind of put that in your head as you go into the next phase of what happens in Nazareth. So as he is in the synagogue, and as he's handed this scroll, he reads from the book of Isaiah and it's all about the Messiah.

And he says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and the recovering of the site to the blind, and to set at liberty them that are. . These are all the promises that he offered to Abraham and Sarah and all their descendants.

In fact, it's even the promises he offered to eve. Remember when he said that you'll have the power to crush his head? You know, the heel might be bruised, but you'll have power that that we read back in Genesis. This is the promise, like those who have been. in a fallen state will now have an opportunity to be healed and to be whole and to be full.

And then he announces that he is the fulfillment of that. So he reads the scripture, he sits down, and then he talks about how the scripture is fulfilled. So in 21, and he began to say unto them this day, is this scripture fulfilled in your ears? Here's what I think is really interesting. There is. Outcry verse here where people are appalled that he's claimed to be the Messiah.

Maybe that happened, but it doesn't say it in the verse what it says in 22 is, and all that bear him witnessed and wondered at his gracious words, which proceeded out of his mouth and they said, is this not Joseph's son? I think this represents what happens to me in lots of spiritual encounters. I get this prick from the spirit to know something or to believe something that.

Big and true, and I have a choice in that moment to lean in and learn more what of something that might feel mysterious or different, or. Even uncomfortable to me or I have a choice to like neutralize that spirit. I feel like that's what this phrase is, this not Joseph's son is they are feeling something in this moment.

To hear the savior testify of his mission and testify that he is the fulfillment of that mission. To hear his words from his mouth say it. I imagine this is an aedi like moment. I don't think he's glowing like aedi because the people in Naza. Have to come to believe without the miracles. That's what they're gonna struggle with in this moment.

They feel something, and some of them neutralize it by saying, well, but isn't this just the carpenter's kid? You know, there is this, I think I do this spiritually sometimes when the spirit is prompting me to do something, I immediately neutralize it. , you know, I feel pulled to like get to know a sister in the ward or maybe I should call them and see how they're doing, or maybe I should drop something off at their house and I immediately go, yeah, but I'm pretty sure her neighbor is taking care of that.

I'm pretty sure like the relief study is probably managing that. It is me saying, yeah, but isn't that the carpenter's kid? You know? Like it's this. I neutralize the spirit and when you neutralize the spirit it goes. And I think that's what happens here. You guys, I think when you follow the verses, basically because they chose to.

To neutralize this moment when they could have understood on a really deep level that this is the Christ they. Run astray quickly. I almost see this as an extension of the temptations of the adversary because you see how temptations are impacting the people. We just saw how this perfect savior deals with the temptations of the adversary, and now you're gonna see how mortals sometimes do, and this temptation is to disbelief.

And so they basically say to him, they don't even say it out loud. In fact, he interprets their thoughts in 23. He says, I know what you're thinking. Essentially you want me to perform some kind of miracle. You can go on Jesus Christ and learn more about this process. It's in the notes, but it's this idea of like, they've heard of him doing all these things, and so I think in their mind they're saying, if you are the son of God, like you are claiming to.

Prove it. Do something. Heal somebody here. Do some miracle here. And maybe we'll believe. The reason I think this doesn't work here in Nazareth, but worked to some degree in Erum is because of what they've seen. Remember how we've learned that the more light and knowledge you have, the more accountable for that light and knowledge you ha you are.

So if you've grown up around the savior and you've seen how he interacts with his father and his mother, and his neighbor, and his schoolmates, and. Seen his character. You know who he is. You just heard the savior himself, testify of himself in a synagogue you already know and you don't need a miracle.

You need to believe, and they don't. They pull back. They neutralize all of that goodness, and they're held accountable for it. He won't perform miracles, and so he talks about how no profit is accepted in his own country. They should have known already. This witness should have been enough, but they want more.

And so he talks about how the, the, in the history of the Old Testament, there are a few cases where people who were not Jews are the ones who actually received and accepted miracles. So he talks about the widow who with the oil and the meal, and he talks about the leper. And that both of those were gentiles who accepted prophets and then were given great blessings and this sets them on edge.

Cuz now in addition to not performing the tricks that he hoped they would, that they hoped he would do, he has compared them to Gentiles and basically said, you're not who you think you are. Like you don't have this automatic birth like we talked about last week. And that sets them off. So they get angry and they get angry fast.

This is what happens when. , open up a gateway. Remember with now that wedge has been driven further in because they gave the adversary room. They let him come in with his doubt and his frustration, and he pushes that wedge in and it separates them from what they had started to know and in their anger and their wrath.

They try to take the Savior's life. I read one of the scholars who said, basically what happens is they kind of corral him up to the top of a hill. We went there in Jerusalem. Um, it's this high hill, and one of them said there's a, I can't remember what it's called, rebels beating into my margins. It's called a rebels beating, which basically means that a crowd kind of mobs and pushes somebody until they have no choice but to fall off the cliff.

So then nobody, Really accountable or responsible for the death of that person who was being accused because they've all, you know, it happened in a big mob and I think it's that mob mentality that we get in trouble with in our day as well. But what I think is really interesting is at this key moment when he should have gone headlong down the hill, he doesn't, he says in 30, but he passing through the midst of them went his way.

He. , this is not his time and he knows it's not his time. And I don't know what happens here. I don't know what the story is. I don't know. I don't know what happens. But we see this in a few different places, like on the road to e Emmaus where they don't recognize him. And it's not until after he goes that they're like, wait, what?

I just think it's, this is what it means to have an endowment of power because he has lived obediently because he's chosen to honor God in these moments. God gives him the power he needs, however it looks to, to again, slice through. The adversity that's coming his way, it doesn't even seem to phase him.

He's able to just pass through. It's kind of staggering and sort of sad to think that the first group of people to try and take the life of the Savior are his own hometown. You know, relatives or neighbors or friends of the family who that must, that level of betrayal. You know, when we think of the betrayal of the savior and we think about Judas and the coins, but I think he experienced betrayal.

Often, and I think his remedy for that pain is always the same. He goes and he does the will of God. Like he never sits and wallows, he gets to work. In fact, if you look in the verses in 31, he basically. Goes down and he goes and serves again. He goes to another synagogue in another town and teaches again, probably the same verses you guys, he's not afraid.

He knows that if, if God needs him to do a work, he can do it. If he needs him to pass through a crowd without anyone being able to touch him, he can do it. So he just teaches. He goes out and he does and he heals. So you'll hear, you'll see in the verses that he's going to heal someone who's got an unclean spirit.

But my favorite healing happens in 38 and 30. So this one, he heals Peter's mother-in-law. We saw this last week in just a short little snippet. You'll see it here. It's only a couple verses, but one of the things I read this week that I hadn't noticed last week is that this is Peter's mother-in-law. I mean, I knew that last week, but something opened up for me this time.

I think when someone is gonna be called to do a great work, like Peter's gonna do. That there, the Lord finds a way to bless the family too. My friend Mindy calls this, God always plays for the team. That's what she told me when I was worried about Jason's bishop calling, you know, for lots of his cancer years.

In fact, all of his cancer years he was, he was serving as bishop and I always worried that there were gonna be too many holes in our family life to not. That we wouldn't be able to make it. And she's like, no, Maria, if, if Emily father's gonna pull somebody off the bench and put them into play, that means he's gonna make sure that the whole team is victorious.

He's not just going to advance Jason spiritually, he's gonna advance all of you. You're gonna have the help you need. And I loved that promise, and then I watched it play out because that's exactly what happened. He would either take the efforts that we could make and make them greater, or he would find ways to fill in.

So wherever Jason was gone, he found ways to fill in that gap or gave me the talents or strength I needed to compensate for when Jason was awake. The same thing happens with me now as I go to teach Y S A. Like you're gonna get these callings where you're gonna be gone all Wednesday night or all Thursday night, and you'll think, how can this be good for my family?

How can being gone from them for these youth activities be a blessing to my family? And this is when you have to remember Peter's mother-in-law. When the savior, when the Lord invites you to participate in any kind of calling, he will bless the whole team that calling. Bless more than just you. It, it will bless more than just the youth.

He will find a way to compensate. Someone will get healed. It won't be in this same way as Peter's mother-in-law, but he will find a way to take care of your team. I promise I've seen it in my own life. So I love that reminder from this little family. You know, Peter is gonna be called to a great work, but the Lord's gonna take care of his family.

And I think that's, Some other things you're gonna see is that he is healing one by one. I love this cuz it's one of the only places you see it in these first few chapters of the gospels in 40. It says he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. It's that everyone, like he's seeing multitudes of people, masses of people are following the savior, but his character is to heal one by one.

It's what we see. Book of Mormon, right? You go on third Nephi and it's one by one three times in a row. I put it in the notes so you could go study it, but that's how he heals. It is not in a big massive group. It is one by one. And so I love that piece of it. Um, and then you see also that there he departs.

So the same way we saw last week, there are times when. people are clamoring for miracles, but his job is to preach. So if you look in 43, that's what he tells them and he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities. Also, for therefore am I sent. He is testifying very clearly that he has a work to do and because he has his eyes fixed on that work, he can choose to set some things down.

You know what we talked about with the nets last week? The fishermen that they had to choose to set things down so that they could have space to do bigger things for the Lord. And that's kinda what's happening here. He is choosing not to heal everybody in the last city so that he can still go and preach.

That's what he's been sent to do and that's what he focuses on. And I, that helped me in a few ways this week as I was worrying about. How to do what God wanted me to do and also take care of family situations, and I think this is the promise. If you pray for what to sit down and how to divide your time, he will answer.

And he does this for the Savior as well.

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If you can only pick one chapter this week, don't skip Luke five. This is the story of the miracle of the multitude of fish and the man with palsy that's let down through the roof. They're both so good and you, you don't wanna skip 'em. So when you get into Luke five, you're gonna see that story that you're probably familiar with.

You know, where the savior. , it's on Simon's boat, and he is trying to teach a multitude of people. So he asked Simon if he can teach from the boat, and then after he's done teaching, he asked Simon to basically get on the boat with him and go out. In fact, I love the phrasing. It's in verse four now. When he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a drop.

So this is. Simon, even if you know it's very possible, like what we talked about before, that he has had some time to see the savior in Capernaum. He's been around him cuz he was already invited to sort of follow. So it's very possible that he's very familiar with the savior at this point, but not quite fully converted, not quite, not quite fully engaged.

Um, and this is an opportunity for him to, it almost feels like Simon's opportunity to go into the. Because the savior says, cast your boat deeper out into the water. This is just you and me. Let's talk. And , I just, I love that piece of it. You know, he is. He's having this one-on-one moment after listening to the Savior preach.

And what happens is just so mortal and so good. I just love it. So basically he invites him to let his nets down. And when you flip the page, it says, master, we have toiled all night and have taken nothing nevertheless, at thy word. I will let down. . He is someone who I think embraces uncertainty in this moment.

I don't know. in his moment of saying, master, we've twilled all night. If he's trying to inform Jesus of something or if he's just simply saying like, I don't understand how you can possibly want this from me, , I, I just, I wonder because I felt this, like I told you guys before, I felt this with when come follow was first announced, I heard the prophet make all those promises about, you know, that Sabbath becoming a delight and your kids will rejoice in the scriptures and they'll be just wonderful.

And my initial reaction was basically to say, , you don't understand President Nelson, I've been fishing here all night. There's no fish here. Because you know what? Peter doesn't seem to doubt his nets. He's not worried that his nets aren't capable. That's not why there are no fish. He's doubting it because he doesn't think there's fish in the water.

And what the savior is saying, and what he was saying to me is, There are always fish. You just need to change the way you are catching, you need to change. And so he casts his net out and he pulls the nets up and they are full of fish to the point that they fill his boat and the boats of the brothers, like two boats are full to the point of sinking.

And I just love that visual of. There is always an abundance. The field is always white if you will just listen. You know, it took me a full year of come follow me before I finally was like, okay, Lord, I'm gonna try it your way. I'll try it and see. And I wouldn't say that I have an abundance of fish just yet.

You know, I don't have like a bolt full of fish miracle in front of me. My kids don't love the Sabbath necessarily, but I would say that I feel different. I. When the Xavier is asking Simon to cast his net out, it isn't just about the fish he will bring in. It's about who Simon becomes in these moments where he has to step across this uncertainty where the miracle doesn't make sense to him.

He doesn't see how it's even possible, and when he chooses to do it anyway, he becomes stronger. That's what I feel has. Of most value to me from our time and come follow me over the last four years. Yes, my kids have learned to love the scriptures more. And yes, we have delighted on some Sundays as we've done some crazy things together, but I think the biggest shift has been in me.

My arms have become stronger by repeatedly casting this net in, even when I think there's no fish to be caught. So I think there's a piece of that in Simon's. . What I really think is powerful though, is when you see Simon's reaction, so this is in eight, he falls down at the Savior's feet and says that he's sinful and he doesn't belong.

You know what I was talking to you about? Like when you encounter power, how will you choose to react? This is how Simon reacts. He is all of a sudden aware, uh, Of who he is and how weak he is. It reminds me, I went to a party this week at a friend's house, I guess it was last week, and I had put my clothes on in our closet.

I didn't even flip on the lights. I'd put on these comfy sweats basically. And it wasn't until I went out into the light of the kitchen that I looked down and realized I had like these little oil spots on my , the pocket of my clothes. Cuz when you come into full light, you all of a sudden are aware of.

All, all the problems you have, and that's what Peter is feeling. He's like, I, all of a sudden I'm aware. The same thing happens when you get a calling. I remember this with Jason when he was called to be bishop, that all of a sudden he was very aware of all of his weaknesses and he was, you know, seeking help and wanting to fix things.

And that's natural. So if you experience that feeling of fear or panic when you encounter light, you're in good company. Simon felt just the same, and it's an invitation to embrace. experience and say, I wanna be better. I wanna be cleaner. I want to know where all the stains are on my shirt so I can fix it.

Seek the light and embrace that fear that comes with it. And so Jesus calms his fears and basically says, you're gonna be fishers of men. That's what I need you to do. You'll no longer catch these fish that will slowly fade and you know, rock or be consumed. You will catch men and that will. Eternally. The blessings of that catch will be eternal.

It is. I don't think it's just an invitation to do something hard. It's an invitation to do something hard and great, you know, a huge invitation to be a part of something great. It's the greatest catch they'll ever make. And what fishermen could resist that invitation, right? So they set down their nets and they follow, and they do it immediately.

All of them leave immediately. And then you shift right into the miracle of the leper that we talked about last week. This idea. He heals the leper. He touches him so that others can see him touch. He gives him this dignity if you want. I talked in the live how. One of my favorite takeaways from this idea is that when I serve, I should seek to do both those things.

I should seek to relieve the burdens of whoever I'm serving and I should seek to give them dignity. The example I give him the alive is I one time when we were getting a lot of meals from the Relief Society cuz of Jason's. We, I had someone come and bring a meal that was in all the pan that he had cooked it in.

Like they were still sizzling, almost like you'd get in a restaurant, which was so great cuz it smelled amazing and it must have, you know, it was delicious. But all my brain could think of was like, all the dishes. , like I would have to wash them. I would've to return them, I'd probably need to write a thank you note or at least remember what we ate so that I could say thank you.

Cuz my brain was like mush at that point. And I just, that's all I could see were the dishes. And then before he left, he gave me one of those cardboard, cardboard or cardboard cardboard. Boxes from Costco and he said, Hey Maria, I don't want you to do a single dish. In fact, I have dessert for you, but I'm only gonna give you to the dessert if you'll set all the dirty dishes in this Costco cardboard box and put it on your step.

He's like, in 40 minutes, I'm gonna come drive by. I'm gonna pick up the dirty dishes in that cardboard box, and then I'll trade you for the dessert. And in that moment, you guys like, I could have hugged . It wasn't that he had brought me dinner, it's that he brought me dinner and dignity. I didn't have. . I didn't have to remember what he made for dinner.

I didn't have to say an excessive thank you. I didn't have to wash all the dishes and figure out who they went to. He gave me dignity in addition to filling my family. That's the way the savior taught, and I wanna do that better. I love those verses for what they teach about giving service and giving dignity.

So don't skip that story of the library, even though we've read it before. Okay, you're gonna go a little further, and then this second or this middle section, you're gonna read all about the man with p. when the Xavier is teaching. Some friends come, you're gonna see this in a few other places in a few different weeks, so we don't have to learn it all this week.

But you can't miss Luke's account. Remember, Luke is teaching the Gentiles and he often speaks of the Lord's compassion and kindness, especially his healing of those who are weak. And so, , you can't miss Luke's account of the Man with palsy. You probably know the story. Basically, they are seeking a way to help their friend and so they end up going through the roof in order to access the savior cuz he's being thronged with people and there's a whole bunch of people listening and they can't reach him.

And they have this friend that they want to be healed so they let him down through the roof. And there's a few things I love about this piece of the. First off, I really love that no one seems to care that the roof is being torn apart. You know, I read some scholars who said that maybe this is because of the seasons and that they change the thatching on the roof all the time, but I really think it's because they know the Lord and they rejoice to see miracles.

So whoever's house they're in, probably delighted to see this miracle play out. . I think it's also the reason he asked us not to care so much about material things. You know, if you don't have a fancy house to start with, then having the roof torn up isn't that stressful? , I know that cuz we live in a house where like I don't have any fragile things on purpose.

I have no nice fragile things and I do that cuz I don't ever want my kids friends to come over and be worried about breaking something or touching something. Like I just don't care. And it creates an environment of fun and happiness in my house and I. That's part of the reason why he's encouraging us to set aside material things.

Don't get attached to things because when it comes to people versus things, I need you to pick people. And if you really love your roof, you're gonna struggle . But whoever this is who owns this house, doesn't seem to struggle. They just let this man come through. . I also love that it's the friends who bring him and that they find another way.

You know, you read this in the Book of Mormon a few different times where prophets are trying to get into a city and they reach, they encounter some kind of obstacle, so they find another way. Like with Nephi, he finds another way to get in to get the brass plates. I think there's a talk from Michelle Craig where she talks about this, where the savior promises that he'll provide a way, not necessarily the way, but there will be a way to get what you need and what they are seeking.

Help for their friend. For some reason when I read this, I think of my YaaS because this is what they do. You guys, they're so good at it. Like they will go to their friends or their coworkers and be like, Hey, come to class with me, . You know? And then they come to class and they introduce me and they like, it's just this.

I think half of my classes come that way. It's, they're so good at just this warm invitation. And what I particularly love is what happens with the man with palsy. So you learn in the verses. If you go in through the verses, once he's let down through. This is in verse 20, and when he saw their faith, meaning the friends', faith, the friends who brought the man with palsy, he said unto him to the man, man, th sins are forgiven.

The, I wonder sometimes if this tells us a little bit more about the man with palsy, that maybe the reason he didn't want to come to the savior isn't just that he couldn't walk, but maybe he feared he didn't belong there. The same way I've seen kids who come to my Ysa class who. Maybe I don't belong here.

You don't. There's a whole bunch of return missionaries here. There's people who are probably great with their faith. They're great, and I have doubts and I have worries and maybe I don't fit. And what I love is. The friends carry him anyway. You know, like, maybe he even said that to them. Like, I, I can't be around the savior.

I've got things to work out. I don't belong. He can't, he won't heal me. I've got things. And the friends are like, actually, we're gonna carry you anyway, . And they just bring him. I think that's what friends do. I think it's what our baptismal covenants urge us to do is to just bear up burdens, you know, to help each other, to lift each other, to mourn with those that mourn, and then bring everybody to the.

That's the real way to heal your friends, no matter what their mal is, bring them to the savior, find a way to get them at his feet, and he will do the healing. And he does. So he forgives his sins. And then of course, the Pharisees are up in arms because they. I can't believe he's offering this. He's offering forgiveness of sins.

Who does he think he is? You know, they're, they're frustrated at his reaction. And he then says to the man, this I think is interesting. It's who he's talking to that catches my eye. So he says to them, Jesus perceived their thoughts in 22, whether it's easier to say in 23 th sins be forgiven me, or to say, rise up at walk.

And then he addresses the man in 20. But that ye may know that the son of man hath power on this earth to forgive sins. And in in parentheses it says, he said this unto the he who was sick of palsy. I say unto the arise and take up the couch and go into the nine house. Here's what I love you guys. His friends have taken them, taken him as far as they can.

They've got him to the foot of the savior, but this man has to choose to arise. This must have been a really scary. Moment of faith, another step of uncertainty. Just like Peter in the boat, he's in a situation where he has to choose to believe, even though all evidence to the contrary is in front of him and his friends can't help him here, his friends can't do it for him, he has to choose, and in this moment he does.

He stands up on his. Palsied legs and he walks and because he walks, he knows that that means his sins are forgiven too. Cuz that's what Savior taught him. It's a sign that you will know that your sins are forgiven. I'm going to cure your legs. And I just love that piece. It motivates me to be a better friend and to be someone who brings people to the savior in whatever capacity I can.

And then I get to be the friend who gets to stand by and watch a miracle play out. Ah, don't just love this story. It's a good thing we get to read it a few. . This last little section of Luke five is where you are introduced to Matthew. He's called Levi here, but after he converts, he is called Matthew and he'll be an apostle Lord and he is someone who is a public.

So I'm sure you know all the background on this, but you can learn more in the notes if you want. This is someone who was. Pretty much hated by all Jews. So not just the Jews they're going to teach, but the Jews who will also be his fellow quorum of the 12 apostles. They're, they're gonna have some serious feelings, uh, against Matthew because Republican means you are a tax collector.

And the rules in this state were basically that you had a certain allotment of taxes that you had to turn into robe for your area, but that didn't mean you were limited to just that amount. In fact, if you wanted to, you could take as much from the people as you were able. , you just had to make sure that your allotment to roam went out.

So a lot of the Republicans were sneaky. They, a lot of them took more than they were supposed to. A lot of them used awful means in order to get people to put money in. Like it was, they had a bad reputation. And I don't know if Matthew was one of those or if he was a pretty honest Republican. I read a talk last week about how, I can't remember which prophet it was, but he basically said that there was a purity of heart to all of the apostles.

So I. I want to believe that Matthew was not like the other Republicans. He just was one who was hampered by the reputation of all of the others, and he was pushing back against that all the time. And one of the ways he does that when he, he, so basically Jesus sees him at his tax collecting office and invites him to follow.

And he does just like the fishermen and their nets. He lets go of all of his livelihood and all of his, what he knows and he follows the savior and then he does something with what he. . So he takes his excess, he takes his wealth that others wouldn't have, and he throws a party, he has a dinner, a feast for everyone to come, and he invites other Republicans to come and meet Jesus and others who would be considered sinners by the Pharisees.

In fact, that's part of the reason they run into trouble is the Pharisees see the savior with publicans and sinners and others and say, what are you doing eating with these people? If you are who you say you are, you wouldn't eat with these. And I just love the Savior's response. He, he is kind but pointed at the same time and he talks about.

Being a physician that the whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. And I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. There is a softness and an inclusivity to the way he teaches, and it's very counter to what the Jews had done. Their kind of guilt mentality of shaming people into repentance is very different than what the savior does.

He sets a standard and lets. Choose to repent, choose let, let them feel guilt on their own and choose to repent rather than feel shame from public outcry and change. He's trying to shift the way people think, and then he has this interesting dialogue. So basically, Some of the disciples who have been following John the Baptist, ask him like, John had us fasting all the time, but this is a feast.

You know, why are we feasting? And one of the things I loved studying this week is he basically says, when I'm gone, there will be time for sadness, but I am here now. And it's a time for joy, it's a time for feasting. I think this is the nature of grace. I think this is how we should feel about the gospel today.

We are in a time when the gospel is restored, when truth is here, and the ordinances are here and it should. Joyous. Sometimes we talk about it like it's this constant. Slog of sacrifice and pain, and it is not. It is joyous. We worship a feast loving God, and I think we have to remember that when we are blessed to live at the time we are living in, and we should feel joy because of it.

And I love that little reminder in there. He also talks at the very end about putting new wine in old bottles and the risk of it exploding. We're gonna talk about this in the object lessons as well, but the idea here is that some people saw him. creating this new doctrine as a patch for Judaism for what they had been studying.

He's, he's trying to help them understand, oh no, like we're not gonna take this broken heart and contract spirit doctrine and try and push it into feast days and Tabernacles. And it's gonna look very different than what you've experienced in the past. And it has to look different because we're, we're becoming new creatures in this new doctrine.

So it's like he's setting the stage for all. Big burst of light doctrine moments that are coming down the.

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Welcome back guys. This is the creative side of week five. So let me introduce you to a few simple object lessons to help you reinforce these teachings. If you're listening in the podcast or watching on YouTube, I'll give you a quick preview so at least you have an idea of what you could try, and those of who are in the full course, I'll give you access to all the printables in the notes and the full instructions.

But, , this should give you a good taste of what is coming. So three object lessons. The first one is all about that visual that I told you about and the insights about the samurai. So when I picture the savior encountering the adversary and getting these temptations kind of hurled at him, I picture a samurai slicing through because what he uses to defeat the adversary is the word of God.

He uses scriptures, so we're gonna. Reinforce that to our kids by creating these katanas. So you know, the Samurai store, the Katana. So I'm creating a principle that allows you to. Put some scriptures on that will help you in certain temptations or certain circumstances, and then start to memorize them.

And then since it's multimedia week, I'm also gonna introduce you to the Doctoral Mastery app so you know how to help your kids practice these verses that they're trying to memorize. Okay? The second one is involving what happens in Nazareth. . So when Savior goes and teaches them who he is, that he is the fulfillment of this prophecy from Isaiah, that he is the Messiah, they see him differently.

In fact, the words they choose are, is this not Joseph's son. You know, like they immediately make him small. And I think one of the things the gospel helps us understand is that although the world might see us as small, we are so much stronger than they think we are , because you're endowed with power from God.

So the way I'm teaching you this is with a simple print. Flashlight. So basically it's a flashlight that looks like this, like one of the cute ones you might find in your drunk drawer. And then as you expand it, it opens up so you can see that this is actually a much bigger flashlight with much bigger power.

And then it also opens just cause I thought that would be fun to show battery power. So these batteries all have different elements of. What gives us power from the divine, and it will help your kids get a little boost of confidence as they try to compare how God sees them versus how the world sees them.

Okay. Your third one is the more adventurous of all three. You can't have a verse that talks about explosions in the New Testament and me not grab it . So when you're talking about old wine and new bottles and the savior Warrens, that that will cause them to burst. I'm like, we need to demonstrate. So this week we are making exploding bags to help our kids understand what the Savior was trying to teach about the old LA of Moses Way and the new covenant that he's introducing.

And we're gonna do that with some explosions. So you need some Ziploc bags, you need baking soda and vinegar, maybe a little food coloring if you're feeling adventurous, but that should get you started.

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All right, you guys, that's your intro. Let's get into all the. . Okay, you guys, that's it for week five. All right.

I hope you enjoy it. These are familiar scriptures, so I hope you take your time with them and just enjoy the perspectives of Matthew and Luke and hopefully find new ways to apply them to your own life. So get in your scriptures, I promise you're gonna love it. If you have questions or you just wanna get some more understandings about other things that you can find in these verses, you are more than welcome to join me on Instagram.

That's a good spot to find me. If you have specific questions and you're in the course, you can leave those on the discussion boards, which you can find at the top right of every video. Just click that little. Chat icon. And then I would also remind you that there, all of this is in podcast form, so if you want free access to the insights or you wanna share them with others, please send them to the podcast.

There's um, a public podcast that has all the insights information, like all the verses and the commentary. And there's also a private podcast that is for the people in the course so that they can access all those insights and the creative object lessons. As they go about their day in their podcast app.

So if any of that would be helpful to you and you're in the course, then message me and I will send you your link. But otherwise, I hope you really enjoy this week. It's familiar scripture, but I promise there are new things defined. So open up your scriptures and get started first, you guys, that's it for week five.

I'll see you on Monday.