Walking Where Jesus Walked
Dorothy Dalton
Midland SDA Church
June 3, 2017
Scripture
acts 10: 38 | New King James Version (NKJV)
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
Walking Where Jesus Walked
Prayer: Father thank you for the family of God and the friendship we have with each other. Thank you for the fellowship that comes when Jesus is the foundation of our friendship. Thank you for the gift of music and the spoken word. And Father, I pray that all that is said and done here will be acceptable as our gift of love for you. We long to walk with Jesus and pray we will have that glorious privilege this morning. In Jesus name. Amen
I have chosen for my topic “walking where Jesus walked.” It is my desire that you will see Jesus and his life in new or renewed light from Biblical accounts and the inspired writing of Ellen White. It is not my purpose to examine events in the life of Jesus chronologically but to search for lessons to be learned in his early years.
acts 10: 38 | New King James Version (NKJV)
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
Jesus didn’t wait for something to happen or for someone to come to him. He was active. He made goodness happen, if it was convenient, or not. Rather it was the right time or not, he did it anyway. Jesus didn’t wait for opportunities to come about; so, he could do good. He made it happen, as we shall see. If Jesus had waited until there was an opportunity to do good in the life of Dorothy Dalton; no goodness would ever have been done! How is it with you? Aren’t you glad that even though there was no opportunity He did good for you anyway. Roman’s 5:8 God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” That wasn’t a very convenient time 1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (to appease, atoning sacrifice) for our sins.
Luke 19: 10 | New King James Version (NKJV)
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” I’m so glad that Jesus came to save us but I am even happier that He came to seek, as well as to save us.
DA pg 47-49 “We marvel at the Saviour’s sacrifice in exchanging the throne of heaven for the manger and the companionship of adoring angels for the beasts of the stall. Into the world where Satan claimed dominion God permitted His Son to come, a helpless babe, subject to the weakness of humanity. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations and to give us the example of a sinless life. Human pride and self-sufficiency stand rebuked in His presence”. Yet this was but the beginning of His wonderful condescension. It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man’s nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. He accepted the results of the working of the law of heredity. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life. Into the world where Satan claimed dominion God permitted His Son to come, a helpless Babe, subject to the weakness of humanity.
The King of Glory stooped low to take humanity. About 40 days after the birth of Christ, Joseph and Mary took Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord, and to offer sacrifice. This was according to the Jewish law, and as man’s substitute. He had already been subjected to the rite of circumcision as a pledge of His obedience to the law. His body was strong and health. And throughout His lifetime He lived in conformity to nature’s laws.
Jesus did a good thing to be born in a Bethlehem stable. He cannot be accused of having a better birth place than we have had.
25 And
behold,
there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting
for the Consolation
of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And
it
had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see
death before
he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 So
he
came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in
the Child
Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, 28 he
took
Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: 29 “Lord,
now
You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your
word;
30 For my eyes have seen
Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of
all
peoples,
32 A light to bring revelation
to the
Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”
33 And Joseph and His mother[a] marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against 35 (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
36 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; 37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years,[b] who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord,[c] and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. So when they had performed all things according to the law of the land, they returned to Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.
Jesus as an infant did a good thing for Simeon and Anna.
DA 57 Satan has represented God as selfish and oppressive, as claiming all and giving nothing, as requiring the service of His creature for His own glory, and making no sacrifice for their good. But the gift of Christ reveals the Father’s heart. It testifies that the thoughts of God toward us are “thoughts of peace, and not of evil. (Jer 29:11) It declares that while God’s hatred of sin is as strong as death. His love for the sinner is stronger than death. Having undertaken our redemption He will spare nothing, however dear, which is necessary to the completion of His work. No truth essential to our salvation is withheld, no miracle of mercy is neglected, no divine agency is left unemployed. The whole treasury of heaven is open to those He seeks to save. Having collected the riches of the universe, and laid open the resources of infinite power. He gives them all into the hands of Christ and says, All these are for man. Use these gifts to convince him that there is no love greater than Mine in earth or heaven. Incredible!!
119 Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.” 21 Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” Interesting……we don’t know who Matthew was quoting here.
Nazareth was a very obscure, despised town in the Northern region known as Galilee. A Hebrew or Aramatic word it is not mentioned in the Old Testament, in the writings of Josephus or the rabbinical writings of the Jews. This indicates it must have been a small insignificant place located 88 miles north of Jerusalem. There was hatred and party spirit much like what we have in our country. The people in the south had nothing but contempt for those living in the north.
A good example of this is found in Mark 14:66-72 New King James Version (NKJV)
I want you to see the living situation that our blessed Lord grew up in and ministered in. Peter Denies Jesus, and Weeps
66 Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. 67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus of Nazareth.”
68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are saying.” And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed.
69 And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, “This is one of them.” 70 But he denied it again.
And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, “Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it.”[a]
71 Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!”
72 A second time the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And when he thought about it, he wept.
Without even knowing or understanding anything about Peter personally: the religious and civic leaders in the south, upon hearing his speech he was looked upon as one of those dumb Galileans.
Now if Galilee was bad Nazareth was the pits! It was really bad news. As a matter of fact the people in the South hated the people In Galilee and the people in Galilee hated the people in Nazareth because we find Nathanel, who lived 4-5 miles down the road from Nazareth saying, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth, when he was told they had found the Messiah.
DA 72 Christ was the only sinless one who ever dwelt on earth, yet for nearly thirty years He lived among the wicked inhabitants of Nazareth. This fact is a rebuke to those who think themselves dependent upon place, fortune, or prosperity in order to live a blameless life. Temptation, poverty, adversity, is the very discipline needed to develop purity and firmness.
Let’s never limit the place from which God can bring good. God can bring goodness and has brought goodness and will bring goodness out of the most unsuspecting places. Can any good thing come of out of Nazareth? I say yes; He sure did it in Nazareth! Wouldn’t you agree. Yes, Jesus did a good thing living in Nazareth. There is no place for prejudice, bias or pre-supposition in God’s people. I said Nazareth was not mentioned. Jesus Christ put it on the map. Can we put our home town on the map?
40 days after Jesus was born they had the right of purification & dedication of the child Luke 2: 39 So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. 40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. DA pg 68 The childhood and youth of Jesus were spent in a little mountain village. There was no place on earth that would not have been honored by His presence. The palaces of kings would have been privileged in receiving Him as guest. But, He passed by the homes of wealth, the courts of royalty, and the renowned seats of learning to make His home in obscure and despised Nazareth” Jesus did a good thing in Nazareth. Never limit the place from which God can bring good.
Luke 2: 41 His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. 43 When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother[e] did not know it; 44 but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. 45 So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. 46 Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. 48 So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”
49 And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” 50 But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them. He is saying wait a minute Mom, Joseph is not my real father, he is my step-father so I was about MY Father’s business
51 Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.
It would be over thirty years before he ever preached his first sermon, before he ever healed his first sick person, before he ever cast out his first demon but Jesus was in Nazareth doing good. He was faithful over that which was small in a carpenter shop and as a result of that faithfulness God made Him ruler over many things.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.
4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” 5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching. You have no idea what Jesus was up against. He was not just a carpenter!
23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” Look carpenter, you are not to be teaching!
24 But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: 25 The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.”
And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
John 7: 1-36 New King James Version (NKJV)
7 1After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews[a] sought to kill Him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. 3 His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him.
6 Then Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to this feast. I am not yet[b] going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come.” 9 When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.
10 But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. 11 Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?” 12 And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.” 13 However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.
14 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. 15 And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”
This is our Savior here. His own family didn’t believe on Him. And we find the leaders saying, Look carpenter, what are your credentials? And I don’t understand anyway how you are teaching you don’t have any degrees. You haven’t done what we think should so how can you know anything? They didn’t know they were saying it to the second person of the God head. Prejustice is a terrible thing! I thank God that Jesus was raised in Nazareth and Galilee and went about doing good.
Jesus dwelt long in Nazareth un-honored and unknown that the lesson of His example might teach men and women how closely they may walk with God in even the common course of daily life. How humiliating, how rude and homely was the condensation of the majesty of Heaven that He might be made one with us. He drew the sympathy of all hearers by showing himself capable of sympathizing with them. The men of Nazareth in their questioning doubts ask, is not this the carpenter. Heaven and earth are no wider apart today than when common man of common occupations met angels at noonday or when on Bethlehem’s plane shepherds heard songs of the heavenly hosts as they watched their flocks by night. It is not the seeking to climb to eminence that will make you great in God’s sight but it is the humble life of goodness, of fidelity that will make you the object of the heavenly angel’s special guardianship. The Pattern man, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God took upon himself our nature and lived nearly 30 years in an obscure Galilean town hidden away among the hills. All the angel host was at his command yet he did not claim to be anything great or exalted and never attached professor to His name. He was a carpenter working for wages a servant to those for who He labored showing that heaven may be very near to us in the common walks of life and angels from the heavenly courts will take charge of those who come and go at God’s command.
Are you glad that Jesus was a carpenter? Doesn’t that give you some hope? You don’t have to be a theologian, you don’t have to be a preacher like, Doug Batchelor, of Mark Finley or some great missionary or a widely published author. Jesus never did any of that. He was a carpenter!
As Jesus worked in childhood and youth mind and body were developed. He did not use his physical power recklessly but in such a way to keep him in health that he might do the best work in every line. He was not willing to be defective even in the handling of his tools. He was perfect as a workman as He was in character. He was an excellent craftsman. A good carpenter! By His own example He has taught us that it is our duty to be industrious. That our work should be performed with exactness and thoroughness and that such labor is honorable.
DA 72 Christ was the only sinless one who ever dwelt on earth, yet for nearly thirty years He lived among the wicked inhabitants of Nazareth. This fact is a rebuke to those who think themselves dependent upon place, fortune, or prosperity in order to live a blameless life. Temptation, poverty, adversity, is the very discipline needed to develop purity and firmness.
Jesus is our example. There are many who dwell with great interest upon the period of his public ministry while they pass unnoticed the teaching of the early years. But it is in his home life that he is the pattern for all of our children and youth. He was doing God’s service just as much when laboring at the carpenter’s bench as when working miracles for the multitude.
Can you be a good carpenter, a good electrician, a good auto mechanic? A good waitress, a good secretary? You are doing God’s will just as much as any man or woman who stands in the pulpit.
Counsels to Parents, Teachers and students page 279 It requires more grace, more stern discipline of character, to work for God in the capacity of mechanic, merchant, lawyer, or farmer, carrying the precepts of Christianity into the ordinary business of life, than to labor as an acknowledged missionary in the open field.
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16 Jesus[c] answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. 18 He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. 19 Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?”
20 The people answered and said, “You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?”
21 Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and you all marvel.22 Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? 24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
25 Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill? 26 But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly[d] the Christ? 27 However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.”
28 Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, “You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 But[e] I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.”
30 Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 And many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. 33 Then Jesus said to them,[f] “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. 34 You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”
35 Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?”
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing[g] in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
40 Therefore many[i] from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.”
But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people because of Him. 44 Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
Counsels to Parents, Teachers and students page 279 It requires more grace, more stern discipline of character, to work for God in the capacity of mechanic, merchant, lawyer, or farmer, carrying the precepts of Christianity into the ordinary business of life, than to labor as an acknowledged missionary in the open field.
Jesus encountered the same prejudice Not knowing anything about him personally, the religious and civil leaders in the south in the very heart of Judaism must by the fact of where he was born, looked up as being one of those dumb Galilean’s
DA pg 123 There was in Him nothing that responded to Satan’s sophistry. He did not consent to sin. Not even by a thought did He yield to temptation. So it may be with us. Christ’s humanity was united with divinity; He was fitted for the conflict by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And He came to make us partakers of the divine nature. So long as we are united to Him by faith, sin has no more dominion over us. God reaches for the hand of faith in us to direct it to lay fast hold upon the divinity of Christ, that we may attain to perfection of character. And how this is accomplished, Christ has shown us. By what means did He overcome in the conflict with Satan? By the Word of God.
DA 72 Christ was the only sinless one who ever dwelt on earth, yet for nearly thirty years He lived among the wicked inhabitants of Nazareth. This fact is a rebuke to those who think themselves dependent upon place, fortune, or prosperity in order to live a blameless life. Temptation, poverty, adversity, is the very discipline needed to develop purity and firmness.