3. JESUS WAS BRUISED IN DEVELOPING HIS PROPHETIC AND HIGH PRIESTLY MINISTRY.

Jesus had dreadful fights of faith in prayer at Nazareth, while God prepared Him for His apostolic and High Priestly ministries. The apostolic and High Priestly ministries of Jesus were the product of Christ's prayer life at Nazareth.

a. The development of Christ's prophetic and High Priestly ministry was a truly bruising experience.

It is one thing to have a private prophetic prayer ministry, it is quite another to have a ministry that brings deliverance and healing to all the people that come to you for help. In the parable on prayer in Lk.11v9-13., Jesus was not just giving us instructions on how to seek God, and how to pray through, and keep on knocking for answers to prayer, He was telling us of His own dedicated prayer life at Nazareth. Jesus knew that He had to be fully empowered so that everybody that He prayed for and ministered to was healed. Christ's mighty ministry did not just drop upon Him from heaven, it came as a result of the most earnest seeking of His heavenly Father for very many years, indeed, for the whole of His life, from a child to an adult. Some would object to this and say that Christ's ministry did drop on Him at Jordan, however, this was the final anointing on a marvellously prepared vessel. See the study, Did Jesus Have Spiritual Gifts at Nazareth?

b. Christ's visit to the temple at twelve reveals His resolute and dedicated preparation for His ministry.

We read in Lk.2v49,50. that at twelve Jesus said to Mary and Joseph, "And He said to them, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them." (NKJ) This reveals that, by twelve, and almost certainly many years before this, Jesus was completely on His own in finding and doing the will of His heavenly Father. Even His godly and remarkable mother Mary did not understand the divine calling that was on His young life, and what Jesus meant when He said, "Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business." This makes the victorious and sinless life of Jesus even more remarkable. All the odds were stacked against Him, and He still won through, and developed a perfect prophetic power ministry, through which all were healed who came to Him.

We read in John.5v19,20., "Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. v20. "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel." (NKJ) Jesus had continual visions about what the Father wanted Him to pray for and do, it was part of His everyday prayer life in Nazareth. Jesus was directed in His prayer life by vision like Paul in 1Cor.5v1-5. and Col.2v1-5.. The dedication and prayer life of Jesus is totally breathtaking. When Jesus was twelve, His spiritual maturity, and His understanding of the Scriptures, amazed and astonished the learned Scribes and Biblical teachers in the Temple at Jerusalem. Extol and praise the dedicated all out prayer life, the systematic and meticulous study of the Scriptures, and practical daily life of love, of the wonderful boy and man, Jesus.

c. The qualifications to be our Great High Priest were gained at enormous personal cost to Jesus.

To obtain the qualifications to become our Great High Priest, Jesus experienced a truly demanding, exceptional and excruciating testing and bruising of His body, soul and spirit. Jesus was tempted and tried in all points in order to become our sympathetic and understanding Great High Priest. Heb.2v17,18. 4v14-16. Jesus had the intolerable pressure of going through all the difficulties and trials of life that we experience, so that He could totally sympathise with us in all our temptations, trials and difficulties, and so that we might know without any doubt, that He fully understands all our problems. Jesus was more greatly tested even than Job, He was tempted in all points like as we are, but without sin, He had the most extreme and painful tests of anyone, in all areas of life and character, but was totally victorious in them all. Glory and praise be given to Him!

N.B. CHRIST'S PRAYER MINISTRY AT NAZARETH PLACED HUGE DEMANDS ON HIM.

a. Jesus had to pray a revival into being from ground zero.

The Jewish nation had got away from God, Jesus himself said that they were not just bad, "kakos," they were gripped by an evil, "poneros", that was not content until they had corrupted others down to the same level of evil as themselves. Mt.16v4. Lk.11v26,29. Jn.8v44. Satan's name is "Ho Poneros," the one who is not content until he has corrupted others to his own terrible levels of depravity and corruption. Mt.1319. 1Jn.5v18. Apart from a few exceptions, the religious leaders of Israel were part of Satan's corruption, and when Jesus started His ministry, He exposed their corruption, and Jesus said that they had seen and hated both Himself and God the Father for it. Jn.15v20-25. The spiritual condition of God's people was truly appalling, Jesus tried to remedy this in the following ways.

b. Jesus had to pray John the Baptist through.

Jesus the young intercessor prayed John the Baptist through. Jesus watched in vision the developing ministry of John and prayed Him through, just as Paul prayed the Colossians, and other Christians through by prophetic prayer vision ministry. Col.2v1-5. If Paul could, by Holy Spirit inspired visions, see Christians a great distance away at Laodicea, and other places, and by prevailing prayer, transform the lives of those Christians, many of whom he had never met; we can be quite sure that Jesus had an even more remarkable ministry in prayer. During the years at Nazareth, Jesus developed a perfect prophetic ministry before He started His public ministry, and the essential source and foundation of a prophetic ministry, a perfect prayer warrior ministry. Christ's ministry did not suddenly drop on Him from Heaven at Jordan, He had 30 years of diligent praying of the highest quality, and blood, sweat, tears, and costly effort, and it was all done out of perfect love for us. Blessed be His Name!.

c. Jesus touched the world with His prayer ministry.
N.B. Jesus won major battles in prayer all over the world during His prayer ministry at Nazareth.

God has shown to me world events of significant, and even great importance, several months before they have happened, like the Chernobyl disaster, the terrorist attack on the Mountain Lodge Elim Pentecostal Church, and other terrorist atrocities. Though these events were not stopped, I believe that prayer did effect the outcome. Other national and international forthcoming disasters have been shown to me, which have been stopped by the operation of the power of God, sometimes in open and manifest judgement by God, in answer to prayer. If a simple prophet like myself can be used in prayer to alter national and international events, how much more would Jesus, the prophet like unto Moses, effect the nations of the world with His prayers. Deut.18v15-19. From the simple carpenter's work place at Nazareth, Jesus touched, influenced, and changed events and people all over the world with His wonderful life of prophetic vision ministry prayer. This leads on to our next point.

d. The excruciating burden and cost of Christ's prayer life at Nazareth.
N.B. Jesus experienced real fights of faith and painful bruising of His soul while praying through for His ministry.

When we see Jesus praying "with strong cryings and tears" in Gethsemane, Heb.5v7., we realise that we are looking at the prayer warrior supreme, a prayer warrior beyond all prayer warriors. In Lk.11v1-13., Jesus gave us instructions on how to pray, and pray through. When Jesus told the story of the man obtaining bread for his friend, He was revealing to us His own steadfast determination and persistence in prayer to obtain the ministry He needed to give bread to the world. Lk.11v8. "I tell you, although he will not get up and supply him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence and insistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs." AMP. Jesus was the most determined and sacrificial of all who have prayed through, and it cost Him very dear at Nazareth, and brought Him rejection and criticism from His own brothers and sisters, and the people of Nazareth.

e. Jesus had to set His face like a flint at Nazareth, as well as during His ministry and Passion. Is.50v3-7.

We read in Isa.50v3-7. "I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering. v4. The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. v5. The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. v6. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. v7. For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed." (KJV) "Set," is "suwm," or "siym," 7760, which means, to put, to set, to fix, to establish, to ordain, and to make. It is used in Is.48v4., in the bad sense of people hardening themselves against God. "Suwm" describes God's strengthening grace for Ezekiel against severe wicked opposition, in Ezek.3v7-9., "But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. v8. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads." v9. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house."

Here, in Is.50v7., "set," describes the courageous resolution that Jesus would manifest, when an avalanche of opposition, contempt, scorn and abuse was hurled at Him, and the great physical pain and suffering that evil men inflicted upon Him. This prophecy must have given great comfort to Jesus in the frightful opposition that came against Him at Nazareth as He prepared for His early apostolic ministry and His High Priestly ministry. We see an actual fulfilment of Jesus setting His face like a flint, in Lk.9v31., "Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face ("to prosopon esterisen") to go to Jerusalem. (NKJ) Jesus resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem. In Lk.9v51., "set" is "sterizo" 4741, to set fast, it literally means, to turn resolutely in a certain direction. However, our dear Lord Jesus also had to set His face with flinty determination at Nazareth as He prepared for His ministry, it was anything but easy for Him, indeed, the pressures and difficulties at Nazareth, tried Him and tested His strength of mind and resolve, to the very uttermost.

GOD DEVELOPED CHRIST'S PROPHETIC AND HIGH PREISTLY MINISTRY BY LIFE'S TRIALS.

a. God developed Christ's ministries in the stress and trials of daily living, and the hardship of real poverty.

Jesus went through the whole range of human trial and temptation on a deeper level than anyone else, in order to have the perfect qualifications of a sympathetic apostolic earthly ministry, and a sympathetic High Priestly heavenly ministry.

N.B. Paul declares in 2Cor.8v9., that Jesus experienced the total poverty of a penniless beggar.

We read in 2Cor.8v9., "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich." "He became poor," is "eptocheusen," (only here in the New Testament) it is the aorist active indicative of "ptocheuo" 4433, to be a beggar, (from "ptochos" 4434, the totally destitution of a cowering beggar, as in Lk.14v13.. In "through his poverty," poverty is "ptocheia" 4432, "abject" poverty" and "beggary." (In 2Cor.8v2. "deep poverty, is "bathous 899 ptocheia" 4432, "poverty down deep," from "ptocheuo"4433). Jesus became totally destitute so that we "might become rich," "ploutesete," 4147, the aorist active subjunctive of "plouteo" 4147), to be rich. Rich with Heaven's blessings. Those who trust in riches end up empty in their souls. Lk.1v53. Paul warns us in 1Cor.4v8., that we can have a distorted perspective of our true spiritual condition, and Rev.3v17-19., solemnly warns us that we can be spiritually penniless, when we think that we are rich, and be completely deceived by the possession of worldly riches and financial prosperity.

b. God trained Jesus through running the family business, and the hard work of providing for Mary's large family.

When Joseph died Jesus took over the family business and had to provide for His mother, Mary, His four brothers and at least three sisters. Mt.13v53-58. Mk.6v1-6. Jesus experienced all the stresses that come in a family business in a poor society. The greedy and grasping people who were unwilling to pay their bills. The very poor people who were unable to pay their bills, for whom He worked for no pay. The people who were never satisfied with what you did, no matter how good the work was. Jesus met people who demanded that their work was done immediately, regardless of the needs of anyone else, or of the workload on Jesus. The Devil made quite sure that selfish and dishonest people put enormous pressure upon Jesus. Jesus was truly tempted in all points like any Christian worker or businessman. Satan tried and succeeded in making sure that Jesus was very short of money. God had to do miracles to provide for Jesus and His family, this was why Mary could say, "Whatever He says unto you, do it." This was all invaluable education for Christ's apostolic and High Priestly ministry. Jesus understands our problems, because He has personally experienced them, but at a more difficult and painful level than any of us can conceive.

c. God the Father trained Jesus to examine and reject the false tradition of His times.

Real strength comes from rejecting incorrect but orthodox doctrine. Jesus did not openly show His rejection of their false traditions until His ministry started. This is good advice for young students. However, the trial of living under and being constantly taught false tradition cannot be under estimated. Everyone else has usually capitulated to, and followed the line, of their religious leaders, Jesus did not do this, for even at twelve, His perception of truth was clear, His knowledge of the Scriptures was accurate and precise. He was full of truth as well as of grace. Jn.1v14.

d. God the Father trained Jesus in prophetic prayer ministry, and in development of spiritual gifts.

The training that the Father gave Jesus was not an easy thing, according to Is.49v1,2. and 50v3-7., it was a daily affair, and very demanding. The work that Jesus had to do made this severe preparation necessary, Jesus had to be at the peak of spiritual power, and heal all that came to Him, and by being tried and tempted in all points just like we are, to be the perfect sympathetic High Priest. Jesus fully partook of our humanity and victoriously overcame all areas of temptation.

e. God the Father rooted and grounded Jesus in a vital experience of the truth of the Scriptures.

Jesus meditated upon and filled His mind with the Scriptures, He answered Satan, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Jesus had done this for thirty years, and He used the sword of the Spirit, God's Word, to defeat Satan. Jesus proved by experience the truth of Scripture, and lived it. Jesus was full of truth Jn.1v14. If we want to conquer Satan we will have to love God's Word as He did, and study it as diligently as He did. A correct knowledge of God's Word will save us from, error, folly, fanaticism and defeat.

N.B. Jesus fully partook of our humanity and victoriously overcame all areas of temptation.

We must remember that Jesus overcame all the pressures, temptations and difficulties of life at Nazareth, while possessing the limitations, weakness, and weariness of a human body. Jesus went determinedly and doggedly forward through all the difficulties, temptations, and vicious opposition that came against Him, and prepared diligently in prayer, study, and practical caring love for the great mission that lay before Him. No praise can be too high for our Saviour's dedicated love, courage and fortitude. Read the study on the humanity of Jesus in the conclusion of this study.

CLICK HERE FOR PREVIOUS PAGE....        CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE....