Chronological Plan

Matthew 4; Luke 4-5; John 1:15-51

Matthew 4

1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

2He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.

3The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

4But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

5Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple,

6saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

7Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor;

9and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

10Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”

11Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

12Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.

13He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,

14so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

15“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles —

16the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”

17From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

18As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea — for they were fishermen.

19And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”

20Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

21As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them.

22Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

23Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

24So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them.

25And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Luke 4

1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,

2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.

3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

4Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”

5Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.

6And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.

7If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”

8Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”

9Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,

10for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’

11and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

12Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

14Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.

15He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

16When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,

17and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,

19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.

21Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

22All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

23He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’”

24And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.

25But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land;

26yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.

27There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

28When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.

29They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.

30But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

31He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the sabbath.

32They were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority.

33In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,

34“Let us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”

35But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” When the demon had thrown him down before them, he came out of him without having done him any harm.

36They were all amazed and kept saying to one another, “What kind of utterance is this? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come!”

37And a report about him began to reach every place in the region.

38After leaving the synagogue he entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her.

39Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them.

40As the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them.

41Demons also came out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah.

42At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds were looking for him; and when they reached him, they wanted to prevent him from leaving them.

43But he said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.”

44So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.

Luke 5

1Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God,

2he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

5Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.

7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.

8But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

9For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken;

10and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”

11When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

12Once, when he was in one of the cities, there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.”

13Then Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do choose. Be made clean.” Immediately the leprosy left him.

14And he ordered him to tell no one. “Go,” he said, “and show yourself to the priest, and, as Moses commanded, make an offering for your cleansing, for a testimony to them.”

15But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases.

16But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.

17One day, while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting near by (they had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem); and the power of the Lord was with him to heal.

18Just then some men came, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus;

19but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus.

20When he saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”

21Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, “Who is this who is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

22When Jesus perceived their questionings, he answered them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts?

23Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?

24But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he said to the one who was paralyzed — “I say to you, stand up and take your bed and go to your home.”

25Immediately he stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went to his home, glorifying God.

26Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen strange things today.”

27After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.”

28And he got up, left everything, and followed him.

29Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table with them.

30The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

31Jesus answered, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick;

32I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

33Then they said to him, “John’s disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink.”

34Jesus said to them, “You cannot make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?

35The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”

36He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and sews it on an old garment; otherwise the new will be torn, and the piece from the new will not match the old.

37And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.

38But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.

39And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, ‘The old is good.’”

John 1:15-51

15(John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”)

16From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

17The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

18No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

19This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

20He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”

21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.”

22Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

23He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said.

24Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.

25They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”

26John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know,

27the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.”

28This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

30This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’

31I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

32And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

33I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

34And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

35The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples,

36and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”

37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

38When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

39He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.

40One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

41He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed).

42He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”

44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

46Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”

48Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

49Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

50Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.”

51And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”