Matthew 12:38-42
The hypocritical Pharisees were asking Lord Jesus for a sign. 
They just witnessed Lord Jesus delivered a demon possessed blind and mute man(12:22)
Pharisees attributed the healing of blind and mute man by the power of demons not by God's power.
Verse 24 acts as the backdrop to the present scripture portion.
Knowing their thoughts Lord Jesus had a lengthy discourse for the benefit of such unbelieving people (Pharisees).
The same people were asking the Lord for a sign.
Another miracle would not have changed their minds in any way possible.
Lord Jesus knowing their hearts refused to give them a sign. 
But HE thought the sign of the prophet Jonah would be the best to give them. 
In the Bible, a sign is something that people can see with their own eyes and believe.
In the Christmas story the angel said to the shepherds “this will be a sign for you”. 
The angel was talking about a Savior being born to a virgin in Bethlehem.
The sign is that the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. 
When the shepherds saw the baby boy they understood the sign and believed.
‘This generation’ in Lord’s view is the unbelieving people of all generations.
The sign of Jonah applies to all people who reject the Lord Jesus as Savior.
Whoever rejects Lord as Savior falls into this category of people in any generation or in any period of time.
The book of Jonah in the Minor Prophets is considered as Scripture for the Jews.
They believe that prophet Jonah was in the belly of the fish for 3 days because of his disobedience.
By giving this sign the Lord is predicting the future events associated with HIS death, burial and resurrection.
Lord Jesus was in the grave for 3 days and rose again from the dead.
The sign of Jonah is associated with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
Verse 41 focuses on the repentance of people of Nineveh.
The people of Nineveh believed in the preaching of Jonah.
Jonah 3:4 “He proclaimed; forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned”
The entire city repented including the king “for their evil ways and their violence”.
The believing people of Nineveh will be a testimony on the Day of Judgment.
Nineveh example will condemn the Jews of Jesus time for their unbelief and missed opportunity in their life time.
Multiple opportunities were given to people of today to hear the Gospel but still people continue to reject.
Lord Jesus says HE is greater than Prophet Jonah.
Jonah was a reluctant prophet disobeyed God first and forced to go to Nineveh.
Jonah ministered to only one city which he never loved.
Lord Jesus is greater because HE is a compassionate Lord and obedient to HIS death.
He is greater because HE loved the whole world and gave HIS life for everyone.
HE is greater because HE is giving them the sign of Jonah even before HIS resurrection.
Another important figure in Old Testament is King Solomon – famous for his wisdom.
Queen from the south believed in her heart that Solomon got wisdom from above – she traveled a long distance to hear him.
A Gentile woman, living in a foreign and distant land, came all the way to hear Solomon’s wise discourses.
The Jews had a greater opportunity to hear the discourses of Lord Jesus and witnessed many miracles before their eyes.
Yet they ridiculed HIM, rejected HIM as the Messiah, and blasphemed HIS miracles and despised HIS ministry. 
Queen from the south will stand as a great condemnation to all such unbelieving Jews.
Lord Jesus is greater than Solomon because Jews rejected the wisdom of Christ.
People of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba will judge the Jews of Jesus' day because they showed less interest and willingness to accept HIM.
The Jews of Jesus time had a much greater opportunity to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord Jesus is declaring to all generations who continue to reject the Gospel of salvation will never be forgiven because they are sinning against the Holy Spirit.
Today our generation has the greatest opportunity of all times to hear the Gospel of Lord Jesus Christ.
Whoever reject the gospel of forgiveness of sins through the blood of Lord Jesus will have no excuse at all for all the missed opportunities they had in their lifetime.
My friend, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that HE died for you and paid the price of your sin on the cross and gave the salvation of your soul as a free gift.
Will you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior?

Matthew 16:21-24
Just in the previous segment Peter confessed that Lord Jesus is the Son of the Living God.
In this portion of scripture we read about Peter became the stumbling block in the way of the Lord.
If we summarize all the three gospel accounts, we come across the word ‘must’ or ‘will’ used by the Lord to explain the certainty of the events to happen.
HE must go to Jerusalem – HE must suffer in the hands of Jews – will be handed over to Gentiles (Romans) – HE must be killed – will be raised on the 3rd Day.
Jesus ultimate mission was to go Jerusalem to die on the cross for the sins of the world.
HE will be raised from the dead to initiate the Kingdom of God with those who believe in HIM.
Through Peter, Satan tempts the Lord to keep HIM from HIS mission as God’s Messiah.
But Peter was under the spell of Satan to discourage the Lord from going to Jerusalem.
Even in our lives, Satan tempts us with reasonable things and human relationships to discourage us from doing the Lord’s service.
Satan is very good at confusing us with human emotions and things of the world.
Peter under the influence of Satan  became an obstacle in the Lord’s progress to accomplish HIS mission.
Lord Jesus did not mince the words and rebuked Satan to get behind HIM.
Many times we see a person becomes a drag on someone who is serving the Lord.
A believer can become a stumbling block for a non-believer to come to know the saving grace of Lord Jesus.
A matured Christian can be a stumbling block in the life of a new Christian.
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 
Lord is preparing the disciples for their future role in establishing HIS church on earth.
HE was teaching them the qualifications required to be HIS disciples after HIS resurrection and ascension to heaven.
Four qualifications are required even for 21st century Christians to follow the Lord Jesus.
1. ‘Whoever WANTS to be MY disciples?”
This statement relates to a believer – once a person believes in the Lord his/her discipleship begins.
But one must have a strong desire in heart to follow HIM.
A desire to become HIS disciple needs deeper commitment.
Wanting to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus is a very serious business and full of challenges.
All Christians are not followers of the Lord Jesus.
2. “Must DENY themselves”
The Message Bible says, “You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am”.
Denying one’s self is a difficult thing to do.
Lord Jesus is reminding us that there are conditions in salvation of the soul of a person.
1.It is a free gift, no one can earn it;     2. Only repenting sinner by faith receives forgiveness of sins.
3. The person must trust the Lord Jesus as Savior of his/her soul.
4. Must confess that Lord Jesus Christ is the only Savior and only God.
5. If he/she is converting from other faiths must erase all belief systems of that faith completely.
6. Must grow in the knowledge of the Bible and attends Bible based church.
The believer in the Lord Jesus cannot have the freedom do what he/she likes to do with his/her life.
We deny ourselves the control of our life because we trust HIM, we love HIM and we obey HIM.
3. Must “take up their cross”
Cross stands for a painful death – a symbol of suffering – a shameful death
Taking up the cross means to bear the burdens of Lord’s true discipleship.
Taking up the cross means to follow a sacrificial life style and identifying with the Lord.
4. “Follow ME”
This is a command of the Lord to follow HIM.
To walk in HIS footsteps – follow to obey HIM – follow to become like HIM.
Following Christ is a lifelong commitment of sacrifice, self-denial and bearing the marks of cross on our life.
HE was reminding the disciples that they are embarking on a difficult road full of challenges and sacrifices even unto death.
Most of HIS disciples died a death of martyrs.
In Christian church history we come across such stalwarts of faith who sacrificed everything in life, lost their families for the sake of spreading the Gospel message of salvation.
We also see many men and women standing up for their faith in the face of persecution and death.
So my friend, following the Lord Jesus Christ is a very serious business.
We should not attempt to follow HIM without the partnership and power of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 4: 1-11
At the end of Matthew chapter 3 we read about the baptism of Lord Jesus Christ.
In HIS baptism we also saw the involvement of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
At the end we notice that the Holy Spirit rests on Lord Jesus Christ.
Most importantly we have to keep in mind the third God-head, The Holy Spirit, accompanies Lord Jesus into 40 days and 40 nights of wilderness travel.
In the present scripture portion THE SPIRIT leads the Lord Jesus into wilderness to be tempted by Satan.
So Lord Jesus was never alone in the wilderness.
The temptations of the Lord are to show HIS humanity and HIS faithfulness to the mission God gave HIM to accomplish.
Satan’s main objective was to distract Lord Jesus from HIS main mission to die on cross as the sinless sacrifice.
We see a human Jesus overcoming the temptations with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Another important factor to keep in mind is that Satan knows who Lord Jesus was.
Two times Satan uses the provocative statement “if YOU are the Son of God” indirectly challenging HIM to prove HIS true SELF as Son of God.
But human Jesus was relying upon the power and direction of the Holy Spirit.
During the temptation of our Lord, it is evident that God allowed Satan to have considerable power over human world.
Today Satan is actively involved in our world to deceive people with an alternate worship other than the God of the Bible.
Satan continues to mislead and tempt people to use their God’s give freedom to choose man-made images/idols, perverted human ideas/ideologies and traditions/rituals as objects of worship over the living God of the Bible.
In verse 3, the first temptation comes in the form of Lord’s physical need of hunger.
Satan was provoking the Lord to satisfy HIS physical need by turning a rock into bread.
Lord Jesus resisted that temptation just because HE was identifying with human beings and to feel their hunger as a mere man.
Lord Jesus met each of the temptation with Scripture showing us how to apply God’s given truth to obey HIM and to do God’s will.
Scripture is to guide and lead us faithfully obey HIM and not justify our desires and actions.
HIS first response was to quote a Scripture from Deuteronomy 8:3
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Second temptation comes in the form of defying gravitational force.
Not only Satan provokes HIM to jump from highest point of the Temple in Jerusalem but also quotes a Scripture to prove that Lord will not be hurt at all.
Lord Jesus knows HIS limitations as a man though HE is God – willing to identify with mere human not to defy gravity. Defying gravity without protection is sure death for a normal human being. 
Lord Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:16 as an answer.
In HIS answer Jesus clearly identified HIMSELF as God.
Third temptation comes in the form of compromise to worship Satan as a mere man for a gift of all kingdoms of the world.
Here Satan is reaching almost the limits of tempting the Lord.
He knows that God is the Creator and sustains everything that is created.
He knows that even the physical earthly kingdoms belong to God.
Satan knows that God allows him to have control of human lives and the places.
Satan tempts the Lord to become the Messiah of a temporal kingdom rather than a spiritual one.
Even Lord Jesus reached the end of HIS patience and rebukes Satan to leave.
Again HE quotes a Scripture from Deuteronomy 6:13 to remind Satan that only HE should be worshiped.
He reminds Satan once again that HE is God and worthy of worship.
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.”
From Lord Jesus temptations by Satan we learn that we cannot overcome our temptations with our human strength and will.
We need the power and strength of the Holy Spirit to enable us to face all kinds of temptations big and small and to overcome them with HIS help.
If anybody is struggling with temptations in life pray and seek the help of the Holy Spirit now.
Remember Satan tempts only the believer in the Lord Jesus.
Only a Christian person, a forgiven sinner by grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, knows the Holy Spirit personally.
HE is our present helper, companion, counselor, and power in all the facets of our faith walk.
Do you know Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?

Mark 2:1-12
The women with issue of blood for 12 years
The lepers who were starving and looking for food
Zacchaeus, the short man wanted to see Lord Jesus
The persistent widow pleading the judge continuously to grant her justice
The blind beggar shouting to get the attention of the Lord
The Syrophoenician woman pleading to drive the demon out of her daughter 
What is the common factor in all these events recorded in the Gospels?
State of desperation
The world’s view of desperation is a bad condition and to be avoided at all costs.
Because in desperation people might do some crazy stuff and get into deep trouble.
The scripture tells us that many blessings and promises of God were obtained by people in desperate situations.
When a person is desperate he/she shows extreme courage to face the challenges in life.
Desperate measures were taken by people approaching God as a last resort.
The four men were so desperate to get this sick man closer to the Lord.
They tore the roof in urgency and lowered the man right in front of the Lord.
These four guys did not care what others thought.
They did not care what anyone said.
They were determined not let this moment pass by.
They never let anything stop them from doing what they were doing.
Verse 5, Lord Jesus looked up and admired the four men for their courage and faith.
He saw four men who did not give up in their impossible situations.
Their faithfulness was rewarded by the Lord.
Instead of healing the sick man HE forgave his sins first.
Forgiving the sins of the man triggered a tsunami in the minds of the teachers of the law.
They knew very well from the Scripture that only God can forgive the sins of humans.
We need to admit that their thinking was right as no man can forgive others sins except God.
Lord Jesus was addressing them directly explaining that HE has the authority to forgive.
To make a very important point Lord Jesus says that HE is the Messiah, the anointed ONE.
HE is the Christ Jesus of the Scripture who came from God and equal to God.
Eventually HE healed the paralytic and sent him home well.
The focus is on the four men who dared to be different.
Their desperation to help their friend could find new avenues and possibilities.
They undertook desperate measures to reach the Lord against all odds.
As Christians we sometime lack that urgency in our hearts to reach out to the Lord.
Our faith in the Lord will surface strong in desperate conditions.
We need to feel desperate for unsaved people and find ways to share the Gospel.
We need to be desperate and dare to be different for Christ’s sake.
These 4 men teach us some valuable lessons in our Christian walk.
Today Lord Jesus forgives all sins whoever approaches HIM with a repenting heart.
HE is the only ONE who can forgive the sins we commit and grant HIS grace to become the children of God.
JESUS CHRIST our LORD can forgive a desperate repenting sinner and grant him/her peace.

Luke 19:1-10
This morning we are focusing on a short man of high-ranking IRS officer.
When Lord Jesus was approaching Jericho, he healed a blind poor beggar from the lowest social class. 
Today we look at Zacchaeus, a very wealthy Tax collector from the top social ladder.
The Sinner
The first four verses talk about a sinner.
In those days a tax collector works for Rome and Jews thought they were traitors.
Always chief tax collector’s job was very lucrative and many opportunities to make money.
Zacchaeus was able to take a cut in the taxes collected for him. 
In the eyes of religious leaders he was considered sinner because the tax collectors were often linked with murderers, adulterers, robbers, and other “sinners.”
For some reason in verse 3, Zacchaeus wanted to see who Lord Jesus was.
Probably he heard Lord’s healing miracles and the recent blind beggar being healed on the outskirts of Jericho.
He heard for sure that the Lord was walking through his own town, Jericho. 
Zacchaeus had a problem that he was a very short man.
Verse 4: “So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.” 
The desire to see the Lord made him to run and climb a tree putting aside his dignity.
Sycamore trees often grew by the side of the road and had branches that grew out horizontally from the trunk.
In our recent trip to Israel we did see the sycamore tree in Jericho city.
He was determined to see Jesus and did not care what others thought of him.
The Savior
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”
Lord Jesus took notice of Zacchaeus when HE came up to the sycamore tree.
He stopped at the tree looked up and called him by name.
Zacchaeus immediately knew that Lord Jesus was the Messiah. 
We would never be able to come to Lord Jesus unless He came to us first.
Lord not only ordered him to come down but also told him that HE is going visit his home.
The Salvation
In verses 6-10 we see how salvation had visited the home of Zacchaeus.
He never expected that the Lord would take notice of him and talk to him.
Now the Lord Jesus is coming over to his house for dinner.
He was excited and overwhelmed with great joy.
Why the Lord did express the necessity of going to the house of Zacchaeus?
These religious leaders never invited such people to their homes or go their homes.
Lord’s intention was to teach them a lesson by going to Zacchaeus house.
It was not just the religious leaders but even the disciples were not happy against such move by the Lord.
After the meal Zacchaeus responded to the call on his life. 
His conversion was evident in what he said publicly to make things right in his life.
Biblical repentance always goes hand-in-hand with restitution because conversion is a radical life-changing event. 
He is now a different man - so he declares that he will give half of his possessions to the poor and will make restitution at four times the amount he swindled. 
Lord’s declaration was twofold.
Salvation had visited Zacchaeus home and by his faith he too became the son of Abraham.
Simply to say that all people who accept the gift of salvation will become the spiritual children of Abraham as he stood as the father of the faithful.
Lord Jesus declares one more time to the benefit of all that HIS very purpose to come to the Planet Earth was to seek and save the sinner.
Today HE is standing at the door of every human heart and knocking so that HE can come in and transform that life totally.

2 Kings 2:19-22
Lord has given me and Hema, my wife a wonderful opportunity to tour Holy Land (Israel) for 10 days.
It was indeed a blessed experience to visit most of the places where our Lord Jesus was born, raised, worked as carpenter, baptized, walked, ministered, crucified, buried and an empty tomb to declare that HE is alive today.
One segment of my journey to Israel is connected to the present scripture.
Prophet Elisha lived in Jericho and healed the water spring there.
After the fall of walls of Jericho, people of Israel attacked and destroyed the city.
In Joshua 6:26 we read that Joshua cursed the man who rebuilds the city.
Through the centuries, it is clear that the city was rebuilt and people lived there after distribution of land to the tribes of Israel.
The curse of Joshua was obvious when people of the city of Jericho were living with bitter water and unproductive land.
They needed someone to reverse the curse and make the land fruitful again.
After witnessing the transformation of power from Elijah to Elisha the people approached Elisha to do something for them.
First thing they asked was to heal the water.
Through Prophet Elisha, the curse was reversed.
He healed the water spring by a miracle just using bowl and salt.
The water spring is still supplying water to the entire Jericho city for all purposes.
It was given to understand that the most delicious dates and fruits are grown in Jericho.
We saw with our own eyes the site of Elisha Spring Fountain where water comes from the original spring.
The authorities of Jericho preserved the place of the spring and maintain that spot even today.
The last verse “And the water has remained pure to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken” is so true and real even in 21 century.
The people of Jericho were in helpless and hopeless situation with the curse hanging them from Joshua’s time.
They were desperately needed a miracle as they were tired of bitter water and unproductivity.
Simple trust and obedience in the Prophet Elisha changed their life from bitterness to sweet, from fruitless to fruitful.
A miracle from God changed everything in the life of Jericho people.
Can we still expect a miracle from God in 21st century?
The God of the Bible is a miracle working God even today.
Unfortunately we don’t realize that every breath we breathe is a gift and a miracle from God.
Just acknowledge HIS miracle working power and submit with obedience to HIS will and purpose.