Just Because: The Story of Salvation for Children (17 page)

they told him in Bethlehem. Herod told the three

kings that if they found the child in Bethlehem they

must come back and tel him so he could also go

and worship Him.

But he was a liar and a servant of Satan. Herod

did not want to worship Jesus, and he did not want

some new king in the land of Israel. Satan had been

wondering how he could kill Jesus, and he had found

a man to do the job. Herod loved to worship himself.

He was an arrogant man, and Satan can always use

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people like that. Herod did not respect the Lord,

and he didn’t care about doing terribly evil things.

He knew from the Bible that the king to be born in

Bethlehem was the Lord’s Messiah, but he was so

much like Satan himself that he was going to try to

stop God’s plan of saving people.

After the wise kings had visited Jesus they were

going to report back to Herod because they didn’t

know he was a liar. On the way, when they were

sleeping, the Lord told them in a dream to stay away

from Herod and go home a different way. That same

night Joseph also had a dream. In his dream the Lord

said to him, “Take Mary and the child and escape to

Egypt and stay there until I tell you, because Herod is

going to try to find the child to kill Him.” That very

night they packed their things, loaded the donkey

and left Bethlehem. They traveled for many days and

came to Egypt.

When Herod realised the kings had left his

country without reporting to him, he sent his soldiers

to Bethlehem. He thought Joseph and Mary must

be hiding Jesus somewhere in Bethlehem, and he

wasn’t sure just how old Jesus was. Perhaps he had

been born a year ago. Perhaps it was two years ago.

He was full of evil rage and anger about Jesus, and

he wanted to murder Him. The next day he ordered

his soldiers to kill every boy child in Bethlehem from

two years old and under. So the next day the soldiers

came and killed all the baby boys. It was the most

terrible day ever in Bethlehem. Many little boys died

and went to heaven, but Satan’s plan to stop Jesus

from saving His people didn’t work.

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Now a few years later that evil king Herod died,

so the Lord told Joseph to go back to Israel, but not to

Bethlehem, because Herod’s son was now ruler there

and he too was an evil dude.

Joseph, Mary and young Jesus settled in Nazareth,

and Joseph and Mary had other children. When Jesus

was twelve His parents took Him to Jerusalem where

they were going to celebrate the Passover feast. That

was the time when the angel passed over Egypt and

the oldest of all the Egyptians died. The people still

celebrated that day because the Lord saved all those

who put the lamb’s blood above their doors.

Jesus went to the temple with His parents, and

He got into a conversation with some of the reli-

gious priests in the temple courtyard. Those reli-

gious leaders couldn’t believe a twelve-year-old

boy could know so much about God, and they

were amazed at what Jesus was saying. His parents

thought He was in the crowd of people traveling

with them when they left Jerusalem, but when they

looked for Him they couldn’t find Him. They were

very worried so they went back to the temple in

Jerusalem. There He was with al these big, old

men asking Him questions. When His parents told

Him they didn’t know where He was and they were

worried, He replied, “Didn’t you know I would be

in my Father’s house?” Of course He wasn’t talking

about Joseph, but about God.

Now you may be confused about why Jesus called

God His Father, when He was also God Himself.

You see, when Jesus became a baby, He left behind

His power and glory to come to earth. He decided to

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come to live with us and be exactly like us. He came

to live a normal life like any man and mostly to live

as Adam should have. While Jesus lived as a man He

was just like us, except His Father was God. He lived

just like us, except He never sinned. If He wasn’t just

like us then Satan would have said, “You can’t die

FOR them because you are not LIKE them.” And for

once Satan would have been right.

Jesus knew He was God’s Son, and He always

lived to do exactly as His Father wanted. But it was

much harder for Him because Satan was always

trying to make Him do even one little sin. Satan

knew even the littlest sin would mean Jesus was no

longer perfect. If He was no longer perfect He would

need a Saviour Himself, and He couldn’t save us. So

God’s enemy was watching for the right time to try

to make Him sin.

Now Joseph was a carpenter, and over the next

fifteen years or so Jesus worked each day with His

human step-dad, Joseph. Jesus and His brothers all

worked together and grew up in Nazareth helping

Joseph. Jesus was like other little boys. Sometimes

He was tired and sometimes hungry. And I think

sometimes He would hurt Himself or fall over, and

His neighbours and school friends all thought He

was just a normal boy except for one important thing.

Whenever He was hurt or something happened He

didn’t like, He never said bad words or hit someone

or had a bad temper. He always lived as God wanted

Him to live, and God was very proud of His only

Son. And other people also thought He was a very

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good guy and respected Him although they didn’t

know He was the promised Messiah.

God’s plan was running smoothly, and Jesus

grew up to be a great guy. He was a perfect child and

a perfect teenager. He spent a lot of time talking to

His heavenly Father, because praying was something

He loved to do. Praying and obeying our fathers and

mothers is exactly what He wants all young people

to do, and for those who do this Jesus promises bless-

ings from Him now and later when you leave home.

But soon it would be time for Him to leave home.

Soon it would be time for Him to begin to teach the

people and to do exactly what He had come to earth

to do, and nothing Satan tried would stop Him, Just

Because Jesus knew exactly what old you-know-who

was up to.

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Chapter 30

k

John grew up, and although he was a preacher he

was a really wild-looking guy. He didn’t care

about having his own house or even wearing fancy

clothes. All he cared about was telling people to stop

sinning and to make their hearts ready to meet the

Lord. So John spent a lot of time living out in the

wild places, eating insects and honey. Isaiah had said

he would prepare the people for the Lord, and he was

doing exactly that. John told the people that when

they decided to stop sinning and obey the Lord they

must be baptised in water. They would go down to

the river, and in front of everyone John would put

them under the water and bring them up again. This

was a way to show other people they were serious

about changing their lives.

One day John said a strange thing to the people.

“I baptise you with water, but one will come after me

who will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Did that mean this person would burn everyone? I

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don’t think the people understood what John meant,

but in about three years they would know.

When Jesus was about thirty years old He knew

it was time to begin His mission on earth, and the

Holy Spirit led him to the river where John was. John

was standing in the Jordan River with many people

coming to him to be baptised. Jesus went into the

water and came to John, but he was embarrassed that

Jesus wanted to be baptised by him.

“You should baptise me, not me baptise You,”

said John

“Let it be this way,” said Jesus.

So Jesus was baptised. When He came up out of

the water and as He was praying, a white dove came

down from the sky and rested upon Him. Then a

voice was heard from up in heaven which said, “You

are My own dear Son whom I love, and I am pleased

with You.”

After this the Holy Spirit of the Lord led him out

to the desert for forty days and nights so He could

be tested. The Lord does the same thing to us when

we decide to live for Him. He allows the devil to

test us, not to hurt us, but to make us stronger in our

decision.

Now after all that had happened Satan had figured

out Jesus was most likely the one who was going to

crush his head, so he was planning how he could tempt

Him to sin. Jesus hadn’t eaten anything for the forty

days. He was in the desert, with no McDonald’s and

no supermarkets. Anyway He wasn’t even looking

for something to eat, but He was VERY hungry.

Most people get really hungry if they just miss their

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lunch, so imagine missing forty breakfasts, lunches

and
dinners.

So the devil came up to Jesus and showed Him a

big stone he was holding in his hand. Then he said to

Him, “If You are the Son of God, let me see You turn

this stone into bread.” Maybe Satan was trying to see

if Jesus truly was God’s Son, but I think perhaps he

was just trying to be a smarty-pants and say, “I dare

You to do it and prove who You are.”

So Jesus answered, “The Bible says a man cannot

live on bread alone.” Old Satan wasn’t expecting

Jesus to quote the Bible to him, and his temptation

didn’t work so he tried another idea.

The devil took him up to a high place and showed

him al the kingdoms of the world and said to him,

“Al of the wealth in the world and al this power has

been given to me. Now if You wil just get on Your

knees and worship me, then I wil give it al to You.”

But Jesus again answered from the Bible. “The

Scriptures say to worship the Lord your God and

serve only Him.”

The old devil was finding it hard to get Jesus to

break the rules so he took Him up to a high place and

said, “If You are the Son of God then jump down

from here because the Bible says God’s angels will

save You.” Now the devil was quoting the Bible.

But Jesus wasn’t going to fall for a trick like

that. Jesus knew that sometimes even bad people and

creatures like Satan can quote the Bible to try to trick

us, but they always choose a tiny piece of the Bible

and change the real meaning. Now sometimes people

can be tricked, but not Jesus.

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Jesus answered, “The Bible also says you should

never put God to the test.”

So the devil missed again, and he finally gave

up. He would be back though; he just needed time to

think up something else. He went over and sat on a

log and said to himself, “I’ve got to make God’s Son

sin. If I can just get Him to sin once then He’ll be

under my control.” Sometimes Satan is not so stupid.

He may have been stupid to think Jesus would sin,

but he was right that only one sin would make Jesus

not perfect and under the power of death.

Jesus left the desert, and some angels came and

gave Him food. God always rewards us when we

don’t give in to the devil. Then He went back to

Nazareth, where He had grown up.

He walked into the little temple on the day

people were worshipping God, and as usual He went

up to the front to read the Bible. He read this part

about Himself that had been written by Isaiah seven

hundred years before, and then He told the people

that on this day that prophecy had come true. Now

the part He read was about the Messiah who was

to come, and the people looked at Him with their

mouths falling open.

“Hey, isn’t this Joseph’s son, the carpenter?”

“Yeah,” said another guy. “He grew up here.”

“We know Him. He cannot be the Messiah; He’s

just a carpenter.”

They rejected Him and thought He was a liar, or

maybe they thought He was a bit crazy. So Jesus left

there.

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He went to another town, and He went again to

the little temple, which is called a synagogue. Then

something really strange happened. While He was

there, a man started screaming at Him. Well, this guy

had one of Satan’s demon buddies living inside him,

and he didn’t know what he was doing. The people of

Jesus’ own town had not realised He was God’s Son,

but that evil spirit inside the man did.

The spirit called out using the man’s voice, “Jesus

of Nazareth, have You come here to destroy us? I

know who You are, the holy one from God.”

Jesus commanded the demon to be quiet and come

out of the man. Suddenly the man fell to the ground,