Jesus Went Out to the People and Preached: Jesus did not wait for people to come to him for helping them and preaching the Kingdom of God to them. It was far from the mind of Jesus to make himself unapproachable by pretending to be busy surrounded by some sycophants. He never created a situation that would intimidate people , especially the poor and the weak. The life-style of Jesus was such that he always identified with the people and never set himself apart for honor or praise. For, Jesus knew that a man dressed in silks and satin surrounded by grand clothes and luxury can be seen in palaces (See Luke, 7: 25). Instead he went out to places like open spaces, mountains or beaches, towns or villages, feasts or family weddings, private houses or synagogues. In short, Jesus went to the real situations of the people, both when they were happy and when they wee sad, both when they prayed and when they celebrated, etc. The one concern that must have been agitating the mind of Jesus in his public ministry was his apprehension whether the people, including even his disciples, would understand correctly what he said and did. This was the main reason why very often Jesus forbade the publication of whatever extraordinary actions he performed.
There is an instance recorded in the Gospel of John where this kind of internal conflict of Jesus is brought out. After declining the invitation by his brothers to go to the feast of the Tabernacles at Jerusalem, Jesus stayed back in Galilee saying that he did not want to go there. However, later he changed his mind and went up not publicly, but almost in secret. It was because even his brothers had no faith in him that they could not understand Jesus in the proper perspective and he did not want to encourage them in their wrong outlook about his work What they wanted was a share in the glory that would accrue from the miracles "their brother" was performing! Hence, Jesus had to be ambivalent in the matter of going to the festival that actually offered an excellent opportunity to preach to the people (See John, 7: 1-10) (We have discussed this point in a previous Post under the caption "The Right Time").
At the Synagogue of Nazareth: After being tested by the devil in the wilderness and as John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee and taught in their Synagogues. At Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the Synagogue on the Sabbath and solemnly announced his mission by preaching after the text of Isaiah was read out by him. The reaction of the people to the preaching of Jesus is expressed by Luke thus: "There was a general stir of admiration; they were surprised that words of such grace should fall from his lips" (Luke, 4: 22). However, immediately afterwards the people were antagonized by what Jesus said and they tried to kill him. What did infuriate the people so that they contemplated extreme steps and even threw him out of the town and took him to the brow of a hill to throw him down? Jesus hinted at the conditions that were required for working miracles and why he could not do there what he had done at Capernaum. As proofs for what he said, Jesus quoted the instances of miracles performed by Elijah and Elisha from the Old Testament times. A prophet is taken for granted in his own country and therefore he is powerless with the faithless people of his own region (See Luke, 4:16-30).
Mission of Jesus: After resting at the house of Simon peter, at day-break Jesus went out to a lonely spot. The people went in search of him and requested that they should not be left alone. "But he said, 'I must give the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, for that is what I was sent to do' " (Luke, 4: 43). In Mark's Gospel we see that the people who searched for Jesus and found him in the lonely spot were Simon and his companions (See Mark, 1: 36). In accordance with the mission Jesus was sent for , he went through all of Galilee and preached in the Synagogues casting out the devils (See Mark, 1: 39).
Jesus did not restrict his ministry to Galilee, Samaria and Judea but went beyond the Lake of Galilee to Decapolis (Meaning Ten Towns) which was the country of the Gerasenes. There he cured the man possessed by many devils, which was called Legion, who was allowed to enter the pigs numbering about two thousand that rushed over the edge into the lake and were drowned. When the people heard the news and saw what happened, they were afraid and requested Jesus to leave their district. Without hesitation Jesus left them and as he was leaving , the man who was cured wanted to follow Jesus. But he was advised to be a missionary announcing to his own people what the Lord in his mercy had done for him. "The man went off and spread the news in the Ten Towns (Decapolis) of all that Jesus had done for him; and they were all amazed" (Mark, 5: 20). Here is a lesson for us in proclaiming the gospel in that we should be sensitive to the beliefs and priorities of the people to whom we announce the Good News. Besides, we should encourage people who have experienced the value of the Good News to announce the same to others instead of keeping it wrapped up with our own self-interest in a negative attitude like that of the third man in the parable of talents narrated by Jesus (See Luke, 19:20).
Similarly, Jesus and his disciples crossed the lake of Galilee to Gennesaret, close to the town of Bethesda, where he was immediately recognized by the people unlike the Gerasenes. People there took the trouble of searching out for the sick throughout the country-side and brought them on stretchers to wherever Jesus was. "Wherever he went, to farmsteads, villages, or towns, they laid out the sick in the market-places and begged him to let them simply touch the edge of his cloak; and all who touched him were cured" (Mark, 6: 56). Here we see that the reaction of the people was different from that of Gerasenes because probably the people knew Jesus through his disciples Simon Peter, Andrew and Philip who were from Bethesda, a town in the province of Philippi as was the town of Gennesaret. (However, we read in John, 12: 20 that Philip was from Bethesda in Galilee). Besides, at the beginning of his public life, Jesus started staying at Capernaum that was just opposite Bethesda, though in the province of Galilee. Hence the people there had no reasons to be afraid of Jesus unlike the Gerasenes who were, so to say, unaware of the happenings in Galilee. (To be Contd).
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There is an instance recorded in the Gospel of John where this kind of internal conflict of Jesus is brought out. After declining the invitation by his brothers to go to the feast of the Tabernacles at Jerusalem, Jesus stayed back in Galilee saying that he did not want to go there. However, later he changed his mind and went up not publicly, but almost in secret. It was because even his brothers had no faith in him that they could not understand Jesus in the proper perspective and he did not want to encourage them in their wrong outlook about his work What they wanted was a share in the glory that would accrue from the miracles "their brother" was performing! Hence, Jesus had to be ambivalent in the matter of going to the festival that actually offered an excellent opportunity to preach to the people (See John, 7: 1-10) (We have discussed this point in a previous Post under the caption "The Right Time").
At the Synagogue of Nazareth: After being tested by the devil in the wilderness and as John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee and taught in their Synagogues. At Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the Synagogue on the Sabbath and solemnly announced his mission by preaching after the text of Isaiah was read out by him. The reaction of the people to the preaching of Jesus is expressed by Luke thus: "There was a general stir of admiration; they were surprised that words of such grace should fall from his lips" (Luke, 4: 22). However, immediately afterwards the people were antagonized by what Jesus said and they tried to kill him. What did infuriate the people so that they contemplated extreme steps and even threw him out of the town and took him to the brow of a hill to throw him down? Jesus hinted at the conditions that were required for working miracles and why he could not do there what he had done at Capernaum. As proofs for what he said, Jesus quoted the instances of miracles performed by Elijah and Elisha from the Old Testament times. A prophet is taken for granted in his own country and therefore he is powerless with the faithless people of his own region (See Luke, 4:16-30).
Mission of Jesus: After resting at the house of Simon peter, at day-break Jesus went out to a lonely spot. The people went in search of him and requested that they should not be left alone. "But he said, 'I must give the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, for that is what I was sent to do' " (Luke, 4: 43). In Mark's Gospel we see that the people who searched for Jesus and found him in the lonely spot were Simon and his companions (See Mark, 1: 36). In accordance with the mission Jesus was sent for , he went through all of Galilee and preached in the Synagogues casting out the devils (See Mark, 1: 39).
Jesus did not restrict his ministry to Galilee, Samaria and Judea but went beyond the Lake of Galilee to Decapolis (Meaning Ten Towns) which was the country of the Gerasenes. There he cured the man possessed by many devils, which was called Legion, who was allowed to enter the pigs numbering about two thousand that rushed over the edge into the lake and were drowned. When the people heard the news and saw what happened, they were afraid and requested Jesus to leave their district. Without hesitation Jesus left them and as he was leaving , the man who was cured wanted to follow Jesus. But he was advised to be a missionary announcing to his own people what the Lord in his mercy had done for him. "The man went off and spread the news in the Ten Towns (Decapolis) of all that Jesus had done for him; and they were all amazed" (Mark, 5: 20). Here is a lesson for us in proclaiming the gospel in that we should be sensitive to the beliefs and priorities of the people to whom we announce the Good News. Besides, we should encourage people who have experienced the value of the Good News to announce the same to others instead of keeping it wrapped up with our own self-interest in a negative attitude like that of the third man in the parable of talents narrated by Jesus (See Luke, 19:20).
Similarly, Jesus and his disciples crossed the lake of Galilee to Gennesaret, close to the town of Bethesda, where he was immediately recognized by the people unlike the Gerasenes. People there took the trouble of searching out for the sick throughout the country-side and brought them on stretchers to wherever Jesus was. "Wherever he went, to farmsteads, villages, or towns, they laid out the sick in the market-places and begged him to let them simply touch the edge of his cloak; and all who touched him were cured" (Mark, 6: 56). Here we see that the reaction of the people was different from that of Gerasenes because probably the people knew Jesus through his disciples Simon Peter, Andrew and Philip who were from Bethesda, a town in the province of Philippi as was the town of Gennesaret. (However, we read in John, 12: 20 that Philip was from Bethesda in Galilee). Besides, at the beginning of his public life, Jesus started staying at Capernaum that was just opposite Bethesda, though in the province of Galilee. Hence the people there had no reasons to be afraid of Jesus unlike the Gerasenes who were, so to say, unaware of the happenings in Galilee. (To be Contd).
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