MESSIANIC MINISTRY

 AFTER JOHN THE BAPTIST IS ARRESTED, JESUS GOES INTO GALILEE WHERE HE PROCLAIMS:  THE TIME IS "FULFILLED, AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND  REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL,"  JESUS CLAIMED FOR HIMSELF THE RIGHT TO FORGIVE SINS. HIS CLAIM INCENSED THE SCRIBES, WHO INSISTED THAT ONLY GOD  COULD FORGIVE SINS. THEY WERE CORRECT, BUT IN THEIR BLINDNESS COULD NOT SEE WHO STOOD BEFORE THEM. JESUS NEVER DID ANYTHING TO BENEFIT HIMSELF. HE CONSISTENTLY REFUSED TO USE HIS DIVINE POWER TO  PERFORM A MIRACLE. EVEN WHEN HE WAS HUNGRY RATHER THEN TO CHANGE A STONE INTO BREAD, "JESUS WAS ALWAYS THE SERVANT";  HE SOUGHT ONLY TO PLACE HIMSELF AND HIS POWERS AT THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY. FOR EXAMPLE, BEFORE HEALING A LEPER, HE REACHED OUT AND TOUCHED HIM. THE PHARISEES ON OCCASION THREW ROCKS AT LEPERS AND SAID THEIR SUFFERING WAS THE RESULT OF SOME SIN THEY HAD COMMITTED. FURTHERMORE, JESUS SOUGHT THE COMPANY OF "SINNERS, TAX COLLECTORS," AND THE LIKE. HIS ACTIONS UPSET THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES FOR THEY FELT THAT IF HE REALLY WAS THE MESSIAH, HE WOULD SEEK OUT THE "RIGHTEOUS" (NAMELY THEMSELVES). JESUS'  CONCERN FOR THE GENTILES WOULD ALSO BEEN REPUGNANT TO MANY IN ISRAEL WHO BELIEVED THAT WHEN MESSIANIC AGE CAME, THE GENTILES WOULD BE DESTROYED, OR AT BEST MADE SLAVES OF THE JEWS. JESUS REPEATEDLY IGNORED TRADITIONAL ATTITUDES CONCERNING THE OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. WHAT MATTERED TO HIM WAS THE WELLBEING OF PEOPLE, NOT THE KEEPING OF RITUALS AND TRADITIONS. THIS WAS BOUND TO BRING HIM HEAD LONG CONFRONTATION WITH THE SCRIBES, PHARISEES, FOR HIS ACTIONS CALLED INTO QUESTIONS THE VALIDITY OF THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF THE LAW. ALL BUT ONE OF JESUS MIRACLES (REPORTED IN MARK) ARE DONE IN AND AROUND GALILEE. JESUS PERFORMS ONLY ONE MIRACLE AFTER LEAVING GALILEE. HE HEALS BLIND BARTIMAEUS NEAR JERICHO. HE PERFORMS NO MIRACLES IN OR NEAR JERUSALEM, THE " CITY OF OPPOSITION."   WHEN JESUS WAS RECOGNIZED, HE WARNED THE PERSON OR SPIRIT WHO HAD RECOGNIZED HIM TO  SAY NOTHING OF THE MATTER, WHY?  FIRST, JESUS WANTED TO MAKE CLEAR THAT THE MESSIANIC AGE HAD COME, AND THAT INDEED HE WAS THE MESSIAH HE HAD COME TO BE.  SECOND,  HE WANTED TO MAKE IT CLEAR OF WHAT KIND OF A MESSIAH HE HAD COME TO BE. THE COMMUNITY  CONTAINED MANY BURNING WITH DESIRE TO BE RID OF THE ROMANS. AND TO GAIN POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE. JESUS NEEDED TIME TO DEMONSTRATE THAT HE WAS NOT THE KIND OF MESSIAH WHO WOULD FIT THAT KIND OF EXPECTATION. HE HAD NOT COME TO BE A POLITICAL DELIVER (. NOTE: THE EXCEPTION OF MARK 5:19,20 WHERE JESUS COMMANDS THE MAN HEALED OF DEMON POSSESSION. TO BEAR WITNESS IN GENTILE TERRITORY!  MARK 8:27-3O. JESUS PUTS TWO QUESTIONS TO HIS DISCIPLES. THE FIRST IS: WHO DO MEN SAY THAT I AM.?! THE SECOND IS: "WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?" THOUGH HE DID NOT PREVIOUSLY PUT THESE QUESTIONS TO ANYONE, HE WAS RECOGNIZED PRIOR TO THAT TIME -----BY THE DEMONS! THIS LEADS IN TO THE GOSPEL OF ST.MARK WHICH CONTAINS NO INFANCY NARRATIVE. THERE'S A REPORT THAT JESUS WENT FROM NAZARETH IN GALILEE WHERE JOHN WAS WORKING TO BE BAPTIZED BY HIM. AT HIS BAPTISM HE WAS ANOINTED INTO HIS MESSIANIC OFFICE. HIS TITLES WERE ANNOUNCED AND THE NATURE OF HIS MISSION WAS DEFINED.AFTER HIS BAPTISM   JESUS RETURNED TO GALILEE. HE REALLY WANTED THEM TO SEE CLEARLY WHAT KIND OF MESSIAH HE HAD COME TO BE. THE PEOPLE, THE AUTHORITIES, IN JERUSALEM, "THE CITY OF OPPOSITION" CAME NORTH TO WHERE HE WAS WORKING, USUALLY THEY COME TO CHALLENGE AND OPPOSE HIM. JESUS LIFE WAS THAT OF A SERVANT.  HE ALWAYS  DEMONSTRATED GREAT COMPASSION TO THOSE HE CAME INTO CONTACT WITH. BUT  TO HIS DISCIPLES THEY FOUND IT HARD TO RELATE TO HIS LIFESTYLE TO TRADITIONAL EXPECTATIONS ABOUT WHAT THE MESSIAH WOULD BE LIKE AND WHAT HE WOULD ACCOMPLISH.