The Ministry Begins: Calling, Signs, and Conflict

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The First Disciples

Jesus began in Galilee, beside its lake. He found fishermen at their nets: "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). From many followers, he chose twelve to be with him and to be sent out as apostles: Simon (called Peter), Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot (Matthew 10:2-4). They were ordinary men: fishermen, a tax collector, a political activist. He would train them for three years.

The First Sign and the First Conversations

At a wedding in Cana, Jesus turned water into wine: "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him" (John 2:11). He cleansed the Temple of the merchants (John 2:13-17). By night, Nicodemus, a respected teacher, came to ask him questions, and Jesus told him: "Ye must be born again" (John 3:7). In Samaria, he spoke to a woman by a well, crossing racial and social barriers, and said: "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).

The Manifesto at Nazareth

Returning to his home town, Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18). Then he sat down and said: "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:21). His neighbors tried to throw him off a cliff (Luke 4:28-29).

Popular Fame, Growing Opposition

He traveled through Galilee, teaching in synagogues, healing the sick, and drawing great crowds. His popularity worried the religious leaders. He touched lepers, ate with tax collectors, and healed on the Sabbath. When asked why he ate with sinners, he said: "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). On the Sabbath he taught: "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath" (Mark 2:27-28). Some of his opponents, after seeing his miracles, attributed them to the devil (Matthew 12:24). Their very accusation concedes that something extraordinary was happening.

The Pattern of His Travels

CHAPTER 6