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Part One
What Jesus Began
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1
Why Jesus Came
To fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: âLand of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentilesâ the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.â
âMatthew 4:14-16
Jesus was born in Bethlehem around 5 b.c. He grew up in Nazareth, a town of just a few hundred people in lower Galilee.
In Jesusâ day, the region of Galilee was a Jewish enclave surrounded by centers of pagan Greek culture left over from the conquests of Alexander the Great in the fourth century b.c. Rome was now the ruling power, but the Greek language, culture and religion continued to dominate. The population of the region was mixed, with most Jews living in the countryside and Gentiles living in the cities and border towns.
Galilee was no backwater. It had two major Greek citiesâSepphoris and Tiberiasâof 10,000 to 20,000 people each. A few miles from Nazareth was the great highway that stretched from Egypt to Syria. Along it flowed a constant stream of Greeks and Barbarians, as well as Roman soldiers. Sepphoris, an hourâs walk from Nazareth, was rebuilt by Herod Antipas as his capital in 4 b.c. Tradesmen were in high demand. Jesus would be apprenticed to his father, a tradesman who worked in timber, stone, and metal.
Jesus was raised in a devout Jewish home. As a boy he attended the synagogue each Sabbath with his parents, brothers and sisters. Jesus grew up speaking Aramaic and at age five probably began learning to read the Torah (first five books of Moses) in Hebrew at the village synagogue school.[1]
Galilee was fertile and supported a population of 200,000 people living in 175 towns and villages.[2] The region was the breadbasket of Palestine, and wheat was a major commodity. Wine from Galilee was exported to Phoenicia; northern Galilee produced and exported olive oil. Tiberias was known for its textiles, pottery and glass, while Gennesaret was noted for its date palms and fruit trees. Fishing was a thriving business in Galilee, and salted fish was exported far and wide.
Despite this abundance, however, most Jews in the countryside lived a hard life. Roman rule meant that agricultural land was hard to retain. The problem began back in 34 b.c. when the Romans installed Herod I (âthe Greatâ) as king over Judea and Galilee. Herod was corrupt. Wealthy and ruthless, he murdered anyone he suspected of opposing him: two high priests, an uncle, his mother-in-law, three of his sons and his favorite wife.[3]
Within one generation Herod I had rebuilt Jerusalem and transformed the holy city into a Greco-Roman capital. Under the rule of Herod and his sons, Israel was a divided society. Herod surrounded himself with nobles, wealthy landowners, military commanders and the religious ruling families who controlled the Temple in Jerusalem and the position of high priest. This local elite submitted itself to Roman rule and promoted Greek culture and values.
Supporting the elite were their officialsâbureaucrats, tax collectors, military officers and judges. These men enforced Herodian rule over the rest of society, which was divided into roughly three groups. The first group included self-employed merchants, craftsmen, fishermen and farmers who owned their land. Then there were the landless peasants who had lost their land through taxes, crop failure and debt. On the very outer fringe of society were the beggars, prostitutes and bandits.
Herod the Greatâs sons perpetuated these divisions. Herod Antipas (c. 20 b.c to a.d. 39) controlled Galilee during most of Jesusâ life. He introduced Greek culture and values, to the dismay of the ordinary people who sought to be faithful to Israelâs covenant. Herod Antipasâ luxurious palace in Tiberias was filled with Gentiles and decorated with idolatrous images.
The rural Jewish population longed for Yahweh to bring deliverance for his people. This was the setting of Jesusâ mission.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lordâs favor. (Lk 4:18-19)
Jesus came proclaiming âgood news to the poorâânot just the economic poor but also those rejected as âunclean,â including camel drivers, shepherds, shopkeepers, butchers, goldsmiths, tax collectors, peddlers and tanners.[4]
In a.d. 28 Jesus submitted himself to baptism by his cousin John, identifying with sinful Israel, in need of cleansing and restoration. Jesusâ baptism also marked the time when Jesus would leave his carpenterâs workshop and take up the mission he was destined for. In his baptism Jesus committed to fulfill his mission, even if it meant persecution and death.
Before he could plunder Satanâs kingdom, Jesus would have to defeat Satan. The Spirit thrust Jesus out into the Judean desert on the western side of the Dead Sea, where Jesus faced his adversary for forty days and forty nights. Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world, if only Jesus would bow down and worship him. Would Jesus use his power and unique status as Godâs Son to serve himself, or would he accept the âcupâ God had called him to drink?
Satan offered Jesus the chance to fulfill his mission and establish the kingdom without the cross. Instead Jesus saw his mission as saving people from their sins and from the just judgment of God. He chose to willingly follow the path laid out by his Father, even at the cost of his life.
On the Move in Galilee
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.
Luke 4:14
Jesus issued a compelling call to a small band of disciples and took them throughout Galilee proclaiming the arrival of Godâs rule, casting out demons and healing the sick. From town to town, in the synagogues, by the shores of the lake, in the open fields, in the market places and in homesâevery settlement in the regionâJesus declared that the kingdom of God was present.
Matthew records that Jesusâ ministry touched âallâ 175 towns and villages of Galilee. To reach them all Jesus could rarely have stayed in one place for more than a few days; he would have been constantly on the move. By the end of his ministry, most of Galileeâs 200,000 people would either have met Jesus or have known someone who had.
Map 1.1. Some of the 175 towns and villages of Galilee that, according to Matthew, Jesus visited. See Eckhard J. Schnabel, Early Christian Mission, Vol. 2, Paul and the Early Church (Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2004), p. 1592.
Jesus left his home in Nazareth and made Capernaum his base. This harbor town of a thousand people was on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee and was known for fishing, agric...
