As the ministry of Jesus began to grow in influence, a lot of people weren’t happy. John the Baptist’s disciples weren’t the only ones who noticed how popular Jesus was becoming. The Pharisees were taking notice of Him, too.
Read MoreAs the Lord travelled to Galilee to begin His ministry there, He stopped for several days in Samaria. The people there had responded to His message of freedom and transformation with great faithfulness. Then the Lord journeyed to Cana.
Read MoreIn the early days of Christ’s ministry, He spent His days preaching and teaching in the northern region of the nation of Israel around the Sea of Galilee. One day while Jesus was in Capernaum, He went for a walk along the edge of the water.
Read MoreAs Jesus and His disciples were traveling to the cities and towns around Galilee, the Lord continued to do His work of teaching and miraculous healing. Crowds came from all over to follow this wildly popular young preacher.
Read MoreThe times that Christ lived in were very different times from our own. There were no news cameras or newspapers. It wasn’t possible to take a picture with a cell phone and post it on the internet.
Read MoreAnother feast of the Jews had come, and so Jesus travelled down to Jerusalem to worship His Father at the Temple. Jerusalem was surrounded by high, protective walls that had been built hundreds of years before.
Read MoreMatthew wrote the Sermon on the Mount to show us all the things Jesus taught as He went about the countryside in Galilee. It gives us the big picture of what He said about life in the Kingdom of Heaven. Many of those ideas are also told in the book of Luke, but they are scattered throughout his book as Luke showed how Jesus was teaching those things along the way.
Read MoreJesus and His disciples went out once again to the cities around the Sea of Galilee. He proclaimed the Good News of the Kingdom of God to everyone who came to Him. There was a group of women who came along with them as well.
Read MoreJesus had spent His days travelling around Galilee, teaching the deepest, richest truths that humanity had ever heard, and healing the broken. He started out teaching in the synagogues, giving the religious leaders a chance to recognize their Savior.
Read MoreThe Lord Jesus calmed the mighty storm. Imagine it. All the winds and waves raging, creating a terrifying howl, filling your boat with water…and then up He rises… commands…and everything slows to calm.Jesus and His bewildered disciples sailed their boats to the other side of the Sea to the region of the Garasenes. Many Gentiles lived there.
Read MoreIn this story, Jesus was continuing to give His faithful witness of the Gospel in the region Galilee in spite of the hard-heartedness of the people. Where was the repentance that should have marked the children of God when their Savior came?
Read MoreYou may have noticed on these blogs about the life of Jesus that the stories from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John get a little mixed up. For example, when in the book of Matthew we read from chapter eight before we read chapters 5 through 7, which are the Sermon on the Mount.
Read MoreIt was at about that time when Herod the Tetrach heard about all the things that were happening with Jesus. As the Lord and His disciples journeyed around the countryside, new stories emerged about people being freed from illnesses and disabilities and demonic oppression.
Read MoreJesus broke five loaves of bread and two fish into enough food to feed fifteen thousand people. They all went home full that day. They fed on the richness of His teaching as much as they had on the goodness of the food.
Read MoreJesus left the area of Galilee and journeyed out to the region of Tyre. Tyre was a large city on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. This was Gentile land. The Lord was putting distance between Himself and His Jewish enemies.
Read MoreJesus left Tyre and the Mediterranean coastline to travel back towards the Sea of Galilee. He took a long, winding route through the region of Sidon. It took Him twenty-five miles north and then southeast through Gentile territory, and then through the region ruled by Philip, Herod’s brother.
Read MoreJesus and His disciples were by the Sea of Galilee, but they were in the Decapolis. That was an area of 10 cities where Gentiles lived. This was outside of Jewish territory, and the people that lived there were the kind that most Jews would not even sit down with to eat a meal.
Read MoreThe disciples continued on their journey with Jesus around Galilee to the town of Bethsaida. A blind man was brought to the Lord, and he begged Jesus to touch him. Can you imagine that moment for the man?
Read MoreAs Jesus returned from the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, there was a large crowd surrounding the rest of His disciples. Some scribes, who were religious leaders, were standing there arguing with them.
Read MoreIt was dangerous. The fame and influence of Christ had spread throughout the nation of Israel. Thousands upon thousands had heard His powerful teaching. They had seen Him work miracles that had never been done before.
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