Travels with Jesus

Jesus didn’t hop around Israel the way it sometimes seems when we read the Bible. Our chronological reading helps us see that he actually traveled from place to place in a logical sequence.

Here’s where we have been with Jesus in our reading so far. We watched him grow up in Nazareth, travel down the Jordan River Valley to be baptized by John, and spend forty days in the Judean desert being tested by the devil. Soon after that he returned to the Jordan River where John the Baptist pointed him out to a group of men who began to tag along with him.

Jesus decided to go back to Galilee and attend a wedding in Cana. His new friends John, Andrew, Simon Peter, Phillip and Nathanael got to see Jesus perform his first public miracle there and it led them to believe in him.

Cana was almost halfway to the Sea of Galilee from Nazareth, so after the wedding Jesus took a little time off at the lakeside town of Capernaum with his family and his disciples.

The time for the Passover Feast arrived so Jesus and his disciples went to Jerusalem.  He became angry at the businesses set up at the temple and he drove the merchants away with a whip. He also attracted the Pharisees’ attention when he performed miracles and a crowd began to follow him. Nicodemus came to visit Jesus in secret one night and the things Jesus told him about the kingdom of God challenged his thinking.

Jesus left Jerusalem and took his disciples out into the Judean countryside so they could spend some time together. The Pharisees became alarmed when they saw how many people were going out to Jesus to be baptized, so he and his disciples headed back to Galilee. On the way they stopped at Sychar and Jesus convinced a whole town to believe in him. After visiting Sychar, Jesus went on to Galilee, and that is where our reading has led us today.

John the Baptist Gets Arrested

John the Baptist was in trouble. He had never been hesitant to rebuke authority figures for their sins, but King Herod didn’t put up with that. When John criticized him for his marriage to his former sister-in-law Herodias, he threw John into prison.

John the Baptist – the free spirit who had always operated in open spaces and preached to people all day long – heard a cell door slam behind him.

“[Along with] all the other evil things he had done, Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.” Luke 3:19-20

John’s arrest was one of the reasons Jesus left Judea and went to Galilee. Sadly, John never got out of that prison.

Jesus in Galilee

The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel had once lived all around the Sea of Galilee. When God allowed Assyria to overrun them because of their idolatry in 722 BC, the whole region was plunged into spiritual darkness.

After the Israelites began to return from the Babylonian Exile in 538 BC, they slowly moved northward from Jerusalem and settled in villages around Galilee. This region was ground zero for most of Jesus’ ministry. Isaiah anticipated this when he prophesied:

“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles – 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.” Matthew 4:15-16 (quoting Isaiah 9:1-2)

More than seven hundred years after God scattered the ten tribes of Israel, he sent Jesus to Galilee to bring the good news of salvation. God deployed his one and only Son to win back a people all but forgotten by the rest of the world.

Jesus and the Royal Official

A royal official living in Cana heard that Jesus had returned to Galilee from Judea. His son was deathly ill and when Jesus passed through Cana again he went to him and begged him to come and heal his boy. Jesus wondered whether a man like this would believe even if he didn’t see a miracle. He told the man to have faith and go home because his son was healed.

“The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, ‘Yesterday at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.’ Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So he and his whole household believed.” John 4:50-53

Jesus in His Hometown

Jesus went home to Nazareth on a Sabbath and was invited to read and expound upon the Scriptures in the synagogue. He read the powerful prophecy about the Messiah in Isaiah 61:1-2 and then sat down to teach.

“He began by saying, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’” Luke 4:21

People were impressed by the gracious way Jesus taught and they were proud that he was from Nazareth.

“‘Isn’t this Joseph’s son?’ they asked.” Luke 4:22

But then Jesus challenged them.

“‘Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” Luke 4:23

The people of Nazareth thought Jesus should be their hometown hero, but he was actually a prophet from God. He could do only what his Father allowed and it required faith from those who came to him.

Other prophets also did only what God told them to do. Elijah cared for a widow in far away Sidon when there were many needy widows in Israel where he lived. Elisha helped only one leper during a time when Israel had many lepers, and the one he helped was from Syria.

Jesus was not in the business of handing out favors; he had to obey his Father. The people of Nazareth were furious with Jesus and tried to throw him over a cliff.

“But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.” Luke 4:30

Recruiting Disciples

Jesus left Nazareth and went back to the Sea of Galilee looking for his friends Andrew, Peter, James and John.

“‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.” Mark 1:19-20

They had already seen Jesus change lives and they wanted to be part of it.

Spiritual Battle

Another Sabbath came in Capernaum and Jesus taught again in the synagogue. People were enjoying his amazing words when suddenly a man possessed by a demon interrupted Jesus.

“He cried out at the top of his voice, ‘Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!’

‘Be quiet!’ said Jesus sternly. ‘Come out of him!’ The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.” Mark 1:24-27

Spiritual battles go on all the time in the unseen world, but here was a spiritual battle that broke out into the open, where people could see and hear it. A demon recognized Jesus as the Holy One of God and was angry with him for trespassing in his territory. Jesus responded by dispossessing the demon and releasing the man it had tormented. The people were amazed.

“What is this? A new teaching – and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” Mark 1:27

The Home of Simon Peter

Jesus took up residence at Simon Peter’s house whenever he was in Capernaum. It became a destination for people who needed healing. It began when Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law from a fever – and soon word got out.

“That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.” Mark 1:32-33

Demons are evil liars and Jesus didn’t want them to be the ones to say his name, even if what they said was true. People needed to discover for themselves that Jesus was the Messiah, rather than hear it from evil demons.

Jesus Recharges

Jesus needed to recover after the hard work of ministry, so he slipped away to be by himself.

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Mark 1:35

By the time his disciples found him, he was charged up and ready to go again.

“‘Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages – so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.’ So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.” Mark 1:38-39

News about Jesus spread fast and people came from everywhere to see him.

“People brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.” Matthew 4:24

Can you imagine helping crowds of desperate, hurting people day after day? But Jesus had plunged into the business of putting broken people back together and he just wanted to do more.