Jesus' Ministry, per Matt, Mark & Luke (part 5)

• For the entire itinerary, see page Ministry Itin'ry;
• in (parentheses) is the location per today's geography.

1. AFTER RETURNING #1 <now west>-- by the Sea;
2. in Nazareth (SW of the Sea; S of Cana);
3. BEFORE CROSSING #2a <yet west>-- from village-to-village;

[12] AFTER CROSSING #2a <now east>-- on the NE shore of the Sea of Galilee:

1. fed 5000+;
2. disciples in Bethsaida (southern Golan Heights; NE shore of the Sea), Jesus on a mountainside;

[13] WHILE RETURNING #2b <westward>-- Jesus walked on the Sea of Galilee;

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  16b. 2 blind men & a mute man healed [11] (1st pt.) above

• Matt 9:27-34 As Jesus went on from there, 2 blind men followed Him, calling out, Have mercy on us, Son of David! When He had gone indoors, the blind men came to Him, & He asked them, Do You believe that I am able to do this? Yes, Lord, they replied. Then He touched their eyes & said, According to your faith will it be done to you; & their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, See that no 1 knows about this. But they went out & spread the word all over that region. While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed & could not talk was brought to Jesus. And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed & said, 'Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.' But the Pharisees said, 'It is by the prince of demons that  He drives out demons.'

  16c. The disciples are instructed to pray for harvest-workers [11] (1st pt.) above

• Matt 9:35-38 Jesus went through all the towns & villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom & healing every disease & sickness. When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed & helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the LORD of the Harvest, therefore, to send out workers into HIS Harvest Field.

  17. 2nd visit to Nazareth Matt 13:53-58 & Mark 6:1-6a see Cana/Nazareth B.2.

  18. The 12 disciples (apostles) instructed & sent to Israel [11] (3rd pt.) above

• Matt 10:1-42 Having selected the 12 earlier (see PerMtMkLk2 B.5.): He called His 12 disciples to Him & directly, personally gave Them authority to drive out evil spirits & to heal every disease & sickness-- later (Matt 17:19; Mark 9:28) he did not directly give them authority, but Matt 17:20 says they still could have had they had faith, while Mark 9:29 says they could have had they prayed. These are the names of the apostles-- listed in pairs (both the Mark & Luke accounts have them being sent out 2 by 2):
  • 1st pair, Simon #1 (who is called Peter) & His brother Andrew;
  • James #1 son of Zebedee, & His brother John;
  • Philip & Bartholomew;
  • Thomas & Matthew the tax collector;
  • James #2 son of Alphaeus, & Thaddaeus;
  • Simon #2 the Zealot & Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.

These 12 Jesus sent out with the following instructions: Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any of the towns of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. This does not seem right at 1st sight-- it seems in violation of For GOD so loved the world. Maybe he wanted them to at least catch-a-glimpse of where he was coming from? Yeah, for later an angel did tell the women who found the tomb empty (Matt 28:7; Mark 16:7) to go quickly & tell His disciples & especially Peter: 'He has risen from the dead & is going ahead of You into Galilee. There You will see Him.' BTW, there is a variety of ideas out there concerning his private ministry vs. his public ministry-- a simple way of looking at it would be that his private ministry was the comparatively little time he spent in Judea & Jerusalem vs. the time spent in Galilee, Samaria, etc. As You go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of Heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely You have received, freely give. Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in Your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep. Whatever town or village You enter, search for some worthy person there & stay at his house until You leave. As You enter the home, give it Your greeting. If the home is deserving, let Your peace rest on it; if it is not, let Your peace return to You. If anyone will not welcome You or listen to Your words, shake the dust off Your feet when You leave that home or town. I tell You the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom & Gomorrah on the day of judgment, than for that town. I am sending You out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes & as innocent as doves. We saw, beginning in Genesis, that often "you" is plural-- compassing many descendants/generations. Such is the case here-- the spanning of the Distant prophecy pd. (Jesus' time) through the Far Distant pd. (the Christian era). And it's imperative to note below that Jesus did not shift to talking about us at some pt. He was still talking to the 12 disciples he was sending out, about their descendants. See the underlined sentence (v. 23b) below.

Note the remainder of this Matthew account does not appear in the Mark & Luke accounts (below): Be on Your guard against men [people]; they will hand You over to the local councils & flog You in their synagogues. On My account You will be brought before governors & kings as witnesses to them & to the Gentiles. But when they arrest You, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time You will be given what to say, for it will not be You speaking, but the Spirit of Your FATHER speaking through You. Brother will betray brother to death, & a father his child; children will rebel against their parents & have Them put to death. All men will hate You because of Me, but He who stands firm to the end will be saved. When You are persecuted in 1 place, flee to another. I tell You the truth, You will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of man comes. A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be [At most the student is] like his teacher, & the servant like his master. But if the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household! For not only are they members by right-of-passage (by virtue of the Fall), but also they can opt to harden their hearts against truth. They can repeatedly choose-to-ignore the knocking whenever he comes aknocking; if they do open the door & he enters, they can subsequently choose-to-refuse inviting him into their hearts-- in essence, booting him back-out-dah-door. So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell You in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in Your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the ONE who can destroy both soul & body in hell. Are not 2 sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not 1 of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of Your FATHER. And even the very hairs of Your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; You are worth more than many sparrows.

No doubt this applies to todays Gentiles also: Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge Him/Her before My FATHER in HEAVEN. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn A man against His father, a daughter against Her mother, a daughter-in-law against Her mother-in-law-- a man/woman's enemies will be the mambers of HisHer own household (Mic 7:6). Anyone who loves His/Her father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; (there we go again with the idea more than; there are those who maintain we should have no concern for the welfare of the earth, because God condemns those who love love the creature more than the creator (Roma 1:25). I commented before that though the earth will ultimately come to an end, it's how we treat our young bodies that radically impacts the condition of our older years (though everyone will eventually physically die-- no 1 can preclude that from happening!). Besides it's in keeping with love Your enemies-- those who oppose your love for God (& might at most dis you). anyone who loves His/Her son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; & anyone who does not take His/Her cross & follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his/her natural life will lose it, & whoever loses his/her natural for My sake will find it-- spiritually also. He/She who receives You receives Me, & he/she who receives Me receives the ONE who sent Me. Anyone who receives a mere prophet because He/She is a mere prophet will receive a mere prophet's reward (but it might be lost in this life), & anyone who receives a self-righteous man/woman because He/She is a self-righteous man/woman will receive a self-righteous man's/woman's reward (but it might be lost in this life). And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to 1 of these little ones because He/She  is My disciple, I tell You the truth, he/she will certainly not lose hisher reward in this life. 

• Mark 6:6b-13 Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the 12 to Him, He sent Them out 2-by-2 & gave Them authority over evil spirits. These were His instructions: Take nothing for the journey except a staff-- no bread, no bag, no money in Your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. Whenever You enter a house, stay there until You leave that town. And if any place will not welcome You or listen to You, shake the dust off Your feet when You leave, as a testimony against them. They went out & preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons & anointed many sick people with oil & healed them.
• Luke 9:1-6 When Jesus had called the 12 together, He gave Them power & authority to drive out demons & to cure diseases, & He sent Them out to preach the Kingdom of GOD & to heal the sick. He told Them: Take nothing for the journey-- no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. Whatever house You enter, stay there until You leave that town. If people do not welcome You, shake the dust off Your feet when You leave their town, as a testimony against them. So They set out & went from village to village, preaching the gospel & healing people everywhere.

  19. John the Baptist's beheading mentioned and/or described

• mentioned & described-- see PSALM 139 Per Matt & Per Mark
• mentioned only-- see PSALM 139 Per Luke