We have reason to believe that
the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus covered approximately three
years from the time of His baptism by John in the River Jordan until
His appointed death upon Calvary's Mount. In one sense of the word,
he began his ministry at the point of his birth, since he
came into the world to fulfill his eternal purpose of saving
his people from their sins. He ministered to those scribes
and Pharisees in the temple when he was twelve years old, and
also to his neighbors and acquaintances as he grew in favor with God
and man. His whole life from its beginning
was a testimony of purity, kindness to his fellow man, and obedience
to his Heavenly Father, as well as that of honoring his earthly
parents. Yet his unveiling as the prophet of God began to be
put on display to the world at large as he was baptized and
shortly thereafter was tempted by Satan without faltering in
one jot or tittle. We see the Lord Jesus' identity
as the root or branch confirmed in the Revelation. I, Jesus,
have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the
churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright
and the morning star. He has indeed come as that Nazarene,
the chosen one of God, the first and the last. Amen." While he
grew up in Nazareth, we see that at some point he moved to Capernaum. We are not sure of the exact
location of Capernaum except that it was on the northwest
corner of the Sea of Galilee. This move was also prophesied
by Isaiah and recorded in the New Testament by Matthew. It
was here that the Lord began to openly preach, saying, Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This is a welcome message
to those who have been given ears to hear and a seemingly
unbearable demand for those who cannot. Religious men may speak
of repentance, but they usually view it in a moral aspect rather
than as Christ declared it to be the recognition of the spiritual
nature of His kingdom and His right to rule and reign in that
kingdom as the only begotten Son of God. Natural men will
recognize and embrace many things about this man Jesus, but they
will not fall down and worship Him in spirit and truth, having
no capacity to do so. Much of the Lord's public preaching
was done in the province of Galilee, of which Capernaum was a prominent
city. It was in Galilee that He preached
what has become to be known as the Sermon on the Mount. Once
again we see that religiously oriented moralists primarily
see his declaration as the laying down of moral imperatives and
duties, when in reality his purpose was to illustrate the contrast
between his kingdom and that of the flesh. It was here near
Capernaum that he called Peter, Andrew, James, and John, as well
as Matthew the tax collector, to become fishers of men. Little
did they know how radically their lives and thinking were going
to change, nor might I add at the time did they have any understanding
of the great privilege that was bestowed upon them by this call. Yet one thing is certain, this
man from Capernaum would alter their lives forever and bestow
upon them the gift of faith so that in just a short period of
time their confession of that faith would bind them to him
like fetters of iron. These were ignorant and uneducated
fishermen. Yet in just a few years, men
in the seats of power among the Jews would take notice of the
fact that they had accompanied with this Nazarene. The Lord
did many miracles in and around Capernaum. Here he healed Peter's
mother-in-law, the centurion's servant, a nobleman's son, the
man who was sick of the palsy and raised Jairus' daughter from
the dead. He healed and delivered a multitude
of others. All of this was done openly in
the sight of the citizens of Capernaum. Yet while the evil
spirits recognized him, the multitude did not believe on him nor recognize
his kingdom. Thus he spoke plainly of their
destruction because of their obstinance and rebellion. And
thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought
down to hell. For if the mighty works which
have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have
remained until this day. We have no clearer illustration
of the folly of thinking that because men see and even rejoice
in miracles and signs, that by these things they will be caused
to believe and embrace Christ and His Kingdom. Ye must be born
again. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at ForThePoor at WinStream.net.