Jesus Began His Ministry in Galilee

Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry. He was known as the son of Joseph, who was the son of Heli. Jesus’ genealogy is traced back to Seth, who was the son of Adam... and Adam, the son of God.

The first 12 apostles were:

• Simon, whom he named Peter
• Andrew, Peter’s brother
• John, son of Zebedee
• James, son of Zebedee
• Philip
• Bartholomew (Nathanel)
• Matthew, son of Alphaeus
• James, son of Alphaeus
• Thomas, nicknamed “twin”
• Simon, who was called the zealot
• Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed him
• Thaddeus, also known as Jude

Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was. “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.

Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks.

I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished.

Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against.

Father will be divided against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.

When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ‘Here comes a shower.’ And you are right. When the south wind blows, you say, ‘Today will be a scorcher.’ And it is.

You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the present times. Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right?

When Herod Antipas heard about everything Jesus was doing, he was puzzled. Some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. Others thought Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead. “I beheaded John,” Herod said, “so who is this man about whom I hear such stories?” And he kept trying to see him.

Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples. As he came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead. “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him. When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen. “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”

Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”

After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.

Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and saying, ‘The time has come!’ But don’t believe them. And when you hear of wars and insurrections, don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place first, but the end won’t follow immediately.”

Then he added, “Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and there will be famines and plagues in many lands, and there will be terrifying things and great miraculous signs from heaven.

“But before all this occurs, there will be a time of great persecution. You will be dragged into synagogues and prisons, and you will stand trial before kings and governors because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me. So don’t worry in advance about how to answer the charges against you, for I will give you the right words and such wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to reply or refute you!

Even those closest to you—your parents, brothers, relatives, and friends—will betray you. They will even kill some of you. And everyone will hate you because you are my followers.

Every day Jesus went to the Temple to teach, and each evening he returned to spend the night on the Mount of Olives. The crowds gathered at the Temple early each morning to hear him.

“As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” At that same time the leading priests and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest, plotting how to capture Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the Passover celebration,” they agreed, “or the people may riot.”

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.

On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?” “As you go into the city,” he told them, “you will see a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.’” So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there. When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table with the Twelve. While they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.”

Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one, Lord?” He replied, “One of you who has just eaten from this bowl with me will betray me. For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”

Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, “Rabbi, am I the one?”And Jesus told him, “You have said it.”

As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

On the way, Jesus told them, “Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say, ‘God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”

Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.”

Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour?”

And even as Jesus said this, Judas arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests and elders of the people. He’d given them a prearranged signal: “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss.” But one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, slashing off his ear. Then the people who had arrested Jesus led him to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of religious law and the elders had gathered. Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus, so they could put him to death.

Herod Antipas reigned over Galilee throughout Jesus Christ’s entire life with the exception of his infancy.

The region of Galilee was divided into two sections; Upper and Lower Galilee. Jesus grew up in the town of Nazareth in Galilee.

Nazareth was about halfway between the south end of the Sea of Galilee and Mount Carmel,

Mary bore Jesus in Bethlehem, and later the family fled to Egypt, their home was in Nazareth. Jesus is called a Nazarene.

Present-day Nazareth is a city in the Northern District of Israel… present-day Galilee is located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon.

The territory was part of the Holy Land conflicts during the Crusader and Mamluk periods. The town changed hands multiple times during these centuries.

Nazareth was also part of the region inhabited by the Canaanites around 3000 BC. Canaan and Egypt were neighbors in ancient times.

Canaan, the patriarch of the Canaanites, was the youngest of Ham's sons… Ham was the second son of Noah and the patriarch of the Hamites.

The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

The Canaanite clans scattered and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.

Canaan’s sons were Sidon, the eldest and patriarch of the Sidonians, Heth (Hittites), Jebus (Jebusites), Emor (Amorites), and Girgash (Girgashites), Hiv (Hivites), Ark (Arkites), Sin (Sinites), Arvad (Arvadites), Zemar (Zemarites), and Hamath (Hamathites).
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About the Author: Lawrence Jean-Louis is the founder of eBrand Me, a digital marketing agency offering marketing & consultative services to CPAs and tax professionals. She aspires to start a money management firm by 2030.