Christ’s Ministry

Prediction and Preparation

 

With what words had John the Baptist announced Christ’s ministry?

 

“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am unfit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Matthew 3:11.

 

About how old was Jesus when He began His ministry?

 

“Now Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry.” Luke 3:23.

 

By what act and what miraculous manifestations was His ministry opened?

 

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Mark 1: 9,10.

 

Before entering upon His ministry, through what experience did Jesus pass?

 

“At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.” Verses 12,13.

(See also Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13.)

 

With what was Jesus anointed for His work?

 

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” Acts 10:38.

 

Announcement at Nazareth

 

Where did Jesus conduct much of His ministry?

 

“Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in the synagogues, and everyone praised him.”

Luke 4:14,15.

 

How did He announce His mission while at Nazareth?

 

He went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And He stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good newsto the poor. He hath sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them. “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”Verse 16-21.

 

How were the people impressed with His preaching?

 

All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked. Verse 22.

 

Why were the people of Capernaum astonished at His teaching?

 

“Then he [Jesus] went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority”. Verse 31, 32.   

 

Wherein did His teaching differ from that of the scribes?

 

“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.”

Matthew 7:28,29. 

 

How did the common people receive Christ?

 

“The crowd listened to him with delight.” Mark 12:37.

 

Compassionate Physician

 

In His ministry, what work was closely associated with His preaching?

 

“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” Matthew 4:23.

 

Note – In His ministry Christ combined plain practical teaching with practical, helpful relief work.

 

How extensive was His fame, and how many were attracted to Him?

 

“News about him spread all over Syria, and 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. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.”

Verses 24,25.

 

What expression used frequently in narrating His ministry shows Christ deep sympathy with mankind?

 

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:36; 14:14.

 

The Burden of Jesus

 

In what few words did Christ sum up the object of His ministry?

 

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Luke 19:10.  

 

How did Christ feel over the impenitence of Jerusalem?

 

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it.” Verse 41.

 

In no other place did Christ appear so much a reformer as in Jerusalem, the headquarters of the Jewish religion, which religion, though having come from Christ Himself, had degenerated into mere formalism and a round of ceremony. Both the beginning and the close of His ministry here were marked by a cleansing of the Temple.

(John 2:13-18; Matthew 21:12-16.)

 

O Blessed Christ! My Strength, my King.

He is my comfort and my stay;

In Him I hope, of Him I sing,

While toiling o’er life’s rugged way.

Chiefest among ten thousand He,

For Christ, my King, is all to me.  

                         -Mrs. L.D. Avery-Stuttle.

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