How Jesus Begins To Serve

Luke 3:19-20

But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch [of Galilee] because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the other things he had done, Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

Mark 1:14-15

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news." 

Jesus went to the very region where Herod was the tetrarch.

Matthew 4:12-17

Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, (see, He did move to Capernaum) which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali--to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: 

  "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." (Isaiah 9:1-2)

Jesus fulfilled more than 400 Old Testament prophesies in His birth, life, death and resurrection, and He will fulfill all the rest of them when He returns.

From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near."

Jesus is now beginning His public ministry in earnest. He's walking by the Sea of Galilee calling fishermen to be His disciples, preaching in the synagogues, healing all manner of diseases; people are coming to Him from all the regions around and large multitudes are gathering (Matthew 4:18-25).

Matthew 5: 1-2

And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain and sat down. His disciples sat around Him, and He began to teach them.

What He is teaching them is called the "Sermon on the Mount." When Jesus began to draw crowds of people, He starts out by teaching them what God's Kingdom will look like on this Earth, and He begins with the Beatitudes (vs. 3-12).

These eight "Blessed are -- for" statements are the introduction to the realities of life in the Kingdom, and they fit very nicely into the same progression that Alcoholics Anonymous lays out in twelve steps; Celebrate Recovery is based on these eight principles, using the twelve steps, for healing our hurts, habits and hangups. 

This tells me that we all need healing before we can enter this Kingdom. God is making us into the very image of Jesus, healing and renewing us continually. And He will never give up on us, but will continue this process in the New Heaven and New Earth, for the leaves of the Tree of Life growing in New Jerusalem are for healing, also (see Revelation 22:2).

Tomorrow let's look at these Beatitudes.

Even so,come, Lord Jesus.