Jesus Begins His Ministry

MEMORY SELECTION: “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” —Matthew 4:17

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Matthew 3:13-17; 4:17-25

THE proclamation “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” was essentially the same message that had inspired the ministry of John the Baptist. It was also the same message that our Lord Jesus gave to his twelve apostles and later to the seventy who were sent forth with the message of the kingdom:

John the Baptist had prepared the way for Jesus. He was given the very special privilege of baptizing the Savior of the world. We read, “Then Jesus arrived at the Jordan from Galilee, and came to John to be baptized by him. John tried to dissuade him. ‘Do you come to me?’ he said; ‘I need rather to be baptized by you.’ Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so for the present: we do well to conform in this way with all that God requires.’ John then allowed him to come. After baptism Jesus came up out of the water at once, and at that moment heaven opened; he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove to alight upon him; and a voice from heaven was heard saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, on whom my favor rests.’“—Matt. 3:13-17, NEB

At the end of John’s ministry he was cast into prison. Jesus did not begin his ministry immediately after his baptism but waited for a period of time. He had respect for the time features of the Heavenly Father’s arrangements—Mark 1:14,15

Andrew and Peter were among the first to follow Jesus. “John was standing with two of his disciples when Jesus passed by. John looked towards him and said, ‘There is the Lamb of God.’ The two disciples heard him say this, and followed Jesus. When he turned and saw them following him, he asked, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said, ‘Rabbi’ (which means a teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ ‘Come and see,’ he replied. So they went and saw where he was staying and spent the rest of the day with him. … One of the two who followed Jesus after hearing what John said was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. The first thing he did was to find his brother Simon. He said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is the Hebrew for ‘Christ’). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You shall be called Cephas’ (that is, Peter, the Rock).”—John 1:36-42, NEB

It was after Jesus moved to Capernaum that he began his ministry on a broad scale to the nation of Israel. The children of Israel were especially blessed by God and had been watching for the long promised kingdom in which they believed they would share a chief place. In fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham they expected that in his “seed” all the families of the earth would be blessed and that they would be used by God to rule and instruct all nations.

When Jesus proclaimed “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” the Jews believed the time for the fulfillment of the promise to kingdom rule had begun. What they did not understand, however, was the necessary humbling of heart that must first take place if they would aspire to such a great honor.

To the majority of Jews the profession of faith was but an empty form. Their hopes in connection with the great promises of God’s Word had not inspired their hearts in the proper manner. Instead, because of selfishness and pride, they believed that as a nation they were the only people who could carry out God’s will. Due to their hardness of heart God later turned his attention to Gentile believers, and the hope of the kingdom has been a message to the Gentiles throughout the Gospel Age. As a nation the Jews lost the exclusive privilege of becoming joint-heirs with the Lord Jesus in the heavenly phase of the kingdom.

But God has not forgotten his people. The millennial kingdom, under the supervision of his glorified Son, will bring blessings to all who desire to walk in the ways of truth and righteousness. In due time the whole human family will be brought back into harmony with their Creator.

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