12. Jesus Teaches at Nazareth
13. Jesus Teaches at Capernaum

Jesus at this point has begun his ministry, and while we are not told in detail what he said, he is clearly making an impact and his fame is growing.

One of the first places Jesus goes is back to his own synagogue in Nazareth, and that may have been his launching point. The passage he selects from the Book of Isaiah is telling. Jesus is well versed in his own tradition, and one of the repeating themes of his ministry is that his purpose is to lift Jewish scripture to a new, higher level. We also see, particularly at the beginning of his ministry, that he teaches in code (primarily through the use of parables) to avoid stirring up retribution by the high priests, whom, like John the Baptist, Jesus often criticizes.

The passage he reads from Isaiah could be an example of Jesus speaking in code, where one could perceive a higher or deeper interpretation of the words being used.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor:

One meaning of this could be the materially poor, certainly not a threatening message; the other meaning could be the poor in spirit. As we will see, Jesus did not believe that the religious leaders of his time were serving the people’s spiritual needs, and in fact were an obstacle to people achieving an autonomous relationship with God.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives,
To set a liberty them that are bruised,

By “captives,” many no doubt thought Jesus was talking about the Jews’ subjugation by the Romans. The other possibility – again born out by later teachings – was that he was referring to his people’s captivity to the rigid interpretations of Jewish law, promulgated by the high priests, which again were not serving the people’s real interests.

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

This could be interpreted as a prediction of the coming apocalyptic messiah; or it could be interpreted as the revealing of a new truth concerning humankind’s relationship to God and to other human beings, which Jesus first glimpsed in the baptism by John, and which he was now dedicated to teaching others.

14. Jesus and Mental Cases

This is the first time we encounter Jesus performing a “miracle.” It’s hard to take elements of this report literally – devils coming out of someone’s body and having a conversation with Jesus! A more reasonable explanation is that this is an observer’s fanciful or creative interpretation of what he witnessed. That Jesus performed such a healing does not seem at all out of the realm of possibility, given what we know today about the power of suggestion (let alone the power of the mind), particularly when the healer is given an extraordinary level of consent, as Jesus apparently was.

The conversation referred to, if it occurred at all, may have been with a person apparently still “possessed” (still mentally disturbed). In any case, it is interesting that Jesus rebukes the speaker for referring to him as the Christ (or messiah). It supports the supposition that Jesus did not wish to be identified with either the political or apocalyptic expectations.

15. Jesus Teaches by the Lake
16. Jesus Wins Fisherman Followers

The first of these two passages again attests to the growing interest in Jesus’ teachings; the multitude was so great he had to put out in a boat to avoid being trampled.

The second passage is the first time we see Jesus taking on disciples. While the passage is written as if the disciples joined Jesus after only one memorable encounter, a more realistic scenario may be that Jesus had many interactions with the fishermen, where he built up a relationship with them over time, perhaps occasionally helping them to find better places to fish, and then eventually winning them over to be his disciples.

As we will see later, the disciples also held to a belief in an impending political or apocalyptic messiah, and they were convinced Jesus was the one they were waiting for, which was no doubt their motivation for joining him. Despite Jesus’ teachings to the contrary, it was a belief from which they were never disabused.

17. Jesus Teaches Throughout Galilee

There are several times in Jesus’ short ministry where he goes off alone to pray. One can imagine he is asking for God’s guidance and direction as to what he should do next. Clearly he is gaining popularity. But is it for the right reasons? Are people hearing his message? Or is the expectation of a messiah so great that it is clouding people’s ability to understand his teachings? If so, might there be a better approach? All of these things and more are possible, and may have motivated him to undertake a prayerful contemplation of whether or not teaching is the right mission, or whether some other course of action is called for.

Whatever his motivation, at the end of his time in prayer, Jesus seems to have received some sort of confirmation of his method, for in reconnecting with his disciples he says: “Let us go elsewhere into the next towns, that I may preach there also, for to this end came I forth.”