We are learning about evangelistic apologetics from the Master Himself. No one was more authoritative in preaching the Gospel than Jesus of Nazareth.
As we saw in the last part of our series, Jesus began His teaching and preaching ministry in Galilee. He grew up in the Galilean village of Nazareth, but was met with violent opposition when He taught at the synagogue there. Jesus moved His home base to the Galilean town of Capernaum where some of His disciples lived.
Changing Lives in Galilee
And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali. Matthew 4:13
Zebulun and Napthtali were two of Jacob’s sons. Their descendants received an inheritance in the northeast region of “the promised land” that was located in the northeast region. This region became known as Galilee and would play an important role in the Messianic future of Israel.
As when at first He lightly esteemed The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. Isaiah 9:1-2
And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.” Matthew 4:13-16
God the Father selected Galilee to be where God the Son would begin His earthly ministry. Jesus was the “Light” that dawned in Galilee. He healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons and proclaimed the Gospel. The people living in Galilee were walking in great darkness. They were dwelling in the land of the shadow of death. Jesus of Nazareth, “the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world” (John 1:9), shined brightly among the Galileans.
Jesus came to “seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). He came to preach the Gospel and transform lives and did it publicly in ways that proved He had come with God’s direct authority. Jesus presented Himself to His own people at the synagogue in Nazareth, but they rejected Him. Jesus left Nazareth and presented Himself to the people of Capernaum.
Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God! But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be quiet, and come out of him!’ And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, ‘What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.’ And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region. Luke 4:31-37
Notice that the people in the synagogue in Capernaum did not thrust Jesus out of the building and try to throw Him over a cliff. They recognized that something amazing had happened in front of their eyes. The people were astonished at His teaching because His “word was with authority.” They were amazed at Jesus’ “authority and power” because He commanded the unclean spirits, “and they come out.”
Jesus demonstrated His authority by word and deed and continued to do that throughout His earthly ministry. He left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon Peter who lived in Capernaum.
Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them. When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of God!’ And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ. Luke 4:38-41
Healing in Galilee
As we read through the Gospels we see that Jesus healed many people in Galilee. Though we find many specific examples of individual healings, the actual number was most likely in the hundreds or even thousands during the period of more than three years that Jesus preached.
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Matthew 4:23
When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. Matthew 8:16
Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Matthew 9:35
But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. Matthew 12:15
And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. Matthew 14:14
Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them. Matthew 15:29-30
And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all. Luke 6:17-19
Some of the individuals Jesus healed in Galilee included the centurion’s servant (Matthew 8), Peter’s mother-in-law (Matthew 8), two demon-possessed men (Matthew 8), a paralytic (Matthew 9), two blind men (Matthew 9), a mute man (Matthew 9), a man with a withered hand (Matthew 12), a woman’s daughter (Matthew 15), an epileptic child (Matthew 17), a woman who had “had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians” (Mark 5), lepers (Matthew 8; Mark 1; Luke 5; 17), and the daughter of a synagogue ruler (Mark 5 – the girl died before Jesus arrived at their house, so the Lord raised her from the dead). Jesus also raised others from the dead (Luke 7; John 11).
Jesus continued His healing ministry when He traveled from Galilee to Judea.
Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there. Matthew 19:1-2
Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. Matthew 21:14
Jesus healed a paralyzed man at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5) and even healed one of the men in the group of people who came to arrest Jesus (Luke 22).
Jesus also gave His disciples the power and authority to cast out demons and cure disease.
Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Luke 9:1-2
Healing and raising the dead demonstrated powerfully that Jesus was sent from God as the promised Messiah of Israel. Jesus pointed that out to the disciples of John the Baptist who questioned Him about being the Messiah.
Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Matthew 11:4-5
The miracles that Jesus performed and the Gospel He preached were absolute evidence that He was the promised Messiah.
[Podcast version of this study coming soon.]
eBook
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Next Time
While there is much debate within Christian circles about whether followers of Christ have the power to heal the sick and raise the dead today, there should be no debate that all followers of Christ are called to preach the Gospel and make disciples. We will look closely at the Gospel Jesus preached in Galilee in the next part of our special series, Evangelistic Apologetics – A Closer Look.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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