The beginning of Christ's Galilean ministry

With the Christmas season behind us, it is time to look at the life of our Lord Jesus Christ when he had already grown up and began his Galilean ministry. Our gospel last week was about the finding of our Lord Jesus in the temple. He was already 12 at that time, but some 18 or so years would pass into oblivion where nothing is written about the boyhood of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we discuss today the beginning of the Galilean Ministry of our Lord Jesus that you can read in the Bible in Luke 1:1-4,4: 14-21.

“1 Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, 3 I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theopilus, 4 so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. 15 He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. 16 He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read 17 and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”20 Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. 21 He said to them, “Today, this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” If you've read this scripture passage before, it may sound incomplete because in truth… this is the part of Luke's gospel called the Rejection of Jesus in Nazareth.

But we shall not discuss the rejection of our Lord in today's gospel because we should deal with the beginning of His Galilean ministry. If you didn't notice, today's gospel starts also at the very beginning of the gospel of Luke. This is quite significant because St. Luke wasn't one of the 12 disciples. He was what one would call a second or third generation Christian. Biblical scholars believe that St. Luke (he was a Syrian, who embraced Christianity) wrote his gospels just after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Just imagine writing a narrative about World War II 70 years after it happened.

In short, St. Luke's narrative is the story of our Lord Jesus Christ and the church that he created, which is the fulfillment of God's salvific plan. Being a second generation Christian, Luke had the huge advantage of hearing or practicing early Christian traditions from many eyewitnesses who probably heard it from their elders. After all, Christianity had grown.

So in a way, today's gospel brings us back to how everything started with our Lord Jesus Christ. Coincidentally, January is also the beginning of the new year. So let's look again at how all this began. At this time, our Lord Jesus Christ must have already started to cure the sick and returned the sight of the blind because as St. Luke pointed out, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. 15 He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.”

Ask yourself… how could our Lord Jesus Christ become an instant celebrity when he was just starting his ministry in Galilee? Well for one, before he began his ministry, the gospel stories were about John the Baptist who was baptizing people in the River Jordan and he had gained a lot of disciples from all over Judea and Galilee. Even King Herod was perplexed by the teachings of John the Baptist who is considered one of the greatest prophets that ever lived.

But when John's disciples asked him if he was the Messiah… the one that was prophesied to come, John would tell them the truth… that he was not the Messiah and in Luke 3:16 he said, “I baptize you with water, but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am so much greater that I'm not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

The beginning of the Ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ signaled the end of the Ministry of John the Baptist. After he baptized our Lord Jesus Christ, it was as if John had nothing much to do… after all his role in life was to proclaim the coming of the Messiah, even though he was more popular than Jesus at that time. What about us? What should we do when we finally open our hearts to allow our Lord to enter our life? John had a humble answer in John 3:30, “He must increase… I must decrease.”

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