Jesus' Public Ministry

= JOHN THE BAPTIST prepared the way for Jesus by asking people to repent (turn away from sin), and by baptizing them. (Mt.3:1-6)

= John preached in the desert of Judea
The prophet Isaiah had spoken of John the Baptist

= John was an Essene, living very simply. He wore camel hair and leather, and ate honey and locusts 
= John baptized people in the Jordan River

* John baptized Jesus when Our Lord was 30 years old. (Mt. 3:13-17)

= Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River
= John protested, saying: “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?”
= Jesus replied: “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
= After Jesus was baptized, He saw the Spirit of God. A voice from heaven said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

* Immediately after His baptism, Jesus went into the desert. (Mt.4:1-4)

= While in the desert, Jesus was tempted with the promise of power and wealth
= Jesus fasted (abstained from eating) for 40 days and nights
= The one tempting Jesus told Our Lord to turn stones into loaves of bread. Jesus’ reply was: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the Mouth of God.”

= After His temptation in the desert, Jesus began to preach and say: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Mt. 4:12-22)

= When Jesus left the desert, He returned to Nazareth in Galilee, where he heard that John the Baptist had been arrested and beheaded by Herod.

= Jesus left Nazareth and lived in the city of Capernaum

= While walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers, fishermen named Peter and Andrew

= Jesus said to them: “Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.”

The Call of the Apostles and the First Miracle

* Jesus called many of His Apostles along the Sea of Galilee

= After calling Andrew and Peter, Jesus met two more brothers, James and John (Mk. 1:16-20)

= Along the Sea, Jesus was teaching the crowd; He saw a man named Levi (aka Matthew). Levi was a publican (tax collector). Jesus told Levi to follow Him, and he did. At Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples.

= Some Scribes and Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with these people, and they asked why he would sit with such people.
** Jesus replied: “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

= Jesus appointed 12 men to be His Apostles. An apostle is “one who is sent; each of the Apostles fulfilled a mission for Jesus. 

= Jesus wanted these men to be with Him, to send them forth to preach, and gave them authority to drive out demons.

** Jesus appointed these men:
Simon Peter and Andrew (Peter’s brother)
James and John (sons of Zebedee) (Jesus called these brothers the
“Sons of Thunder”)
Philip (from Bethsaida),
Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas,
James (son of Alphaeus) Jude Thaddeus,
Simon, and Judas Iscariot

* Jesus also had many disciples; a disciple is a student who is devoted to a teacher.

The First Miracle - John 2: 1-11

= Soon after calling His Apostles, Jesus attended a wedding in Cana; His Mother and disciples were with Him

= When the wine ran short, Mary said to Jesus, “They have no wine.”

= Jesus replied, “How does this concern me; my hour has not yet come.”

= Mary said to the servers, “Do whatever He tells you."

= Jesus told the servers to fill jars with water; then he told them to bring some to the headwaiter.

= The headwaiter declared to the groom, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.”

= Jesus did this at the beginning of His signs in Cana of Galilee, and so revealed His glory.
His disciples began to believe in Him.

= In John’s Gospel, the miracles of Jesus were called signs; John showed miracles to be evidence of God’s glory in Jesus.