Smoodock's Blog

It is difficult to pick out the single verse in the Gospel narratives to say: “This is where Jesus began his public ministry; this is day one!” There are several Gospel Harmonies on the market today, but, really, while some may come close, none are exact. There will always be some guesswork involved, if we try to conclude that Jesus’ campaign begins here. Nevertheless, we know that Jesus did begin his ministry shortly after he was baptized. He was tempted of “Satan” for 40 days immediately after his baptism, but that event seems to symbolize the first 40 days of Jesus’ public ministry, because John’s narrative has Jesus in Cana of Galilee only three days after his baptism by John in the Jordan River, probably near Bethabara in northern Peraea.

So, if we must not read the text in a manner that contradicts (John 10:35), we need to understand that either the Synoptic narratives of Jesus’ temptation are symbolic or John’s is symbolic. As far as I’m concerned, it is easier to understand Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness,[1] recorded by the Synoptics is symbolic. They point to his first 40 days preaching and his gathering the twelve Apostles together. Those 40 days take us from Jesus’ baptism to the end of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew), the Sermon on the Plain (Luke) and to the Parable of the Sower (Mark).

Think about this for a moment, and consider what the beginning of Jesus’ campaign may have looked like. What did he say and how was he received? “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand (near, approaching). Repent! (turn back) and believe the Gospel (good news)!” (Mark 1:15). “If I, by the finger of God,[2] cast out demons, no doubt the Kingdom of God has come upon you!” (Luke 11:20). In a modern context, we might see this as the campaign of two or more political parties, the one already in power, while the other is seeking to unseat the present system, with the people’s adoption of the second party’s system, the liberal party replacing the conservative or vice versa.

So, if this was Jesus’ campaign promise, how was his assertion received? According to Mark, an unclean spirit[3] spoke out against Jesus in Capernaum saying: “Let us alone; what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Are you come to destroy us? I know who you are (or claim to be), the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:23-24). In other words, whoever this person was, he was afraid of an inevitable backlash from either Herod or Rome, if either of these political powers heard Jesus’ Gospel and considered it a threat to their authority. On the other hand, the Jewish authorities in Judea, ruling under the Roman prefect, who normally resided in Caesarea, understood Jesus’ Gospel, and rejected him, telling those who were beginning to accept him as their Messiah, that his power came from Beelzebub, the prince of demons (Matthew 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15).

In the context of the Babylonian Captivity and the Jews’ return to their homeland, rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple, originally built by Solomon, the Jews were looking for the Lord to complete what he had begun and return to his House. It is evident that the Lord came to dwell in Solomon’s Temple (1Kings 8:10-11), and he was known to have left prior to the end of the Jewish-Babylonian war (Ezekiel 10:18-19). Nevertheless, nothing in scripture shows the Lord ever returning to his House that was rebuilt in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. Jesus’ campaign is all about the return of God to his people (cp. John 1:1, 14) in the person of his only begotten Son (John 1:18; 3:16-18).

This was understood to be a political threat by some Jews (Mark 1:23-24; Matthew 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15), and their fear of a Roman/Herodian backlash was significant (Mark 1:23-24; John 11:45-48). Nevertheless, Jesus’ Gospel of the Kingdom of God was not **of** this world, and ultimately was considered harmless, vis-à-vis Jesus was not believed to be a political threat by Herod or Pilate (Luke 23:12-15).

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[1] In other words, the term “wilderness” is symbolic. Ezekiel uses the term to describe the Lord sending his people into a “wilderness” of people (Ezekiel 20:35). So, in this context, Jesus was tempted by Jewish authorities and probably the Zealots (wild beasts according to Mark 1:12-13) in the wilderness of the people of Galilee.

[2] Matthew calls it “by the Spirit of God!” (Matthew 12:28), which, according the Exodus 8:19, means Jesus was demonstrating the power of God before the people. It was something that could not be logically denied.

[3] This may have been a Zealot who rejected Jesus’ pacifist approach to the Jews’ enemies, or an authority who was possessed of an ideology different from a Messianic answer to the Jews’ political problems.