Jesus Begins Ministry
Matthew 4: 23-25, Mark 1:14-15, Luke 4: 14-15
After time spent in the wilderness being tempted, Jesus entered his ministry in the Galilean countryside. This land would have been familiar to Jesus as he grew up close to this area in a little town called Nazareth. A place scattered with many villages, Galilee was considered smaller than the surrounding areas. Jesus, though he was worthy of nothing less than perfection, lived the majority of his life in a very humble town. Initially, Jesus did not steer himself towards the big cities. Rather, he waited in faith.
How often do we, as followers of Jesus, try to take control of situations in our lives that should be left up to the wise discernment of our heavenly father?
Jesus did not do this. Instead, we see him obediently operate in two specific ways. First, he trusted in his Father’s perfect timing in ministry. Second, Jesus trusted his Father’s placement in ministry.
For the entirety of his life, Jesus did something that can often be a struggle for us: he patiently waited for his Father to initiate the next steps for him in his perfect timing. Jesus understood that all of history was leading up to the season where he would begin his healing restoration between God and man. In his own words: “...The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
Jesus waited. In other stories in Jesus’s life we see him moving slowly, trusting that his Father’s timing is holy. Remember the story of Lazarus (John 11:11-25). Of course Jesus’s compassion for the lost did not suddenly ignite when he began his ministry at the age of thirty. No, Jesus's heart was breaking for his people far before his official ministry began. Still, he humbly waited. God’s timing is perfect, let us understand this.
Second, in each of these three passages, the authors all tell us that Jesus began his ministry in Galilee. Jesus could have started in the most popular city but instead began in the quieter towns. Something we learn from Jesus’ life is that he cared for the unseen and overlooked in areas such as these (Matthew 4:24). Let’s face it–we don’t have to look far to find people who need the same love we’ve experienced. In fact, we can find them in our classes, our apartment complexes, and our workplaces. Jesus had eyes for his neighbors, his friends, and his kin. May we also be people who have eyes for those that God has divinely placed in our lives. It is no coincidence we find ourselves in the physical and spiritual environments that we do. And if this is true, let us be faithful where our Father places us.
Jesus led a ministry that was deeply reliant on the timing and placement of the Father. Jesus, out of his great love, waited for the perfect time, and was continually obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God” (Galatians 4:4-7).
May Jesus’s patience in his Father’s timing and placement remind us that our Father has also a time and a place for us. Trust in his timing. Trust in his placement. He has crafted a better story with our lives than we could ever imagine.
What in your life is God asking you to trust him with?
Is there anything the Lord is asking you to step into in this season?
Or is he asking you to wait?
“Lord, my heart easily strays from trusting you. Would you remind me that you have a perfect plan for my life that has been established since before the beginning of time. Help me to learn to trust your timing and placement, to grow in patience, and to be refined as your servant in the waiting. Thank you for being the perfect storyteller and weaving my life into the story of your redemptive work. In Jesus name, amen.”
