Jesus Christ
The Passion
The Messiah Begins His Mission
by Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D.
The fame of Jesus, the prophet, healer, and messenger of God, soon spread far and wide. Men and women flocked to see and hear him, to be near him, to touch him, and to touch his clothes, for even his clothing radiated virtue and the healing power of God's spirit.
"And a certain woman....when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague" -Mark 5.
They thronged to Jesus to be healed, to hear his message, and to become his disciples:
"And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan." -Matthew 4.
However, not all were impressed. The chief priests and the leadership of the Pharisees saw Jesus as little more than a pretender, an upstart who did not know his place. Jesus, they believed, was an uncouth trouble maker who even lowered himself by mingling with the dispised massess. The Pharisee's aristocratic sensibilities were offended.
When "Jesus sat at meat in the house" and "many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples...the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?" -Matthew 9.
That he healed the lame, restored sight to the blind, and drove out devils, proved, said the Pharisees, that Jesus was not a man of God but a man possessed by the Devil.
"And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel... the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils." -Matthew 9.
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