First tour begins Jan AD 27 (six months later they have to flee into Samaria to the north)
Second tour begins Oct AD 28
Third tour begins Jan AD 29
Last tour begins Jan AD 30 (beginning of fourth year)
Lazarus incident March 2, AD 30
Sanhedrin conspiracy March 3, AD 30
Crucifixtion Friday April 7, AD 30 (fourth public trip to Passover)
Resurrection Sunday April 9, AD 30
Issue of will to power, influence, hegemony, and good & evil p. 1608
social political power as military force vs moral spiritual power of love and truth—Satyagraha
Beginning the public ministry
editJesus and the 12 apostles leave Bethsaida Jan 12, AD 27. The apostles knew nothing of Jesus' plans except that they were going up to Jerusalem to attend the Passover feast in April. [1]
Jesus knew Herod would begin to take notice of his work, so he thought best to journey south into Judea with his apostles. There were 100 believers who wanted to join in the travel, but Jesus directed them away from their journey. [2]
They journeyed for two days to Pella, where they stayed for 2 weeks preaching and teaching. Several hundred people assembled in a camp near the camp of Jesus and his apostles. Jesus did no public preaching. Andrew assigned preachers to work twice a day. In the evening Jesus would review his teachings with the apostles. In the first year of Jesus' public ministry 3/4's of the disciples were from John's group.
Jesus took advantage of the Jewish belief of a coming kingdom, but with the twist that it was spiritual and universal, rather than nationalistic. [3] Jesus made the distinction that the kingdom consisted in making the Fathers will become our will. This makes a person a son of God and provides liberation. If a person makes the Fathers will into a law, it makes a person become a citizen slave. [4]
In the arrangement of the public work, Peter, James, and John did most of the public preaching. Phillip, Nathaniel, Thomas, and Simon did much of the personal ministry and conducted classes for special groups of inquirers. Andrew, Matthew, and Judas developed into a general management group.
The apostles remained at Amathus for three weeks.
Jesus never offered suggestions on how the apostles should solve their day to day problems.
Jesus spent much time teaching a new concept of God: God as a Father. This put men into an individual child-parent relationship with God. [5]
One of the most eventful of all the evening conferences at Amathus was the session having to do with the discussion of spiritual unity. James Zebedee had asked, "Master, how shall we learn to see alike and thereby enjoy more harmony among ourselves?" When Jesus heard this question, he was stired within his spirit, so much that he replied: "James, James, when did I teach you that you should all see alike? I have come into the world to proclaim spiritual liberty to the point that mortals may be empowered to live individual lives of originality and freedom before God. I do not desire that social harmony and fraternal peace shall be purchased by the sacrifice of free personality and spiritual originality. What I require of you, my apostles, is spiritual unity—and that you can experience in the joy of your united dedication to the wholehearted doing of the will of my Father n heaven. You do not have to see alike or feel alike or even think alike in order spiritual to be alike. Spiritual unity is derived from the consciousness that each of you is indwelt, and increasingly dominated, by the spirit gift of the heavenly Father. Your apostolic harmony must grow out of the fact that the spirit hope of each of you is identical in origin, nature, and destiny. [6]
Persian "fireworshiper": give something to people—don't take something away.
When you enter the kingdom you are reborn. You cannot teach the deep things of the spirit to those who have been born only of the flesh. First see that men are born of the spirit before seeking to instruct them in the advanced matters of the spirit. Do not undertake to show men the beauties of the temple until you have first taken them into the temple. Introduce men to God and as sons of God before you discours on the doctrines of God and the sonship of men. Do not strive with men—always be patient. It is not your kingdom. Simply go forth proclaiming. God is our Father, we are his sons, and this is good news.[7]
On February 26, AD 27, Jesus took his apostles, and a large group of followers to a stream near Bethany. The second week there, Jesus took Peter, James, and John into the hills across the river and south of Jericho for a three day rest.
Jesus endeavored to make clear that he desired his followers to taste of the good spirit realities of universe citizens, and so live in the world that people may see in their lives and become universe conscious and be led to inquire of believers concerning the ways of universe citizenship. That way sincere seekers of truth are glad to hear the news of the faith universe family with its spirit realities. Jesus sought to impress all that their only business was to reveal God to the individual and to lead this individual to become son-conscious. Then present this same son of God to God as his faith son. Both of these essential revelations are accomplished in Jesus. He became this "way, truth, and life". When Jesus departed from this world, he left behind no books, laws, or other forms of human organization affecting the religious life of the individual.
- Reveal God to the individual with our lives, let them become aware of personal relationship to deity personality and thus become universe conscious.(Our growth in god-consciousness through the activity of our finite will is the way we participate in liberating deity from its absolute state).
- The individual inquires about the ways of universe citizenship, and through believers learns about the ways of universe citizenship.
Jesus made it plain that he had come to establish personal and eternal relations with men which should forever take precedence over all other human relationships. And he emphasized that this intimate spiritual fellowship was to be extended to all men of all ages and of allsocial conditions among all people. Jesus gave great emphasis upon what he called the two truths of first import in the teachings of the universe family: attaining salvation by faith alone, associated with the revolutionary teaching of the attainment of human liberty through the sincere recognition of truth. [8]
Jesus boldly announced to these three disciples that his plans were not just for people of this earth, but for the entire universe. His disciples could not grasp the meaning of his words, and were tempted that he was beside himself. He announced that he had come to function as a teacher to present spiritual truth to the material minds of men. He did not function as a preacher. From the human viewpoint, Peter was a much more effective preacher than Jesus. During this 3 day retreat with his three disciples, Jesus inferred that his earth mission was somewhat restricted by his bestowal instructions from his universe brother Immanuel. [9]
In Jerusalem he discussed art with a Greek seeker of God. He revealed the parallels of the qualities of earthly family and universe family, and sonship with God. He distinquished to Thomas his spiritual language as differing from conversation referring to material,, social, economic, and political matters. Jesus strove to have the disciples grow in spiritual perception, rather than childish misperception of spiritual realities.
By the end of April the opposition to Jesus among the Pharisees and Sadduccees had become so pronounced that Jesus decided to leave Jerusalem for a while, going south to work in Bethlehem and Hebron. The entire month of May was spent in doing personal work in these cities, going on house-to-house visitations. No public preaching was done. By the first days of June, the agitation against Jesus had so quieted down that he could return to Jersalem to instruct believers. [10]
Although Jesus and his disciples spent the entire month of June in or near Jerusalem, they did no public teaching during this period. They lived in tents which they pitched in a shaded park, or garden, known in that day as Gethsemane.
When the rulers of the Jews learned that Jesus had returned to Jerusalem, they prepared to arrest him. But when they noticed that he did no public preaching, they concluded that that he had become frightened by their previous agitation, and decided to allow him to carry on his teaching in a private manner without further molestation. Then when one of the Sanhedrin publicly declared himself to be a follower of Jesus before the rest of the rulers, a new disturbance came about, so that Jesus removed himself to Samaria and Decapolis. [11]