Page 40 - Life of Christ w videos

During His ministry in Galilee, Jesus’ sought to establish Himself as the promised Deliverer, the Messiah.
He also claimed to be the Son of the Living God or God in flesh, the promised Emmanuel – God with us.
As Jesus made these claims, He performed miracles to validate the truth of His claims as divine
messenger. After all, who else but God could do the miracles He performed?

Traditional religion in Israel believed that God alone forgave sins. While Jesus did not reject all the
Jewish practices, within them He demonstrated the divine characteristics of omniscience and
omnipotence. He forgave the sins of the paralytic and demonstrated His authority to do so by healing
him instantly. The Scripture records that the entire crowd marveled and glorified God who had given
such power to a man.

In his three journeys across Galilee, news
spread all over the region as far as Syria, the
Decapolis, Jerusalem, and all of Judea and
thousands of people were brought to him,
those who were ill, those who suffered severe
pain, those who were demon-possessed, or
paralyzed or had seizures and He healed them.
He continued to proclaim the good news of
the kingdom, namely that He, the Messiah,
was present with them. During these trips,
the twelve disciples, as well as Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many others, accompanied Jesus
and helped fund the campaigns out of their own money. The last trip through Galilee occurred late in
the 18-month Galilean ministry, after the nations, in spite of the hundreds of amazing miracles they
experienced, had determined to disbelieve and after it became clear that, because of the anger of the
religious leaders, namely the Pharisees, He did not have much more time before they would find a way
to silence Him.

During this last Galilean tour, Jesus sent out his disciples to share the news of the Kingdom to all the
cities in the region. He enabled them to heal the sick and cast out demons, again authenticating their
message as being from God. This strategy enabled Him to more speedily saturate the land one more
time with His claims. This is the continuing strategy of Christ today in sending all His followers out to
share the Gospel to the far ends of the earth.

The "Unpardonable Sin" and a Shift to Parables (Matthew 12:22-37 and Mark 3:20-30; Matthew
12:38-45; Mark 3:31-35 and Matthew 12:46-50; Matthew 13:1-52 and Mark 4:1-34; Mark 3:13-19
and Luke 6:12-16)

During Christ’s second Galilean tour, an event occurred that marked the turning point of Christ’s
ministry to Israel. It is found in Matthew 12:22-37 and in Mark 3:20-30 where a demon-possessed man
was brought to Jesus. Immediately Jesus cast out the demon and healed the man who was also blind
and mute. The Pharisees claimed that Jesus’ power came from the prince of demons – Satan himself,
rather than from the Holy Spirit. This declaration of the Pharisees was their explanation for how Jesus
could perform such miracles, thus rejecting His claim to be the Messiah come from God. It is at this
point that Jesus condemns their sin as unforgiveable - the “unpardonable sin”.

It is important to understand that at this point in Jesus’ ministry, the masses had chosen to believe the
lying excuse of the Pharisees and thus almost universally reject Jesus’ claims concerning Himself, in spite

39