Three Year Ministry Changed The World
Three Year Ministry Changed The World
By Dennis Huebshman
Jesus had been on the earth approximately 30 years before starting His ministry. Other than the accounts in Matthew and Luke about His birth and subsequent appearance in the Temple when He was 12 (Luke 12:42), the bible is very quiet about His earlier years. We know He had at least 4 brothers and more than one sister because of Matthew 6:3.
We also know Jesus was fully man and yet He was also fully God. People may say that’s impossible, but remember nothing is impossible for the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. We also know the Godhead is a “Trinity” made up of three entities of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. This is not explained as to how in the Bible, but only that it is so. If Jesus had not been fully human and did not live a sinless life, then His sacrifice for our sins would have been invalid. He could have used His Godly powers at any time, however He deferred His full divine nature to the Father, asking for what He needed through constant prayer and being supplied by the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 2: 7-9, “He was made lower than the Angels for a little while”. He shared our humanity, so He could experience first hand what we do and be worthy to be called our Savior through His voluntary sacrifice. (John 10: 17-18). He was tempted by satan and overcame that issue. There were the healings, the miracles of the fishes and loaves, the walking on water and yet He did not fully use His available powers. At the moment He said, “Father, into Your hands I commend My Spirit”, the human Jesus died and was placed in the grave for 3 days, but the Spiritual Jesus was very much alive and met the thief on the cross in Paradise as He promised. When He arose that first Easter morning, His human body was now immortalized, and He showed what we would be like when we are called to Him. He became our perfect example in many ways.
Some would ask why He waited until 30 years of age to begin His ministry. Luke 3:23 said it all had to do with credibility. Numbers chapter 4 shows God required anyone who worked in the Holy Tent to be at least 30 years of age. This tradition continued through Jesus’ time, otherwise the religious leaders would have had cause to reject Him just for that reason. He made sure He covered any and all arguments they may have come up with.
When Jesus went into the Temple at Nazareth (Luke 4: 16-20) and read from Isaiah 61: 1-2 and then closed the scroll and SAT DOWN, He was showing an authority that would be reserved for the Father. It was customary for the religious leaders to read from the scrolls and then remain standing as a sign of reverence. Though He was not educated through the normal channels of the Sanhedrin, He showed a knowledge that confused them. What He read was, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim the release of the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set those free who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” When He had read that prophecy and proclaimed it was fulfilled that day in their presence, He was telling them point-blank He was the Messiah.
One thing we must remember is there was no “New Testament”. They had to rely on all the scrolls from the earliest entries right up to that day, but the story of Salvation was yet to be told. For Jesus to know the writings of Isaiah who lived about 800 years before His time here was truly an amazing feat because that knowledge was reserved for the religious leaders. After all, they didn’t realize He was the One who provided Isaiah and others the words of all the prophecies in the scrolls. Also, if they had really studied the prophecies and thought less of themselves, they should have realized who He was from the beginning.
There were many attempts by the religious leaders to show Jesus up and to trap Him, but they always failed. He always did it in a way to show them just how flawed they were, but they could not get past their self-pride and righteous indignity. This only antagonized them even more.
Some have asked why Jesus was not accepted by everyone because He must have presented a very powerful presence and probably even had a halo as some artists have depicted. We go to Isaiah again for the answer. Chapter 53: 2-3, “He sprouted up like a twig before God, like a root out of parched soil; He had NO STATELY FORM or MAJESTY that would catch our attention, no special appearance that we would want to follow Him. (3) He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from Him; He was despised, and we considered Him insignificant.” (all emphasis is mine) Imagine saying this about the Creator of the Universe.
His followers did not fully believe in Him even after witnessing all the miracles in their approximate 3 years with Him. It wasn’t until they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and after He had already ascended to Heaven that they became bold in proclaiming Him even at the threat of martyrdom. The oldest book of the New Testament was written by James around 44-49AD. He and Jude were brothers of Jesus, had grown up with Him, and yet did not believe until after the resurrection that He was their Messiah.
One thing to note, Jesus never compromised His ministry for anyone. He was, and is willing to accept ALL who will believe in Him (Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13) and is the ONLY way to have the Heavenly Father (John 14:6). All who are saying there are “many ways to heaven” are anti-christs and false prophets as spoken of by Paul, John, Peter and others, and God will deal with them at the end of the Millennium.
Please know, Jesus does not have any partiality toward anyone who will accept Him and He will accept ALL who call on Him. Romans 2:11, “For there is no partiality with God” and Jesus is God. He knows we are all sinners in need of a Savior and that’s exactly why He came to this earth as a human in the first place. No other person who has ever lived or ever will live on this earth could accomplish what He did. That is why if anyone rejects Him, there is no other alternative than eternity in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20: 11-15) This was made specifically for satan and his demons, but also for those who CHOOSE to not believe in God’s Son.
Just confess you are a sinner because WE ALL ARE; believe He died for ALL our sins and ask Him to be your Savior. You might also thank Him for the free gift that He bought for you with His precious blood, and it is paid in full. He doesn’t want your “religion”; He wants a relationship with you. He’s earned the right to ask for so much more, but what I have given you here is what He wants right now. He will prepare a place for you in Heaven with Him in His Father’s house (John 14: 2-3).
Make your reservation today, just talk to Him one-on-one. He’s waiting and listening for you. His line is never busy, and it’s covered 24/7. After you have accepted Him, He knows you will still slip and fall occasionally. He has provided a path that will give you forgiveness through prayer. (1 John 1: 8-10) If for some reason you delay, it may be the biggest mistake you could ever make. When you take your last breath on this earth, your eternal destiny is set. Peace of mind is knowing we will be with Him and not worry about if we should die. One minute here, and the next with Him if you have accepted Him. Otherwise, one minute here and the next starting agony that will never end, and a trip to the Great White Throne. Choose Him Today.
Shalom – Come Lord Jesus!