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the start of Jesus’ ministry He traveled throughout the land of
Palestine: Galilee, Samaria, Idumea and Judea. He was raised in the city
of Nazareth. After He moved His mother, brothers and sisters to Capernaum,
Capernaum became their new home town. It was the city where Peter, James,
John, and Andrew lived too! It was the city from which He would depart
and return. It was the center of His ministry. It was there that John
the Baptist’s disciples questioned Jesus about His mission and
His identity. It was there that Jesus performed many miracles and then
sent John’s two disciples back to their teacher with proof that
He was the Messiah (Luke 7:18-22). It was there He explained to the crowd
why John was in prison and why the religious leaders were opposed to
John and to Himself. It was there that He warned the crowd about their
religious leaders and had a dinner with a group of those leaders. It
was there that a female prostitute uncontrollably wept all over His feet
and repeatedly dried them with her hair. Capernaum was a place of family,
friends, crowds, seekers, enemies and supporters. It is the city in which
this study (Luke 8:1-3) begins. Traveling Again. Soon after the eventful
dinner with the Jewish religious leaders and the unexpected female prostitute,
Jesus left Capernaum once again traveling from city-to-city and town-to-town.
Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him . . . (NASB) Luke 8:1 The gospel of Luke tells us that in each city He was proclaiming and preaching the good news about the Kingdom of Heaven. The Greek word translated as “proclaim” is a present active participle. This means that Jesus repeatedly was proclaiming and preaching. We have discovered in the previous studies that Jesus’ typical pattern was to visit a synagogue on the Sabbath, or Saturday, and teach (Luke 4:16-19, 31-37). The apostle Paul did the same thing (Acts 13:14-15; 17:17; 18:4, 19; 19:8).
Jesus’ Priority. It is revealing to
notice what the gospels never tell us about Jesus’ ministry. We
are never told that Jesus led the crowds in singing praise songs or hymns.
We are never told about a choir, a pastoral prayer, announcements, a
skit, or an offering plate. These elements so familiar to our churches
services today are never mentioned as a part of His public ministry.
While there is nothing wrong with these activities, it is important to
notice that Jesus was focused on two priorities: healing and teaching.
He would heal the people to attract their attention and demonstrate His
love and mercy, and then He would teach. Sometimes healing is never mentioned;
only teaching is mentioned. That is the situation in this passage. Teaching
God’s Word was the priority of His ministry.
God’s divine pattern for ministry was modeled by
Jesus. He placed the teaching of God’s Word first in priority.
It is interesting that music is never mentioned in the gospels as being
part of His ministry to the crowds. Yet, music has a very high priority
in many churches while the teaching of the Bible often has lost priority.
Today, music is sometimes given more time than the teaching of the Bible.
Have you ever visited a church where the teaching of the Bible was thirty
minutes or less but the worship service was one hour or more? If that
describes your church, where is the priority of teaching?
When the Word of God is taught, Jesus should be the central
focus because He is the central focus of scripture.
Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” (NASB) Luke 24:44 There was a sign attached to the pulpit of the great historic Church
of the Open Door in downtown Los Angeles. The church no longer exists
in that location, but the reminder of that sign still lives. The sign
was posted on top of the pulpit where every preacher could see it before
and while he was speaking. It read, “Sir, we would see Jesus!” Everything
else was and is a second priority. The priority ministry is to teach
the Word of God and the priority subject is Jesus Christ.
The Disciples. The last part of Luke 8:1
tells us that the twelve disciples were following Jesus. Jesus had selected
them and now they were in training. They were following Jesus from city
to city and town to town. Jesus’ training methodology for these
future leaders was not confined to a Bible study using a book published
by some famous rabbi, attending a conference for Jewish leaders, listening
to a CD or DVD by some motivational Greek or Roman speaker, or participating
in a course about the organizational policies and strategies of church
growth. Jesus’ practical approach was that they must spend time
with Him. They must follow Him.
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