Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. (Mark 10:1)
According to the narration of Mark’s gospel, now after leaving Capernaum, Jesus was going down to Jerusalem. To cut short Jesus’ public life, we can say that Jesus called his disciples in Capernaum, preached the kingdom of God and went to Jerusalem where he was executed on the cross. It is generally understood that the duration of Jesus’ public life was 3 years but it is not correct. It may be 2 years at the longest estimate or a year at the shortest estimate. His public life was very short. What could he do so many things in such a short period of time? It is natural that there is no record of Jesus’ public life both in Jewish and Roman history. Nobody gave importance to his ministry.
What we Christians have the misunderstanding today is rightly directed to this point. Many think that Jesus indeed did marvelous and magnificent work in his days. It is said he healed many sick people, fed more than five thousands with five loaves and two fishes, drove out demons etc, as he stirred up the entire Israel. However, Jesus did not have time to do such work. Captured by the kingdom of God, he lived and was executed on the cross ridiculously.
It does not mean that all statements of the gospels are statements of falsehood or exaggeration. It is a matter of faith and not necessarily the realistic incidence. If a realistic statement is a dead one then a faithful statement is a living one. Meaningful things cannot always be happened with facts. Only truth can be captured by the eye of faith. The faith of Jesus’ disciples and early Christian community explored the depth and the power of salvation of Jesus but their endeavors were too insignificant and not even necessary for the Judean and Roman historians of those days.
According to the narration of Mark’s gospel, now after leaving Capernaum, Jesus was going down to Jerusalem. To cut short Jesus’ public life, we can say that Jesus called his disciples in Capernaum, preached the kingdom of God and went to Jerusalem where he was executed on the cross. It is generally understood that the duration of Jesus’ public life was 3 years but it is not correct. It may be 2 years at the longest estimate or a year at the shortest estimate. His public life was very short. What could he do so many things in such a short period of time? It is natural that there is no record of Jesus’ public life both in Jewish and Roman history. Nobody gave importance to his ministry.
What we Christians have the misunderstanding today is rightly directed to this point. Many think that Jesus indeed did marvelous and magnificent work in his days. It is said he healed many sick people, fed more than five thousands with five loaves and two fishes, drove out demons etc, as he stirred up the entire Israel. However, Jesus did not have time to do such work. Captured by the kingdom of God, he lived and was executed on the cross ridiculously.
It does not mean that all statements of the gospels are statements of falsehood or exaggeration. It is a matter of faith and not necessarily the realistic incidence. If a realistic statement is a dead one then a faithful statement is a living one. Meaningful things cannot always be happened with facts. Only truth can be captured by the eye of faith. The faith of Jesus’ disciples and early Christian community explored the depth and the power of salvation of Jesus but their endeavors were too insignificant and not even necessary for the Judean and Roman historians of those days.
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