Dr. Doug Bookman

Note: Jesus’s claim concerning Himself was two-fold: a) Messiah/Christ (i.e., the promised Deliverer); and b) the Son of the Living God (i.e., God come in the flesh). As difficult as these were, Jesus was persistent and strategic in setting them before the Jewish people of His day. Furthermore, as He made these claims, He performed miracles to validate the truth of His claim as a divine messenger, and, thus, the truth of those terribly incredible claims.

A. The First Recorded Tour Through Galilee

Scripture: Matthew 4:23-25; Mark 1:35-39; and Luke 4:41-44

Notes: These passages were read earlier in another connection. The point here is that these are the narrative of Jesus’s first tour through the villages and synagogues of Galilee. This tour came early in the Galilean campaign.

B. The Second Recorded Tour Through Galilee

Scripture: Luke 8:1-3

Notes: Only Luke narrates the second tour, and that only briefly.

Questions/Observations: Notice that although some of these men will be later called as apostles, at this point that has not happened; they are traveling with Jesus as His disciples.

C. The Third Recorded Tour Through Galilee

Scripture: Matthew 9:35; Mark 6:6-13; and Luke 9:1-6

Notes: This tour occurs late in the 18-month Galilean ministry, after the nation had determined to disbelieve and after it had become clear that, because of the anger of Jesus’s Pharisaic enemies, He did not have much more time before they would find a way to silence Him.

Questions/Observations:

1. This sending out of the 12 was a clever strategy devised by Jesus in light of the shortness of time. It enabled Him to more speedily saturate the land one more time with His claims – and with miraculous evidence of the validity of those claims.
2. Notice especially the remarkable commission given by Jesus as he sent out the 12 before Him as part of this third and final tour of Galilee (Matthew 10:5). This commission must be understood against the backdrop of those exigencies (what was required in that situation) and Jesus’s strategy to accomplish His purpose in spite of those pressures.

Adapted from the Life of Christ study notes of Dr. Doug Bookman, professor of New Testament Exposition at Shepherds Theological Seminary (used by permission).

Dr. Doug Bookman

A. Jesus Calls Men to Be His Disciples

Scripture: Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20

Notes: Given the cultural/religious dynamics of first century Judaism, the calling of disciples was very strategic. By definition, a disciple was one who (for a season) abandoned home and profession and traveled with a rabbi. By day the disciples would find day-work and then put the wages in a common bag; this is how the rabbi lived, and this is why rabbis were generally itinerant – they were following the work (harvest, shipping, etc.).

Questions/Observations:

1. Who are the four men Jesus calls in these passages?
2. What is it Jesus asks of these men?
3. Why is it strategic to Jesus’s ministry to have disciples with Him as He travels?

B. Jesus Travels with His Disciples

Scripture: Matthew 4:23-25; Mark 1:35-39; and Luke 4:42-44

Notes: The point to be made here is simply that as Jesus travels in Galilee (which He does almost constantly), He is accompanied by His disciples.

Questions/Observations: Notice that although some of these men will be later called as apostles, at this point that has not happened; they are traveling with Jesus as His disciples.

C. Jesus Re-commissions Disciples Who Had Grown Careless

Scripture: Luke 5:1-11

Questions/Observations:

1. Some regard this passage as parallel to those under section A above. Compare this passage with those. What indications can you find as to whether they are indeed parallel?
2. In that regard, notice the distinction (slight, but important) between the commission Jesus gave these four disciples in the Matthew/Mark passages and the commissions He gives here.

D. Jesus calls Matthew to be His disciple

Scripture: Matthew 9:9-13

Notes: These accounts are probably representative; there were others whom Jesus called to follow Him as His disciples.

E. Jesus Selects 12 from among His Disciples to be His Apostles

Scripture: Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 6:12-16

Notes: This is rather late in His Galilean ministry, and Jesus does this because His enemies are growing sufficiently enraged and emboldened that Jesus knows the time He will have to move about freely in Galilee is short.

Questions/Observations:

1. How did Jesus spend the night before He chose these twelve?
2. According to Mark, what was Jesus’s purpose in choosing these twelve, and how did He empower them to accomplish that purpose?
3. It is very important to understand the significance of the term apostle in the culture of the New Testament – and thus the significance and intent of choosing these men and designating them as apostles.

Adapted from the Life of Christ study notes of Dr. Doug Bookman, professor of New Testament Exposition at Shepherds Theological Seminary (used by permission).

Dr. Doug Bookman

A. Regarding the Role of Miracles

Scripture: Mark 1:40-45; Mark 3:7-12; Luke 4:31-37; and Luke 4:40-41

Notes: Each of these passages emphasizes the role of miracles, some in a general description of Jesus’s ministry and others in the telling of a specific miracle story. Notice especially the reaction Jesus’s miracles produced in the multitudes.

Questions/Observations:

1. Why do you think Jesus reacted as He did to the declaration of His identity by demons?
2. Notice the instruction Jesus gave to the healed leper in Mark 1:44. Why do you think He made this demand of the man?
3. Notice as well that in the next pericope (section) Jewish leaders from far away were there to catch Him in His words (cf. Luke 5:17). Might there be a connection between this story and that one?

B. Regarding the Purpose of Miracles

Scripture: John 3:2; John 5:17-22, John 5:36; Acts 2:22; and Acts 10:38

Notes: Notice what these verses suggest concerning the purpose of God in the miracles done by Jesus.

Questions/Observations: In this regard, it is important to distinguish between purpose and consequence. I would suggest that there were many consequences or results of Jesus’s miracle, but as far as the testimony of Scripture is concerned, only one purpose. In the attempt to understand Jesus’s ministry, it is very important to comprehend what that purpose is.

Adapted from the Life of Christ study notes of Dr. Doug Bookman, professor of New Testament Exposition at Shepherds Theological Seminary (used by permission).

Dr. Doug Bookman

A. Jesus’ First Visit to Nazareth (Near the Beginning of the Galilean Ministry)

Scripture: Luke 4:13-22

Notes: This visit occurred early in Jesus’s Galilean ministry, after He had been gone for about a year. (That is, it was about a year earlier that Jesus had left to be baptized by John; as far as the record goes, He had not returned since.)

Questions/Observations:

1. Notice that Jesus returned to the synagogue “as was His custom”; it is my belief that the point is that this is the synagogue He had attended when He lived in Nazareth, and, therefore, these people knew Jesus and His family very well.
2. Jesus was recognized as a rabbi and invited to participate in the Sabbath service. Why do you think He was given that opportunity?
3. From what Old Testament passage did Jesus read? Do you think He chose that passage, or was the passage was chosen for Him?
4. How do you understand Jesus’s reference to the Sidonian widow and the Syrian leper? What is Jesus’s point, and why do the townsfolk react with such anger?

B. Jesus’s Second Visit to Nazareth (Very Late in the Galilean Ministry)

Scripture: Matthew 13:54-58 and Mark 6:1-6

Notes: These two passages narrate a visit toward the close of the Galilean ministry. Together, the two events provide an instructive microcosm of the Galilean ministry as a whole.

Adapted from the Life of Christ study notes of Dr. Doug Bookman, professor of New Testament Exposition at Shepherds Theological Seminary (used by permission).