Thoughts for the Day

A Preaching Tour in Galilee

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighbouring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

All good work requires preparation. We cannot teach a subject until we have learnt it ourself. It doesn't matter if this is a teacher in a classroom or an online blogger. That isn't to say we can't change what we teach if we learn something new about the subject. Neither can we create something, say a cake, if we don't have the right materials. The sponge cake won't rise without some kind of raising agent, and the wall made of bricks needs some mortar to stand firm.

As Jesus starts his ministry in Galilee he is thirty years of age, and he has lived until now in Nazareth, some 20 miles (32 kilometres) south west of Capernaum. He was the eldest son of Mary and Joseph, for we know they had other children (Matthew 13.55-56), and he would have grown up accustomed to the carpenter's workshop. He would also have attended the local synagogue and been taught the scriptures and the Law from childhood. Over the years there would have been a growing knowledge of who he was and what God wanted from him. Was the death of Joseph one of the catalysts along with the work of John the Baptist (who was preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah), that moved Jesus to Capernaum to start his work? We will never know for certain, but it's possible. The time of preparation was now over and the work must start!

But there was also another kind of preparation needed. Throughout the Gospels we see Jesus withdrawing from the crowds to engage with his Heavenly Father, that is, with God. He started his ministry by going out to a deserted place to pray and and would find such a place of solitude again and again, culminating in the loneliness of the Garden of Gethsemane before his death. It was at these times that he aligned his plans with God, and was given the strength by the Holy Spirit to carry them out. Can we do less today?

Heavenly Father,
may we learn from our Lord Jesus
not to try and "go it alone",
but to gladly turn to You -
for guidance,
for instruction,
and for strength to carry on Your work
with our family and friends
and all those we meet this day.
Amen.