Title: The Merciful Lord
John the Baptist, who cried out to live a righteous life, and John the Baptist, who cried out to repent, were welcomed by the people, but they weighed heavily on the hearts of the ruling class, or establishment. John was imprisoned in the crypt of Machaerus by King Herod. Macherus Castle is a fortress built in the east of the Dead Sea. For John openly denounced Herod's misconduct by taking his wife away and taking his brother's wife as his wife. Wherever humans live, it is always the same, but he who condemns a tyrant cannot be perfect. Brave John was later put to death in prison.
It was at this time that Jesus made the decision to begin his mission.
He left the field associated with himself in the flesh and moved to Capernaum. I didn't go on a trip, I didn't go on a business trip. Relocation means closing the past life, that is, the life of a carpenter who was the eldest son to his bodily father Joseph, his mother Mary, and his brothers and starting a new life.
Jesus, who took over the profession of his father Joseph in Nazareth, grew up in the culture of the time. But now he has started a new life as the Son of God.
Jesus went to Galilee. Why did you go to Galilee?
The Sea of Galilee is 21 km from north to south and 13 km from east to west. The sea level in Galilee is 207 m below sea level. The average depth is 26 m, and the deepest part is said to reach 50 m. In the days of Jesus, there were many fishing boats. During the expedition, Josephus is said to have conscripted 240 fishing boats. The area around it is called Galilee, and it is the northernmost part of Palestine. Galilee is the most fertile region. Although the area is not very large, the population density is dense. Josephus said that there were 204 villages in the province, and the village population was never below 15,000. Galilee was also the place through which all the traffic routes of Palestine passed. So I was most easily exposed to new ideas.
Josephus says of the Galileans:
Galilee, which was crowded, receptive to new challenges, and open, was the most suitable place for Jesus' missionary field.
Jesus must have met many people through his life in Galilee. And among them, those who needed to spread the gospel would have been gathered. Sometimes we try to think that the god Jesus knew the future and grabbed people like a fortune teller. no. While walking around the lake, we talked, heard rumors, and looked around to find someone who would become a disciple.
There were two methods of fishing at that time.
One is to catch a fish by hanging it on a fishing line.
The second is to cast the net. In the case of throwing a net, there is a method of throwing a 3m round net and pulling it, and a method of pulling the two boats by extending a long tug net.
The nets Peter, Andrew, James, and John were using when they met Jesus are circular nets. When they received Jesus' call, they left everything and followed Him.
It would be unreasonable to say that I followed Jesus whom I first met. After moving to Capernaum, Jesus had fellowship with these pure fishermen, and when he told them to follow him, it is good to see that his conviction through friendship was expressed. Jesus' disciples were not very poor, but they were simple workers with no large social background. These were the people who did not have great social prospects. Jesus trained these ordinary people to become fishers of men.
And Jesus made his ministry concrete. Matthew 4:23
Jesus went through all Galilee
teaching in the synagogue
proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of heaven,
He healed all the sick and the infirm among the people.
Jesus did not sit comfortably in one place and do his ministry. He went through all Galilee. And he taught in the synagogue. He tried to show the way of life from the wrong beliefs and plastered religions. The central goal of Jesus was the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the kingdom where God's will has been realized, that is, the kingdom where God's rule and dominion have been achieved. This is the future and present reign of God who is growing in the present.
However, the Jews, who had been under the rule of other countries for a long time, had a realistic and political meaning that God's rule was the revival of the Jewish kingdom. But the kingdom of God that Jesus preached was purely religious. The disappointment of the people caused by this became one of the real causes of Jesus' crucifixion.
In the primitive church, they waited impatiently and anxiously, thinking that the kingdom of God would come soon with the second coming of Jesus.
However, as time passed, there was no second coming. Then I realized that the kingdom of God was already beginning on the earth with Jesus.
Until the Middle Ages, the church was understood as the kingdom of God, and in modern times ethical maturity was regarded as the kingdom of God. Today, based on an eschatological understanding, he strives to elucidate Christian hope in a hopeless world.
Soon, God's reign has already begun in various forms, whether visible or invisible, and the church is serving as a servant to build the kingdom of God, waiting for the Lord to come again.
Jesus healed both the sick and the infirm among the people.
Pity Jesus, I hope we can understand the compassion of Jesus. What did Jesus feel among the people struggling for survival two thousand years ago?
It was the tyranny of the kings who did not realize that it was the power that God gave them. He did the great thing of imprisoning the righteous John the Baptist without the slightest fear. Because John the Baptist rebuked him for the delinquency he had committed to gratify his lust.
The gap between the rich and the poor was very wide. Nevertheless, the poor were deprived of more than the haves. Religion was already blocking the way we could live together. I had to open a way to find the true meaning and hope of life in the swamp of frustration and despair.
Poverty brings many problems to people. Hunger, sickness, poor housing and clothing, especially humanity, were often ignored.
In short, this was a world completely different from the will of God. So Jesus called his disciples and began to work to restore the kingdom of God.
What kind of life are we facing today?
Nearest, children are getting caught up in a non-childish education. From academy to academy, they are becoming slaves to an inhuman life. The same goes for middle and high school students. No time for a healthy body or time for wholesome or creative activity is taken into account. Appearance is a problem, and possessions and clothing are taken into account. They are left in a wave of temptation that leads to a world of pleasure and lust. Exposure to unsuitable beverages, air and food.
People who believe in Jesus not only for food, clothing, and shelter, but also for the whole learning process, should be interested in raising problems, showing compassion, and helping them.
We need to show compassion for those who are not only able to receive food, clothing and shelter and education, but also those who are in the field of life where nothing is provided, and help them to experience the joy of liberation by providing a way to live.