Part 9 (1/2)

Questions for Review

PART TWO

[Review the Questions with Part One.]

How many journeys are named with the later Galilean ministry? What was the first journey of the later Galilean ministry? The second journey? The third? The fourth? What two events took place with the tour in southern Galilee? What four events with the Gadarene voyage? What two events with the tour in Central Galilee? What three events with the retirement to Bethsaida?

SEVENTH STUDY

The Year of Opposition

From the Retirement to Phoenicia to the Anointing by Mary

PART ONE

I. =General Aspects of the Period.=

1. =It was a year, lacking one week.= Jesus did not attend the third pa.s.sover of his ministry. We find him at this time still in Galilee, and soon afterward leaving Galilee for ”the coasts of Tyre and Sidon” (John 7. 1-3; Mark 7. 24). Nearly a year later, on the week before the fourth pa.s.sover, we find Jesus at Bethany, where the anointing by Mary took place (John 12. 1, 2). Between these two pa.s.sovers came the year of opposition.

2. =It was a year of wandering.= During this period we notice that Jesus was in constant motion, staying only a little while at each place, and in succession visiting all the five provinces of Palestine. Notice the province referred to in each of the following references: John 7. 1; Mark 7. 31; Mark 8. 27; Luke 9. 51, 52; Mark 10. 1; John 10. 40.

3. =It was a year of retirement.= We do not find that Jesus sought the mult.i.tudes during this year, though in new places he was sought by them (Luke 11. 29; 12. 1). He seems to have chosen most of the time a secluded life, preferring to be alone with his disciples. See instances in Mark 7. 24, 32, 33, 36; 8. 22, 23, 26; 9. 30.

4. =It was a year of instruction.= He chose to be alone with his disciples, knowing that he was rapidly nearing the close of his life on earth; and he wished to instruct his chosen followers in the deeper truths of the gospel before he should be taken from them. His teaching in this period presented the spiritual side of truth and the doctrines of the cross. Notice how often during this year he foretold his own death (Mark 8. 31; 9. 31, 32; 10. 32-34; John 12. 7, 8).

5. =It was a year of opposition.= Nearly all the people had now forsaken Jesus and turned against him. Note the att.i.tude of the Pharisees. (Matt 12. 23, 24, 38, 39; 23. 23.) The Sadducees, who were the office-holding cla.s.s, are mainly referred to in John 11. 47, 48, 53.

The att.i.tude of the people. (John 6. 66.) Jesus was now rejected by the rulers, the leaders of the religious cla.s.s, and by the people.

II. =The Localities of the Period.= Beside the five provinces, Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Bashan and Peraea, two other lands or districts are named:

1. =Phoenicia=, called in the gospels ”the borders of Tyre and Sidon,”

narrow strip of territory between Mount Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea, northwest of Palestine.

2. =Decapolis.= The word means ”ten cities,” and refers to a region, partly in Bashan and partly in Peraea, wherein were ten important cities, not Jewish but Gentile.

In addition to the above we meet with names of eight cities:

3. =Caesarea Philippi=, at the foot of Mount Hermon, in the province of Bashan.

4. =Bethsaida=, on the northeastern sh.o.r.e of the Sea of Galilee.

5. =Capernaum=, on the northwestern sh.o.r.e of the Sea of Galilee.

6. =Bethabara=, in the Jordan Valley, east of the river, south of the Sea of Galilee.

7. =Jericho=, in the Jordan Valley, west of the river, near the head of the Dead Sea.

8. =Jerusalem=, the capital.