Phase 2 – Ministry Foundations
Take time to build the spiritual foundations.
Table of contents
Section 24
Jesus' baptism by John
Bethany on the east side of the Jordan River
Matthew 3:13-17
Mark 1:9-11
Luke 3:21-23a
13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14But John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15But Jesus answered him, “Permit it for now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John permitted him.
9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
16After being baptized, Jesus immediately went up from the water. And behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17And behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
10Immediately as he was coming up from the water, he saw the heavens being split apart and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11Then a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
21Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus had also been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.” 23aJesus was about thirty years of age when he began his ministry,
Section 25
Jesus' temptation in the desert
Judean desert
Matthew 4:1-11
Mark 1:12-13
Luke 4:1-13
1Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3Then the tempter came up to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” 4But Jesus answered, “It is written,‘Man shall not live by bread alone,but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5Then the devil took him to the holy city, set him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,‘He will command his angels concerning you,’and,‘In their hands they will lift you up,so that you do not strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9And he said to him, “All these things I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written,‘You shall worship the Lord your God,and him only shall you serve.’ ”
12Immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness, 13aand he was there in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by Satan.
1Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. He ate nothing in those days, and afterward, when they had ended, he was hungry. 3Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4But Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ” 5So the devil brought him up to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6Then the devil said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I can give it to whomever I wish. 7If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8Jesus answered him, “Get behind me, Satan! It is written,‘You shall worship the Lord your God,and him only shall you serve.’ ” 9Then the devil brought him to Jerusalem, set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10for it is written,‘He will command his angels concerning you,to guard you,’ 11and,‘In their hands they will lift you up,so that you do not strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 12Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.
13bHe was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.
13And when the devil had finished every temptation, he left him until an opportune time.
Section 26
John's testimony about himself to the priests and Levites
Bethany on the east side of the Jordan River
John 1:19-28
19This was the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20He did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21So they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22So they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” 24(Now those who had been sent were from the Pharisees.) 25Then they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know. 27He is the one who comes after me, who ranks ahead of me, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” 28These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Section 27
John's testimony to Jesus as the Son of God
Bethany on the east side of the Jordan River
John 1:29-34
29On the next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ 31I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32Then John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained upon him. 33I myself did not recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
Section 28
Jesus' first followers
Bethany on the east side of the Jordan River & Galilee
John 1:35-51
35On the next day John was again standing with two of his disciples. 36As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” 37When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38Turning around, Jesus saw them following him and said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” 39He said to them, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and stayed with him that day; it was about the tenth hour. 40Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard this from John and followed Jesus. 41Andrew first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”), 42and he brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah; you shall be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”). 43On the next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” 44(Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.) 45Philip then found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the law, and of whom the Prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit.” 48Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!” 50Jesus answered him, “Do you believe because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree’? You will see greater things than these.” 51Then he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before long you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Section 29
Jesus' first miracle: water becomes wine
Cana in Galilee
John 2:1-11
1On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and Jesus' mother was there. 2Jesus was also invited to the wedding, and so were his disciples. 3When the wine ran out, Jesus' mother said to him, “They have no wine.” 4Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you or to me? My hour has not yet come.” 5But his mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6Now six stone water jars had been set there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. 8Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it, 9and the master of the feast tasted the water, which had been turned into wine. He did not know where it had come from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then the master of the feast called the bridegroom aside 10and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have drunk freely; but you have kept the good wine until now.” 11Jesus did this in Cana of Galilee as the first of his signs. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
Section 30
Jesus' first stay in Capernaum with his relatives and early disciples
Capernaum
John 2:12
12After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
Section 31
First cleansing of the temple at the Passover
Jerusalem, in the temple
John 2:13-22
13Now the Passover of the Jews was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple courts he found those who were selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and he also found the money changers sitting at their tables. 15So he made a whip of cords and drove them all out of the temple courts, along with their sheep and oxen. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16Then he said to those who were selling doves, “Take these things away from here; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” 17And his disciples remembered that it is written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18In response the Jews said to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do these things?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
Section 32b
Nicodemus's interview with Jesus
Jerusalem
John 3:1-21
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him.” 3Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can a person be born when he is old? Can he enter the womb of his mother a second time and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8The wind blows where it wishes. You hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from or where it is going; so it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9In response Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered him, “You are the teacher of Israel, and you do not understand these things? 11Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and we testify about what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12If I have spoken to you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I speak to you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven, except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. 14Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15so that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 16“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 19This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20For whoever does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his works may not be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes to the light, so that it may be evident that his works have been done in God.”
Section 33
John superseded by Jesus
Aenon near Salim
John 3:22-36
22After this Jesus went into the Judean countryside along with his disciples, and he spent some time there with them and baptized. 23Now John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salem, because there was much water there, and people were coming to him and being baptized. 24(For John had not yet been thrown into prison.) 25Now a discussion arose between the disciples of John and a Jew about purification. 26So John's disciples came and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, about whom you have testified, behold, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” 27John replied, “A person cannot receive anything unless it is given to him from heaven. 28You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but rather, ‘I have been sent ahead of him.’ 29He who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. 30He must increase, but I must decrease.” 31He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. But he who comes from heaven is above all. 32He testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33Whoever does receive his testimony has certified that God is true. 34For he whom God sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without measure. 35The Father loves the Son and has put all things in his hand. 36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life; rather, the wrath of God remains upon him.
Section 34a
Imprisonment of John
Perhaps Perea
Luke 3:19-20
19But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the evils that he had done, 20Herod added this to everything else: He locked up John in prison.
Section 34b
Jesus returned to Galilee
Judea → Galilee
Matthew 4:12
Mark 1:14a
Luke 4:14a
John 4:1-4
1Now when the Lord learned that the Pharisees heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2(although it was not Jesus himself who baptized them, but his disciples),
Section 35a
Discussion with a Samaritan woman
Sychar in Samaria
John 4:5-26
5So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there, so Jesus, wearied as he was from the journey, sat by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7When a woman from Samaria came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” 8(For his disciples had gone into the city to buy food.) 9So the Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for water to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock?” 13Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will certainly never thirst again. On the contrary, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I will not get thirsty again and have to come here to draw water.” 16Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back here.” 17The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have rightly said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18for you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband; what you have said is true.” 19The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, an hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such people to worship him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Section 35b
Challenge of a spiritual harvest
Sychar in Samaria
John 4:27-38
27Just then his disciples came back, and they were amazed that he was speaking with a woman. However, no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” 28Then the woman left her water jar, went into the town, and said to the people, 29“Come see a man who told me everything I have ever done. Could this be the Christ?” 30So they left the town and began coming to him. 31In the meantime the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat.” 32But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” 34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are already ripe for harvest. 36He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37For in this the true saying is verified: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
Section 35c
Evangelization of Sychar
Sychar in Samaria
John 4:39-42
39Now many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony: “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there for two days. 41And many more believed because of his word. 42So they said to the woman, “It is no longer because of your report that we believe, for we ourselves have heard, and we know that this is truly the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
Section 36
Arrival in Galilee
Samaria → Galilee
John 4:43-45
43After two days, he departed from there and went to Galilee. 44(For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 45When he came to Galilee, the Galileans received him because they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast, for they also had gone to the feast.
Section 37
Nature of the Galilean ministry
Galilee
Matthew 4:17
Mark 1:14b-15
Luke 4:14b-15
14bpreaching the gospel of the kingdom of God
17From that time Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.”
15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Repent and believe in the gospel.”
14band news about him spread throughout the entire surrounding region. 15And he was teaching in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Section 38
Child at Capernaum healed by Jesus while at Cana
Cana in Galilee
John 4:46-54
46Once more Jesus went to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. Now there was a certain royal official whose son was sick in Capernaum. 47When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for his son was about to die. 48Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will certainly not believe.” 49The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my boy dies.” 50Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” And the man believed what Jesus said to him and went on his way. 51As he was going back down to his house, his servants met him and told him, “Your son is alive.” 52So he asked them what hour he began to get better. They said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53Then the father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he believed, along with his entire household. 54This was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
Section 39
Ministry and rejection at Nazareth
Nazareth
Luke 4:16-31a
16When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom, and stood up to read. 17The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him, so he unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written, 18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,because he has anointed meto preach good news to the poor.He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,to proclaim release to the captivesand recovery of sight to the blind,to set the oppressed free, 19and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” 20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed upon him, 21and he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22They were all speaking well of him and were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph's son?” 23Then Jesus said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.” 24He also said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three years and six months and a severe famine came over all the land, 26yet Elijah was sent to none of them except a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28When they heard this, all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29They rose up, drove him out of the town, and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, to throw him down from the cliff. 30But Jesus passed through the crowd and went away. 31aThen he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee,
Section 40
Move to Capernaum
Capernaum
Matthew 4:13-16
13And leaving Nazareth, he went and dwelt at Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14so that what had been spoken by Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: 15“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, 16the people sitting in darknesshave seen a great light,and on those sitting in the region and shadow of deathlight has dawned.”