The Public Life of Jesus: Everything You Need to Know
In the period of the three years in which Jesus made himself known in Galilee, many events took place, but the ones that stand out are the baptism in the Jordan River, the wedding at Cana, the preaching, the transfiguration and the Eucharist, all of this constitutes the public life of Jesus .
The public life of Jesus
The first event in the public life of Jesus was baptism. Jesus came to the Jordan River with the intention that John the Baptist, who was a relative of Jesus, since he was the son of Ana, cousin of the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus. After receiving the baptism, Jesus felt the Holy Spirit descend on Him in the form of a dove and a voice was heard, which was the voice of the Father in heaven and came to say: “This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I have pleased. Listen to him.” (Mt 17, 5). In this case it can be seen that the three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity have manifested themselves.
The wedding at Cana
Meeting Jesus and his mother in Cana of Galilee, Jesus performed the first miracle. They were attending a wedding and in the middle of the celebration they ran out of wine. Jesus’ mother informed him that they had no more wine and Jesus instructed the servants to fill six stone jars with water, each holding about one hundred liters, then proceeded to turn the contents of the jars into good wine.
More acts the public life of Jesus
Later, Jesus preaches during the reading in his town’s synagogue that he is the Messiah that Isaiah prophesied, narrowly escaping being killed by the angry mob, hence the proverb that no one is a prophet in his town.
At the beginning of his public life, he travels to Capernaum, where Jesus will recruit his first disciples Peter, James and John, after helping them find a large number of fish.
In the course of his preaching ministry, Jesus resurrects the daughter of Jairus. When the time comes, Jesus manages to recruit twelve apostles from among his disciples, including Matthew and Judas Iscariot. Jesus’ followers also include several women, such as Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna.
Birth of the faith of his followers
With these miraculous manifestations during the public life of Jesus, he made his glory known and his disciples believed in him. After that, Jesus performed many other miracles such as giving sight to the blind, making the dumb speak, healing those who suffered from leprosy, raise some dead, calm a storm, cast demons out of people, and forgive sins. Only God can perform miracles because he is almighty, so Jesus must be an earthly manifestation of God.
Jesus at all times preached the Gospel or the Good News, which is that God was his Father and our Father and we are all brothers. He also explained the Beatitudes, which are passages that praise the poor in spirit, the merciful, those who sow peace and those who have a good and clean heart. He preached with many parables, taking the examples of daily life.
The Transfiguration
Jesus and his disciples then travel across the Sea of Galilee, where he calms a storm and while in Gerasa, Jesus exorcises a man who was possessed by demons and those same demons enter a herd of pigs.
While in Bethsaida, Jesus performed the miracle of feeding five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two pieces of fish. Later, Jesus and his disciples travel to a mountain where Jesus meets the prophets Moses and Elijah and is transfigured.
This happened at some point in his preaching, during the public life of Jesus, when Jesus took Peter, James, and John and moved with them up a high mountain, where he was transfigured before them, so that his face became bright as the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
In the midst of these events, they were so happy that Peter said: “If you want, I will make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Mt 17,4). At that moment, a shining cloud covered them and a voice said: “This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased: listen to him.” (Mt 17.5). Jesus did this so that the faith of the Apostles would be strengthened, before the proximity of the Passion.
Preaching and Healing
As the ministry of preaching and healing during Jesus’ public life grows, he reaches out to sinners and outcasts, which included prostitutes and tax collectors, thereby earning the wrath of the Pharisees and religious teachers. When Jesus heals a sick woman, a Pharisee rebukes him for performing a healing on the Sabbath. Jesus calls him a hypocrite and tells him that he would untie her ox to give her straw or water on the Sabbath.
Jesus also befriends the tax collector Zacchaeus, convincing him to return the money to the people he has extorted. While preaching the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus befriends a little girl and tells her disciples not to forbid little children from coming near him.
the eucharist
Jesus and the disciples later travel to Jerusalem so they can fulfill their mission to die on the cross for the sins of mankind. Jesus draws the attention of the Pharisees, who are the Jewish religious leaders, and also draws the attention of the Romans, after expelling the moneychangers from the temple. While in Jerusalem, Jesus commends a widow for offering her support in two copper coins. He also teaches there the parable of the tenants and the payment of taxes to Caesar.
During the Jewish Passover celebration, Jesus attended the Last Supper with his Apostles. Before starting, he took a towel, poured water into a basin (deep plate) and began to wash their feet. With this he gave us an example of humility and how we have to help and serve each other.
After these events, it was time to institute the Eucharist. For this, he took the bread and gave it to his Apostles saying: “Take, this is my Body”. Taking the cup, he said a prayer of thanks and said: “This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, shed for many.” (Mk 14, 22-24). Also at the Last Supper, Jesus warns his disciples of his imminent betrayal and death. Judas conspires with the religious leaders to betray Jesus.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is betrayed by Judas, who identifies him to the Roman patrol by kissing Jesus on the cheek, hence the expression about the kiss of Judas to refer to traitors, and is captured by the Roman authorities. and beans.
During the arrest procedure, Peter denies knowing Jesus three times before the rooster crows. The next day, Jesus is condemned by the religious leaders. He is then brought before Pontius Pilate, who indicates that Jesus has committed no crimes against the Roman Empire and sends him to Herod, who returns him to Pontius for trial. Then while Pilate exonerates Jesus from wrongdoing, the leaders and the crowd demand Jesus’ death. Pilate releases Barabbas and reluctantly sentences Jesus to crucifixion.
With these facts and the choice of Peter as the foundation stone, he founded the Church and faithfully fulfilled the will of the Father at all times.
Catechism Questions
Usually, we ask ourselves the following questions in catechism meetings, to remember our beloved Father and to affirm ourselves more in our faith. What is the public life of Jesus called ? The public life of Jesus is called the years he spent preaching the gospel until his departure from this world.
What did Jesus do during the years of his public life? In the years of his public life, Jesus presents himself to the people as the promised Messiah and Son of God, who was sent by the Father, dedicated himself to preaching the doctrine of salvation and laid the foundations for the Catholic Church, confirming his mission with the holiness that he observed during his life and the miracles that he performed; at the end of his public life he died on the cross to redeem our sins and be able to save men, but on the third day he rose again.
How can we summarize the life of Jesus? We can summarize the life of Jesus in the faithful fulfillment of the will of the Father, to carry out the redemption of the world.
Christian Life Purposes
All Christians must make resolutions to fulfill during our lives that can be of a very different nature, but there are two that all followers of Jesus should practice frequently, which are:
- Read every day a passage from the Gospel about the life of Jesus, meditating on it.
- Imitate the life of Jesus in our relationships with other men.