The First 24: One Man. One Mission. One Day.
How One Day Changed Everything — Part 1
Go behind the scenes of the first 24-hour day in the public ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. The day began with his entrance into the fishing village of Capernaum on the shore of the Sea of Galilee; it ended when he left the region 24 hours later. After that, nothing was ever the same.
This online multi-part series, like the TV series “24”, is the story behind the story of the day when everything changed.
The Following Takes Place on Saturday Morning
A Grand Entrance?
Jesus’ entrance into the fishing village was the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the world. It was an opening salvo. It was big. It would be earth-quaking. The implications of what he said and did that day still ramify in our day. But on that first day of ministry, Jesus walked into Capernaum, and there was no one there.
Yet, in only a few hours, crowds will swarm around him. There will be scores of sick people, demon-possessed sufferers, curious onlookers, and relentless critics who come to see him. Some will be there to watch him. Some will experience a healing touch or witness one of his powerful voice commands over the demons. In a sinister move, some of the religious elite will listen to him and begin to gather evidence against him. And soon enough, Jesus will be overwhelmed by the press of people trying to see, hear, or touch him. This happens within the first few hours of his public ministry, as recorded in the Gospel of Mark.
Three years later, Jesus entered Jerusalem to great fanfare, loud cheers, and the waving of bright green palm branches. The long-awaited King would finally arrive, riding on a colt. But now, in the quiet village of Capernaum, there are no cheering crowds to welcome him. There is no commotion or celebration. Has a more significant historical figure ever made a less auspicious entrance?
This wasn’t the first time Jesus had come to Capernaum. People were acquainted with him. They had seen him before. He was known as Jesus of Nazareth — a town only two dozen miles away. Maybe they knew who he was. But in a larger sense, they didn’t know what he was. And they never expected what would happen on this first day.
Major Turning Point
Something had changed in Jesus’ manner and momentum to bring him to the fishing village that Sabbath morning. A turning point seems to have occurred in his life, perhaps only months earlier. He was always bold in his beliefs and focused on God’s purpose. But recently, something happened to him that changed him, or we could say, charged him. He was baptized in the Jordan. And whatever else can be said of that experience at the Jordan, eighty miles south of Capernaum, it initiated and propelled him into his mission.
In other words, baptism was a defining moment for Jesus. In that single event, Jesus saw the Holy Spirit descend on him in the form of a dove. And then he heard the voice of his Father in heaven speak to the masses and affirm him as the Son of God. They were all there in one place — the three members of the Holy Trinity: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Remarkably, this moment in the Bible is the only place where all three persons of the Trinity appear in their personage and can be seen or heard. We can do our best to understand this eternally historic moment if we believe what the gospel writers tell us about it: Jesus emerged from the waters of the Jordan (John had just baptized him); the Spirit, as a dove (Luke says that the Spirit came in bodily form), went over the waters of the Jordan and descended upon him, the Son; and, from the opened heavens, the Father’s voice, clear and confident, spoke over him, “This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11)
It is a stunning occurrence because, while we know that the Trinity is an essential doctrine of the Christian faith, no one can define it fully or adequately. It is a mystery. The word Trinity is never mentioned in the Bible. No one in history had ever seen the Trinity.
Until now.
Here, at the baptism of Jesus, the Son of God, the Holy Spirit of God, and God the Father, to the extent we can fathom this moment, are all gathered in one place.
This must have changed Jesus or, as I said, charged him. The sense of divine community and power he received and shared with the Father and the Holy Spirit undoubtedly empowered him with everything he would need for his ministry. He did not receive anything at his baptism that he did not already have. He wasn’t completed by it. He wasn’t ‘topped off’ with power and vision with it. But something happened at the Jordan that needed to happen for him to begin. He was released, fully empowered for the work ahead.
The experience in the Judean wilderness came next, and with it, a one-on-one meeting with the Devil. If the Devil thought that Jesus would be weakened by hunger or tempted by insecurity, the Evil One was very disappointed. Jesus of Nazareth emerged from the prolonged period of temptation and privation full of purpose and confidence. Jesus not only survived that ordeal; he thrived through it. The taunts and trials of the Devil did not defeat him. The temptations steeled him; they sharpened him.
At his baptism, Jesus was forever attuned to the presence and purpose of God.
And though no one was there to greet him when he came to the small town of Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, he was ready, willing, and able to engage the people and begin his work.
Next Episode: The Message That Changed the World
This post is adapted from the author’s new book, The First 24, a 24-chapter investigation into the first 24 hours of Jesus' public ministry told in 24 verses in the Gospel of Mark (1:21–45) The book is available on Amazon. Visit the Author’s Amazon Page for more information here.
