The King's Ministry

As Jesus prepared to leave Capernaum to continue His ministry elsewhere, He was confronted by those that wanted Him to remain there. “And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them. And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent. And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee (Luke 4:42-44).” The itinerant ministry of Christ on earth was not confined to one location. Jesus was always on the move, because He had a limited time of three years to complete His mission. Jesus ministry on earth seemed to follow certain patterns. We can learn from these and pattern ourselves after Jesus' example. There are three things that were characteristic of Jesus ministry on earth. “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people (Matthew 4:23).”

The first of these is teaching. Jesus was in the synagogue every sabbath day teaching those that attended those services. When Jesus returned to the Father He handed off that teaching ministry to His disciples. If you are a Christian then you are a disciple and you have this commission as well. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations... (Matthew 28:19).” For every person that has a Christian background and understand the fundamentals of the gospel there are scores more that have never heard. Others think they know what it means to be a Christian need it to be explained step by step. Each Christians should follow Christ in teaching others His gospel of the kingdom.

The next thing that characterized the King's ministry is preaching. Preaching is simply proclamation. This differs from teaching in that it is not interactive. Some people need to be told what they need and challenged to commit to Christ. Others need to be warned that “...the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).” For the individual Christian it is telling your story – witnessing to what Jesus has done for you. There are some that God has specifically called to proclaim the gospel: evangelists and missionaries. But you don't have to be called to preach in order to proclaim the good news of Christ. You can simply tell those that need to hear the gospel the good news of Jesus. “And (Jesus) said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15).”

The third characteristic of the ministry of Jesus that we observe is His ministry of healing. Everywhere that Jesus went He met people in need. One of the most critical needs of people is caused by physical infirmity. Jesus saw the needs of those that approached Him and, in every case recorded in the gospels, He healed them. In the early church the Holy Spirit equipped men with the gifts of healing (1 Corinthians 12:28). Some believe that there are some that have this gift today. I do not believe in faith healers, but I do believe that God answers the prayers of His people by healing those that have been bound by disease or illness (James 5:14-16). Throughout the history of Christianity believers have taken the responsibility to build hospitals, leper colonies, and medical missions. These are still needed today. If you are a Christian in the medical field use your training as a means of reaching both the physical and spiritual needs of people. As for the rest of us, we should support those that serve through medical missions.

If you are a Christian you must yield your life to Christ to be used by Him to spread the gospel of His kingdom. Your King would have you follow His example by teaching and preaching the gospel, and by aiding others in expanding the gospel around the world through the use of medical missions. Go serve your King.