Arrival in Galilee and the beginning of His sermons.

(Matt. 4:13-17; Mark 1:15; Luke 4:14-15; John 4:43-45).

All four Evangelists narrate the Lord’s arrival in Galilee and the beginning of His sermons. Arriving in Galilee, He left His native town of Nazareth - witnessing that a Prophet has no honour in His own town — and settled in Capernaum. This was seen by Saint Matthew as the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy: “In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulum and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time hath he made it glorious by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:1-2).

Jesus was well received by the inhabitants of Galilee, as they too travelled to Jerusalem on the feast day and witnessed His deeds. Soon, reports on Him spread across the whole country. He travelled to synagogues and taught, beginning His sermon with the words: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” The remarkable thing is that John the Baptist used these same words to open his sermons. The New Kingdom, new order, which the Lord Jesus Christ came to install in people, were so distinct from their former sinful life, that it was indeed necessary for the people to leave everything of the past, and as though be born again through repentance ie. to change completely internally. Repentance is a complete change in thoughts, feelings and aspirations.

From the time the Lord returned to Galilee from Judea, Galilee became the constant location for His activities. This was a country not large in size but well populated, where not only Jews lived but Phoenicians, Arabs and even Egyptians. The fertile soil of this country attracted many settlers, who formed one people with the local inhabitants. Although the prevailing faith was Jewish, there were many heathens — hence Galilee was called heathen. From one point of view, this was the reason why there was such a huge religious irreverence from the people of Galilee, while from another - the reason why they were free of Jewish prejudices, particularly those concerning the Messiah. While the Saviour’s Disciples were Galileans, His other followers also walked freely among this fertile land. This might explain why the Lord chose Galilee primarily as the location for His ministry — and we can also indeed see that the Galileans turned out to be more receptive to His sermons than the Jews.