The ministry of Jesus

1. The Ministryof Jesus – 5th
February 2016
“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call
the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13).
Many people including some Christians, think that the primary purpose of Jesus coming to
earth was to heal the sick or perform other signs and wonders to demonstrate that He was
God. As important as these tasks were, they were secondary, because His mission was
preaching the truth of salvation. The real truth was somehow hidden and therefore with the
arrival of Jesus Christ he began to preach the Good News of mans salvation. This knowledge is
of vital importance for all of mankind to be saved because we are all sinners in some form or
the other!. Jesus said “That is why I have come.” (Mark 1:38). We can learn further as to the
primary purpose of Jesus coming from Matthew 9:13, “…for I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners.” To save the sinners who are lost or distanced from God’s relationship.
We can learn of an incident during Jesus ministry reported in Mark 1 where Jesus was praying
in solitude. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and
went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for
him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”38 Jesus
replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is
why I have come.”(Mark 1: 35-38). When Simon and the other disciples came to Jesus to
encourage Him in His ministry of healing, pointing out the fact that many people were looking
for Him, Jesus did not decide to stay in Capernaum and continue healing. But instead Jesus said
that it was time for Him to preach in other villages and townships. We can learn this when:
“Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also.
That is why I have come.” (Mark 1: 38). That is why I have come…
Specifically, Jesus came to preach the Good News of the gospel to the world. We can read from
Mark 1:14–15, “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good
news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent
and believe the good news!” We must know that the signs and wonders our Lord performed
testified to the truth of His message, but they were not ends in themselves. In fact, a miracle
benefits the person who received it. But for the people who observed the miracle, if they reject
the gospel the ultimate objective will be lost…to them it will simply be a magic performance.
Jesus preaching was the truth about the kingdom of God and how one may receive it by
trusting only in Christ. It formed the bulk of His message, and this message of faith and
repentance surpassed all of Jesus’ miracles in terms of importance. Simply being a listener or
being an observer was not sufficient. We need to believe and learn to live in accordance to His
teachings, because this message cannot be separated from His work of atonement. Jesus Christ
was the atoning sacrifice for the sin of mankind, who died and rose again demonstrating His
power over darkness…to save us from eternal damnation. He is the light of the world as Jesus
said in John 9:5,“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

2. As Christians one has to have absolute faith in Jesus Christ as one’s saviour because He “came
to seek and to save the lost” We can learn this in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek
and to save the lost.” He came to seek and save those of us who are lost because it is only
through Jesus Christ that we can receive our salvation and be saved. This salvation comes
through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who died for our sake by pouring out of His blood
“for many for the forgiveness of sins” We can learn this in Matthew 26:28,“This is my blood of
the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”.
Jesus came as both the messenger and the message—without the atonement; there is no good
news to proclaim. And when this good news is proclaimed accurately, people will read, learn
and meditate on His teachings and thus obtain a deeper understanding of the power and might
of the lord that we believe in. This knowledge enables us to pushes back our sin and sinfulness
thus be protected from darkness… This enables us to get closer to God by developing a close
fellowship with the Lord in prayer which is an absolute necessity for all Christians.
Jesus ministry was to make us aware of salvation and that it is made possible through our faith
in Him. He also brought the Good news that exemplifies our knowledge on sin and that we
need to repent and receive salvation for whatever sin we have done in our lifetime. We need
His forgiveness because there is a day that the lord is coming as we can learn from Isaiah 13:9,
“See, the day of the LORD is coming—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger, make the land
desolate and destroy the sinners within it”(Isaiah 13:9).
“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’
For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
(Matthew 9:13).