Jesus Preaches the Kingdom Message

Shortly after his baptism, Jesus began to preach: ‘The Kingdom of God is near.’ Disciples followed him as he traveled around Galilee and Judea. When Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth, he went to the synagogue, opened the scroll of Isaiah, and read aloud: ‘Jehovah has given me holy spirit so that I can preach the good news.’ What did that mean? It meant that even though people wanted to see Jesus perform miracles, the main reason he had received holy spirit was to preach the good news. Then he told his listeners: ‘Today this prophecy has come true.’

Next, Jesus went to the Sea of Galilee, where he met four of his disciples, who were fishermen. He invited them, saying: ‘Come with me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ They were Peter, Andrew, James, and John. They immediately left their fishing business and followed him. They went all over Galilee, preaching about Jehovah’s Kingdom. They preached in synagogues, at marketplaces, and in the streets. A large crowd followed them wherever they went. News about Jesus spread everywhere, even as far as Syria.

In time, Jesus gave some of his followers the power to heal people and to expel demons. Others went with him as he preached from city to city and from village to village. A number of faithful women, including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and others, took care of Jesus and his followers.

After training his disciples, Jesus sent them out to preach. As they traveled throughout Galilee, many others became disciples and got baptized. So many wanted to be disciples that Jesus compared them to a field that was ready to be harvested. He said: ‘Pray to Jehovah to send more workers to harvest the crop.’ He later chose 70 of his disciples and sent them out in pairs to preach all around Judea. They taught all kinds of people about the Kingdom. When the disciples came back, they were eager to tell Jesus what had happened. There was nothing the Devil could do to stop the preaching work.

Jesus made sure that his disciples would continue to do this important work after he returned to heaven. He told them: ‘Preach the good news all over the earth. Teach people about God’s Word, and baptize them.’