THE YEAR OF OBSCURITYa
Probably Part of A.D. 26 and 27
In all parts of the Holy Land (the first Perean Ministry, the first Galilean Ministry, the first Judean Ministry, the first Samaritan Ministry). §§ 24-36. This early ministry includes the baptism, the temptation, John's witness to Jesus, the first disciples, the first miracle and work in Galilee, the first work in Judea, the arrest of John, the work in Samaria, and the return to Galilee.
a The precise duration of this early ministry cannot be determined. Our Lord's baptism must have been at least two months before the Passover, and may have been some weeks or months earlier. Then the highly successful ministry in Judea after the Passover must have lasted several months ([John 3:22]; [4:1-3]). If the "yet four months" in [John 4:35] be understood to be not a common saying as to the usual interval between seedtime and harvest, but a statement that it was then just four months before harvest, that would make the Judean ministry extend eight months after the Passover. But this interpretation is upon the whole improbable, and we can only say that the opening ministry lasted several months. The time occupied makes very little difference for our understanding the events and discourses. All of the incidents during this period after the temptation are given in John's Gospel. But for the Fourth Gospel we should not know that Jesus did not plunge at once into the great Galilean Ministry.
§ 24. JESUS BAPTIZED BY JOHN IN THE JORDAN
Bethany beyond Jordan. Probably A.D. 26
| Mark 1:9-11 | Matt. 3:13-17 | Luke 3:21-23 |
| 9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John 4in the Jordan. 10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens rent asunder, and the Spirit as a dove descending upon him: 11 and a voice came out of the heavens, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased [see Ps. 2:7; Isa. 42:1]. | 13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.a 14 But John would have hindered him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 But Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer 1it now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all right- eousness. Then he suffereth him. 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened 2unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him; 17 and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, 3This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. | 21 Now it came to pass, when all the people were baptized, that, Jesus also having been baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon himb [see [John 1:32-34]], and a voice came out of heaven, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.c 23 And Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years of age. |
1 Or, me.
2 Some ancient authorities omit unto him.
3 Or, This is my son; my beloved in whom I am well pleased.