JESUS’ MINISTRY: FOUR BROAD STROKES

Jesus’ baptism by John marked the beginning of his public ministry. We can summarize the
main aspects of his ministry under four broad stokes: healer and exorcist, teacher of transformative
wisdom, initiator of a renewal movement, and prophet.

A. JESUS AS HEALER AND EXORCIST

Jesus both healed and exorcised. Not all spirit persons become healers and exorcists, but some
do and Jesus was among them. His contemporaries and he himself viewed these abilities as the
result of the Spirit’s power working through him.

The Gospels refer to healing and exorcisms in summary form as frequent and typical
occurrences. They also contain many individual stories of exorcisms and healings. In addition to
possessions by evil spirits, the conditions treated included fever, paralysis, withered hand, bent
back, hemorrhage, deafness and dumbness, blindness, dropsy, coma, and skin disease.

What role did Jesus’ healing and exorcisms play in his public activity? We can see them as deeds
of compassion. Jesus discovered he had the ability to heal and to exorcise. He used this ability
to help people because he was compassionate and forgiving. We can add, however, two other
reasons why Jesus healed people. First, Jesus associated healing and miracles with the coming
of the Kingdom of God and a time of deliverance. And second, a direct relationship to God.

B. JESUS AS A TEACHER OF TRANSFORMATIVE WISDOM

Jesus was regularly addressed as teacher during his lifetime by followers, opponents and curious
inquirers. He was a teacher of a way of transformation. What then is the wisdom or path that
Jesus taught? It is, first of all, an invitation to see God as gracious and compassionate rather
than a lawmaker, judge, and a policeman who demand strict compliance with his order.
Secondly, it is an invitation to a life that is more and more centered in God.

In Jesus’ teachings he most often appealed to ordinary human experience and observations
from nature. He used the usual form of earlier wisdom traditions like proverbs and parables.
Proverbs are short but insightful sayings. Parables are short imaginative stories designed to
communicate one central idea that usually reverses a prevailing notion.
C. JESUS AS AN INITIATOR OF A RENEWAL MOVEMENT

The remarkable features of the movement initiated by Jesus are the following:

1. Grounded in the Spirit. Communion with the Spirit enabled Jesus to perceive a different
way of transforming his society. The power of the Spirit was evident in the movement, in
Jesus, and in some of his followers.
2. Open and reaching out. Everybody was welcome. The group’s composition was unusual. It
included outcasts and poor people. Even women were welcome, something that was totally
unacceptable in a patriarchal society. It was a community of free persons, all equals.
3. Marked with joy. There were often meal celebrations. If the movement was joyful, it was
because the initiator was a joyful person. Jesus had the capacity to enjoy the simple
pleasures in life.
4. Spirit of compassion (malasakit). Jesus saw compassion as the true solution to the growing
internal division within the Jewish society and the worsening conflict with the Romans. It
was the only thing that could remove the distinctions between the righteous and the
sinners, men and women, rich and poor, Jews and Gentiles.

D. JESUS AS PROPHET

Jesus fits very well into the tradition of the classical prophets of Israel. The prophets of Israel
arose during periods of crisis when Israel was facing destruction from foreign powers. This
made the prophet’s message very urgent. There is a three-fold pattern that usually marked the
message of the prophets: accusation, threat, and call to change.

ACCUSATION. The prophets accused the leaders of directing Israel in the wrong way. The
leadership seemed only concerned with wealth, power, and religious purity instead of focusing
on the needs of the suffering poor.

THREAT. The prophets warned their society of judgment by God that can take the form of
military conquest and destruction.

CALL TO CHANGE. The prophets called Israel to repent, which means to turn or return, and
which referred primarily to a change in society as a whole, not just individual change. The threat
is made for the purpose of transforming society so that the future would be different. Hence,
the prophets did not speak of destruction. They also saw the crisis Israel was in as a time of
opportunity. If people change, the future would be promising.

Jesus identified with the prophets before him.

 THE KINGDOM OF GOD FOR JESUS

During Jesus’ time, the pronouncements of Isaiah were read, studied, and meditated on in
synagogues and schools (See Isaiah 52:7, 40:9, 35:5-6, 29:18-19, 61:1-2 and 58:6). If we read the
gospels, it is apparent that Jesus was familiar with many of the passages from Isaiah we noted earlier.
He used them many times. He must have been meditating on these passages. Isaiah’s proclamations
originally spoke of the good news of God’s kingly power freeing the oppressed Jews from the Babylonian
exile. In the gospels, Jesus addresses this good news of God’s kingdom to the people of his time.

1. THE KINGDOM AS GOOD NEWS

For some people, good news is no news. So different from many of us, Jesus announced good news. He
proclaimed a God who cares for the very concrete needs of his people. This is the basis of his
understanding of the kingdom.

Jesus echoes Isaiah’s dream of the kingdom. The kingdom of God is a new world. In it, people will
experience various life blessings here on earth. For Jesus and his contemporaries, the kingdom is
synonymous with salvation. Salvation did not mean escaping earth and going to heaven. It is rather,
living a beautiful, meaningful life on earth.

2. THE GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM DOES NOT ASK FOR PERFORMANCE

Our society is performance oriented. We always ask the question, “Ano ba ang magagawa mo?” “Kaya
mo ba ang kaya kong gawin?” We always demand something from the others. In the religious sphere,
we think and behave similarly. Think about the following statements: “Magpakabuti ka kung gusto
mong makapasok sa kaharian ng Diyos.” “Ang langit ay para sa mga mabubuti ang kalooban.” “Wala
kang karapatang pumasok sa langit.” Buhay ka pa’y nasusunog na ang kaluluwa mo sa impiyerno.”
These statements indicate how we put so much emphasis on what we can do as pre-requisite to the
coming of the kingdom. We look at ourselves as builders of the kingdom. This is as if the coming of the
kingdom depends primarily on us.

For Jesus, he spoke about conversion. He expects a person to change his/her way for the better. But he
did not think that our entry into the Kingdom depends solely on what we can do with our life. He saw
conversion itself as a gift coming from God. Jesus’ concern was, first of all, making people whole,
healing, comforting. Often, the gospels present that it was after people experienced Jesus’ healing
touch and comforting words that changes happened in their lives.

3. THE KINGDOM AS AN END TO POWER RELATIONSHIPS

Within a society where so much power is concentrated in the hands of a few, the tendency for massive
oppression is greater. This seems to be the case in the Philippines. The few powerful people are lording
it over the masses. Many common people are trying to grab a share of this power in order to improve
their economic, political, and social standing by showing their “loyalty” to the power-holders. These
people are usually branded as sipsip. They enjoy the advantages of being close to power-holders but are
criticized by many for their blind loyalty. This “loyalty” is that kind that makes a person subservient to
the will and whims of the powerful.

Relationships based on power are oppressive. They are also dehumanizing for both victim and the one
who oppresses. We might have heard some people angrily say: “Ginagamit lang nya tayo.” This is a
serious statement. When you use somebody, you treat the person as a thing. When the powerful
imposes his/her will on the powerless, the latter becomes less free, less responsible, less creative, and
therefore treated as a lesser human being with lesser rights and privileges. The oppressor, likewise,
becomes less a human person in the sense that he/she does not behave as one. We are human beings
only insofar as we respond to the call of love.

The true basis of human relationship for Jesus was compassion (malasakit). As God accepts people for
what they are, so we are called to do the same.

4. THE KINGDOM IS OFFERED TO ALL

Who usually love to distinguish one group of people from another? They are those who have so much
concern with rank and status- those who want to use their status to gain or maintain advantage over
others. The advantage may be economic, political, social, cultural, or even religious. Distinctions are
used many times for selfish ends.

Jesus understood the kingdom of God as solidarity with all persons. Solidarity is based on compassion –
that emotion that rises from deep within us at the sight of somebody suffering or in need. Compassion
made Jesus love people because they are persons, not because of their wealth, class, and goodness. He
did not love people for what he could get. On the contrary, he never gained the respect and friendship
of most of the influential when he chose to deal with the rabble of his society.

5. THE KINGDOM AS FUTURE AND PRESENT

The kingdom as understood by Jesus has future and present aspects. In talking about these aspects of
the kingdom, some theologians use the seemingly contradictory statement “already but not yet.” The
kingdom is the same time a present and future reality.

There are texts in the gospels indicating that the kingdom of God is something that takes place in the
future, see Lk. 13:29, Mk. 14:25, Mt. 6:10. At the same time that Jesus was speaking of the kingdom as a
future event, he indicated also that is is somehow present, see Lk. 17:20-21.

CONCLUSION: THE KINGDOM IS A MESSAGE ABOUT GOD’S GRACIOUSNESS

The Kingdom of God is a message about God relating graciously (nagmamagandang-loob) with his
people. God is concerned with people (makatao). He is on the side of human beings, especially the
powerless (ang masa). This is why Jesus was so at ease with calling God abba, itay, tatay. Many of the
parables of Jesus unabashedly point to this idea of God.