Great Galilean ministry
The great Galilean ministry
Mark 1:16 to 6:6; Luke 4:31 to 8:56 · 13 stops · 15 readings
The year the crowds came: Capernaum as a base, the lake crossed and recrossed, a sermon on the mountain, and the towns of Galilee walked three times over.
This is the busiest stretch of the ministry and the most local: almost all of it happens within a day's walk of Capernaum. It opens on the shore with four fishermen called away from their nets, and moves straight into a Sabbath in the Capernaum synagogue, a man delivered in front of the congregation, and Peter's mother-in-law healed in a house that becomes the base of operations. From there the pattern repeats: tours out through the villages of Galilee and back, a paralytic lowered through a roof by friends who cannot get through the crowd at the door, a night of prayer on the hillside before twelve are chosen out of the wider group of disciples, and the long sermon on the mountain that sets out what the kingdom asks. A centurion's servant is healed at a distance, a widow's only son is raised at the town gate of Nain, and the parables are taught from a boat pushed out from the beach because the shore is too crowded. The lake is crossed and recrossed: a squall stilled at night, a man in the Gerasene tombs restored and sent home, Jairus's daughter raised while a woman in the crowd is healed on the way. It ends back at Nazareth, where the hometown takes offence and he can do little.
The stops
Sea of Galilee
High confidenceSea of Galilee center · Northern Israel
- Jesus finds four fishers of men in four fishermenMark 1:16-20; Matthew 4:18-22; Luke 5:1-11
Capernaum
High confidenceTell Hum / Kfar Nahum · Sea of Galilee, north shore
- The excitement in the synagogue because of the teaching of Jesus and the healing of a demoniac on the SabbathMark 1:21-28; Luke 4:31-37
- He heals Peter's mother-in-law and many othersMark 1:29-34; Matthew 8:14-17; Luke 4:38-41
Galilee
DebatedRepresentative point in Lower Galilee · Northern Israel
- The first tour of Galilee with the four fishermenMark 1:35-39; Matthew 4:23-25; Luke 4:42-44
Capernaum
High confidenceTell Hum / Kfar Nahum · Sea of Galilee, north shore
- Thronged in Capernaum, he heals a paralytic lowered through the roof of Peter's houseMark 2:1-12; Matthew 9:1-8; Luke 5:17-26
Pool of Bethesda
High confidenceBethesda pools archaeological complex · Jerusalem Old City
Mountain near Capernaum
DebatedRepresentative Galilean hillside · Northwest Sea of Galilee
- After a night of prayer, Jesus selects twelve apostlesMark 3:13-19; Luke 6:12-16
Traditional Sermon on the Mount area
DebatedMount of Beatitudes · Northwest Sea of Galilee
- The sermon on the mount. Privileges and requirements of the messianic reign. Christ's standard of righteousnessMatthew 5:1-7:29; Luke 6:17-49
Capernaum
High confidenceTell Hum / Kfar Nahum · Sea of Galilee, north shore
- Jesus heals a centurion's servant at CapernaumMatthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10
Nain
High confidenceNein · Lower Galilee
- He raises a widow's son at nainLuke 7:11-17
Sea of Galilee
High confidenceSea of Galilee center · Northern Israel
- The first great group of parablesMark 4:1, 2; Matthew 13:1-3; Luke 8:4
- In crossing the lake, Jesus stills the tempestMark 4:35-41; Matthew 8:18, 23-27; Luke 8:22-25
Gergesa/Gerasa lakeshore vicinity
ProbableKursi · East shore of Sea of Galilee
- Beyond the lake Jesus heals the gerasene demoniacMark 5:1-20; Matthew 8:28-34; Luke 8:26-39
Capernaum
High confidenceTell Hum / Kfar Nahum · Sea of Galilee, north shore
- The return and the healing of Jairus' daughter and of the woman who only touched Christ's garmentMark 5:21-43; Matthew 9:18-26; Luke 8:40-56
Nazareth
High confidenceNazareth · Northern Israel
- The last visit to NazarethMark 6:1-6; Matthew 13:54-58
The line drawn on the map connects these stops in narrative order. It is schematic: it does not claim to trace the exact road between them, and each place carries its own confidence rating.