First Impressions

First impressions are important. Few will deny this truth. In this present study, I want to look at the first impressions of Jesus and what was thought of him by the people when he began his public ministry.

Luke 4:14-15 tells us this, “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.”

So then, even before he was glorified of all, a fame of him had gone out through those regions – word of mouth. But, a fame of what? All we are told to this point is that he had been baptized and that he went into the wilderness and was tempted by the devil, fasting for forty days.

There was certainly something to speak of, in regard to the baptism. For one, the Holy Spirit was seen, in a physical form, to descend upon the man. In addition to this, John had been speaking of one who would follow him – one who would perform greater works.

And just who were those people who came out to see John? There were locals who knew John, there were those who knew that Jesus was his cousin, there were tax collectors for Rome and even soldiers. There were people who knew and followed prophecy. There were people who wished to be free of the yoke of Rome, who eagerly anticipated the Messiah who would set them free.

Was John just a wild man in the wilderness? He was addressed as 'Master.' Folks did not give that title to just any passer-by. It seems that John was taken quite seriously even by the local government. It is not so much of a stretch then to think he may have had some religious training and some unmentioned connection to the religious bodies in authority. Was he a rogue Pharisee? Had he been a Doctor of the law before trading in his fine robes for animal skins?

John had a fame of his own. It might have seemed to the multitudes that he had passed on his fame to another. A point of interest about the baptism of Jesus is that he prayed. Most of us accept that Jesus was a powerful speaker. He had a way with words. I don't imagine that public prayer was present from everyone John baptized. In fact, I get the impression that the prayer of Jesus was a custom or ritual. I see it more as a practice of, say, a Pharisee or Sadducee or the Essenes.

The fame that went out abroad about the baptized Jesus most assuredly included his forty day wilderness trial. Was that a rite of passage? Was it an early Rabbinical trial by fire? It is worth consideration that, just perhaps, Jesus did not simply wander off into the hills to face his demons alone. For there to be a fame of such an accomplishment, let alone knowledge of the act, it is well within the realm of possibility that the trial of Jesus was monitored in some fashion and by some interested party.

According to Luke, when Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit, he took up a regular practice of teaching in the local synagogues. He was called Rabbi, after all. I can only imagine that those who were called 'Master' or 'Rabbi' were so called for a reason – that reason being that they were actually a bona fide Master or Rabbi.

The way we read this account in Luke gives the sense of immediacy – as of a young student who moves directly from graduation to his first job. Of course, Luke does not indicate whether the passage of time is in weeks or months. I think it would be interesting, at this point, to compare parallel passages from the other gospels.

In Matthew 4:12, 13 and 17 we see this first impression of Jesus: “Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, which is in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

This is the version found in Mark 1:14-15, “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

In the first chapter of the gospel of John, the fact of Jesus' baptism is inferred rather than directly stated. Also, there is no mention of Jesus' forty days in the wilderness. However, we do see a progression of events marked with the expression 'next day.' First, John preaches the coming of the one that is to follow him, fielding queries from the Pharisees, priests, and Levites.

Next, John sees Jesus and directs the attention of the people to him, saying that Jesus, specifically, is the man he had been preaching about. Then, on the following day, John says to two of his disciples, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Those two desert John and follow Jesus. They spend the night with him. Where he was staying and whether or not he was renting a room, I've no idea, but it was one of those two who began to spread the word that the Messiah had been found.

The one to whom the first report of a Messiah went was Simon, a fisherman on the sea of Galilee. Obviously, they were on the move as, on the next day, Jesus went into Galilee and found Philip who brought in Nathanael. And finally, the next 'next day' that we encounter is the one that brings Jesus and his new disciples to the wedding in Cana. It is that 'next day' that is intended to sum up the progression. I would ask at this point, why had Jesus' mother come all the way from Nazareth to attend this wedding – but that is another study altogether.

The Luke version concerns itself more with the topic of fame than do the other versions. Still, it is easy to deduce from any of the gospels that Jesus was being noticed, followed and talked about.

Tradition places the location of the Jesus baptism as Bethabara, sometimes thought to be Bethany beyond Jordan, but at any rate, east of the Jordan river where the Jordan was parted by Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha. It is thought to be a one day journey from Bethabara to Cana, but from Bethany to Cana, a trip of two to three days. Considering the generalized location of the baptism, where would the wilderness most likely have been?

We get this from Wikipedia, “These discussions began to take on a different shape in the late 1990s, when mine clearing operations east of the Jordan enabled archaeological digs to unearth an ancient church marking baptism on a site where the Jordan River flowed in the first century, matching the place marked on the Madaba map. The local Arabic name of the site is Al-Maghtas, "the immersion/baptism". This rapidly led to a growing consensus among archaeologists, scholars and church leaders that this site, just east of the Jordan River and slightly north of the place where it empties into the Dead Sea, is most likely to be the place where John the Baptist was baptizing.”

Both Bethany and Bethany beyond Jordan are near the Dead Sea and within walking distance of Qumran.

Whatever we do in life, people see us and form opinions, either good or bad. All of us make first impressions. Jesus was from the beginning known to be the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy. His life progressed prophetically, from his place of birth to his place of baptism and trial, to his place of burial. People talked about these things into the small hours of the night. They followed the life of Jesus with keen interest. No other first impression has lasted as long or endured such scrutiny. Jesus is, to this day, still “glorified of all.”