Paper 145 Overview: Four Eventful Days at Capernaum

Jesus and his apostles arrived in Capernaum where Jesus launched his first open and public preaching tour of Galilee. During these four days, Jesus performed many healings, including a mass healing of 683 people at sunset, which created much excitement but also complications for his mission.

Jesus became concerned that physical healing might overshadow his spiritual message of the kingdom. After the mass healing, he sought solitude to pray and later explained to his apostles that his primary mission was to teach spiritual truth, not to focus only on physical healing.

Jesus and the apostles arrived in Capernaum on Tuesday evening, January 13. Jesus spent three days instructing his apostles for their first public preaching tour. His sister Ruth visited him secretly one evening, and she was the only member of Jesus' family who consistently believed in his divine mission throughout his life.

Jesus was teaching by the seaside when crowds pressed close to him, so he taught from a fishing boat owned by Simon Peter. After teaching, Jesus directed the fishermen to a spot where they caught so many fish that their nets nearly broke. This was not a miracle but showed Jesus' knowledge of nature and fish habits.

David Zebedee and his helpers were amazed by the catch and decided to follow Jesus from that day forward. Though Jesus didn't perform a miracle, his followers always viewed this event as miraculous because they were impressed by the abundance of fish captured under his direction.

On the Sabbath afternoon, Jesus preached about "The Will of the Father in Heaven" at the synagogue. He explained that religion is a personal experience between an individual and God, not just a group relationship. He taught that God loves each person individually, not just the entire nation of Israel.

Jesus used teachings from the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel to support his message about personal religion. After his sermon, a young man with epilepsy had a seizure, and Jesus helped him recover. People believed Jesus had cast out an evil spirit, though it was just epilepsy. The news of this supposed miracle spread quickly, along with reports that Jesus had healed Peter's mother-in-law of a fever.

As the Sabbath ended at sunset, crowds of sick people gathered at Zebedee's house seeking healing from Jesus. According to Jewish teaching, they couldn't seek healing during Sabbath hours, so they waited until sunset. Nearly a thousand afflicted people assembled outside the house.

The sight of so many suffering people touched Jesus deeply. When someone called out for healing, Jesus appealed to his Father's will, and suddenly 683 people were completely healed of their physical conditions. This event spread Jesus' fame further, but he was concerned because he knew his mission was primarily spiritual rather than physical healing.

After the mass healing, the apostles were extremely excited, believing this was the beginning of the powerful kingdom Jesus had promised. However, Jesus withdrew from the celebration, which confused and disappointed his apostles. They couldn't understand his reaction to what they saw as a great success.

When Jesus finally returned, he simply told them, "Rejoice not that my Father is powerful to heal the body, but rather that he is mighty to save the soul." This statement puzzled the apostles even more. They went to bed confused about why Jesus wasn't as excited as they were about the healings.

Jesus spent much of Saturday night awake, concerned that physical healing might distract from his spiritual mission. Early Sunday morning, he went alone to pray for wisdom to balance human sympathy with his primary mission of spiritual teaching. He didn't want physical ministry to overshadow his spiritual work.

Peter, James, and John found Jesus and asked why he seemed troubled. Jesus spent four hours explaining his concerns, but they couldn't understand. Meanwhile, more crowds gathered seeking healing. When Andrew found Jesus and asked him to return, Jesus explained that his mission was to proclaim the kingdom, not just heal bodies. Despite the apostles' reluctance to leave the crowds, Jesus insisted they depart for other cities in Galilee to preach the gospel.