Paper 152 Overview: Events Leading up to the Capernaum Crisis

Jesus returned to Capernaum where more crowds gathered following news of the healing of the Kheresa lunatic. The story of his healing of the daughter of Jairus spread his fame further. Jesus became increasingly worried about how people focused more on his miracles than his spiritual teachings.

The feeding of five thousand people became a turning point in Jesus' ministry. After this miracle, people tried to make Jesus their king. Jesus refused their offer and retreated to pray alone in the hills. This event marked the end of his early teaching ministry and began the final year that would focus on spiritual truths.

When Jesus and his disciples returned to Bethsaida, a crowd was waiting for them. They had heard about the healing of the lunatic at Kheresa. There were also observers from Jerusalem looking for reasons to arrest Jesus. As Jesus was speaking to people, Jairus, a synagogue leader, begged Jesus to heal his dying daughter.

On the way to Jairus's house, a woman who had been bleeding for years touched Jesus's clothes and was healed. Jesus continued to Jairus's house where he brought his daughter back to life. After this, Jesus warned everyone not to tell people he had raised her from the dead, explaining that she had only been in a coma, but his followers believed it was a miracle.

Jairus was very anxious to get Jesus to his home quickly. When they arrived, a servant told them the girl was already dead. Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him into the house. The mourners laughed when Jesus said the girl was only sleeping.

Jesus went to the girl, took her hand, and told her to wake up. She immediately stood up and walked around the room. Jesus told the family to give her food since she had not eaten for a long time. Jesus explained to everyone that he had not raised her from the dead, but his apostles still believed it was a miracle.

Jesus and his apostles tried to escape for rest, but crowds followed them to a park near Bethsaida-Julias. By Wednesday, about five thousand people had gathered there. Some people were secretly planning to make Jesus their king.

Jesus asked his disciples to organize the people into groups of one hundred. He took five loaves and two fish, gave thanks, and began breaking the bread. The apostles passed this food to the crowd, and everyone had enough to eat. This was a genuine miracle where Jesus multiplied the food. After this event, many people stayed with Jesus, hoping to see more miracles.

After Jesus fed the five thousand people with just a little food, the crowd became extremely excited. They believed Jesus must be the promised Messiah who would give them bread just like Moses did for their ancestors in the wilderness. They shouted that they wanted to make Jesus their king.

Jesus climbed on a rock and spoke firmly to the crowd. He told them they only wanted him as king because he fed them, not because they understood his spiritual teachings. He explained that his kingdom was not of this world but a spiritual brotherhood with God as the ruler. This disappointed the crowd, and many stopped following him after this day.

The apostles were very upset after Jesus refused to be king and sent them away in a boat. Peter was especially disappointed and fell into a deep sleep as they rowed across the lake. He had a vivid dream that Jesus came walking toward them on the water.

In his dream, Peter asked to walk on water with Jesus but began to sink when he became afraid. Peter believed this dream was real and actually stepped off the boat into the water. Andrew, James, and John had to pull him out. Peter insisted for the rest of his life that Jesus had really walked on water that night and saved him from drowning.

The next morning, Andrew found Jesus by the shore with their helper, Mark. Jesus gathered all his followers and spoke to them about the kingdom. He explained that miracles would not win people's hearts - feeding people only made them want more food, not spiritual truth.

Jesus told them they had to stop focusing on material things and think about spiritual matters instead. He reminded them that performing miracles had only made religious leaders more suspicious of him. The feeding of the five thousand had marked the end of one phase of his teaching and the beginning of his last year, which would focus on deeper spiritual truths.

Jesus took his twelve apostles to rest at a believer's home in Gennesaret. The apostles were feeling discouraged because events had been moving too quickly for them to understand. They still held onto their old ideas about the Messiah.

Jesus explained to them why the crowd had drifted away - people were interested in miracles and excitement, not spiritual growth. He told them a parable about a sower to teach that only appeals to the spirit within people would create lasting changes. Jesus warned that religious leaders in Jerusalem were planning to stop him, and the apostles needed to be ready for difficult times ahead.

Jesus and the twelve apostles traveled to Jerusalem for Passover, but they went quietly to avoid attention. Jesus stayed in Bethany near Jerusalem and only went into the city once during the Passover celebration. The apostles learned how angry religious leaders were becoming toward Jesus.

After the Passover, they returned to Bethsaida. Jesus arranged to speak at the Capernaum synagogue the following Sabbath. He knew this would be the last time he would be allowed to speak there. This upcoming sermon would become a significant turning point in his ministry.