Paper 149 Overview: The Second Preaching Tour

The second preaching tour of Galilee spanned from October 3 to December 30, involving Jesus, the twelve apostles, and 117 new evangelists who traveled through numerous cities and villages across Galilee. During this period, Jesus' fame as a healer grew considerably as many people experienced restoration of health through their strong faith, though Jesus himself did not deliberately perform healing miracles. The tour was primarily designed to provide practical experience for the newly trained evangelists while also allowing Jesus to continue teaching his spiritual message to various communities.

This tour marked a significant phase in Jesus' ministry as he confronted the growing hostility from religious leaders while simultaneously deepening his followers' understanding of spiritual concepts. Throughout this journey, Jesus delivered important teachings on anger management, character development, personal contentment, and the evolution from fearing God to loving him as a Father. The tour concluded with a return to Bethsaida, where the group rested before separating for a brief two-week break, with only about 75 of the original 117 evangelists returning for continued service after this test of practical experience.

The second public preaching tour of Galilee began on Sunday, October 3, and continued for almost three months, ending on December 30. Jesus and his twelve apostles were joined by the newly recruited corps of 117 evangelists and numerous other interested persons as they visited multiple cities including Gadara, Ptolemais, Japhia, Dabaritta, Megiddo, Jezreel, Scythopolis, Tarichea, Hippos, Gamala, Bethsaida-Julias, and many other communities. Before departing, James Zebedee rather than Jesus administered the final charge to the new evangelists, as Jesus declined saying it was "not his province to do those things which others could acceptably perform."

During this tour, Jesus and John traveled together extensively while Peter and the other apostles each took approximately twelve evangelists with them to spread the message of the kingdom. The apostles would administer baptism to new believers as they were ready to enter the kingdom. Meanwhile, David Zebedee maintained a permanent headquarters for the work at his father's house in Bethsaida, serving as a clearinghouse for Jesus' work and operating a messenger service with forty to fifty messengers who carried information between workers in different regions. The entire tour was primarily designed to provide practical experience for the newly trained corps of 117 evangelists.

By the time the Bethsaida camp was broken up, Jesus' fame as a healer had spread throughout Palestine and surrounding countries. For weeks after they left Bethsaida, sick people continued to arrive looking for Jesus, and when they couldn't find him, they would learn his whereabouts from David and search for him. Although Jesus did not deliberately perform any healing miracles on this tour, scores of afflicted individuals found restoration of health through their strong faith. During this period, a peculiar and unexplained series of healing phenomena began to appear, with more than one hundred men, women, and children from various regions benefiting from "unconscious healing" by Jesus.

When these spontaneous healings occurred, Jesus would often remark, "I perceive that power has gone forth from me" or "I perceive that life has gone forth from me." The Midwayer Commission explains that these healings likely resulted from the coexistence of three powerful factors: the strong faith of those seeking healing for spiritual rather than merely physical benefits; the compassion and healing powers of Jesus as the incarnated Creator Son; and the will of the Universal Father working through Jesus. Jesus himself taught that in his presence, certain forms of profound human faith were literally compelling in the manifestation of healing forces, allowing people to heal themselves through their powerful faith.

Jesus had profound insight into human minds and hearts. Had his teachings been preserved exactly as he presented them, with only his earth life serving as interpretation, all nations and religions would have quickly embraced the gospel of the kingdom. However, the well-intentioned efforts of his early followers to restate his teachings to make them more acceptable to specific groups actually made them less appealing to others. This reshaping of Jesus' original message created barriers that continue to separate his teachings from many who might otherwise embrace them.

The Apostle Paul and other early teachers made two significant errors in their presentation of Jesus' message. First, they connected the gospel directly to Jewish theology, particularly through doctrines like the atonement—portraying Jesus as a sacrificial Son satisfying divine justice—which confused many honest souls in subsequent generations. Second, they organized Christian teaching too completely around the person of Jesus rather than his message, obscuring his actual teachings and making it difficult for non-Christians to accept them. The proper approach for teachers of Jesus' religion should be recognizing truths held in common with other religions while avoiding emphasis on differences, thereby fostering unity rather than division in spiritual understanding.

Despite Jesus' favorable reception among common people, the religious leaders in Jerusalem grew increasingly alarmed and antagonistic toward him. The fundamental difference in their approaches was evident: the Pharisees had formulated a systematic and dogmatic theology, while Jesus taught situationally, often using parables to illustrate specific points rather than establishing a rigid doctrine. When using parables, Jesus typically utilized just one feature of the story for his teaching purpose, and many misunderstandings have arisen from attempts to make allegories of his parables.

The Jewish leaders' opposition intensified following the conversion of young Abraham and the desertion of three spies who had been baptized by Peter and were now participating in the evangelistic tour of Galilee. Fear and prejudice increasingly blinded these leaders, hardening their hearts against the gospel's appealing truths. Jesus had earlier explained to the evangelists that while humans react differently in body and mind, the indwelling spirit responds uniformly to spiritual appeals, making spiritual unity possible despite human diversity. Unfortunately, many Jewish leaders had closed their hearts to spiritual appeals, and from this point forward, they actively plotted for Jesus' destruction, convinced he must be apprehended and executed as a religious offender who violated sacred Jewish law.

During this preaching tour, Jesus conducted limited public work but held many evening classes with believers in the towns where they stayed. In one of these sessions, a younger evangelist asked Jesus about anger, to which Jesus replied with profound insight. He explained that anger represents the failure of spiritual nature to control the combined intellectual and physical natures, indicating a lack of brotherly love and self-control. Jesus quoted numerous scriptures on anger's harmful effects, concluding that love should so dominate the heart that the spirit guide would have little trouble preventing outbursts of animal anger that contradict divine sonship.

On the same occasion, Jesus discussed the importance of well-balanced character, acknowledging that while most people must master some vocation, they should avoid overspecialization and narrow-mindedness. He cautioned that any virtue carried to extremes becomes a vice and taught temperance and consistency in all things. Jesus warned about how excessive sympathy could lead to emotional instability, enthusiasm might drive one to fanaticism, and how even courage and faith could lead to recklessness if not balanced with prudence. His own life exemplified these teachings, as he remained steady amid stress and storms, never wavering even when enemies laid traps or attempted to embroil him in debate, answering with enlightenment and dignity rather than resorting to ignoble tactics.

While visiting the group of evangelists supervised by Simon Zelotes, Jesus was asked why some people were happier and more contented than others. In response, Jesus explained that contentment is partially a matter of natural disposition, but largely depends on one's willingness to be led by the Father's indwelling spirit. He quoted extensively from scripture about finding satisfaction from within rather than from external circumstances, emphasizing how inner spiritual resources produce genuine happiness regardless of outward conditions. These references included wisdom about how "a little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked" and "a merry heart makes a cheerful countenance."

Jesus further taught that much human sorrow originates from disappointed ambitions and wounded pride. While people have a duty to make the best of their lives through sincere effort, they should cheerfully accept their situation once they have done their best, using their ingenuity to maximize what they have rather than lamenting what they lack. He cautioned against seeking "false peace and transient joy," encouraging instead the pursuit of "assurance of faith and the sureties of divine sonship" which yield composure, contentment, and spiritual joy. Unlike those who viewed the world as a "vale of tears," Jesus saw it as the birth sphere of eternal and immortal spirits—"the vale of soul making" where genuine spiritual character is developed.

At Gamala, during an evening conference, Philip asked Jesus to reconcile the scriptural instruction to "fear the Lord" with Jesus' teaching about approaching the Father without fear. Jesus explained this apparent contradiction by describing the evolutionary nature of human understanding of God. He taught that in humanity's spiritual infancy, fear was necessary for people to learn reverence, but Jesus came to reveal the Father's love so that people would be drawn to worship through affection rather than compelled by fear. His mission was to transform the relationship from a king-subject dynamic to a father-child relationship.

Jesus outlined how the concept of "fear of the Lord" had evolved through the ages—progressing from literal fear and dread to awe and reverence. He sought to lead humanity further along this path, advancing from reverence through recognition and realization to genuine love. He illustrated this progression using the parent-child relationship, showing how children initially obey parents out of fear of consequences but mature into loving their parents for who they are rather than what they do. The Master emphasized that in the kingdom of heaven, there is no "high and mighty king" but rather a divine family with God as the universally recognized Father. This new understanding transforms worship from slave-like service to loving communion with a merciful defender and all-wise Father.

Following instructions from Jesus and with Andrew's approval, David at Bethsaida dispatched messengers to the various preaching groups with directions to end their tour and return to Bethsaida by Thursday, December 30. By suppertime on that rainy day, all the apostolic party and the teaching evangelists had arrived at the Zebedee home. The entire group remained together over the Sabbath, being accommodated in homes throughout Bethsaida and nearby Capernaum before being granted a two-week recess to visit their families or go fishing.

The brief time the group spent together in Bethsaida proved exhilarating and inspiring for everyone involved. The older teachers found themselves edified by the young preachers' accounts of their experiences in the field, demonstrating the value of practical ministry experience. However, only about seventy-five of the original 117 evangelists who participated in the second preaching tour survived this test of actual experience and returned for continued service after the two-week break. During this interim period, Jesus remained at the Zebedee home with Andrew, Peter, James, and John, spending considerable time in conference about the welfare and extension of the kingdom, preparing for the next phase of their ministry.