October 28, 2026. JESUS’ FINAL THREE YEARS ON EARTH

 

                                  JESUS’ FINAL THREE YEARS ON EARTH 

                                                                                                                                    

Today, I sit here reflecting on the three-year journey of JESUS and His twelve apostles as they went forth to preach. Those three years were truly a time spent “on the dusty road,” filled with countless hardships—enduring rain and sun, frost and snow, the biting cold of winter, and the parching, scorching heat of summer. During this time, Jesus and His apostles would often sleep at night in tents they carried with them. As for their meals, they were prepared daily by the apostles whenever they set up camp. Occasionally, they were invited to dine—like the time a Pharisee invited them to a meal, only to criticize Jesus for not washing His hands beforehand, as required by Jewish religious law.

 There were also times they were hosted by others, when the group visited the village of Bethany—the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary—or during the final week before the Master’s arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the villagers of Bethany and Bethphage welcomed Him as He passed through on His way to Jerusalem.

 Jesus and His apostles also shared a meal at the home of John Mark during the Last Supper. Mark was the youngest of the Master’s disciples, having begun to follow Him at the age of eleven. At the time of The Last Supper, Mark was approximately 13 years old. Later, he wrote the Gospel known as the Gospel according to Saint Mark.

Instances where the Lord was driven away:

Throughout His ministry of proclaiming the Gospel, the Lord frequently faced rejection and expulsion. On several occasions, angry crowds even sought to stone Him or cast Him off a precipice—either because His teachings challenged them or because He claimed to be the Son of God.

This is recorded in the greatest detail in the Gospel according to Saint Luke 4:16–30.

Following His baptism and the temptations, fasting for forty days in the wilderness, the Lord began His public ministry in the region of Galilee. He returned to Nazareth, the place where He had grown up. On the Sabbath, He entered the synagogue, stood up to read from the Scriptures, and opened the scroll to a passage from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 61:1–2). 

The text read: 

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor..." 

After reading, He rolled up the scroll and made a startling declaration: 

"Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." 

Initially, the people were impressed and marveled at the gracious words that came from His lips. But soon, they began to doubt, asking:

 "Is this not the son of Joseph?”

 They could not accept that someone they knew as a neighbor could be the Messiah. The crowd in the synagogue became enraged, rose up, and drove Him out of the town. They took Him to the brow of a hill, intending to hurl Him down into the abyss. However, the Master "passed through their midst and went on His way." Gospel according to Saint Luke 4:16-30.

Rejected by the people of the Gadarene region:

 After the Master healed two men possessed by fierce demons—and permitted the demons to enter a herd of swine, causing the entire herd to rush into the sea and drown—the local inhabitants, rather than rejoicing at the healing of the afflicted, were filled with fear and concern for their property. The entire town came out to meet the Master and implored Him to leave their territory immediately (Gadara, the land of the Gadarenes). Gospel according to Saint Matthew 8:28-34.

According to the Gospels of Mark 5:1, and Luke 8:26, this location is identified as Gerasa, the land of the Gerasenes or, alternatively, Gergesa, the land of the Gergesenes. 

Today, archaeologists and historians have pinpointed the specific stretch of the shoreline where the herd of swine plunged into the water: it is Kursi, located on the eastern shore of the Sea of ​​Galilee.

Rejected by the Samaritans: While on His way to Jerusalem, the Master instructed His disciples to enter a Samaritan village to make preparations for their stay. Because they saw that He was traveling toward Jerusalem—a point of deep-seated religious and ethnic conflict between the Jews and the Samaritans—the villagers flatly refused to welcome Him. James and John, in their anger, wished to call down fire from heaven to consume them; however, the Master rebuked them and quietly moved on to another village. Gospel according to Saint Luke 9:51-56. 

Instances when the Lord faced stoning:

In the Gospel according to John, the Jews in Jerusalem picked up stones on at least two occasions, intending to stone Him to death, as they considered His claim to be equal with God an act of blasphemy. 

The first instance occurred following a debate regarding Abraham within the Temple. The Lord declared to the Pharisees and the Jews: 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am!”

Upon hearing Him use the term “I am”—a divine designation—they immediately picked up stones to throw at Him. However, He withdrew and left the Temple. John 8:58–59.

The second instance took place during the Feast of the Dedication. While the Lord was walking in the Temple, in Solomon’s Colonnade, the Jews gathered around Him and asked if He was the Christ. He affirmed: 

“I and the Father are one.” 

Once again, the Jews picked up stones to stone Him. When the Lord asked for which of His good works they intended to stone Him, they replied: 

“We are not stoning You for good work, but for blasphemy: because You, being a man, make Yourself God.”

 They sought to seize Him, but He escaped from their grasp. John 10:31–39.

Despite being constantly driven away and having His life threatened, the Lord did not cease His mission of preaching—continuing until the moment He was arrested and ultimately crucified at the appointed time.

Oh, looking back at the path the Master walked during the final three years of His life, one cannot help but feel a profound sense of love and compassion for Him.

There were times when He was hailed and celebrated at the two occasions when He fed 5,000 people, not counting women and children, with only a few loaves of bread and some dried fish. There were times when He enabled the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the paralyzed to walk, the lepers to be cleansed, and the dead to be raised to life. Yet, there were also many instances where He was driven away or pelted with stones. And when He was led up to Golgotha, apart from the curious onlookers, how many of His loved ones were there to accompany Him?

Immediately after He was placed upon the cross, the first group to approach included:

John Zebedee, the only one of the eleven apostles to witness the crucifixion firsthand.

Mary, His mother.

Jude.

Ruth.

Salome, the mother of John.

At the moment He breathed His last:

As a fierce sandstorm arose and the sky grew dark, some were forced to retreat and seek shelter in the crevices of the rocks. Yet, at the very instant He breathed His last, exactly five steadfast individuals remained at the foot of the cross:

John  Zebedee.

Jude.

Ruth.

Mary Magdalene.

Rebecca, a woman from the city of Sepphoris who held the Master dear.

 In those final moments, not wishing for His mother to endure the agony of seeing her Son upon the cross, the Master asked John to take her back to Jerusalem.

 Dear Lord,

The brief account of the final three years of Your ministry cannot fully capture all that You experienced—the joys, the sorrows, the loneliness, and the depths of suffering that led You to cry out from the cross:

“Father, why have You forsaken Me?”

Your love for humanity transcended all earthly forms of love. You loved—loved to the absolute limit.

And there is no greater nobility than for one to lay down their life for those He loves.

Indeed, if You had died and not risen again, Your three years of preaching would be nothing more than a historical footnote. But You have risen, conquering even death—the very thing humanity fears most—and so, my faith and love for You are truly not in vain.