The Lord’s Manifestation of Himself to the World

The time had come for the Lord to reveal Himself to the world. Since this was no ordinary human matter, but a divine and all-provident one, it was preceded by intimations and testimonies from on high and by the solemn consecration of humanity in the God-man to a share in the accomplishment of the incarnate economy of our salvation. And we see that, at a voice from on high, the Forerunner of the Lord, John, comes forth from the wilderness and smooths the way of the Lord to the hearts of men by the preaching and baptism of repentance—urging all to make their paths straight and impressing on them that after him comes One mightier than he. To Him the Lord Himself also comes, and, while He humbly receives the baptism of repentance, He is solemnly consecrated in His humanity to His work by the visible descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him, and is attested by a voice from on high to be the Son of God, in whom rests all the good pleasure of the Father.

Since, having revealed Himself to the world, the God-man had to act humanly and among men, He was pleased first to undergo human preparation. And He underwent it in a forty-day fast, in combat with the devil the tempter, and in his victorious defeat.

Then the very revelation of the Lord to the world did not open all at once in its full power; but first the priesthood and the people are prepared to receive Him by the testimonies and direct indication of Him to His people by the holy John the Forerunner, – then the Lord accomplishes certain acts which it is fitting to call the vestibule of His entering the world with His work, such as:the selection of some disciples, – selection, because their calling came much later; and the selection and inspectionof a new place of dwelling; between whichthe miracle at Cana was accomplished by chance, having been obtained from justice by mercy; for it was recognized as such, for whichHis hour had not yet come.

And finally, the very revelation of Himself to the world was now accomplished, in Jerusalem at the Feast of Passover. There it behooved Him to begin His work according to the incarnate economy, that He might there also complete it. Here we see the Lord acting first in Jerusalem, then throughout all the land of Judea. Out of the many things, of course, that were accomplished here, Saint John transmits to us only several acts.

By cleansing the temple of merchants, the Lord wished only to draw attention to Himself. But by a parabolic explanation of the authority by which He does this, He indicated the path to those loving to go deeper into God’s ways, by which they could come to understand His entire work.

Then the Lord taught and performed signs. Both aroused faith in many, but it was not such as could be considered firm and one could rely on it.

Even distinguished men believed, and one of them, Nicodemus, came to the Lord at night to converse with Him. The Lord in His conversation with him explained to him the essence and mystery of the new economy of our salvation.

When then, leaving Jerusalem, the Lord journeyed throughout the land of Judea, all went to Him, as John’s disciples complained. The Lord received all and commanded His disciples to baptize them.

This gave occasion to Saint John to give a new testimony about the Lord, that He is from above, is the Son of God, into whose hands the Father has delivered all things, and that only he who believes in Him has eternal life.

All this aroused dangerous jealousy among the Pharisees. This trouble, increased by the imprisonment of Saint John the Forerunner in prison, gave the Lord occasion to leave Judea and go into Galilee for a long stay and ministry there.

He went there through Samaria, where, first awakening faith in a certain Samaritan woman in His conversation with her at Jacob’s well, and then also in the inhabitants of the city of Sychar, He stayed with them two days to strengthen the faith of those who believed, as it were in rebuke and instruction of the weak-willed Jews; and then entered Galilee to the joy of the Galileans. Here, passing by Nazareth and passing through Cana, where He performed another miracle – the remote healing of the sick son of a certain nobleman who lived in Capernaum – He arrived in Capernaum and there settled for permanent residence, according to the prophecies concerning it.

This transition of the Lord from Judea to Galilee serves as the transition to the second part of Gospel history.

Let us note concerning the order of succession of events in this section:

The words of the evangelist Luke—that when the Lord returned to Galilee, word about Him spread throughout all the neighboring region and that He taught in the synagogues—could suggest that the Lord, immediately upon entering Galilee, went about preaching. But such word could not have spread without some extraordinary deeds of the Lord. The evangelist Mark explains this very thing. He speaks of word spread everywhere about the Lord, but places as the cause of this the striking miracles accomplished by the Lord in Capernaum. Consequently, this word was preceded by the Lord’s taking up residence in Capernaum. Then the evangelist Mark tells that on the next day, after performing miracles, the Lord went through Galilee with preaching and preached in the synagogues. Consequently, this preaching in the synagogues took place after the Lord’s residence in Capernaum during his first journey through Galilee.

Thus, the words of the evangelist Luke cited above cannot prevent us from recognizing the order of the Lord’s first deeds in Galilee, as determined by the evangelist Matthew, as the most correct. We need only insert into it the miracle at Cana, of which the holy John speaks. And this establishes itself naturally. Passing by Nazareth, the Lord went to Capernaum. Cana lies on this path. The Lord entered it and performed there a new miracle.