I remember fall as being an especially hectic
time during our ministry years and I always enjoyed getting away to catch my breath before the fun began!
Although attempts to prove that Paul had been actually acquainted with
Jesus during the ministry in Galilee and Judea have not been successful, nevertheless there is a sense in which Paul did undoubtedly know Jesus, the human, earthly Jesus — knew him better than many a person who had seen and heard him.
Maybe I will just speak for myself: If I had been in Israel
during the ministry of Jesus, it is quite likely that I would have been among those calling for the death of Jesus.
In the self - giving, impartial love of Jesus, in his compassion, understanding, eagerness to heal the bodies and souls of men, in deeds of
love during his ministry and the supreme sacrifice of the Cross, we see what God is and what he is always doing for men.
Therefore, in this first chapter of Acts the author makes the transition from his Gospel of the person and work of Jesus
Christ during his ministry in the flesh to the effects of that ministry in the organization of the church.
In the first place, the evidence of the New Testament as a whole is very strongly in favor of the assumption that Jesus and his disciples did not, in fact,
fast during his ministry.
According to this view, the unforgivable sin was a particular sin which only Jewish people could commit who were
alive during the ministry of Jesus and who saw the signs He was performing and should have recognized Him as their Messiah, but rejected Him instead.
If so, Manaen was a young man in Herod's
court during the ministry of Jesus and probably witnessed the beheading of John the Baptist.
The further statement that Jesus» disciples were at least dimly aware of that
reality during his ministry belongs, as I have just suggested, to history as does the fact that Jesus was fully human.
Some scholars believe Ephesians is a pseudonymous letter, but whether or not Paul actually wrote Ephesians, he did suffer in
prison during his ministry and he wrote Philemon and Philippians while in prison.
Certainly not, unless we are brazen enough to say that Paul wasn't all that spiritually mature because he was
single during his ministry and possibly widowed.
Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman encountered this
phenomenon during his ministry and expressed his discomfort with the status quo of the 19th century:
According to Mark, Jesus made no claim to be the
Messiah during his ministry, was not recognized as such by the people, and was even careful not to let the fact of his Messiahship be known.
In the dazzling light of the Resurrection experience, the disciples, and especially that brilliant Johnny - come - lately, Paul, rethought the things Jesus had done and
said during his ministry, the effect he had had on their lives, and the clues he had dropped concerning his identity.
Some New Testament scholars hold that the transfiguration was a post-Resurrection appearance of Jesus, only later supposed to have
occurred during his ministry.
Finally, I know of pastor «friend» who after having an extra marital
affair during his ministry threatened to take his «church» to court for unfair dismissal under UK employment law.
While critical scholars have argued that Jesus made factual, theological, and even moral
errors during his ministry, traditional Christians have never agreed, and neither would Driscoll, I suspect.
After all, the vast majority of the Jews did not realize who Jesus was
during his ministry on earth and Jesus even clarified things from OT times such as marriage supposed to have been between 1 man and 1 women even though he had apparently not been criticizing or punishing men in those times for having more than one wife.
As it is, he really only spends one paragraph talking about this, but Jesus emphasized such outward - focused
love during His ministry, and the church at large could benefit from more of a reminder that the Kingdom of God is not just about loving one another, but is also about loving and serving those who live in darkness and fear.
This means that, like the other evangelists, he repeatedly states that the disciples misunderstood
Jesus during his ministry; unlike them, he specifically indicates that their eschatological views were wrong.
Wesley, in fact, never slowed down, and
during his ministry he traveled over 4,000 miles annually, preaching some 40,000 sermons in his lifetime.
Expect a lot of spiritual attack at home and
during the ministry time.
During his ministry Jesus was repeatedly challenged to authenticate his mission by some miraculous act (Mk 8:11 - 13; Mt 12:38 - 39; 16:1, 4; Lk 11:16, 29).
Women ministered to
him during his ministry and it was to women that he first appeared after he had been raised from the dead.