The Gospel story opens with Luke's account of the births of John the Baptist and Jesus in the last days of the tumultuous reign of Herod the Great (Lk 1–2). Mary, a poor peasant girl from the Galilean village of Nazareth, a three-day journey to the north, visited John's mother Elizabeth while she herself was pregnant with Jesus. She returned to the region some months later with Joseph, giving birth to Jesus in Bethlehem of Judea, Joseph's ancestral home.
Mary, Joseph and Jesus subsequently fled to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod (Mt 2:13–18). After the death of Herod in 4 BCE Joseph took his family back to Judea, then on to Nazareth in Galilee where Jesus spent his youth.
Jesus was raised in the Jewish "tradition of the elders" (cf. Lk 2:52). In the spring when he was twelve, Jesus traveled to Jerusalem with his parents to celebrate the Passover festival. He stayed behind when his parents began their return trip home; they found him in intense debate with teachers in the Temple (Lk 2:41–51).
Based on the Gospels, it is not possible to establish a definitive chronology of Jesus' ministry, or his travel itineraries or even the number of times he visited Jerusalem. Jesus began his ministry when he was about thirty years old (Lk 3:23), and most interpreters reconstruct a three-year ministry based on the number of Passover festivals in the Gospel of John (2:13, 6:4, 11:5).
The beginning of Jesus' public ministry was marked by his baptism by John. Immediately afterwards Jesus spent forty days in seclusion in the wilderness of Judea, where he successfully overcame the temptations of Satan. Jesus' initial Galilean ministry appears to have been based in Nazareth, with travels taking him throughout the region to villages such as Cana and Capernaum. He soon attracted a significant crowd of followers, including members of his own family (Lk 4:14–15, Jn 2:12). Most of his disciples were from villages that bordered the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee such as Capernaum and Bethsaida. The small band of disciples represented a cross section of the peoples of Galilee.
Jesus performed his first miracle at the village of Cana: at a wedding, he turned water into wine. He steadily gained a following throughout Galilee, but had less success in Nazareth, where he met resistance in the local synagogue when he unfavorably compared his nationalistic townfolk to the Sidonians and Syrians, Israel's old enemies. Escaping from Nazareth with his life, Jesus moved to Capernaum for good. Except for a few journeys, Jesus' entire ministry before his final departure to Jerusalem took place around the northern half of the Sea of Galilee. Large multitudes from the entire area seemed to follow his every move; most were Jewish, but others hailed from Gentile regions.
Jesus performed most of his miracles in Capernaum, Bethsaida and Chorazin, on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The Gospels record several visits of Jesus to synagogues in Nazareth, Capernaum, Jerusalem and elsewhere. He soon gained a reputation for teaching "with authority" (Mt 7:28–29), with the result that he often locked horns with the local religious establishment.
The Feeding of the Five Thousand is the only Galilee miracle recorded in all four Gospels. It was the time of Passover. The five loaves that fed the multitude were made from barley. The yearly Passover celebration, commemorating Israelite freedom from Egypt, fueled the Jews' longing to be freed from Roman oppression. Perhaps it was this hunger that prompted those whom Jesus fed to proclaim him to be "the Prophet who is to come into the world," apparently a reference to the coming prophet foretold by Moses (Deut 18:15).
During the early part of his ministry, Jesus avoided the limelight that would accompany messianic claims and instead simply went about towns and villages, preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God and healing people. He spoke in parables to prevent anyone from jumping to conclusions about his objectives and goals and told his followers not to spread the word about his miracles or mention that he was the Messiah. Then Jesus took his disciples into the region of Caesarea Philippi, an area where Hellenism had taken deep root among the Jewish villages, a region that represented in microcosm the Jewish Diaspora in the Roman world.
The city itself was a pagan cult site devoted to the worship of the god Pan. Jesus chose this context to question his disciples: "Who do you say that I am?" (Mt 16:13-16). Peter affirmed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, and Jesus replied by giving him the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Then Jesus made the first of three Passion predictions: that he had to go to Jerusalem, that he had to suffer and be killed, and that he had to be raised on the third day. Six days later, to confirm his role as the divine God-man, Jesus took Peter, James and John to a high mountain where he was transfigured before them. From there he embarked on his final long journey to Jerusalem; he arrived on the Mount of Olives on the Sunday before Passover.
Messianic expectations ran high in Jerusalem on the eve of the Passover and the city was crowded with pilgrims from across the Roman world. Jesus' presence in the city at this time was a threat to the Temple authorities and they planned to seize him quietly, fearing civil unrest. Jesus instructed Peter and John to prepare a room for the meal, to celebrate the Passover with his disciples. That was to be the Last Supper. Judas, having arranged beforehand to turn Jesus over to the Temple authorities, left the meal early. After the meal, Jesus and the rest of his disciples walked to Gethsemane. Jesus was arrested, abandoned by his disciples and taken to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest, for interrogation.
Jesus' statements before Caiaphas were seen as blasphemous, but the tribunal was not able to inflict the death penalty. For this, Jesus was taken to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Before Pilate, Jesus was presented by his accusers as the "King of the Jews," an upstart bent on fostering a rebellion against the emperor. Jesus was subsequently led through the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha where he was crucified. Because the Sabbath was approaching, Jesus was buried in a newly hewn tomb nearby.The Resurrection took place early the next Sunday morning. Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene as she stood weeping at the tomb. Later that evening Jesus appeared to his disciples in Jerusalem.
