"Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
We should note that when Jesus began His ministry, His message was meant for, and explicitly aimed at the Hebrew people, the Jews.
His message was, "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
During the time of Jesus' ministry, as we have already discussed, the law of Moses was still in full affect for all Jews, including Jesus, and would remain so until He completed His sacrificial mission, freeing the Hebrew people from the law of Moses, and at the same time, introducing the His own new law, that being the law of grace.
Since Jesus, a Jew Himself, was bound by Mosaic law, He could not preach salvation by grace while He was still in the flesh. Had He done so, He would have been guilty of blasphemy under Mosaic law. Therefore, Jesus was bound to teach salvation according to that law.This is confirmed by what Jesus told the young ruler in Luke 18:18-20, "And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?, Jesus said, in part, "Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother."
Jesus did go on to tell the young man what he lacked and explained what he must do to complete his obedience to the law, in verse 22 of Luke 18, Jesus said, "Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me."
This lesson can be confusing to some, but with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it can be made understandable.
Therefore, the message Jesus taught, as well as those things that were taught by John the Baptist and all of the other early disciples, was not intended to be what is considered today as God's plan for salvation, rather, His message, as well as the message of the other disciples, was to prepare the Jewish people for the coming enactment of that plan, through the Messiah and His new law of grace which would go into effect after Jesus' death, burial and resurrection, and upon His return to the Father in heaven.~
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