Mark 1:21 to Mark 3:6

Mark's record of the ministry of Jesus begins in the province of Galilee. This province was in the northern section of Palestine, to the west of the Jordan. It was comparatively small in area, some fifty miles long and thirty miles wide. The Jewish historian, Josephus, tells us that it possessed some two hundred and four cities and villages, the smallest of which numbered 15,000 inhabitants. It was an exceedingly fertile area and its life centered about the beautiful Sea of Galilee, whose waters furnished a bountiful supply of fish. There were nine fair-sized towns clustered around the Sea of Galilee, one of which was Capernaum.

Jesus chose Galilee for his extended public ministry of teaching and healing, for two main reasons...

First, while the Galileans in general were devoutly religious, they were not nearly so much under the domination of the religious and the political leaders of the day as were the people of Jerusalem and Judea. The highways of commerce ran through Galilee, with the result that the Galileans came in contact with a constant stream of travelers from Egypt, Arabia, Syria, and othe rplaces. With their larger experience and broader outlook, it was only to be expected that the people of Galilee would gladly hear what Jesus had to say to them - at least, more gladly than would their more conservative countrymen to the South.

Secondly, Galilee was the scene of Jesus's childhood. In going there, he was gong back home. He would give to Galilee the opportunity that Judea was not yet ready nor willing to receive.