It NEVER ends. Part 2

When we left off we had just been introduced to John the Baptist.  We were in Bethany, and the Leader's of the Law were more than a little curious about what was going on. So they sent some guys to find out (ch 1:19-28).  The next day Jesus had shown up, and John wasn’t quiet about it.  He was telling anyone who’d listen just who Jesus was (ch 1:29-34). 
John had just baptized Him in the Jordan the day before, and had witnessed one unbelievable site.. God had told John he would baptize the Messiah, that he would “See the Spirit descend upon Him.”  I’m not sure of what that would look like, but it definitely impacted John, and he needed nothing else to begin sharing with the world that Jesus was the Messiah. 
From that moment on, in the Gospel of John, you see the ripple-effect that Jesus was having on the world.  He performs miracles and healings.  He goes from one village to another changing lives, reviving the dying souls and restoring that which was stolen from many people… hope, faith, and love.
Jesus’ ministry took Him all over Israel.  In Galilee Jesus turned water to wine(ch 2:7-8).  In Jerusalem He taught a religious leader about being “born again” (ch 3:3) In Samaria He met a woman at a well and spoke into her life like no one else ever had, revealing to her that He was the Messiah (ch 4:9-26). He preached all over Galilee and Samaria, speaking to all who wanted to hear(ch 4).  He healed a crippled man by simply telling him to get up and walk (ch. 5:8).  He fed thousands by simply passing out the food (ch 6:11).  He walked across the water, and calmed the stormy sea of Galilee (ch 6:19-21).
With all these amazing things He was doing you’d think it wouldn’t take much convincing, but He came up against plenty of unbelief.  People just couldn’t grasp what He was claiming about Himself(ch 6:22-66)  But it wasn’t just His followers who had a hard time with their belief.  Jesus constantly faced conflict with the religious leaders.  He would openly teach at the Temple, which would really get under the skin of those who felt it was undermining their power and authority.  This man was making them look like fools!  And not only that, He was saying they were not obeying the law they were teaching.  It didn’t sit right with them.
Things started getting a bit hairy for Jesus.  Attempts on His life, and attempts to arrest Him became a normal occurrence.  Yet still He carried on with His mission.  It never fazed Him, never worried Him, and never slowed Him down.  He became more bold about speaking to the crowds, telling of His position as the Son of God, and the Light of the world (ch 8:12-19).  He warns the people of a coming Judgement, and speaks of His death on the cross (ch 8:21-30) and I imagine hearing Him say some of these things were a little rough to hear, but His words were believed by many people. 
Yet He was STILL constantly having to explain Who He was.  Constantly up against people who wanted Him to admit defeat. But even when they’d stoop to low ways of trying to get Jesus to fumble and make a mistake, it never happened.  His ministry was solid.  After raising Lazarus from the dead (ch 11:41-44) things went from hairy to downright dangerous.  The religious leaders had had enough, and they wanted this Jesus gone, so they began to plot His death (ch 11:53).
You’d think by now these people would just leave Him alone.  But He was a threat to what they thought was right, and if they were wrong and He was right, well then that would just wreck their comfortable lives.  Jesus then stops His public ministry, leaving Jerusalem, and focused His teaching on His disciples (ch 11:54).
To be continued… cause it never stops ;)