Jesus the Fugitive

Why Did Jesus Spend So Little Time in Judea?

Over the three-plus years of Jesus' ministry, he made few visits to Judea--the home of Jerusalem and the Temple: Only six times, in fact. Here is the list:

1. April 11, AD 27: Passover visit to the temple; overturned tables.

2. April 8, AD 28: Passover visit to Jerusalem; healing on the Sabbath.

X. April 18, AD 29: Skips Passover visit to Jerusalem, feeds 5,000 instead.

3. October 15-18, AD 29: Slips into the temple during the Feast of Tabernacles.

4. December 21, AD 29: Brief visit to the temple during Hannukah.

5. Winter, AD 30: Visit to Bethany; Lazarus raised from the dead.

6. April 2, AD 30: Enters Bethany & Jerusalem; April 3 temple cleansed; April 4 fig tree testifies;  April 5 Anointing; April 6 Last Supper; April 7 crucifixion.

Although Jesus' most important work was in Jerusalem and Judea, he was impeded from ministry there because there was an arrest warrant out for him (so to speak) with the intention of the authorities to put him to death. Most of his ministry took place in Galilee, with some visits to Phoenicia (to the northwest), Trachonitus (northeast), Samaria (northwest), Decapolis (northeast), and Perea (east).

This is the first post of an Eight Week Series:

For the next seven weeks we will examine Jesus' six visits to Judea (and his single Passover outside Judea), and how they were affected by his status as a fugitive from the temple authorities.

Don't miss it!