“And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.”
Jesus replied, let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come — the refusal to return to Capernaum on the crowd's terms is the first major statement of Jesus' own mission understanding. The reason for moving on is not the Capernaum crowd's failure but the proclamation's inherent expansiveness: the other villages also need to hear. That is why I have come is the mission statement: Jesus has come to proclaim throughout Galilee, not to establish a single successful location. The pre-dawn prayer of verse 35 provides the context: the direction for the next phase came from the Father in the solitude, not from the crowd's enthusiasm.
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