Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed — the withdrawal from the synagogue after the conspiracy is not retreat but strategic repositioning. The lake (the Sea of Galilee) is the open space where Jesus is not confined by the architectural limitations of the synagogue or the political constraints of the town. The large crowd that follows comes from a remarkable geographic spread: Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, across the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon — essentially every region of the ancient land of Israel and beyond. The kingdom's magnetism extends well beyond the boundaries of official religious Israel.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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