142:1 Teaching in the Temple
142:1.1 Throughout this month Jesus or one of the apostles taught daily in the temple. When the Passover crowds were too great to find entrance to the temple teaching, the apostles conducted many teaching groups outside the sacred precincts. The burden of their message was:
- 1. The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
- 2. By faith in the fatherhood of God you may enter the kingdom of heaven, thus becoming the sons of God.
- 3. Love is the rule of living within the kingdom—supreme devotion to God while loving your neighbor as yourself.
- 4. Obedience to the will of the Father, yielding the fruits of the spirit in one's personal life, is the law of the kingdom.
142:1.2 The multitudes who came to celebrate the Passover heard this teaching of Jesus, and hundreds of them rejoiced in the good news. The chief priests and rulers of the Jews became much concerned about Jesus and his apostles and debated among themselves as to what should be done with them.
142:1.3 Besides teaching in and about the temple, the apostles and other believers were engaged in doing much personal work among the Passover throngs. These interested men and women carried the news of Jesus' message from this Passover celebration to the uttermost parts of the Roman Empire and also to the East. This was the beginning of the spread of the gospel of the kingdom to the outside world. No longer was the work of Jesus to be confined to Palestine.
