Jesus began to proclaim the Kingdom of God after the arrest of John the Baptist, and that incident foreshadowed the opposition that would characterize his own ministry. At the time, Palestine consisted of three territories – Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, and the latter included a mixed population of Jews and Gentiles.

Unlike John, Jesus began his public ministry in the villages of Galilee, and unlike the prophets of ancient Israel, his messianic mission did NOT begin or center in the city of Jerusalem, though it certainly ended there – (Matthew 4:13).