Short and Sweet

You have probably not heard too many people
say it like this, because most folks who
believe in the ministry of Jesus, believe
it was three years long; I don't, here's
why- careful reading of the scriptures
reveals that Jesus called disciples,
then began his ministry, with a sign.

Near as I can tell, the usual preparation for
the betrothed Jewish male, was one year,
roughly, depending upon when the father
of the husband determined that the
room he prepared for his bride, was ready.  Numerous
times in the New Testament, Jesus refers to no man
knowing the time of His return, except the Father-
seems to me Jesus was very conscious of the fact
that His ministry needed to coincide with the way that
people would understand the real marriage taking
place. 

"Yes," you ask, "but what about the disciples, he was
with them three years..."  My take on this is a very
hard one but it seems to me He called them before
His ministry actually began, then began to emphasize
to them his death, as his year of betrothal to His
bride came to be a reality, which consumated at
the cross. 

It's a theory, but if you read the New Testament
carefully my sense is you'll see friends who become
closer and closer to Jesus and to each other as the
time for Him to die as a sacrifice draws near. 

"Ok, let's say you're right, so what?"

It's about making disciples...for many who claim
to follow Jesus sell a great brand of fire insurance,
but the loving relationship they are supposed to
build with their disciples, just doesn't happen. 
Reading the New Testament with eyes that see
love, friends and time in a new light, and the
declared ministry in a new realm of time, will
have eyes to see, and ears to hear, what
maybe, they have not seen or heard before?