The Divine Ministry of Jesus Christ 

head.

397

 Immersion in water at the baptism of John is also implied by Sacred Scripture:  And when he came 

up out of the water .  (Mk 1:10). This description means that Jesus was in some way immersed in the water. 

Blessed Anne Catherine describes the Baptism of Jesus as Jesus standing in water up to His breast and John 

pouring water in three streams from one shell over the head of Jesus.

398

    In the Holy Land in winter, the temperatures during the daytime can be fairly cold, even at times close to 

freezing. John's ministry centered around a baptism of repentance, a baptism which took place outside in the 

waters of a river, with the person to be baptized standing in the water. Therefore, John most likely began his 

ministry in the spring, when it would be warm enough outside to baptize, and when he would have a 

significant length of time to continue baptizing in the warm weather.

399

From John's Ministry to Christ's Ministry 

    Blessed Anne Catherine indicates that the ministry of Jesus Christ began soon after the ministry of John the 

Baptist. In her book, The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations, she does not explicitly state the amount of 

time between John leaving the desert and the baptism of Jesus by John. However, she gives the impression 

that it was a relatively short time. For example, she mentions a period of three months, prior to the baptism of 

Jesus, when John traveled about calling for repentance and saying that the Lord was near. And there are only 

a couple  of paragraphs about John's ministry between her description of John leaving the desert and her 

statement about that three month period of time.

400

 So the time between the start of John's ministry and the 

start of Christ's Ministry was somewhat longer than three months, and perhaps as long as 5 or 6 months. (See 

chapter 2 for more on this point.) 

    The total length of John's ministry was certainly longer than a few months, for his ministry and the Ministry 

of Jesus overlapped for a period of time. Both Sacred Scripture and the writings of Blessed Anne Catherine 

make it clear that the ministry of John the Baptist continued even as Jesus Christ's Ministry began. 

Interestingly, Blessed Anne Catherine states that John stopped baptizing soon after Jesus was baptized. About 

that time, Jesus began to give instruction about baptism to His disciples. And, beginning early in His Ministry, 

Jesus supervised His disciples as they baptized many people (Jn 3:22, 4:1 3).

401

The Beginning of the Ministry of Jesus Christ 

    Sacred Scripture does not plainly state the length of Jesus' Ministry. However, there are several clear 

indications in Sacred Scripture that Jesus' Ministry lasted about 3  years. Some of Jesus' own parables about 

His Ministry give a length of time of about 3  years. And Blessed Anne Catherine also tells us that the length 

of Christ's Ministry was 3  years. (See chapter 2 for details on these points.) 

    Since Jesus died at the Passover of 

A.D.

 19, in the spring, and His Ministry lasted 3  years, His Ministry 

must have begun in the fall of 

A.D.

 15. The Ministry of Jesus Christ began only a few months after the 

beginning of John the Baptist's ministry. So again we see that John's ministry began in the spring of that same 

calendar year, 

A.D.

 15. Christ's ministry lasted about 3  years, and John's ministry began several months 

earlier, so Jesus was crucified approximately 4 years after the start of John's ministry. John the Baptist's 

ministry began in the spring of the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar's reign (Lk 3:1) and Jesus died in the spring of 

the 19th year of Tiberius Caesar's reign. 

    All four Gospels mark the beginning of the Ministry of Christ about the time of Christ's Baptism by John in 

the Jordan (Mt 3:13 17; Mk 1:9 15; Lk 3:23; Jn 1:19 34). So the date of Christ's Baptism can be considered the 

starting date for His Ministry. Even so, Jesus was not idle before His Baptism by John. He must have done 

some teaching, at least to some of His followers, as is described by Blessed Anne Catherine.

402

 She seems to 

count Christ's Ministry as beginning a little while before His Baptism, when Jesus began to travel about and 

teach. However, she also states that Jesus taught about the coming of the Messiah, indicating that Jesus' 

teaching at this time was preparatory to His Ministry.

403

 Therefore, as Sacred Scripture clearly indicates, the 

Ministry of Jesus Christ began with His Baptism. 

101