The Divine Ministry of Jesus Christ 

able to spend 40 days apart from the other Jews and not miss any important liturgical celebrations. At many 

other times during the year, taking 40 days to be apart from Jewish society would mean missing some 

important celebration, such as Passover, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Tabernacles, Hanukkah, Rosh 

Hashanah, etc. Jesus did not ignore His religious duties as a faithful Jew, even as He, the Son of God, came to 

establish the new covenant of Christianity. 

Behold the Lamb of God 

     The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, `Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the 

sin of the world! This is he of whom I said,  After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before 

me.  I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to 

Israel.'   (Jn 1:29 31). 

     The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and 

said, `Behold, the Lamb of God!'   (Jn 1:35 36). 

     The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, `Follow me.'   (Jn 

1:43). 

    According to Sacred Scripture, John had a dispute in Bethany with some priests and Levites sent by the 

Pharisees (Jn 1:19 28). John saw Jesus on each of the two following days (Jn 1:29, 35), and on both days he 

exclaimed,  Behold, the Lamb of God.  Then on the next day, which was the fourth consecutive day, Jesus 

decided to go to Galilee. Thereafter, Jesus called Philip, and then Nathanael, to follow him (Jn 1:43 51). 

    According to Blessed Anne Catherine, on the day that Jesus ended His 40 days in the wilderness, He 

crossed the river Jordan and traveled to a place on the opposite bank of the river from where John the Baptist 

was baptizing. John saw Jesus, pointed to Him, and exclaimed,  Behold, the Lamb of God who taketh away 

the sins of the world. 

431

 Then, the following day, Jesus taught in another place near the river, and some of the 

disciples of John were there. She does not say whether John saw Jesus again on that occasion, but that must be 

the case. Sacred Scripture clearly states that John saw Jesus on two consecutive days and there is no other 

place in Blessed Anne Catherine's description of Christ's Ministry that could fit this sequence of events. She 

tells us that John saw Jesus after His Baptism and before the 40 days in the wilderness, and at that time also 

exclaimed,  Behold the Lamb of God . 

432

 However, she places the call of Philip and Nathanael, and the 

marriage at Cana, after the 40 days. So, the two consecutive days when John saw Jesus, described in the 

Gospel of John as occurring just before the call of Philip, must have occurred after Christ's Baptism and after 

the 40 days in the wilderness. The first time that John saw Jesus after His Baptism was before the 40 days, but 

the next two times were after the 40 days. Here then are three occasions when John saw Jesus after His 

Baptism and declared that He was the Lamb of God. 

    The day that Jesus left the wilderness to end His 40 days of fasting was Wednesday, Kislev 5 and Dec. 4, of 

A.D.

 15. On each of the next two days, Thursday, Dec. 5, and Friday, Dec. 6, John saw Jesus and declared 

Him to be the Lamb of God. 

    On the next day, after John had seen Jesus two consecutive days, Jesus decided to go to Galilee (Jn 1:43). 

Notice that Sacred Scripture does not say that Jesus went to Galilee on that day, but only that He decided to 

go on that day. Since the next day after Friday, Dec. 6, was a Sabbath, Jesus would not have traveled far on 

that day. Blessed Anne Catherine repeatedly describes Jesus keeping a day of rest on the Sabbath, even after 

His Ministry began.

433

 Furthermore, we are not told on which day thereafter that Jesus met Philip and 

Nathanael. There is no support for the assumption that Jesus met Philip on the same day that He decided to go 

to Galilee. According to Blessed Anne Catherine, Jesus called Philip and Nathanael, as the Gospel of John 

describes, sometime after the Feast of the Dedication (Hanukah).

434

 In 

A.D.

 15, Hanukah began on Tuesday, 

December 24, or, more specifically, at sunset on December 23. 

The Wedding at Cana 

     On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus was 

also invited to the marriage, with his disciples.  (Jn 2:1 2). 

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