“When Jesus of Nazareth came, He also served God, and a group of Galilean fishermen followed Him as His disciples. In the eyes of man, these Galileans were just like little naughty children. Outwardly, Jesus was a Galilean; He did not move away from Nazareth the first thirty years of His life, and He received no formal education in serving God. Yet at the age of thirty He started a ministry, and a group of “ignorant” people followed Him. Even some women ministered to His needs. They followed the Lord Jesus for three and a half years. What do you think the Pharisees, chief priests, scribes, and elders thought of them at that time? Among these men were fishermen, tax-collectors, and relatives of the Lord Jesus. There was even a woman who was once possessed with seven demons. Did they not seem to be children at play when they claimed that they were serving God?

At that time among the Jews, there was still a magnificent temple. It was built over a period of forty years. The Levites were divided into twenty-four orders and were offering sacrifices and ministering according to their orders. They were either taking care of the utensils, slaying the animals, or offering the sacrifices such as the daily burnt offerings and sin offerings and the weekly Sabbath offerings on the bronze altar. In the eyes of man, such services were certainly proper and dignified, but were they carried out under a vision? We are all very clear that the services of the priests in the temple were not carried out under a vision; they were carried out by tradition. It was the Lord Jesus and those who were following Him who were serving under a vision and whose service was pleasing to God.”

(from The Vision of the Age, chapter 1)