Jesus
became known as Jesus of Galilee during his ministry. He spent a
great deal of time in the villages of Galilee so after his
resurrection he must have wanted those people to know he was alive. A good part of his last 40 days were spent there as Paul indicates in 1 Corinthians 15.
At
the empty tomb Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were told by the
angel in Matthew 8:7, “And now, go quickly and tell his disciples
that he has risen from the dead and he is going ahead of you to
Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”
Luke
24:12 Peter went to the tomb to look but after seeing the empty linen
wrappings he went home again, wondering what had happened instead of
being filled with belief and heading for Galilee as the angel had
instructed.
John
20:8 John however saw the empty wrappings and the head piece still
intertwined and he understood Jesus had risen through the wrappings
and left them behind(which didn't happen with the raising of Lazarus
who came out of the grave still in burial wrappings and had to be
freed.)
When
the men Jesus met on the road to Emmaus went back to the disciples to
tell them it was a point where the disciples began to believe that
Jesus was alive. It was probably hearing this that started them in
the direction of Galilee.
When
Peter sees the Sea of Galilee he decides to go fishing. He was still
struggling with believing at this point. He catches no fish. He
sees Jesus on the shore fixing a meal for them but Peter doesn't
recognize him. Jesus tells them to throw out their net on the right
side of the boat. They get a big catch of fish and Peter realizes
that this is Jesus and he is indeed alive.
After
this they went on into the villages of Galilee where Jesus blessed
the people where he had ministered before. Jesus was faithful to
his friends in Galilee until it was time to go back to Jerusalem and
ascend from the Mount of Olives.
During
most of the 40 days Jesus was encouraging the faith of the people and preparing them to become part of the
church (as seen in the book of Acts.)
Jesus
was especially concerned that ordinary people he ministered to would
see him alive and believe.
He
went to Galilee because he was just as concerned that each person
would believe not just the future leaders of the church.
Your
faith and belief are that important to him too.