Difference between revisions of "Jesus Christ"

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Jesus Christ is the only Son of God who, in the fullness of time, was sent by God the Father to be the expiation for our sins and to ransom us from death.^[1] By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and became man in an event known as the Incarnation. Indeed, the calendar itself reflects this truth, with the traditional calculation of Jesus’ birth marking the first century A.D., that is, "in the year of Our Lord…".

When he was about thirty, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, inaugurating his ministry. Jesus was the Christ (Greek: Χριστός), or Messiah (Hebrew: 'משיחא'), prophesied in the Old Testament; he proclaimed, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe in the gospel.”^[2] As signs of these truths, Jesus performed various miracles.

Jesus founded the Christian religion, choosing twelve apostles to participate in his mission, and commissioning them to “preach the Kingdom of God and to heal”.^[3]

However, not all who heard the Lord believed in him, and, because he “was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God”, some sought to put him to death.^[4] Jesus was handed over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and crucified. But it was through his redemptive death, as the scriptures had foretold, that Jesus reconciled mankind with God.^[5] And so, on the third day, in a truly historical event, Jesus physically rose from the dead, making possible salvation and eternal life for those who believe in him. Indeed, his very name (Hebrew 'יהושע', Joshua) means ‘YHWH is salvation’. After appearing to his disciples on various occasions, Jesus ascended to Heaven, where he acts as our mediator, assuring, by his constant intercession, the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).

Jesus' Life

In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Judea) to Mary, who at the time was a virgin, by the Holy Spirit. The Gospel of Luke relates that the angel Gabriel visited Mary in order to announce to her that she had been chosen to bear the Son of God (Luke 1:26–38). An order of Caesar Augustus, that a survey of the Roman Empire should be made caused Mary and Joseph to leave Nazareth and go to the home of Joseph's forebears - to the house of King David. After Jesus' birth, they were forced to use a manger for a crib because the town's inn was full. According to Luke 2:8–20, an angel spread word of Jesus' birth to several shepherds who came to visit the newborn. Matthew also tells of the "Magi", (Zoroastrian priests), who brought many gifts to the infant Jesus (among which were gold, frankincense, and myrrh; this has led to the incorrect assumption that three Magi were present, whereas the actual number is not given) after following a star which they believed was an indication that the Messiah, or King of the Jews, had been born.

Jesus' early home is stated to have been in the town of Nazareth in Galilee, and except for an escape to Egypt in early childhood, to avoid Herod's massacre of the other male infants, all other events in the Gospels take place in ancient Israel. Luke's Finding in the Temple (Luke 2:41–52), where Jesus impressed the priests by discoursing in scripture with them, is the only detailed event between Jesus' infancy and adult life mentioned in any of the canonical Gospels.

The Gospel of Mark begins with the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, which appears to be the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Jesus came to the River Jordan, where John was preaching and baptizing people in the crowd. After Jesus had been baptized, and had risen up out of the water, Mark states Jesus 'saw the heavens torn apart and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased' (Mark 1:10–11). Luke adds the chronological anchor that John the Baptist had begun preaching in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, approximately in 28 AD (Luke 3:1) and that Jesus was thirty years old when he was baptized (Luke 3:23).

After this baptism, according to Matthew, Jesus was brought into the desert by God where he fasted for forty days nights. During this period, the Satan appeared before him and tried three times to tempted Jesus into demonstrating his supernatural powers as a proof of his divine status; each temptation was refused by Jesus, with a scriptural quote from the Book of Deuteronomy.

Jesus then began to preach. John describes three different passover feasts that Jesus attended, thus implying that his ministry lasted three years.

The larger part of this was directed towards his closest followers, the Apostles, although all of his followers were considered disciples. At the highest point of his ministry, Jesus attracted disciples and audiences numbering in the thousands; in particular in the area of Galilee. Many of Jesus' most well-known teachings were given during the Sermon on the Mount, such as the Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer. Jesus often used parables in his rhetorical technique, such as the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats; these teachings encouraged unconditional self-sacrificing love for God and for all people. During these sermons, he also discussed service and humility, forgiveness of sins, how faith should be applied, the Golden Rule, and the necessity of following the spirit of the law as well as its wording.

Jesus also often conversed with social outcasts, such as the publican (Roman tax collectors who were unpopular for their practice of extorting money).

Throughout his ministry, Jesus performed many miracles including healing the sick and possessed, feeding 5000, and even raising from the dead.

As He preached, Jesus ran afoul of the Sanhedrin the recognized Jewish religious authorities who were allowed to have considerable religious, political and monetary influence under Roman rule. Jesus chastised them, accusing them of making laws for the people to follow that were the laws of men, not God. The Sanhedrin tried to set traps for Jesus by asking Him questions to either discredit Him with the people or get Him in trouble with the Roman authorities, but all of their efforts failed and they gave up. They lacked the means to stop Jesus until Judas Iscariot came to them and offered to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. He would tell them where Jesus would be that night so they could seize Him.

Jesus knew that His time was short and that He was about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. He had His last supper with his disciples and went with them to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed vehemently knowing what was about to come.

Jesus Christ (Conceptualization)

Jesus was betrayed by Judas into the hands of the Jewish religious authorities who took Him away and secretly put Him on trial during the night, trying to find justification for their desire to have Him killed. Finally, they convicted Him of blasphemy. As they did not have the authority to put a man to death, they took him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Palestine, with their charges and demand his execution. Pilate avoided the issue by sending him to King Herod since Jesus was a Galilean, but Herod sent him back to Pilate. Pilate at first tried to release Jesus with a flogging, but ultimately condemned Jesus to crucifixion. Jesus died after suffering and giving up his spirit. The Bible goes on to record His resurrection on the third day, appearing before his disciples, and his later ascension into heaven as His disciples watched.

The Historical Jesus

Modern historians generally place the actual date of Jesus' birth between 7 and 4 B.C. due to problems reconciling the Roman and Jewish calendars with the Gregorian Calendar which is in use today throughout the industrialized world.

Occasionally non-historians deny the existence of Jesus, ^{[6] [7]} but few scholars take this seriously. Tacitus, the Roman historian, wrote about Jesus in A.D. 115^[8], and Josephus, a Jewish historian who did not believe in Jesus' divinity, wrote about him. ^[9]. Dr. Gary Habermas wrote an extensive analysis of the historicity of the existence of Jesus in his work The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ which discusses many historical sources which mention Jesus.

Lee Strobel's book The Case for Christ contains a number of interviews with experts on the historical Jesus and a defense of Jesus's resurrection, and is a good resource on this subject.

Defense of the resurrection of Jesus

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is critical to the Christian faith. The Apostle Paul wrote, "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain" (I Cor:15:14). Traditionally, Christianity has believed in a physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. ^[10]

In recent history Christian apologists Gary Habermas is considered the foremost apologist for defending the resurrection of Jesus. ^{[11][12][13][14][15][16]} Dr. Habermas had a debate against the philosopher Anthony Flew regarding the resurrection which was chronicled in the work Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? The Resurrection Debate and the debate had a panel of debate judges. J. Hampton Keathley, III , Th.M. in his essay Evidences for the Resurrection wrote: "The decision of the judges were as follows. The panel of philosophers judging content cast four votes for Habermas who argued for the fact of the resurrection, none for Flew, and one draw. The panel of professional debate judges voted three to two, also in favor of Habermas, this time regarding the method of argumentation technique." ^[17]

In recent history some notable defenders of the resurrection include: William Lane Craig, Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell, Edwin M. Yamauchi, N.T. Wright and Michael Horner. ^{[18][19][20][21][22]}

Legal scholars such as Simon Greenleaf, John Warwick Montgomery and many others have asserted that western legal standards argue for the resurrection of Christ. ^{[23][24][25][26]} Defenders of the resurrection of Christ also cite many distinguished legal authorities regarding the historicity of the resurrection of Christ. ^[27]

Another reason to believe the resurrection is the fact that many people who claimed to be eyewitnesses to the resurrected Jesus voluntarily preached the news of this despite extreme persecution, and died for their efforts. Unlike the early members of most religions, these people had the opportunity to be direct eyewitnesses to what verified the claims of Christianity.

See also

• Byzantine Empire
• Andrew the Apostle
• Lazarus (brother of Mary)
• Lazarus (Parable)
• Judaism

External links

• Who is Jesus? Is Jesus Christ God?
• Church of Nativity - Birth Place of Jesus Christ Bethlehem.
• Jesus Background Bible History on line.
• Jesus ChristCatholic Encyclopedia.

References

1. ↑ 1 John 4:10; 2 Corinthians 5:19.
2. ↑ Mark 1:14-15.
3. ↑ Luke 9:2.
4. ↑ John 5:18.
5. ↑ Romans 5:10.
6. ↑ "Book Article Denies the Existence of a Historical Jesus Figure" NewswireToday
7. ↑ "David H. Lewis [debates] the historicity of Jesus, arguing that New Testament and contemporaneous writings give very little evidence that Jesus actual ever lived." Escaping the Gravitational Pull of the Gospels
8. ↑ http://www.digisys.net/users/ddalton/evidence_of_jesus_outside_the_bible.htm
9. ↑ http://www.christian-thinktank.com/jesusref.html
10. ↑ http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/crj0056a.txt
11. ↑ http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/dialog_rexperience/dialog_rexperiences.htm
12. ↑ http://www.tektonics.org/books/lichabrvw.html
13. ↑ http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/CTR-NT/Habermas-Resurrection1-CTR.pdf
14. ↑ http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/CTR-NT/Habermas-Resurrection2-CTR.pdf
15. ↑ http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/crj_explainingaway/crj_explainingaway.htm
16. ↑ http://www.apologetics.com/default.jsp?bodycontent=/articles/historical_apologetics/habermas-nt.html
17. ↑ http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=639
18. ↑ http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/menus/historical.html
19. ↑ http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html
20. ↑ http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/yama.html
21. ↑ http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Early_Traditions.htm
22. ↑ http://www.michaelhorner.com/articles/resurrection/index.html
23. ↑ http://www.bibleteacher.org/sgtestimony.htm
24. ↑ http://www.mtio.com/articles/bissart1.htm
25. ↑ http://lawreligionculturereview.blogspot.com/2005_01_01_lawreligionculturereview_archive.html
26. ↑ http://www.trinitysem.edu/journal/philjohnsonpap.html
27. ↑ http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/apologetics/AP0302W3.htm