Life of Christ

The Historical Jesus 2

Jesus Christ, the figure who changed history more than any other, did many miracles to show others that he was God's son. God gave Jesus power over nature, power over disease, and even power over death. As a young Christian, my knowledge was a little understudied, to say the least. Now, as this module comes to a close, I realize that I have learned so much! While writing this summary paper, I intend to discuss my understanding of the historical Jesus, Jesus as the Messiah, and Jesus as the Personal Savior.

About two thousand years ago God arranged the most humiliating circumstances possible for his incarnation into humanity. Jesus was born to a teenage virgin named Mary and her husband Joseph.

The Annunciation is the revelation to Mary by the angel, Gabriel that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God (Wikipedia, 2006). Although Mary was a virgin, Gabriel told her that God's power would make the conception possible.

The biblical account of the Annunciation is in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, 26-56. Luke describes the annunciation given by the angel Gabriel to Mary that she was to become the mother of the Incarnation of God. The Annunciation took place in Nazareth in the sixth month after the conception of John the Baptist by Elizabeth. Gabriel took the form of a man and greeted Mary telling her that she was favored by God and to not be scared. Mary questioned the revelation knowing that she had vowed her

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virginity to God. The angel reassured her and told her about the conception of John the Baptist, the miraculous pregnancy of her cousin, Elizabeth, now old and sterile (New Advent, 2006).

Gabriel also made a visit to Zacharias, Elizabeth's husband.He explained that they would have a son named John and that he would prepare the way of the Lord. Mary visited Elizabeth in her sixth month. When Mary arrived, Elizabeth's baby leaped in her womb for joy. This confirmed Gabriel's prophecy that John would have the Holy Spirit even before birth (New Advent, 2006)

Joseph considered calling off the marriage after learning that Mary had conceived. Gabriel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to marry her because the conception was caused by the Holy Spirit. Joseph took Mary as his wife and kept her a virgin until Jesus was born.

Joseph took Mary to Bethlehem to register for a census. While there, Mary gave birth to Jesus. She laid him in a manger because there was no room at the inn. Shepards visited Jesus there.

Later, wise men brought gifts to Jesus. They told Herod the Great, a wicked king, that Jesus would rule Israel. Herod sent soldiers to kill the children in Bethlehem. Warned by an angel, Joseph took his family to Egypt. After Herod died, they returned to Israel and raised Jesus in a town called Nazareth.

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Jesus grew up in Nazareth. The Bible gives us a little information about his childhood. Jesus was taken to Jerusalem for Passover when he was twelve. He spoke with the teachers at the Temple, who were amazed at his understanding (Life of Christ, 2006). Joseph was a carpenter, and taught Jesus the trade. Jesus worked as a carpenter until his ministry began. He was about thirty years old at the time.

Jesus taught people how to live godly lives. As he traveled around Israel, Jesus taught with sermons and parables. He delivered his most famous sermon on a mountain. In it, Jesus taught his listeners to: Love your enemies, do not judge others, trust God, don't be anxious about tomorrow, and to do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Life of Christ, 2006).

Despite his Godly teachings, Jewish leaders wanted to kill Jesus. They accused him of blasphemy, and had Jesus arrested. A Roman governor named Pilate tried Jesus. He wanted to release Jesus, but when the Jews threatened to riot, Pilate condemned Jesus to death on a cross by crucifixion. He was beaten by Roman soldiers, scourged, stripped, and nailed to a cross. He was crucified between two robbers, and died.

Jesus had promised the disciples he would come back after he died and his enemies knew this. To prevent anyone from stealing the body, it was placed in a tomb and guarded by soldiers. On the third day after Jesus died, an angel descended, and the soldiers fled. The disciples came and found an empty tomb. Jesus had risen from the

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dead! He later appeared to many believers, commanding them to teach and baptize others, like myself.

Jesus was a human being, a jew in Galilee, yet far more than any other being on this planet. Jesus is the Messiah long awaited by the Jews. The word Christian even refers to the Greek work for Messiah. He claimed to be the Son of Man referred to by Daniel. Daniel 7:13-14 (NIV) offers a statement of the Messiah's authority and that the Messiah will have an everlasting kingdom. Jesus' use of this title can be seen as a direct claim to be the Messiah. Jesus offered no denial when others identified him as the Messiah and successor of King David (Mark 8:27-30 NIV); his opponents accused him of such a claim (Luke 23:2), and he is recorded at least twice as asserting it himself (Mark 14:60-62 NIV)

Christianity interprets a wide range of biblical passages in the Old Testament (Hebrew Scripture) as predicting the coming of the Messiah. The Messianic prophecies were found to be uniquely fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. There are hundreds of these prophecies, so that the possibility of their accidental convergence on any ordinary man is completely ruled out by probability.

Some of the prophecies are so framed, as to preclude their fulfillment by anyone living after the first century A.D. For example, the patriarch Jacob said, in Genesis 49:10 (NIV), "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come." The name Shiloh is a title of the Messiah, and the prophecy states

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that Judah's tribe would remain the chief tribe in Israel until Messiah would come. The prophecy must have been fulfilled prior to the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem in A.D 70, by which time certainly all semblance of a scepter had departed from Judah.

Similarly, the promise was given to King David that the Messiah should be one of his descendants, as the King eternal, the one of whom God said, "I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever" (II Samuel 7:13) Isaiah said, "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem

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