The Life of Jesus
Jesus was originally a Jew and had a full grasp of knowledge of the Jewish laws. He started preaching at the age of 20 and traveled from place to place to spread his message. Alvin J. Schmidt, a retired professor of sociology at Illinois College in Jacksonville, praises Jesus in his book, "How Christianity Changed the World," by stating that "Jesus healed the blind, the lame, the lepers, and the deaf. He miraculously fed five thousand with seven loaves and two fish. He never entertained an evil thought, harmed no one, and voiced go guile or hatred, even to those who maligned and mistreated him."
Jesus challenged the authorities and proclaimed that the Kingdom of God is rooted in service and love. He performed a lot of miracles. The faithful group of people who followed Him were called His Disciples. He taught that the relationship of humanity with God is weakened because of the sins committed by humankind. He also declared that His message is to revive this relationship by the love of God.
Despite all his efforts, there were not a lot of people who followed Him. Alvin Schmidt describes the response of society by saying that, "Jesus received no honor or accolades. He had no home of his own." In the Holy Bible, Luke writes that Jesus once said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head." (Luke 9:58) Later on it was His own people who unjustly accused him of being an anti-government rebel and put him to the cross. He was mocked, beaten, and taunted before being crucified. Jesus, even at the cross, showed mercy toward His followers and prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."(Luke 23:34)
Jesus was later
crucified. The Bible says, "As evening approached, there came a rich man from
Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to
Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.
Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his
own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of
the entrance to the tomb and went away." (Matthew 27:57-60)
Jesus
miraculously rose to life three days after being crucified. Mary Magdalene was
the first person to see the resurrected Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus was
the foundation of Christianity. The Bible also gives testimony of his rebirth,
"After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same
time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep." (1
Corinthians 15:6) Jesus met His disciples and gained their trust. He gave them a
new hope of peace and salvation. God declared it in the Bible, "For God
so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in
Him shall not perish but have eternal life." This belief brought forward the
beginning of the Christian faith which spread all over the world.
Though this page has been carefully researched, the author does not claim expertise on Christianity.
Please send questions, comments, and corrections to emuseum@mnsu.edu and include the URL of this page.
References:
class="co"> 2001 Christian Beliefs. Electronic document, http://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/christianity.htm, accessed January 06, 2009.
Schmidt, Alvin J.
2001 How Christianity Changed the World. Michigan: Zondervan.
2001 The Resurrection of Jesus. Electronic document, http://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/loj7.htm, accessed January 06, 2009.
Images
'Romanian Church' courtesy of Online Icons by MIT Orthodox Christian Fellowship
Written by Salman Hakim, 2009