The Historical Jesus, Jesus as Messiah, and Jesus the Personal Savior

“When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18). Lastly, to complete the prophecy of Jesus’s birth, Matthew reaffirms that “. . . Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea . . .” (Matthew 2.1). Matthew inserts these assertions to emphasize the credulity of Jesus’ tie with traditional Judaism.

Joseph’s brothers traveled to Egypt to buy food, and there he revealed himself to his brothers and they apologized to him for what they did to him. Josephs forgave them and sent for his father Jacob and the rest of his

It is possible to write on the life of Jesus from the information gathered from the bible. I will be dividing my essay into three parts. In the first part of the paper, I will talk about the nature of the gospels, John’s views vs. the Synoptic, discuss if the authors of the gospels are eyewitnesses and how they used written sources. Also I will talk about the Q source. Then I will elaborate on the topic of how Matthew and Luke were similar. Then I will continue on by discussing how the Old Testament uses Moses, Samuel and Elijah to interpret Jesus, and finally whether or not the Sermon on the Mount happened. In the second part of my paper, I will talk about Jesus’s birth and childhood, his miracles, his resurrection, and what Jesus did to cure people, spirits and how they are interpreted to the prophet, magician and the mad man compared to Saul and Elijah. The final part of the paper I will talk about what Jesus talked about as regards to the Kingdom of God vs. the Kingdom of the Romans and what he intended by speaking of the end of the world. I will also speak of the reasons behind the Romans executing him. My sources for this paper will be the New Jerusalem Bible Readers edition as my primary source and lecture notes from Professor Trumbach.

Joseph began his life as the favorite son of Jacob who tended to the flocks as a shepherd.3 These humble beginnings foreshadow how one day Joseph will tend to the Seed of the Woman during times of famine in the land by giving food to this eleven brothers. Jacob, who was the son of Isaac, had eleven other sons who were jealous of the special attention that Joseph received. In fact, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.4 Joseph had a dream that predicted that Joseph would one day reign over his older brothers. This upset his brothers and they tricked Joseph by selling him into slavery. Joseph was then taken to Egypt where he was sold to Potiphar and became a servant in

The way in which both Matthew and Luke treat Mary in their birth narratives affects our understanding of the historicity of these accounts. It could be argued that both of the birth narratives present the male ideology of that time. This is clear when in Luke, Mary is first introduced as “a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David” This description reveals the two most important features of a woman of her time: her virginity and, the man who she belonged to. This male ideology is also presented through Matthew’s writing as he also associates the female population with the aspect of birth and nurture. However, despite both of

His life signifies forgiveness and resurrection. Jesus ministry shows discipline and obedience to his father and his word.

Elizabeth conceives, and she hides for five months glorifying God for enabling her to conceive. God sends angel Gabriel after six months to a virgin called Mary in the city of Nazareth. The angel tells her to rejoice since she was highly favored and would bear a son named Jesus.

Two thousand years ago, the birth of Jesus, arguably the most influential man the world has ever seen, altered history forever. Christians know him as the Messiah, the son of God who came to save all of mankind, and for others, he may just be a great teacher and person of history. It is the latter that Reza Aslan attempts to shed an unbiased light on by comparing the Jesus that modern Christians believe in to the Jesus that Aslan believes would have fit into first-century Palestine: a violet revolutionary, dedicated to the eradication of the Roman government in Israel and the deposition of the rich priestly class. Aslan paints a portrayal of Jesus using knowledge of the time period, Scripture that has been taken out of context and misinterpreted, and most of all, the author’s imagination and powerful rhetoric to cover up his faulty argumentation. In his book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, Reza Aslan recreates an interesting but purely speculative image of the historical Jesus through exploring the political and social history of first-century Palestine, the life and teachings of Jesus, and the development of early Christianity.

Mary was virgin, and gave birth to Jesus. This is the nativity story. The birth of the savior was the biggest moment in all of creation. Jesus grew up to become an activist for the poor, women, and for those who needed forgiveness.

It is assumed by many scholars and believed by Protestants that the birthdate of Jesus was on December 25th somewhere between 6 and 4 BC. Protestants believe in the he was born in an obscure village called Bethlehem in the Southern region of Judea. The story of Jesus’ birth is known as the nativity scene where his Mother mary and her husband Joseph birth him in a manger around farm animals, shepherds, wise men, and kings. This event became the base for the holiday Christmas which is celebrated in households all around the world.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel", which means −− "God with us".

Yancey provides many clear pieces of evidence supporting his idea that the Jesus he grew up with is different than the actual Jesus who lived over two-thousand years ago. He proves how different Jesus’ birth was than how people make it out to be in this day and age. Yancey points out how his birth was amid a time of great religious conflict and scandal, and would have been much different than Christmas cards and stories would have some believe. When Mary was given the news that she would be the mother of Jesus, Joseph did not accept it as truth. Joseph thought Mary had committed adultery, and Yancey even states, “Matthew tells of Joseph magnanimously agreeing to divorce Mary in private rather than press charges, until an angel shows up to correct his perception of betrayal.” (Yancey 31) Only when an angel came to Joseph, did he believe Mary would give birth to Jesus. This part of the birth of Jesus is not one that is told to anyone learning the Christmas story. It is one part of many that are overlooked because they do not fit with the calm, yet miraculous, birth told of in church. Yancey uses arguments such as the one above to convince his reader there is more to Jesus than what most Christians think. His arguments are backed up by facts from the Bible, and because of this, he successfully creates a strong basis for his

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent Gabriel to Mary and told her that she was highly favored and that the Lord is with her. Then the angel told her to not be afraid and that she will conceive and give birth to a son, whom they will name Jesus. Mary ask the angel how this will be as she is a virgin. The angel told her about Elizabeth and that no word from God will every fail.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. Jesus worked as a carpenter and lived a traditional Jewish life until he was thirty. In his thirties, he began religious teachings and displayed miracles in public. His key teachings were about loving one another, reality of judgement day, and the good news to enter heaven. His works of miracles, such as curing diseases, walking on water, and calming the storms were appealing to many people that they decided to follow him. Despite his efforts to keep low profile, his reputation spread nation-wide. Jesus claimed to be God, which violated the Jewish law, so many Jewish leaders asked the Roman government to execute him. Though, he was not guilty of breaking any Roman law, he was brutally tortured and hung by his hand on the cross. He rose from the dead after three days and rose up to heaven.

The purpose of the paper is to differentiate between Christ of faith and Jesus of history. New Testament biblical scholars from the 19th Century have been preoccupied by the notion of Christ of faith versus Jesus of History. Jesus of history can be described as the quest for historical Jesus, while the Christ of Faith is the Christ of Christian belief either through the Church or historically. Some traditions even went ahead to argue that the Jesus of History could never be found and therefore the Christ of faith is the only way forward for Christians. On the other hand, those who have been promoting the Jesus of History have often assumed that the historical Jesus is much superior as compared to the Christ of Faith. Despite the key differences between Christ of faith and the historical Jesus, both these aspect have an implication for Western Christianity.