Below is an overview of who Jesus is & some background information addressing things like who, what, where & how.
We follow the teachings of a man known in the history books as Jesus of Nazareth. This man we are told, was born around 4BC (even though our calendar was is intended to start at zero at the time of his birth – we are told that our predecessors were out by 3-4yrs). He was the son of a Jewish carpenter named Joseph, and his mother was a young woman called Mary.
His birth and the circumstances around it were predicted over previous centuries in the Hebrew prophecies recorded in the Old Testament part of the Christian Bible. The type of death and the impact it would have are also predicted in the Old Testament.
He was raised a typical Jewish boy, learning both his fathers trade and his religion. Unlike his father however, at the age of 30 he abandoned his trade and informally adopted the life of a “teacher” or Rabbi. He chose, by invitation, a group of disciples (12) and moved around his native country teaching that the “Kingdom of God” was at hand and indicated to many that he was the Messiah promised in their religious literature.
The Jewish people of that time were under the rule of the Roman Empire and were hoping for a military “Messiah” who would liberate them and re-establish the “good old days” that their ancestors had under King David and King Solomon. This wandering teacher also claimed that he was actually the God of the Jews (Yahweh) come to earth in the flesh, and that his job was to set things right between the Jews and their God. To do this he needed to live a perfect life and be put to death on behalf of all those who could not live a perfect life.
This Jesus of Nazareth was also scathing in his criticism of the religious leaders of his time. This ultimately saw him fall foul of their leadership, and they arrested him under charge of “blasphemy”, and with the approval of the Roman justice system at the time, he was sentenced to death by crucifixion. According to history, following his death he was buried in accordance with Jewish custom. Some time later however there were reports that shortly after his burial (3-days) the tomb in which he was buried was supernaturally opened and his body no longer inside. His followers claim he overcame death and returned to life (3-days after his death), and was seen alive by many of them over the next few weeks.
This Jesus of Nazareth is said to have returned to the realm from which he came and his teachings suggest that he will on day again return to this earth to gather his followers and deliver judgement on all those who have ever lived – with a view to either taking them to his “heavenly realm” of perfect existence, or sending those who did not follow him to a place of on-going punishment.
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