Reference: Jesus Christ
American
The Son of God, the Messiah and Savior of the World, the first and principal object of the prophecies; who was prefigured and promised in the Old Testament; was expected and desired by the patriarchs; the hope and salvation of the Gentiles; the glory, happiness, and consolation of Christians. The name JESUS, in Hebrew JEHOSHUAH or Joshua, signifies Savior, or Jehovah saves. No one ever bore this name with so much justice, nor so perfectly fulfilled the signification of it, as Jesus Christ, who saves from sin and hell, and has merited heaven for us by the price of his blood. It was given to him by divine appointment, Mt 1:21, as the proper name for the Savior so long desired, and whom all the myriads of the redeemed in heaven will for ever adore as their only and all-glorious Redeemer.
JESUS was the common name of the Savior; while the name CHRIST, meaning the Anointed One, The Messiah, was his official name. Both names are used separately, in the gospels and also in the epistles; but JESUS generally stands by itself in the gospels, which are narratives of his life; while in the epistles, which treat of his divine nature and of his redeeming work, he is called CHRIST, CHRIST JESUS, or THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. See CHRIST.
Here, under the Redeemer's human name, belong the facts relating to his human nature and the history of his life upon earth. His true and complete humanity, having the soul as well as the body of man, is everywhere seen in the gospel history. He who is "God over all, blessed forever," was an Israelite "as concerning the flesh," Ro 9:5, and took upon him our whole nature, in order to be a perfect Savior. As a man, Jesus was the King of men. No words can describe that character in which such firmness and gentleness, such dignity and humility, such enthusiasm and calmness, such wisdom and simplicity, such holiness and charity, such justice and mercy, such sympathy with heaven and with earth, such love to God and love to man blended in perfect harmony. Nothing in it was redundant, and nothing was wanting. The world had never produced, nor even conceived of such a character, and its portraiture in the gospels is a proof of their divine origin, which the infidel cannot gainsay. Could the whole human race, of all ages, kindreds, and tongues, be assembled to see the crucified Redeemer as he is, and compare earth's noblest benefactors with Him, there would be but one voice among them. Every crown of glory and every meed of praise would be given to Him who alone is worthy-for perfection of character, for love to mankind, for sacrifices endured, and for benefits bestowed. His glory will forever be celebrated as the Friend of man; the Lamb sacrificed for us.
The visit of JESUS CHRIST to the earth has made it forever glorious above less favored worlds, and forms the most signal event in its annals. The time of his birth is commemorated by the Christian era, the first year of which corresponds to about the year 753 from the building of Rome. It is generally conceded, however, that the Savior was born at least four years before A. D. 1, and four thousand years after the creation of Adam. His public ministry commenced when he was thirty years of age; and continued, according to the received opinion, three and a half years. Respecting his ancestors, see GENEALOGY.
The life of the Redeemer must be studied in the four gospels, where it was recorded under the guidance of supreme wisdom. Many efforts have been made, with valuable results, to arrange the narrations of the evangelists in the true order of time. But as neither of the gospels follows the exact course of events, many incidents are very indeterminate, and are variously arranged by different harmonists. No one, however, has been more successful than Dr. Robinson in his valuable "Harmony of the Gospels".
The divine wisdom is conspicuous not only in what is taught us respecting the life of Jesus, but in what is withheld. Curiosity, and the higher motives of warm affection, raise numerous questions to which the gospels give no reply; and in proportion as men resort to dubious traditions, they lose the power of a pure and spiritual gospel. See further, concerning Christ, MESSIAH, REDEEMER, etc.
Jesus was not an uncommon name among the Jews. It was the name of the father of Elymas the sorcerer, Ac 13:6; and of Justus, a fellow-laborer and friend of Paul, Col 4:11. It is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, or Jeshua, borne by the high priest in Ezra's time, and by the well-known leader of the Jews in to the Promised Land. See also 1Sa 6:14; 2Ki 23:8. The Greek form of the word, Jesus, is twice used in the New Testament when Joshua the son of Nun is intended, Ac 7:45; Heb 4:8.
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And she will have a son, and you must name Him Jesus, for it is He who is to save His people from their sins."
This tent our forefathers brought in and passed on when under Joshua they dispossessed the nations which God drove out before them, and it remained until the time of David.
Then they went through the whole island as far as Paphos, and there they found a Jewish magician and false prophet whose name was Barjesus.
the patriarchs, and from them by natural descent the Christ has come, who is exalted over all, God blessed forever. Amen!
So does Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only converts from Judaism that are fellow-workers with me here for the kingdom of God, who have proved a real comfort to me.
Fausets
(See JESUS.) ("Jehovah salvation"); for "He Himself (autos, not merely like Joshua He is God's instrument to save) saves His people from their sins" (Mt 1:21). CHRIST, Greek; MESSIAH, Hebrew, "anointed" (1Sa 2:10; Ps 2:2,6 margin; Da 9:25-26). Prophets, priests, and kings (Ex 30:30; 1Ki 19:15-16) were anointed, being types of Him who combines all three in Himself (De 18:18; Zec 6:13). "By one offering He hath perfected forever them that are being sanctified" (Heb 10:5,7,14; 7:25). "Christ," or the Messiah, was looked for by all Jews as "He who should come" (Mt 11:3) according to the Old Testament prophets. Immanuel "God with us" declares His Godhead; also Joh 1:1-18. (See IMMANUEL.) The New Testament shows that Jesus is the Christ (Mt 22:42-45).
Jesus is His personal name, "Christ" is His title. Appropriately, in undesigned confirmation of the Gospels, Acts, and epistles, the question throughout the Gospels is, whether Jesus is "The" (the article is always in the Greek) Christ (Mt 16:16; Joh 6:69), so in the first ministry of the word in Acts (Ac 2:36; 9:22; 10:38; 17:3). When His Messiahship became recognized "Christ" was used as His personal designation; so in the epistles.
Christ implies His consecration and qualification for the work He undertook, namely, by His unction with the Holy Spirit, of which the Old Testament oil anointings were the type; in the womb (Lu 1:35), and especially at His baptism, when the Holy Spirit (as a dove) abode on Him (Mt 3:16; Joh 1:32-33). Transl. Ps 45:7; "O God (the Son), Thy God (the Father) hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows." Full of this unction without measure (Joh 3:34) He preached at Nazareth as the Fulfiller of the scripture He read (Isa 61:1-3), giving "the oil of joy for mourning," "good tidings unto the meek" (Lu 4:17-21). Jesus' claim to be Messiah or "the Christ of God" (Lu 9:20), i.e. the anointed of the Father to be king of the earth (Ps 2:6-12; Re 11:15; 12:10), rests:
(1) On His fulfilling all the prophecies concerning Messiah, so far as His work has been completed, the earnest of the full completion; take as instances Isaiah 53; Psalm 22; Micah 5; Ho 6:2-3; Ge 49:10, compare Luke 2; "the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy" (Re 19:10; Lu 24:26,44-46; Ac 3:22-25).
(2) On His miracles (Joh 7:31; 5:36; 10:25,38). Miracles alleged in opposition, or addition, to Scripture cannot prove a divine mission (2Th 2:9; De 13:1-3; Mt 24:24), but when confirmed by Scripture they prove it indisputably.
Son of David expresses His title to David's throne over Israel and Judah yet to be (Lu 1:32-33). "King of Israel" (Joh 1:49), "King of the Jews" (Mt 2:2; 21:5), "King of Zion." As son of David He is David's "offspring"; as "root of David" (in His divine nature) He is David's "lord" (Re 22:16, compare Mt 22:42-45). His claim to the kingship was the charge against Him before Pilate (Joh 18:37; 19:3,12). The elect of God (Lu 23:35, compare Isa 42:1). The inspired summary of His life is, "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him" (Ac 10:38). To be "in Christ," which occurs upward of 70 times in Paul's epistles, is not merely to copy but to be in living union with Him (1Co 15:18; 2Co 12:2), drawn from Christ's own image (Joh 15:1-10). In Christ God is manifested as He is, and man as he ought to be. Our fallen race lost the knowledge of man as utterly as they lost the knowledge of God.
Humanity in Christ is generic (1Co 15:45,47), as the second "man" or "last Adam," "the Son of man" (a title used in New Testament only by Himself of Himself, except in Stephen's dying speech, Ac 7:56; from Da 7:13; marking at once His humiliation as man's representative Head, and His consequent glorification in the same nature: Mt 20:28; 26:64.) Sinless Himself, yet merciful to sinners; meek under provocation, yet with refined sensibility; dignified, yet without arrogance; pure Himself, yet with a deep insight into evil; Christ is a character of human and divine loveliness such as man could never have invented; for no man has ever conceived, much less attained, such a standard; see His portraiture, Mt 12:15-20. Even His own brethren could not understand His withdrawal into Galilee, as, regarding Him like other men, they took it for granted that publicity was His aim (Joh 7:3-4; contrast Joh 5:44). Jesus was always more accessible than His disciples, they all rebuked the parents who brought their infants for Him to bless (Lu 18:15-17), they all would have sent the woman of Canaan away.
But He never misunderstood nor discouraged any sincere seeker, contrast Mt 20:31 with Mt 20:24-32. Earthly princes look greatest at a distance, surrounded with pomp; but He needed no earthly state, for the more closely He is viewed the more He stands forth in peerless majesty, sinless and divine. (On His miracles, see MIRACLES and on His parables, see PARABLES.) He rested His teaching on His own authority, and the claim was felt by all, through some mysterious power, to be no undue one (Mt 7:29). He appeals to Scripture as His own: "Behold I send unto you prophets," etc. (Mt 23:34; in Lu 11:49, "the Wisdom of God said, I will send them prophets".) His secret spring of unstained holiness, yet tender sympathy, was His constant communion with God; at all times, so that He was never alone (Joh 16:32), "rising up a great while before day, in a solitary place" (Mr 1:35).
Luke tells us much of His prayers: "He continued all night in prayer to God," before ordaining the twelve (Lu 6:12); it was as He was "praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended, and (the Father's) voice came from heaven, Thou art My beloved Son," etc. (Lu 3:22); it was "as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistering" (Lu 9:29); when the angel strengthened Him in Gethsemane, "in an agony He prayed more earnestly," using the additional strength received not to refresh Himself after His exhausting conflict, but to strive in supplication, His example confirming His precept, Lu 13:24 (Lu 22:44; Heb 5:7). His Father's glory, not His own, was His absorbing aim (Joh 8:29,50; 7:18); from His childhood when at 12 years old (for it was only in His 12th year that Archelaus was banished and His parents ventured to bring Him to the Passover: Josephus, Ant. 17:15) His first recorded utterance was, "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?" or else "in My Father's places" (Lu 2:49; Ps 40:6,8).
Little is recorded of His childhood, but as much as the Spirit saw it safe for us to know; so prone is man to lose sight of Christ's main work, to fulfill the law and pay its penalty in our stead. The reticence of Scripture as remarkably shows God's inspiration of it as its records and revelations. Had the writers been left to themselves, they would have tried to gratify our natural curiosity about His early years. But a veil is drawn over all the rest of His sayings for the first 30 years. "He waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom ... He increased in wisdom" (Lu 2:40,52), which proves that He had a" reasonable soul" capable of development, as distinct from His Godhead; Athanasian Creed: "perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting." His tender considerateness for His disciples after their missionary journey, and His compassion for the fainting multitudes, outweighing all thought; of His own repose when He was weary, and when others would have been impatient of their retirement being intruded on (Mr 6:30-37), are lovely examples of His human, and at the same time superhuman, sympathy (Heb 4:15). Then how utterly void was He of resentment for wrongs.
When apprehended, instead of sharing the disciples' indignation He rebuked it; instead of rejoicing in His enemy's suffering, He removed it (Lu 22:50-51); instead of condemning His murderers He prayed for them: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Lu 23:34). What exquisite tact and tenderness appear in His dealing with the woman of Samaria (John 4), as He draws the spiritual lesson from
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And she will have a son, and you must name Him Jesus, for it is He who is to save His people from their sins."
and asked, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews? We saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him."
and went into the house and saw the child with His mother, Mary; and they fell at His feet and worshiped Him. They opened up their treasure sacks and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
he stayed there until Herod's death, so as to fulfill what the Lord had said by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my Son."
But John tried to prevent Him, by saying, "I have need to be baptized by you, and you come to me!"
But John tried to prevent Him, by saying, "I have need to be baptized by you, and you come to me!" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for this is the fitting way for both of us to do our full duty to God." Then he yielded to Him. read more. And as soon as Jesus was baptized, He at once went up out of the water, and look! the heavens opened, and John saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove upon Him,
And as soon as Jesus was baptized, He at once went up out of the water, and look! the heavens opened, and John saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove upon Him, and a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I am delighted!"
Then Jesus was guided by the Spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil.
And the tempter came up and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, order these stones to turn to bread."
Then the devil took Him into the holy city, and had Him stand on the tip-top turret of the temple,
Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, He set out for Galilee. But He left Nazareth and made His home in Capernaum, by the sea, in the district of Zebulon and Naphtali, read more. to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "Land of Zebulon and land of Naphtali, on the road to the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the nations; The people that were living in darkness have seen a great light, and on those that were living in the land of the shadow of death; a light has dawned." From that time Jesus continued to preach and say, "Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is near."
From that time Jesus continued to preach and say, "Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is near." As He was walking by the shore of the sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was summed Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. read more. He said to them, "Come! Follow me, and I will make you fishermen for catching men." And at once they left the nets and followed Him. And as He was going on from that point, He saw two others, brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, getting their nets in order; and He called them. And at once they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
for He was teaching them as one who had authority to teach, and not as their scribes did.
When He got back to Capernaum, a Roman military captain came up to Him and kept begging Him,
When He went into Peter's house, He saw his mother-in-law lying in bed sick with fever.
and so fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, "He took our sicknesses and bore away our diseases." Now Jesus, because He saw a crowd about Him, gave orders to cross to the other side.
And He said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you with little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
When He reached the other side, in the district of Gadara, there faced Him two men, who were under the power of demons, who were just coming out from the tombs. They were such terrors that nobody could pass that way.
And He got into a boat and crossed to the other side, and went into His home town.
But whenever they persecute you in one town, flee to a different one. For I solemnly say to you, you will not cover all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man returns.
"Are you the One who was to come, or should we keep on looking for a different one?"
But because Jesus knew it, He left there. And many people followed Him, and He cured them all, and charged them not to publish Him, read more. and in this way fulfilled the saying spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "Here is my Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved, in whom my soul delights itself. I will endow Him with my Spirit, and He will announce a judgment to the heathen. He will not debate, nor challenge anyone; His voice will no one hear in the streets; A broken reed He will not break off; a flickering wick He will not put out, until He brings His judgment to victory.
But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man is not driving out demons except by the help of Beelzebub, the prince of the demons."
But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man is not driving out demons except by the help of Beelzebub, the prince of the demons."
But He turned and said to Peter, "Get out of my way, you Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for this view of yours is not from God but from men."
When the other ten heard of it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Him and said, "You know that the rulers of the heathen lord it over them, and their great men rule as despots over them. read more. It is not to be so among you, but whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to hold first position among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man has come, not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom price to set many free."
just as the Son of Man has come, not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom price to set many free." As they were leaving Jericho, a great crowd followed Him. read more. And two blind men sitting by the roadside heard that Jesus was passing and cried out, "Do pity us, Lord, you Son of David!" The crowd reproved them and urged them to keep quiet, but they cried out all the louder, "Do pity us, Lord, you Son of David!"
The crowd reproved them and urged them to keep quiet, but they cried out all the louder, "Do pity us, Lord, you Son of David!" And Jesus stopped and called them, and asked, "What do you want me to do for you?"
"Tell the daughter of Zion, your King is now coming to you, gentle, and riding on a donkey, yea, on the colt of a beast of burden."
And Jesus went into the temple and drove out all the buyers and sellers, and turned the money-changers' tables and the dove-dealers' seats upside down,
"What is your opinion of the Christ? Whose son is He?" They answered Him, "He is David's son."
"What is your opinion of the Christ? Whose son is He?" They answered Him, "He is David's son." He asked them, "How then does David, under the guidance of the Spirit, call Him Lord, when he says:
He asked them, "How then does David, under the guidance of the Spirit, call Him Lord, when he says: 'The Lord has said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, Until I put your enemies under your feet!'
'The Lord has said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, Until I put your enemies under your feet!' If David, then, calls Him Lord, how can He be his son?"
Therefore, I am going to send you prophets, wise men, and scribes, some of whom you will kill -- even crucify -- and some you will flog in your synagogues and chase from city to city,
for false Christs and false prophets will announce themselves, and they will show great signs and wonders to mislead, if possible, God's chosen people.
Jesus answered him, "Yes, I am. But I tell you, you will all soon see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty, and coming on the clouds of the sky."
and saying, "You who would tear down the temple and build another in three days, save yourself! If you are really the Son of God, come down from the cross."
Then the Spirit at once drove Him out into the desert. And He stayed in the desert forty days, while He was being tempted by Satan; yea, He was with the wild beasts, but the angels continued to wait upon Him. read more. Now after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God:
Now after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God: "The time is ripe and the kingdom of God is near; repent and believe in the good news."
"The time is ripe and the kingdom of God is near; repent and believe in the good news." As He was walking along the shore of the sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets in the sea, for they were fishermen. read more. So Jesus said to them, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishermen for catching men." And at once they forsook their nets and followed Him. He walked on a little farther and saw James, the Son of Zebedee, and his brother John; they too were in their boats getting their nets in order. He at once called them. They left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and went after Him.
He at once called them. They left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and went after Him.
"What do you want of us, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, God's Holy One!"
In the evening, when the sun had gone down, they kept on bringing to Him all the people who were sick or under the power of demons, and the whole town gathered at the door. read more. And He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and drove out many demons, and would not let the demons speak a word, because they knew who He was.
And He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and drove out many demons, and would not let the demons speak a word, because they knew who He was. Early in the morning, long before daybreak, He got up and went out to a lonely spot, and stayed praying there.
After some days He came back to Capernaum, and it was reported that He was at home,
Now Jesus at once felt in His spirit that they were arguing about this, and said, "Why are you arguing to yourselves about this?
And as He was passing by, He saw Levi, the son of Alpheus, sitting in the tax-collector's office, and He said to him, "Follow me." Then he got up and followed Him. Levi was at table in his house, and he had many tax-collectors and notorious sinners as guests, along with Jesus and His disciples, for there were many of them, and they began to follow Him. read more. And when the scribes who belonged to the Pharisees' party saw that He was eating with notorious sinners and tax-collectors, they said to His disciples, "Why does He eat with tax-collectors and notorious sinners?" Jesus heard it, and said to them, "Not well but sick people have to send for the doctor. It is not upright but sinful people that I have come to invite."
and screamed aloud, "What do you want of me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God's name, I beg you, do not torture me."
The apostles returned and met Jesus and reported to Him everything, how many things they had done and taught. And He said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and rest a little while." For there was an endless stream of people coming and going, and they had no time even to eat. read more. So they got off in their boat to be by themselves in a quiet place. But many people saw them start and knew of it and ran around the lake from all the towns and got there ahead of them. So when He got out of the boat, He saw a great crowd waiting, and His heart was moved with pity at the sight of them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and so He proceeded to teach them a number of things. When it grew late, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a destitute place and it is already late. Send the crowds off to the farms and villages to buy themselves something to eat." But He answered them, "Give them something to eat yourselves." Then they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy forty dollars' worth of bread and give it to them to eat?"
have handed them down to us, I too, most excellent Theophilus, because I have carefully investigated them all from the start, have felt impressed to write them out in order for you
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His forefather David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His reign will have no end."
Then the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and so your child will be called holy, the Son of God.
Now there were some shepherds in the same neighborhood, living in the open fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, so that they were fearfully frightened. read more. But the angel said to them: "Stop being afraid, for now I bring you good tidings of great joy which is to be for all the people; for today, in the town of David, a Saviour for you has been born, who is to be your Messiah and Lord. And this is proof for you: You will find a baby wrapped up and lying in a manger." Then suddenly there appeared with the angel a throng of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: "Glory to God in highest heaven! And peace on earth to men who please him." Then when the angel left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has told us." So they hurried to the place and found Joseph and Mary; also the baby lying in the manger. When they saw this, they informed them of the story that had been told about this child. And all who heard it were astounded at what was told them by the shepherds,
And the child continued to grow and gain in strength; He continued to increase in wisdom, and the spiritual blessing of God was on Him.
Then He said to them, "Why is it that you were searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"
Then He said to them, "Why is it that you were searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"
Meanwhile Jesus grew constantly in wisdom and in body, and in favor with God and man.
Meanwhile Jesus grew constantly in wisdom and in body, and in favor with God and man.
and the Holy Spirit came down upon Him in bodily form as a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "You are my Son, my Beloved! In you I am delighted!"
But Jesus answered him, "The Scripture says, 'You must worship the Lord your God, and serve Him alone.'"
Then Jesus in the power of the Spirit returned to Galilee, and news of Him spread all over the surrounding country. Meanwhile He began to teach in their synagogues, and was continuously receiving praise from all.
Meanwhile He began to teach in their synagogues, and was continuously receiving praise from all. So He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and as His habit was on the Sabbath, He went to the synagogue and stood up to read.
So He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and as His habit was on the Sabbath, He went to the synagogue and stood up to read. The roll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him, and He unrolled it and found the place where it was written: read more. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has consecrated me to preach the good news to the poor; He has sent me to announce release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to send the downtrodden away in liberty and to announce the year of favor from the Lord." Then He rolled up the roll and gave it back to the attendant and took His seat. Now the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were gazing at Him. Then He began to speak to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled here in your hearing."
Now there was a man in the synagogue who was under the power of the spirit of a foul demon, and he screamed with a loud voice, "Ha! What do you want of us, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are God's Holy One." read more. But Jesus reproved him, saying "Be quiet! Get out of him at once!" So the demon threw the man down in the midst of them and came out of him without doing him any harm. Amazement then seized them all and they continued to talk it over among themselves, and to say, "What does this message mean? For with authority and power He gives orders to foul spirits, and they come out." And so news of Him continued to spread to every place in the surrounding region. Then He rose to leave the synagogue, and He went to Simon's house. And Simon's mother-in-law was in the grip of a burning fever; so they asked Him about her. Then He took His stand by her and reproved the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them. As the sun was setting, all who had friends sick with various diseases brought them to Him. Then He continued to lay His hands upon them one by one and cured them. Even demons came out of many people, shrieking and saying, "You are the Son of God!" But He reproved them and would not let them speak, because they knew that He was the Christ.
Once as the crowd was pressing against Him to hear the message of God, He found Himself standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret.
Once as the crowd was pressing against Him to hear the message of God, He found Himself standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret. Then He saw two boats lying up on the shore of the lake, but the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. read more. So He got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to push out a little from the shore. Then He sat down and continued to teach the crowds from the boat. When He stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Push out into deep water, and set your nets for a haul." Simon answered, "We have toiled all night and caught nothing, but since you tell me to do so, I will set the nets again." They did so and caught so vast a shoal of fish that their nets began to break. So they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
So they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' feet and said, "Leave me, Lord, because I am a sinful man." read more. For at the haul of fish that they had made, bewildering amazement had seized him and all his men, as well as James and John, Zebedee's sons, who were Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Stop being afraid; from now on you will be catching men."
One day as He was teaching, there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Him to cure people.
Now the Pharisees and their scribes were grumbling at His disciples, and were saying, "Why are you eating and drinking with tax-collectors and notorious sinners?"
Now it was in those days that He went up on the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.
So He said to them, "But who do you, yourselves, say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God!"
And while He was praying, the look on His face changed, and His clothes turned dazzling white.
Now as the time was coming to a head when He should be taken up to heaven, He firmly set His face to continue His journey to Jerusalem;
This is why the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill, and some they will persecute';
"You must struggle on to get in through the narrow door, for I tell you, many will try to get in, but will not succeed,
Now some people were bringing even their babies to Him to have Him touch them, but the disciples, when they saw it, reproved them for it. But Jesus called them to Him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and stop preventing them from it, for to such as these the kingdom of God belongs. read more. I solemnly say to you, Whoever does not accept the kingdom of God as a little child does, will never get into it at all."
After saying these things, He went on ahead of them, on His way to Jerusalem.
Omitted Text. Omitted Text.
Then one of them struck the high priest's slave and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, "Permit me to go as far as this!" So He touched his ear and healed him.
Then Pilate said to the high priests and crowds, "I do not find anything blameworthy in this man."
They drew lots to divide His clothes among them. Meanwhile, the people stood looking on. Even the members of the council were scoffing at Him and saying, "He saved others, let Him now save Himself, if He really is the Christ of God, His Chosen One!"
But the other one reproved him and said, "Do you not fear even God when you are suffering the same penalty? And we are suffering it justly, for we are getting our deserts for what we have done, but this man has done nothing wrong." read more. Then he went on to say, "Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom!" So He said to him, "I solemnly say to you, this very day you will be in paradise with me."
When the captain saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, "He certainly was an innocent man!"
Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and thus to enter into His glory?"
Then He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you, that everything which is written about me in the law of Moses, in the prophets, and in the Psalms, had to be fulfilled." Then He opened their minds so that they might continue to understand the Scriptures, read more. and said to them, "The Scriptures said that the Christ should suffer as He has suffered, should rise from the dead on the third day,
In the beginning the Word existed; and the Word was face to face with God; yea, the Word was God Himself. He is the One who was face to face with God in the beginning. read more. It was through Him that everything came into existence, and apart from Him not a single thing came into existence. It was by Him that life began to exist, and that life was the light of mankind. So the light continues to shine in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it. There appeared a man named John, sent from God. He came for the purpose of testifying, to testify to the light, so that everyone through him might come to believe. He was not the light; he came to testify to the light. The real light, which sheds light upon everyone, was just coming into the world. He came into the world, and though the world through Him began to exist, it did not recognize Him. He came into His own world, but His own people did not welcome Him. But to all who did accept Him, and trust in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God, who were born of God and not of natural blood nor of physical or human impulse. So the Word became human and lived a little while among us, and we actually saw His glory, the glory of One who is an only Son from His Father, and He was full of spiritual blessing and truth. John testified to Him and cried out, for this was the one who said, "The One who is coming after me has been put before me, because He existed before me." For from His bounty we have all received spiritual blessing after spiritual blessing. For while the law was given through Moses, spiritual blessing and truth have come through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only son, Deity Himself, who lies upon His Father's breast, has made him known.
This took place at Bethany on the farther side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
I did not know Him myself, but I came baptizing in water, that He might be made known to Israel." Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it remained on Him.
Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it remained on Him. I did not know Him myself, but the very One who sent me to baptize in water said to me, 'The One on whom you see the Spirit coming down and remaining, is the One who is to baptize in the Holy Spirit.'
I did not know Him myself, but the very One who sent me to baptize in water said to me, 'The One on whom you see the Spirit coming down and remaining, is the One who is to baptize in the Holy Spirit.'
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. So He sought out Philip and said to him, "Follow me."
Philip sought out Nathaniel and said to him, "We have found the One about whom Moses wrote in the law and the One about whom the prophets wrote; it is Jesus, the son of Joseph, who comes from Nazareth."
Nathaniel answered Him, "Teacher, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel!"
Nathaniel answered Him, "Teacher, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel!"
Two days later there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and Jesus' mother was there.
Then the Jews addressed Him and asked, "What sign can you show us that you have authority to act in this way?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this sanctuary, and I will raise it in three days." read more. Then the Jews retorted, "It took forty-six years to build this sanctuary, and you are going to raise it in three days!"
After this, Jesus and His disciples went into Judea, and for some time He stayed there with them and kept baptizing people. But John too was baptizing people at Aenon, near Salim, for there was plenty of water there, and so the people were coming and being baptized. read more. (For John had not yet been put in prison.)
(For John had not yet been put in prison.) Then a discussion came up between John's disciples and a Jew about purification. read more. And they went to John and said to him, "Teacher, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, to whom you bore testimony yourself, is baptizing people and everybody is going to Him."
For He whom God has sent continues to speak the words of God, for God continues to give Him the Spirit without measure.
Now when the Lord learned that the Pharisees had heard that He was winning and baptizing more disciples than John --
Now when the Lord learned that the Pharisees had heard that He was winning and baptizing more disciples than John -- though Jesus Himself was not baptizing, it was His disciples --
though Jesus Himself was not baptizing, it was His disciples -- He left Judea and went back again to Galilee.
He left Judea and went back again to Galilee. And He had to go through Samaria. read more. So He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the field which Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob's spring was there. So Jesus, tired from His journey, was sitting by the spring just as He was. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." For His disciples had gone into the town to buy some food. So the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that a Jew like you asks a Samaritan woman like me for a drink?" For Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, "If you just knew what God has to give and who it is that said to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have been the one to ask Him, and He would have given you living water." She said to Him, "You have nothing to draw with, sir, and the well is deep. Where do you get your living water? You are not greater than our forefather Jacob, are you, who gave us this well, and drank from it himself, with all his sons and flocks?" Jesus answered her, "Anyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never, no never, be thirsty again, for the water that I will give him will become a spring of water that keeps on bubbling up within him for eternal life." The woman said to Him, "Give me this water at once, sir, so I may never get thirsty again, nor have to come so far to draw water." He said to her, "Go and call your husband and come back here." The woman answered, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You were right in saying, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true." The woman said to Him, "I see that you are a prophet. Our forefathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship Him." Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans do not know what you are worshiping; we Jews do know what we are worshiping; for salvation comes from the Jews. But a time is coming -- indeed, it is already here -- when the real worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and reality, for the Father is looking for just such worshipers. God is a spiritual Being, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and reality." The woman said to Him, "I know that the Messiah is coming, the One who is called the Christ. When He comes, He will tell us everything." Jesus said to her, "I, the very one who is talking to you, am He!" Just then His disciples came up, and they were surprised to find Him talking with a woman, yet not one of them asked Him, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?" The woman then left her pitcher and went back to town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who has told me everything I ever did. He is not the Christ, is He?" So the people left town and rushed out to see Him. Meanwhile the disciples were asking Him, and saying, "Teacher, eat something." But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." So the disciples began to say to one another, "Nobody has brought Him anything to eat, has he?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to finish His work. Are you not saying, 'In four months more the harvest comes'? Look! I tell you, lift up your eyes and scan the fields, for they are already white for harvesting.
Are you not saying, 'In four months more the harvest comes'? Look! I tell you, lift up your eyes and scan the fields, for they are already white for harvesting. Now the reaper is already getting pay, for he is gathering a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together. read more. For in this matter the adage is true, 'One sows, another reaps.' I have sent you to reap a harvest which you have not labored to make. Other men have labored, but you have reaped the results of their labors." Many of the Samaritans in that town believed in Him because of the woman's testimony, when she said, "He has told me everything I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they kept on urging Him to stay with them; so He did stay there two days. Then a much larger number believed in Him because of what He said Himself, and they were saying to the woman, "It is not merely because of what you said that we now believe, for we have heard Him ourselves, and we know that He is really the Saviour of the world." After the two days were over, Jesus left there and went on to Galilee,
So He came back to Cana in Galilee where He had turned the water into wine. Now there was at Capernaum an officer of the king's court whose son was sick.
Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders, you will never believe."
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem near the sheep-gate there is a pool called in Hebrew Bethzatha, which has five porticoes,
Now in Jerusalem near the sheep-gate there is a pool called in Hebrew Bethzatha, which has five porticoes, and in these there used to lie a great crowd of sick people, blind, crippled, paralyzed.
and in these there used to lie a great crowd of sick people, blind, crippled, paralyzed. Omitted Text.
Omitted Text. And there was one man there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
And there was one man there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. Jesus saw him lying there, and when He found out that he had been in that condition for a long time, He asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
Jesus saw him lying there, and when He found out that he had been in that condition for a long time, He asked him, "Do you want to get well?" The sick man answered, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is moved, but while I am trying to get down, somebody else steps down ahead of me."
The sick man answered, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is moved, but while I am trying to get down, somebody else steps down ahead of me." Jesus said to him, "Get up, pick up your pallet, and go to walking."
Jesus said to him, "Get up, pick up your pallet, and go to walking." And at once the man was well, and picked up his pallet, and went to walking. Now it was the Sabbath.
And at once the man was well, and picked up his pallet, and went to walking. Now it was the Sabbath. So the Jews began to say to the man who had been cured, "It is the Sabbath, and it is against the law for you to carry your pallet."
So the Jews began to say to the man who had been cured, "It is the Sabbath, and it is against the law for you to carry your pallet." He answered them, "The man who cured me said to me, 'Pick up your pallet and go to walking.'" read more. They asked him, "Who is the man that said to you, 'Pick up your pallet and go to walking'?" The man who had been cured did not know who He was, for since there was a crowd at the place, Jesus had slipped away. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple court, and said to him, "See! You are now well. Stop sinning or something worse may befall you." The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had cured him. This is why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He persisted in doing such things on the Sabbath. Then He answered them, "My Father is still working, and so am I." It was on account of this that the Jews tried all the harder to put Him to death, because He not only persisted in breaking the Sabbath, but also kept on saying that God was His Father, and so was making Himself equal to God. So Jesus answered them: "I most solemnly say to you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, except as He sees the Father doing it, for whatever the Father is in the habit of doing the Son also persists in doing.
But I have testimony that is higher than John's, for the works which my Father has committed to me to finish, the very works that I am doing, testify to me that the Father has sent me;
How can you believe, you who are always accepting honor from one another, but never seek the honor that comes from the one God?
and we have come to believe, yes more, we know by experience, that you are the Holy One of God."
After this, Jesus went on moving about in Galilee; He would not do so in Judea, because the Jews were trying to kill Him.
After this, Jesus went on moving about in Galilee; He would not do so in Judea, because the Jews were trying to kill Him.
So His brothers said to Him, "You must leave here and go to Judea, to let your disciples also see the works that you are doing; for no one does anything in secret when he is trying to be known to the public. If you are going to do this, show yourself publicly to the world."
Whoever utters merely his own ideas is seeking his own honor, but whoever seeks the honor of him who sent him is sincere, and there is no dishonesty in him.
But many of the crowd believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, He will not perform greater wonder-works than He did, will He?"
On the last day, the great day, of the feast, Jesus stood and cried aloud, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
When the questioners persisted, Jesus straightened up and said to them, "Let the one of you who is sinless be the first one to cast a stone at her."
And she said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go. Stop sinning from this point on." Then Jesus again addressed them and said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever continues to follow me need never walk in darkness, but he will enjoy the light that means life."
You are judging in accordance with external standards, but I judge nobody.
Yes, He who sent me is ever with me; I am not alone, because I always practice what pleases Him."
However, I am not seeking honor for myself; there is One who is seeking it for me, and He is judge.
At that time came the Feast of Rededication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in Solomon's portico.
Jesus answered them, "I have already told you so, but you do not believe me. The works which I am doing on my Father's authority are my credentials,
The Father and I are one." The Jews again picked up stones to stone Him. read more. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good deeds from my Father. For which of them are you going to stone me?" The Jews retorted, "It is not for a good deed but for blasphemy we are going to stone you; namely, because you, although a mere man, claim to be God."
But if I am doing so, even if you will not believe me, believe the deeds, that you may come to know and continue to know that the Father is in union with me and I am in union with the Father."
Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came out of heaven, "I have already glorified it and I will again glorify it."
Before the Passover feast started, Jesus knew that His time had come for Him to leave the world and go to the Father, and as He had loved His own in the world He loved them to the last.
Philip said to Him, "Lord, let us see the Father, and that will satisfy us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you disciples so long, and yet you, Philip, have not recognized me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Let us see the Father'? read more. Do you not believe that I am in union with the Father and that the Father is in union with me? I am not saying these things on my own authority, but the Father who always remains in union with me is doing these things Himself. You must believe me, that I am in union with the Father and that the Father is in union with me, or else you must do so because of the very things that I am doing.
"I shall not talk much more with you, for the evil ruler of this world is coming and he has nothing in common with me,
"I am the real vine, and my Father is the cultivator. He cuts away any branch on me that stops bearing fruit, and He repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more. read more. You are already pruned because of the teaching that I have given you. You must remain in union with me and I will remain in union with you. Just as no branch by itself can bear fruit unless it remains united to the vine, so you cannot unless you remain in union with me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in union with me and I in union with him will bear abundant fruit, because you cannot do anything cut off from union with me. If anyone does not remain in union with me, he is thrown away as a mere branch and is dried up; then it is picked up and thrown into the fire and burned up. If you remain in union with me and my words remain in you, you may ask whatever you please and you shall have it. By your continuously bearing abundant fruit and in this way proving yourselves to be real disciples of mine, my Father is glorified. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must remain in my love. If you continue to keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in His love.
Listen! A time is coming, yea, it is right here, when you will all be scattered to your homes and will leave me alone. And yet, I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
and took Him first to Annas. For he was father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year.
Simon Peter and another disciple followed on after Jesus. And that other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, and so went on with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard,
Pilate said to them, "Take Him yourselves, and try Him in accordance with your own law." Then the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to execute the death penalty on anyone."
Then Pilate said to Him, "So you are a king then?" Jesus answered, "Certainly I am a king. For this very purpose I was born, for this very purpose I have come into the world, to testify for truth. Everybody who is a friend of truth listens to my voice."
and kept marching up to Him and saying, "All hail, you king of the Jews!" each one slapping Him on the face.
Because of this Pilate kept on trying to set Him free, but the Jews shouted, "If you set Him free, you are no friend to the emperor. Anyone who claims to be a king is uttering treason against the emperor!"
"Therefore, let all the descendants of Israel understand beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ."
Moses, indeed, said: 'The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, as He did me. You must attentively listen to everything that He tells you. The result will be, that any person who will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.' read more. Yes, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel down, have also foretold these days. And you are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the sacred compact which God made with your forefathers, when He said to Abraham: 'All the families of the earth are to be blessed through your posterity.'
So he said, "Look! I see heaven open, and the Son of Man standing at God's right hand."
So Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began to preach the Christ to the Samaritans.
But Saul grew stronger and stronger and continued to put to utter confusion the Jews who lived in Damascus, by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
how God consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and then He went about doing good and curing all who were overpowered by the devil, because God was with Him.
how God consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and then He went about doing good and curing all who were overpowered by the devil, because God was with Him.
explaining them and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and said, "This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Christ."
So through baptism we have been buried with Him in death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father's glorious power, so we too should live an entirely new life. For if we have grown into fellowship with Him by sharing a death like His, surely we shall share a resurrection life like His, read more. for we know that our former self was crucified with Him, to make our body that is liable to sin inactive, so that we might not a moment longer continue to be slaves to sin. For when a man is dead, he is freed from the claims of sin. So if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, for we know that Christ, who once was raised from the dead, will never die again; death has no more power over Him. For by the death He died He once for all ended His relation to sin, and by the life He now is living He lives in unbroken relation to God. So you too must consider yourselves as having ended your relation to sin but living in unbroken relation to God.
For consider, brothers, the way God called you; that not many of you, in accordance with human standards, were wise, not many influential, not many of high birth. Just the opposite: God chose what the world calls foolish to put the wise to shame, what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame, read more. what the world calls of low degree, yea, what it counts as nothing and what it thinks does not exist, God chose to put a stop to what it thinks exists, so that no mortal man might ever boast in the presence of God. So you owe it all to Him through union with Christ Jesus, whom God has made our wisdom, our means of right standing, our consecration, and our redemption, so that, as the Scripture says, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
Yes, even those who have fallen asleep, though in union with Christ, have perished.
This is the way the Scripture puts it too, "The first man Adam became a living creature." The last Adam has become a life-giving Spirit.
The first man was made of the dust of the earth; the second Man is from heaven.
Keep on fostering the same disposition that Christ Jesus had. Though He was existing in the nature of God, He did not think His being on an equality with God a thing to be selfishly grasped, read more. but He laid it aside as He took on the nature of a slave and became like other men. Because He was recognized as a man, in reality as well as in outward form, He finally humiliated Himself in obedience so as to die, even to die on a cross. This is why God has highly exalted Him, and given Him the name that is above every other name, so that in the name of Jesus everyone should kneel, in heaven, on earth, and in the underworld, and everyone should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the praise of God the Father.
that is, the representative of lawlessness, whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan, with his plenitude of power and pretended signs and wonders,
For we do not have a High Priest who is incapable of sympathizing with us in our weaknesses, but we have One who was tempted in every respect as we are, and yet without committing any sin.
So Christ too did not take upon Himself the glory of being appointed High Priest, but it was God who said: "You are my Son; I have today become your Father,"
For during His human life He offered up prayers and entreaties, crying aloud with tears to Him who was always able to save Him out of death, and because of His beautiful spirit of worship His prayer was heard.
Therefore, because He Himself lives always to intercede for them always, He is able to save completely any and all who come to God through Him. For we needed such a High Priest, holy, innocent, unstained, far removed from sinful men, and elevated far above the very heavens,
So, when Christ was coming into the world, He said:
So, when Christ was coming into the world, He said:
Then I said, 'See, I have come, just as the Scripture writes about me in the book, O God, to do your will.'"
For by that one sacrifice He has made perfect for all time those who are consecrated to Him.
For Christ Himself, once for all, died for our sins, the Innocent for the guilty to bring us to God, being put to death in physical form but made alive in the Spirit,
So then, since Christ has suffered in our physical form, you too must arm yourselves with the same determination. For whoever suffers in his physical form has done with sin, so that he no longer can spend the rest of his earthly life in harmony with human desires but in accordance with God's will.
because everything that is in the world, the things that our lower nature and eyes are longing for, and the proud pretensions of life, do not come from the Father, but from the world; and the world is passing away and with it the evil longings it incites, but whoever perseveres in doing God's will lives on forever.
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and loud voices were heard in heaven, saying, "The sovereignty of the world has come into the possession of our Lord and His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever."
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and loud voices were heard in heaven, saying, "The sovereignty of the world has come into the possession of our Lord and His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever."
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "The salvation, power, and kingdom of our God, and the sovereignty of His Christ, have already come, because the accuser of our brothers, who always day and night accuses them before our God, has been hurled down.
Then I fell before his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "You must take care not to do that. I am only a fellow-slave of yours and of your brothers who hold to the testimony borne by Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony borne by Jesus is the inspiring spirit of prophecy."
Hastings
There is no historical task which is more important than to set forth the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, and none to which it is so difficult to do justice. The importance of the theme is sufficiently attested by the fact that it is felt to be His due to reckon a new era from the date of His birth. From the point of view of Christian faith there is nothing in time worthy to be set beside the deeds and the words of One who is adored as God manifest in the flesh, and the Saviour of the world. In the perspective of universal history. His influence ranks with Greek culture and Roman law as one of the three most valuable elements in the heritage from the ancient world, while it surpasses these other factors in the spiritual quality of its effects. On the other hand, the superlative task has its peculiar difficulties. It is quite certain that a modern European makes many mistakes when trying to reproduce the conditions of the distant province of Oriental antiquity in which Jesus lived. The literary documents, moreover, are of no great compass, and are reticent or obscure in regard to many matters which are of capital interest to the modern biographer. And when erudition has done its best with the primary and auxiliary sources, the historian has still to put the heart-searching question whether he possesses the qualifications that would enable him to understand the character, the experience, and the purpose of Jesus. 'He who would worthily write the Life of Jesus Christ must have a pen dipped in the imaginative sympathy of a poet, in the prophet's fire, in the artist's charm and grace, and in the reverence and purity of the saint' (Stewart, The Life of Christ, 1906, p. vi.).
1. The Literary Sources
(A) Canonical
(1) The Gospels and their purpose.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab; Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth; Obed the father of Jesse, Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife;
Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife; Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, read more. Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah, Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the Babylonian Exile. After the Babylonian Exile Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Sadoc, Sadoc the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eliazar, Eliazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, who was the mother of Jesus who is called the Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen, from David to the Babylonian Exile fourteen, from the Babylonian Exile to Christ fourteen. Now the birth of Christ Jesus occurred under these conditions: After His mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, but before they had lived together, she was found to be an expectant mother through the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Now the birth of Christ Jesus occurred under these conditions: After His mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, but before they had lived together, she was found to be an expectant mother through the influence of the Holy Spirit. But her husband, Joseph, because he was an upright man and did not want to disgrace her, decided to break the engagement by secretly divorcing her.
But her husband, Joseph, because he was an upright man and did not want to disgrace her, decided to break the engagement by secretly divorcing her. But just as this thought occurred to him, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for it is through the influence of the Holy Spirit that she has become an expectant mother.
But just as this thought occurred to him, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for it is through the influence of the Holy Spirit that she has become an expectant mother. And she will have a son, and you must name Him Jesus, for it is He who is to save His people from their sins."
And she will have a son, and you must name Him Jesus, for it is He who is to save His people from their sins." Now all this occurred to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Now all this occurred to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and they will call Him Immanuel" -- which means "God with us."
"The virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and they will call Him Immanuel" -- which means "God with us." So when Joseph awoke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord directed him, and took her as his wife;
Now when Jesus was born at Bethlehem in Judea in the days of King Herod, stargazers came from the East to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews? We saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him." read more. Now when King Herod heard of it, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. So he called together all the high priests and scribes of the people, and anxiously asked them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, "At Bethlehem in Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote: 'And you, Bethlehem in Judah's land, You are not at all the least among the leading places of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler, who will shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod secretly sent for the stargazers, and found out from them exactly the time the star appeared. So he sent them to Bethlehem with this order, "Go and carefully search for the child, and when you find Him, bring back word to me, and I too may come and do Him homage." After listening to the king, they started on their journey, and the star which they had seen rise led them on until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were thrilled with ecstatic joy, and went into the house and saw the child with His mother, Mary; and they fell at His feet and worshiped Him. They opened up their treasure sacks and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, as they had been divinely warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they set out to their own country by another route. After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Wake up! Tenderly take the child and His mother, and escape to Egypt; stay there until I further direct you, for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy Him." Then he awoke and tenderly took the child and His mother by night and made their escape to Egypt; he stayed there until Herod's death, so as to fulfill what the Lord had said by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my Son." Then Herod, because he saw that a trick had been played on him by the stargazers, was very angry, and sent and slaughtered all the boy babies in Bethlehem and in all that neighborhood, from two years down, in accordance with the time which he had found out from the stargazers. Then the saying was fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: "A sob was heard in Ramah, weeping and great wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she refused to be comforted, because they were gone."
While He was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and His brothers had taken their stand outside, trying hard to get to speak to Him. Omitted Text. read more. But He answered the man who told Him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" And with a gesture toward His disciples He said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my mother and sister and brother."
Then Jesus came up to them, and said, "Full authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptize them into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, read more. and teach them to practice all the commands that I have given you. And I myself will surely be with you all the days, down to the very close of an age."
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.
His kinsmen heard of it and came over to get hold of Him, for they kept saying, "He has gone crazy."
Then His mother and His brothers came. They were standing outside and sent word to call Him.
Then He began to ask them, "Who do you yourselves say that I am?" Peter answered Him, "You are the Christ."
But He kept silent and made no answer at all. So the high priest again questioned Him in these words, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" Jesus said, "Yes, I am, and you will all see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty and coming in the clouds of the sky!"
And the notice of the charge against Him read, "The king of the Jews."
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin there engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. read more. So the angel came to her home and said, "Congratulations, you highly favored woman! The Lord be with you!" But she was agitated at what he said, and began to ponder what this greeting meant. Then the angel said, "Stop being afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Listen! You will become pregnant and bear a son, and you must name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His forefather David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His reign will have no end." But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no husband?" Then the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and so your child will be called holy, the Son of God. And listen! your relative, Elizabeth, has herself too become pregnant, although she is old, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing is ever impossible for God." Then Mary said, "I am the Lord's slave. May what you say take place with me." Then the angel left her. Now in those days Mary got up and hurried off to the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she went to Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped within her. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and with a loud shout she said: "Blessed are you among women, And blessed is your child! Why is this privilege mine, to have the mother of my Lord come to me? For as soon as your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy within me! Blessed is she who has believed, for what is promised to her by the Lord will be fulfilled." Then Mary said: "My soul extols the Lord; my spirit exults in God my Saviour; for He has smiled upon His slave in her lowly station, for from this day all ages will count me happy! For the Almighty has done wonders for me, and holy is His name! He shows His mercy from age to age to those who fear him. He has done mighty deeds with His arm. He has scattered those that are proud in the purpose of their hearts. He has dethroned monarchs and exalted the poor. He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. He has helped His servant Israel, so as to remember mercy, as He promised our forefathers, Abraham and his descendants forever." Now Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned home. So it was time for Elizabeth to bear a child, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and so they were rejoicing with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they tried to name him Zechariah, after his father. But his mother said, "Never! But he must be named John." Then they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives that bears that name." So they began to make signs to his father to find out what he might wish him to be named. Then he asked for a writing-tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they were all astonished. Then the use of his voice and tongue was at once restored,: and he began to speak, and continued to praise God. And all the neighbors were overwhelmed with awe, and all over the hill country of Judea these things were being talked, and all who heard them kept them in their hearts, and said, "What then is this child to be?" for the hand of the Lord was with him. Now his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he uttered the following prophecy: "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for He has come and brought His people deliverance; and He has made a mighty Saviour for us in the house of His servant David, "as He promised by the lips of His ancient prophets, deliverance from our foes and from the hands of all who hate us, to show mercy to our forefathers, and carry out His sacred covenant, the oath which He swore to our forefather Abraham, to grant us deliverance from the dreaded hand of our foes, so that we could serve Him in holiness and uprightness In His own presence all our days. And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to make ready His ways, to give His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. Because the heart of our God is merciful. And so the day will dawn upon us from on high, to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." Now the child continued to grow and to gain strength in the Spirit, and he lived in the desert until the day when he announced himself to Israel.
Now in those days an edict was issued by the Emperor Augustus that a census of the whole world should be taken. This, the first census, was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
Now there were some shepherds in the same neighborhood, living in the open fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, so that they were fearfully frightened. read more. But the angel said to them: "Stop being afraid, for now I bring you good tidings of great joy which is to be for all the people; for today, in the town of David, a Saviour for you has been born, who is to be your Messiah and Lord. And this is proof for you: You will find a baby wrapped up and lying in a manger." Then suddenly there appeared with the angel a throng of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: "Glory to God in highest heaven! And peace on earth to men who please him." Then when the angel left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has told us." So they hurried to the place and found Joseph and Mary; also the baby lying in the manger. When they saw this, they informed them of the story that had been told about this child. And all who heard it were astounded at what was told them by the shepherds, but Mary continued to treasure it all up and to ponder it in her heart. Then the shepherds went back continuing to give glory and praise to God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them. When He was eight days old and it was time to circumcise Him, He was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before Mary had conceived Him. Now when the period of their purification ended, in accordance with the law of Moses, they took Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord, to do as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every first born male shall be counted consecrated to the Lord,"
In the fifteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was governor of Galilee, and his brother Philip was governor of the territory of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was governor of Abilene,
In the fifteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was governor of Galilee, and his brother Philip was governor of the territory of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was governor of Abilene,
Now Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His work; He was the son, as was supposed, of Joseph, the son of Eli,
the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,
So He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and as His habit was on the Sabbath, He went to the synagogue and stood up to read. The roll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him, and He unrolled it and found the place where it was written: read more. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has consecrated me to preach the good news to the poor; He has sent me to announce release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to send the downtrodden away in liberty and to announce the year of favor from the Lord." Then He rolled up the roll and gave it back to the attendant and took His seat. Now the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were gazing at Him. Then He began to speak to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled here in your hearing." So they all began to speak well of Him and to wonder at the gracious words that fell from His lips, and yet they continued to say, "Is He not Joseph's son?" He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote this proverb to me, 'Doctor, cure yourself! Do the things here in your hometown that we hear you did in Capernaum.'" He added, "I solemnly say to you, no prophet is welcome in his native neighborhood. But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the heaven was closed for three years and a half, and there was a great famine over all the land, and yet Elijah was not sent to a single one of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. And there were many lepers in Israel in Elisha's time, and yet not one of them was cured except Naaman the Syrian." Then all the people in the synagogue, on hearing these things, were filled with fury, and they rose up and drove Him out of town and took Him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, to hurl Him down the cliff. But He Himself passed through the midst of them and went on His way.
Now as the time was coming to a head when He should be taken up to heaven, He firmly set His face to continue His journey to Jerusalem;
After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on before Him, two by two, to every town or place which He was going to visit. So He was saying to them: "The harvest is plentiful, but the reapers are scarce. So pray the Lord of the harvest to send out reapers to His harvest-field. read more. Go on. Listen! I am sending you out as lambs surrounded by wolves. Do not carry a purse, a bag, or shoes, and do not stop to say 'Good morning' to anybody on the road. Whenever you go to a house for headquarters, first say, 'Peace to this household.' And if anyone there loves peace, your peace will come upon him; but if not, it will come back to you. Stay on at the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the workman deserves his support. Do not keep moving about from house to house. And if you go into any town and they welcome you, continue to eat what is offered you, to cure the sick there, and to say, 'The kingdom of God is close upon you.' But if you go into any town and they do not welcome you, go out into the streets and say, 'We are wiping off against you the very dust from your town that has stuck to our feet. But understand this, the kingdom of God is close by.' I tell you, on that day the punishment will be lighter for Sodom than for that town. A curse on you, Chorazin! A curse on you, Bethsaida! For if the wonder-works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, long ago they would have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But at the judgment the punishment will be lighter for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, are you to be exalted to heaven? No, you are to go down to the regions of the dead. Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever pays no attention to you pays no attention to me, and whoever pays no attention to me pays no attention to Him who sent me." Now the seventy returned and joyously reported, "Lord, even the demons are submitting to us in your name." He said to them, "I was looking at Satan failing like a flash of lightning from heaven. Listen! I have given you power to tread on snakes and scorpions, and to trample on all the power of the enemy, and nothing at all will ever harm you. However, you must stop rejoicing over the fact that the spirits are submitting to you, but continue to rejoice that your names are enrolled in heaven."
Were none found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then He said to him, "Get up and go on your way. Your faith has cured you."
I tell you, this man, and not the other, went back home forgiven and accepted by God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
As He approached it, just as soon as He saw the city, He burst into tears over it, and said: "If today you yourself had only known the conditions of peace! But now they are hidden from you. read more. For a time is coming upon you when your enemies will throw up earthworks around you and surround you and hem you in on all sides, and they will throw you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know when God visited you."
In the beginning the Word existed; and the Word was face to face with God; yea, the Word was God Himself.
So the Word became human and lived a little while among us, and we actually saw His glory, the glory of One who is an only Son from His Father, and He was full of spiritual blessing and truth.
Then the Jews retorted, "It took forty-six years to build this sanctuary, and you are going to raise it in three days!"
The man who saw it has testified to it -- and his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth -- in order that you too may come to believe it.
This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down, and we know that his testimony is true.
about His Son, who on the physical side became a descendant of David, and on the holy, spiritual side
But if she does leave him, she must remain single, or better, be reconciled to her husband. I instruct the husband too not to divorce his wife.
For the account that I passed on to you I myself received from the Lord Himself, that the Lord Jesus on the night He was betrayed took a loaf of bread
For we do not have a High Priest who is incapable of sympathizing with us in our weaknesses, but we have One who was tempted in every respect as we are, and yet without committing any sin.
For during His human life He offered up prayers and entreaties, crying aloud with tears to Him who was always able to save Him out of death, and because of His beautiful spirit of worship His prayer was heard.
For when He received such honor and glory from God the Father, when from the majestic glory there was borne to Him a voice like this, "This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I take delight,"
Smith
Je'sus Christ.
The life and character of Jesus Christ, says Dr. Schaff, "is the holy of holies in the history of the world."
1. NAME. --The name Jesus signifies saviour. It is the Greek form of JEHOSHUA (Joshua). The name Christ signifies anointed. Jesus was both priest and king. Among the Jews priests were anointed, as their inauguration to their office.
See Jehoshua
In the New Testament the name Christ is used as equivalent to the Hebrew Messiah (anointed),
Joh 1:41
the name given to the long-promised Prophet and King whom the Jews had been taught by their prophets to expect.
The use of this name, as applied to the Lord, has always a reference to the promises of the prophets. The name of Jesus is the proper name of our Lord, and that of Christ is added to identify him with the promised Messiah. Other names are sometimes added to the names Jesus Christ, thus, "Lord," "a king," "King of Israel," "Emmanuel," "Son of David," "chosen of God." II. BIRTH. --Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, God being his father, at Bethlehem of Judea, six miles south of Jerusalem. The date of his birth was most probably in December, B.C. 5, four years before the era from which we count our years. That era was not used till several hundred years after Christ. The calculations were made by a learned monk, Dionysius Exiguus, in the sixth century, who made an error of four years; so that to get the exact date from the birth of Christ we must add four years to our usual dates; i.e. A.D. 1882 is really 1886 years since the birth of Christ. It is also more than likely that our usual date for Christmas, December 25, is not far from the real date of Christ's birth. Since the 25th of December comes when the longest night gives way to the returning sun on his triumphant march, it makes an appropriate anniversary to make the birth of him who appeared in the darkest night of error and sin as the true Light of the world. At the time of Christ's birth Augustus Caesar was emperor of Rome, and Herod the Great king of Judea, but subject of Rome. God's providence had prepared the world for the coming of Christ, and this was the fittest time in all its history.
1. All the world was subject to one government, so that the apostles could travel everywhere: the door of every land was open for the gospel.
2. The world was at peace, so that the gospel could have free course.
3. The Greek language was spoken everywhere with their other languages.
4. The Jews were scattered everywhere with synagogues and Bibles. III. EARLY LIFE. --Jesus, having a manger at Bethlehem for his cradle, received a visit of adoration from the three wise men of the East. At forty days old he was taken to the temple at Jerusalem; and returning to Bethlehem, was soon taken to Egypt to escape Herod's massacre of the infants there. After a few months stay there, Herod having died in April, B.C. 4, the family returned to their Nazareth home, where Jesus lived till he was about thirty years old, subject to his parent, and increasing "in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." The only incident recorded of his early life is his going up to Jerusalem to attend the passover when he was twelve years old, and his conversation with the learned men in the temple. But we can understand the childhood and youth of Jesus better when we remember the surrounding influences amid which he grew.
1. The natural scenery was rugged and mountainous, but full of beauty. He breathed the pure air. He lived in a village, not in a city.
2. The Roman dominion was irksome and galling. The people of God were subject to a foreign yoke. The taxes were heavy. Roman soldiers, laws, money, every reminded them of their subjection, when they ought to be free and themselves the rulers of the world. When Jesus was ten years old, there was a great insurrection,
in Galilee. He who was to be King of the Jews heard and felt all this.
3. The Jewish hopes of a Redeemer, of throwing off their bondage, of becoming the glorious nation promised in the prophet, were in the very air he breathed. The conversation at home and in the streets was full of them.
4. Within his view, and his boyish excursions, were many remarkable historic places, --rivers, hills, cities, plains, --that would keep in mind the history of his people and God's dealings with them.
5. His school training. Mr. Deutsch, in the Quarterly Review, says, "Eighty years before Christ, schools flourished throughout the length and the breadth of the land: education had been made compulsory. While there is not a single term for 'school' to be found before the captivity, there were by that time about a dozen in common usage. Here are a few of the innumerable popular sayings of the period: 'Jerusalem was destroyed because the instruction of the young was neglected.' 'The world is only saved by the breath of the school-children.' 'Even for the rebuilding of the temple the schools must not be interrupted.'"
6. His home training. According to Ellicott, the stages of Jewish childhood were marked as follows: "At three the boy was weaned, and word for the first time the fringed or tasselled garment prescribed by
and Deut 22:12 His education began at first under the mother's care. At five he was to learn the law, at first by extracts written on scrolls of the more important passages, the Shema or creed of
De 2:4
the Hallel or festival psalms, Psal 114, 118, 136, and by catechetical teaching in school. At twelve he became more directly responsible for his obedience of the law; and on the day when he attained the age of thirteen, put on for the first time the phylacteries which were worn at the recital of his daily prayer." In addition to this, Jesus no doubt learned the carpenter's trade of his reputed father Joseph, and, as Joseph probably died before Jesus began his public ministry, he may have contributed to the support of his mother. (IV. PUBLIC MINISTRY. --All the leading events recorded of Jesus' life are given at the end of this volume in the Chronological Chart and in the Chronological Table of the life of Christ; so that here will be given only a general survey. Jesus began to enter upon his ministry when he was "about thirty years old;" that is, he was not very far from thirty, older or younger. He is regarded as nearly thirty-one by Andrews (in the tables of chronology referred to above) and by most others. Having been baptized by John early in the winter of 26-27, he spent the larger portion of his year in Judea and about the lower Jordan, till in December he went northward to Galilee through Samaria. The next year and a half, from December, A.D. 27, to October or November, A.D. 29, was spent in Galilee and norther Palestine, chiefly in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee. In November, 29, Jesus made his final departure from Galilee, and the rest of his ministry was in Judea and Perea, beyond Jordan, till his crucifixion, April 7, A.D. 30. After three days he proved his divinity by rising from the dead; and after appearing on eleven different occasions to his disciples during forty days, he finally ascended to heaven, where he is the living, ever present, all-powerful Saviour of his people. Jesus Christ, being both human and divine, is fitted to be the true Saviour of men. In this, as in every action and character, he is shown to be "the wisdom and power of God unto salvation." As human, he reaches down to our natures, sympathizes with us, shows us that God knows all our feelings and weaknesses and sorrows and sins, brings God near to us, who otherwise could not realize the Infinite and Eternal as a father and friend. He is divine, in order that he may be an all-powerful, all-loving Saviour, able and willing to defend us from every enemy, to subdue all temptations, to deliver from all sin, and to bring each of his people, and the whole Church, into complete and final victory. Jesus Christ is the centre of the world's history, as he is the centre of the Bible. --ED.)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"Are you the One who was to come, or should we keep on looking for a different one?"
He first found his brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means, the Christ).
After him, at the time of the enrollment for the Roman tax, Judas the Galilean appeared and influenced people to desert and follow him, but he too perished and all his followers were scattered.
Then Paul said, "John baptized with a baptism that was an expression of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was to come after him; that is, in Jesus."
Watsons
JESUS CHRIST, the son of God, the Messiah, and Saviour of the world, the first and principal object of the prophecies, prefigured and promised in the Old Testament, expected and desired by the patriarchs; the hope of the Gentiles; the glory, salvation, and consolation of Christians. The name Jesus, or, as the Hebrews pronounce it, ??????, Jehoshua or Joshua, '??????, signifies, he who shall save. No one ever bore this name with so much justice, nor so perfectly fulfilled the signification of it, as Jesus Christ, who saves even from sin and hell, and hath merited heaven for us by the price of his blood. It is not necessary here to narrate the history of our Saviour's life, which can no where be read with advantage except in the writings of the four evangelists; but there are several general views which require to be noticed under this article.
1. Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ or Messiah promised under the Old Testament. That he professed himself to be that Messiah to whom all the prophets gave witness, and who was, in fact, at the time of his appearing, expected by the Jews; and that he was received under that character by his disciples, and by all Christians ever since, is certain. And if the Old Testament Scriptures afford sufficiently definite marks by which the long announced Christ should be infallibly known at his advent, and these presignations are found realized in our Lord, then is the truth of his pretensions established. From the books of the Old Testament we learn that the Messiah was to authenticate his claim by miracles; and in those predictions respecting him, so many circumstances are recorded, that they could meet only in one person; and so, if they are accomplished in him, they leave no room for doubt, as far as the evidence of prophecy is deemed conclusive. As to MIRACLES, we refer to that article; here only observing, that if the miraculous works wrought by Christ were really done, they prove his mission, because, from their nature, and having been wrought to confirm his claim to be the Messiah, they necessarily imply a divine attestation. With respect to PROPHECY, the principles under which its evidence must be regarded as conclusive will be given under that head; and here therefore it will only be necessary to show the completion of the prophecies of the sacred books of the Jews relative to the Messiah in one person, and that person the founder of the Christian religion.
The time of the Messiah's appearance in the world, as predicted in the Old Testament, is defined, says Keith, by a number of concurring circumstances, which fix it to the very date of the advent of Christ. The last blessing of Jacob to his sons, when he commanded them to gather themselves together that he might tell them what should befall them in the last days, contains this prediction concerning Judah: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be," Ge 49:10, The date fixed by this prophecy for the coming of Shiloh, or the Saviour, was not to exceed the time during which the descendants of Judah were to continue a united people, while a king should reign among them, while they should be governed by their own laws, and while their judges should be from among their brethren. The prophecy of Malachi adds another standard for measuring the time: "Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall come suddenly to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts," Mal 3:1. No words can be more expressive of the coming of the promised Messiah; and they as clearly imply his appearance in the second temple before it should be destroyed. In regard to the advent of the Messiah before the destruction of the second temple, the words of Haggai are remarkably explicit: "The desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former, and in this place will I give peace," Hag 2:7. The Saviour was thus to appear, according to the prophecies of the Old Testament, during the time of the continuance of the kingdom of Judah, previous to the demolition of the temple, and immediately subsequent to the next prophet. But the time is rendered yet more definite. In the prophecies of Daniel, the kingdom of the Messiah is not only foretold as commencing in the time of the fourth monarchy, or Roman empire, but the express number of years that were to precede his coming are plainly intimated: "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sin, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know, therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks," Da 9:24-25. Computation by weeks of years was common among the Jews, and every seventh was the sabbatical year; seventy weeks, thus amounted to four hundred and ninety years. In these words the prophet marks the very time, and uses the very name of Messiah, the Prince; so entirety is all ambiguity done away. The plainest inference may be drawn from these prophecies. All of them, while, in every respect, they presuppose the most perfect knowledge of futurity; while they were unquestionably delivered and publicly known for ages previous to the time to which they referred; and while they refer to different contingent and unconnected events, utterly undeterminable and inconceivable by all human sagacity; accord in perfect unison to a single precise period where all their different lines terminate at once,
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The people that were living in darkness have seen a great light, and on those that were living in the land of the shadow of death; a light has dawned."