Jesus

Jesus

Life of Christ

Writing a paper on the Historical Jesus; Jesus as Messiah; and Jesus as my Personal Savior has been a huge task for me. As I began to look on the internet, read the Bible, speak to my Pastor, and ask friends if they had read any books on the topic of The Historical Jesus. I felt like I was coming up empty handed, after days of exhaustive and futile research, I became discouraged. Then a friend loaned me a book written by Huston Smith, The World's Religions, in the confines of that book I found the words that fit perfectly into this paper. "Christianity is basically a historical religion. That is to say, it is founded not on abstract principles but in concrete events, actual historical happenings. The most important of these is the life of a Jewish carpenter who was often pointed out was born in a stable, was executed as a criminal at age thirty-three, never traveled more than ninety miles from his birthplace, owned nothing, attended no college, marshaled no army, and instead of producing books did his only writing in the sand. Nevertheless, his birthday is kept across the world and his death sets a gallows, against almost every skyline. Who is he?" (317-318).

The annunciation of Jesus' birth and Mary's conception as told in Luke and Joseph's reaction as told in Matthew are significant. (That is why Dr. Buck, I included the scriptures, even though I know you have read the passages in the Bible).

Luke 1:26-38 26In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

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29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." 34"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" 35The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37For nothing is impossible with God." 38"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said?" Then the angel left her.

Matthew 1:20-21 20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, [a] because he will save his people from their sins."

The Angel Gabriel approached Mary before she was with child, and she would bare a son and call him Jesus. After the visitation by the angel, Mary offered praise to the Lord and heartfelt gratitude for being deemed worthy for such a divine grace.

The purpose of the Annunciation was to prepare Mary spiritually for the events that were to follow. The Annunciation was so stupendous that it became the most important event in her life. It allowed her more and more to occupy her with spiritual matters, which would make all her doubts and fears disappear.

The Angel appeared to Joseph to assure him not to be alarmed at the state of Mary. This is an interesting development because the question here was that Mary was suddenly found to be pregnant by Joseph who was her betrothed and according to the custom was

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already considering breaking his vow to her. He was however, prevented from doing this by the Angel who reassured him that this was not an ordinary pregnancy, but a holy pregnancy.

After the birth of Jesus and the shepherds came to see the infant child, he is eight days old and taken to the temple to be circumcised and named. Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the temple to offer a sacrifice to God, a pair of doves or two pigeons, which was required for Mary's purification, according to the Law of Moses. A man named Simeon, who was promised by God that he would live to see the Messiah. The Holy Spirit revealed to him that Mary and Joseph were in the temple with the promised child. Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God for the fulfilled promise. Anna an elderly prophetess, who was also in the temple the day the Jesus was brought in. Anna had been a widow for fifty plus years and everyday she was in the temple fasting and praying for the Messiah to come, now this very day her prayers had been answered. Anna was able to see the Christ child and his parents, she held him in her arms and praised God and told his parents he would redeem Israel. She left the temple thanking God.

The Magi from the east came to Jerusalem to visit the Christ child. King Herod finds out the wise men have come to bring gifts to the new king and asks them where he might find the child so he can worship him too. The Magi find Jesus and his mother, give them the gifts and return home a different way, for fearing Herod will find the child and bring him harm. King Herod discovers the Magi are not coming back, so he sends his army to

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kill all the male children two years of age and younger. The coming tragedy is revealed to Joseph in a dream, so he takes Mary and Jesus and flees to Egypt. A few years later Joseph has another dream that Herod is dead and is told by an angel, take his family and return to Israel. They return to Galilee, to the town of Nazareth.

The Bible mentions Jesus' childhood and youth only three times. Once in Luke 2:40 And the child grew and became strong: he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. Another time in Luke 2:41-50, this is where Mary, Joseph, and their