Jesus

[close] Jesus[e] (c. 4 BC – c. AD 30 / 33) was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the central figure of Christianity.

Jesus Christ is the designation of Jesus of Nazareth (d. c. 30 CE), who was an itinerant Jewish prophet from the Galilee in northern Israel. He preached the imminent intervention in human affairs by the God of the Jews, when God would establish his kingdom on earth. The proper name Jesus was Greek for the Hebrew Joshua ("he who saves"). 'Christ' (Greek: Christos) was translated from the Hebrew meshiach (messiah). 'Messiah' meant "anointed one" where anointing was part of the coronation ritual by God for Jewish kings. "Jesus the Christ" became shortened over time to Jesus Christ, beginning with the letters of Paul in the 50s and 60s of the 1st century CE. A popular title became his designation as the "son of God", both in function and nature.

Historical Context
The Jews were an ethnic group of various tribes who lived mainly in Israel but also settled in communities around the Mediterranean Basin. Collectively, they were known as the nation of Israel. They shared many religious elements with their neighbors but differed by having distinct dietary laws, practicing circumcision, and observing Sabbath (a day of rest every seven days). The other major difference was that while recognizing the various deities in the universe, they were only permitted to offer sacrifices to their God. This was done at the Temple complex in Jerusalem.

Over the centuries, the Jews had suffered the Assyrian Invasion (722 BCE), the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Babylonians (587 BCE), the occupation by the Greeks (167 BCE), and then Rome. When the Roman general Pompey (106-48 BCE) conquered the East, including Israel (63 BCE), he established client-kings who were responsible for keeping the peace, carrying out Roman dictates, and collecting taxes. Herod the Great was named King of the Jews (r. 37-4 BCE), and although he renovated the Temple complex in Jerusalem, he was reviled by many for his relationship with Rome.

JEWISH PROPHETS CLAIMED THAT GOD WOULD INTERVENE IN HISTORY ONE FINAL TIME & RAISE UP A MESSIAH TO LEAD THE ARMIES OF GOD AGAINST ISRAEL'S OPPRESSORS.
Traditionally, the books of Jewish prophets (oracles) had blamed these events on the sins of the people, largely idolatry (worship of other gods). However, these prophets also offered a message of hope, known as Jewish Restoration Theology. They claimed that at some future time, God would intervene in history one final time to restore the nation of Israel and God would raise up a messiah to lead the armies of God against Israel's oppressors.

By the 1st century CE, there were many Jewish groups (sects) that maintained the traditions of Israel but varied in their lifestyles and attitude toward Rome and infamous for their debates among each other. Israel produced several charismatic messiah claimants, all calling for God's intervention against Roman rule. These men stirred up the crowds during religious festivals in Jerusalem, calling on God to destroy the Romans and establish his kingdom. Rome's response was to arrest and execute both the leader and his followers. The usual method of execution was crucifixion, the Roman punishment for treason as preaching a kingdom that was not Rome threatened the prosperity and stability of the Roman Empire.

The followers of Jesus of Nazareth became one more sect of Jews among many at the time. During the 20s CE, he proclaimed the message: "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1.15). The claim was presented as "good news"; thus the later Anglo-Saxon term of 'gospel'.

The Dates for Jesus
Only two gospels, Matthew and Luke, present a nativity story, or the details surrounding the birth of Jesus. The dates are problematic. Matthew claimed that Jesus was born roughly two years before the death of Herod the Great (4 BCE), while Luke claimed he was born during the governorship of Quirinus in Syria (6 CE). Both relate that his mother, Mary, was impregnated by the spirit of God, resulting in the virgin birth.

All the gospel writers place the ministry and death of Jesus during the reign of the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate. We know that Pilate reigned from 26-36 CE. By agreement, the common date for the death of Jesus falls between 30-33 CE.

The Ministry of Jesus in the Gospels
The ministry of Jesus began after he was baptized by a man known as John the Baptist. Baptism simply meant dunking. John was symbolically utilizing a water ritual after someone had repented of their sins. The ritual of baptism was one of the earliest Christian rituals and became part of the initiation of believers to enter the community.

HE CALLED TWELVE DISCIPLES (STUDENTS) TO CONSTITUTE HIS INNER CIRCLE, SYMBOLIZING THE RESTORATION OF THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL.

Mark (the earliest gospel, c. 70 CE), presented Jesus as a charismatic exorcist, an itinerant preacher understood to have special gifts from God, operating through God's spirit, like the Prophets of Israel. Mark's Jesus traveled through the small towns and villages of Galilee, bringing his message that the prophets' prediction of the final days was imminent. According to Mark, Jesus taught through parables, which utilized everyday concepts and details to teach through examples. He called twelve disciples (students) to constitute his inner circle, symbolizing the restoration of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Beginning with Mark, the gospels relate that the Jewish leadership (mainly the Pharisees, scribes, and ultimately the Sadducees who were in charge of the Temple) was opposed to the teachings of Jesus from the very beginning of the ministry. Jesus and his disciples traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover festival. Jesus then went to the Temple Mount and disrupted the services of the animal-sellers and the money-changers. According to Mark, it is this event that led to the death of Jesus. After celebrating the Passover meal (which would become the Christian ritual of the Last Supper), Jesus and the disciples walked to the Mount of Olives to pray. Mark related that it was there that one of his disciples, Judas, betrayed Jesus to the Jewish authorities so that he was arrested.

The gospels report a series of evening and morning trials in front of different groups (the Sanhedrin, the ruling Council of Jerusalem, the high-priest), and Jesus was condemned for blasphemy. Jesus was innocent of this charge, but the gospel writers knew how Jesus died and used blasphemy as a plot device to hand him over to Rome.

Jesus was executed on a Friday afternoon. Saturday was the Sabbath, which began at sunset on Friday, and so the women could not go to the tomb until Sunday morning to finish the funeral rituals. It was then that his followers claimed that the body of Jesus was gone, that he had been raised from the dead by God. In consequence, the claim was made that Jesus was bodily ascended into heaven.

Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah
All four gospels had to deal with some problems in their claims that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised messiah of the Jewish Scriptures. Not only was Jesus dead, but he died by crucifixion, as a traitor to Rome. And the preaching of the imminent kingdom of God had not materialized. Two responses arose in the communities of his followers. In chapters 53-54 of the Prophet Isaiah, we have the description of a "righteous servant" who is tortured, suffers, dies, and then is elevated to share the throne of God. In the historical context of the Prophet Isaiah, the suffering servant stood for the nation of Israel. Early Christians now claimed that Isaiah was predicting that Jesus of Nazareth was this suffering servant.

The problem of the fact that the kingdom of God did not materialize when Jesus was on earth was resolved by another Christian innovation. This is known as the parousia or second appearance. Jesus, now in heaven, would return at a future date, and then the remaining elements of the reign of God would be manifest on earth. This conviction remains central to Christianity, where the details were outlined in the Book of Revelation by John of Patmos.

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