Introduction to Jesus
A long time ago, in the Roman Empire, an unwed Jewish teenager got pregnant. Near the date of her delivery, she was traveling with her fiancé and passing through a small village when she went into labor. With no doctors available and not even a hotel room to be found, she gave birth to the child in a barn, using the horse trough as a crib.
The child was named Yeshua ("Joshua" in English, or “Jesus” in Greek) and grew up as part of a fairly typical but poor family. His father was a carpenter, and his mother stayed at home with their seven children – Jesus, his four brothers, and two sisters. They lived in a small village called Nazareth, and were not particularly noteworthy in any way.
Around the age of 30, Jesus went to visit the great Jewish prophet of his day. The prophet – a bug-eating hermit named John – announced publicly that Jesus was the Messiah: a long-awaited religious figure who would build the Jewish faith into an eternal kingdom. This was a shocking event for everyone. The Jewish nation had been awaiting their Messiah for centuries. They expected a brilliant philosopher or a talented general…and yet here was an unknown, poor carpenter from a tiny forgotten village.
From that point on, Jesus began to travel around the countryside. He met in Jewish synagogues of all sizes, teaching people his interpretations of the Jewish Scriptures. Much to everyone’s surprise, this otherwise unknown man began to perform miracles! He would touch people and their blindness or sickness or handicap would simply disappear. He healed so many people that anytime he would come into a village, thousands of curious would show up just hoping to touch or listen to him.
He taught a strange new interpretation of the Jewish Scriptures. He said that all of the hundreds of laws in the Jewish Scriptures could be boiled down to simply loving God and loving those around you. He taught that you should never seek revenge, that you should never deceive or worry, that you should devote your entire energy to helping and serving others.
Even more surprising were the people who Jesus hung around with. He spent his time with prostitutes and greedy tax men, and trusted the administration of his ministry to illiterate fishermen and women (at a time when women were considered incapable of such things). After three and a half years of traveling, Jesus had drawn the attention of every notable person in the country. No one could deny that he was doing impossible things, and teaching a religion fundamentally different from the Jewish religion of the day. He even went so far, in fact, as to refer to himself as the Son of God, and identify himself as being “at one” with God.
By this time, Jesus had gained a great deal of influence in the region – so much so that when he arrived in the capital city for a feast, adoring throngs surrounded him and cheered him on. The religious and political leaders of the day saw him as a threat: a threat to their religion, to their way of life, to their authority. They realized that Jesus had the following to completely change the beliefs of the country or – if he desired – to even cause an uprising. Furthermore, they were furious that he claimed to speak for, and be one with, God. Many others were frustrated because they had thought that the Messiah was going to overthrow Rome and set Israel up as a new empire; Jesus, however, made it clear that he did not wish to gather funds or raise an army, and had no intention of denying Rome. Rather, Jesus wanted to create an eternal kingdom after death.
So the religious leaders did the unthinkable: they plotted the death of their potential rival.
They found a willing helper in one of Jesus’ closest friends. This man, one of Jesus’ closest friends for three and a half years, was frustrated with the direction of Jesus’ ministry; it was not turning out to be what he had thought it to be. So his friend, Judas, agreed to tell the religious leaders where Jesus was located.
After dinner of the most important religious festival of the year, Jesus was arrested based upon the information that his close friend gave. Jesus was taken for trial but neither the local king nor the Roman governor could find sufficient cause to find him guilty of anything. In the end, despite his personal doubts, the Roman Governor agreed to follow the wishes of the religious leaders, so that he could avoid an uprising in his province.
So Jesus – this humble child, born in a barn and raised in nameless poverty – was all of a sudden an enemy of the state. He was found guilty of insurrection – domestic terrorism – and sentenced to death.
As a domestic terrorist, he was beaten and whipped. He was psychologically tortured – humiliated in front of laughing crowds. He was stripped naked and dressed in new clothes to be mocked. His beard was painfully ripped out of his chin. Thorns were hammered into his skull. His hands and feet were nailed to pieces of wood, and he was hung up in the air on a cross. For hours he struggled for life: he had to push against the nail in his foot to stand up enough to breathe, and when his body gave out he would slump down, starting to suffocate; then he would repeat over and over, for as long as his strength held.
The man who had healed and touched thousands of lives, the man who had taught love and forgiveness and acceptance…this same man died a horrible death, betrayed by his friends, the death of a terrorist. One of his secret followers, a wealthy man, put his body inside his family’s tomb. The Romans put guards at the tomb, fearing attacks.
This is all well-attested history.
But the story does not end there.
A few days later, a few of his female followers came to the tomb to mourn. What they found were sleeping guards, an open tomb, and empty grave-clothes. They saw a spiritual vision, and were told that Jesus had risen from the dead, and was alive for eternity. Over the next month more than 500 people would physically see and touch Jesus, alive again.
He taught them that he was, truly, the Son of God. That he had provided a path for all of us to reach heaven.
Even better, he taught us “good news”: even though none of us are perfect enough to make it to heaven, God is willing to help. For those willing to follow Jesus’ teachings in their lives, and believe in his Resurrection, a possibility for eternal life exists. God will forgive us of our sins, and adopt us into his family, forever.
This is the Good News of Christianity. Because of Jesus, you don’t have to be perfect. Because of Jesus, you don’t have to “earn” eternal life. Because of Jesus, you have the opportunity to spend an eternity with God.
Jesus taught that we are all incapable of earning the right to be with God for eternity, because left to ourselves we all fail to achieve what God created us to do. But if we trust Jesus to lead our lives, and be our High Priest to God, then God will forgive us for all of our transgressions – not because we have earned it, but purely because his love is so great.
God wants to adopt you.
Jesus wants you to share in his eternal inheritance.
They have extended the offer.
The question is -- will you accept?
For more information or to speak with someone about Jesus’ offer, click here or call us at 753-5330.