JESUS: A Very Brief Account of His Life on Earth

JESUS

A Very Brief Account of His Life on Earth

copyright 2000 by Emerson Thomas McMullen

What is known of Jesus' life is from the Roman historian Tacitus, the Gospel writers of the New Testament, and somewhat from the Jewish historian Josephus.* The story of Jesus' sojourn on earth begins with his mother, Mary, and his earthy father, Joseph.

Mary and Joseph

When Mary was a young woman betrothed to Joseph, the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced that she would supernaturally bear the prophesied Messiah. When she became pregnant, an angel told Joseph in a dream not to put Mary away, since her conception was by the Holy Spirit. Further, he was to name this son Jesus, "because he will save his people from their sins." Joseph took Mary as his wife, but had no sexual relations with her.

Caesar Augustus ordered that a census be taken, and everyone had to register in their own hometown. Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem. There Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable because there was no room in the inn. A host of angels appeared to shepherds in a nearby field and told them that the Messiah, the savior had been born in Bethlehem. The shepherds went to see Jesus, and then spread the word of his birth.

After Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day, Mary traveled to Jerusalem to undergo purification rites, to consecrate Jesus to God, and to offer a sacrifice for him. While there, a prophet and a prophetess gave them messages - one was that a sword would pierce Mary's heart. This prophesy came true thirty-three years later when Mary watched Romans crucify Jesus.

Jesus

Jesus lived during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Augustus and Tiberius. His public ministry in Israel only covered the four years before his death. It began when John the Baptist, a popular figure, proclaimed him as the long-awaited Messiah. This news, along with Jesus' miraculous "signs and wonders" generated a sizable following. Jesus' miracles included healing lepers, restoring sight to the blind, and raising the dead.

Jesus preached a message of love for one another, and a coming kingdom of God. The large crowds first created suspicion, and then envy among the Jewish leadership. Their opposition especially grew when Jesus started to make claims to be divine. Once he said "I and the Father [God] am one" and then another time, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." These claims may have led Judas, one of Jesus' twelve disciples to betray him to the authorities, who were seeking to arrest Jesus.

Aided by Judas, the Jewish leadership arrested Jesus at night because they were afraid of the crowds following him. Those guarding Jesus beat him and mocked him. In an unprecedented trial, the leaders found Jesus guilty of blasphemy, and condemned him to death because he agreed with the charge that he was the Christ, the Son of God.

Pontus Pilate, the Roman governor over Judea, had the final say in capital punishment cases. The Jewish leaders went to him accusing Jesus of claiming to be King of the Jews and of forbidding the payment of taxes to Rome. Pilate was not afraid to shed blood, but was reluctant to have Jesus executed. Because it was the time of the Jewish Passover holiday, he offered the Jewish leadership and their followers a choice between freeing Barabbas, who had been convicted of murder, and releasing Jesus. They chose Barabbas and called for Jesus to be crucified. Pilate publicly washed his hands, saying "I am innocent of this man's blood - it is your responsibility." The crowd answered "Let his blood be on us and on our children." Pilate released Barabbas and acquiesced to the demands of the Jewish leaders and their followers.

The Roman soldiers flogged Jesus, spit on him, mocked him, beat him, and crowned him with a crown of thorns. They had Jesus carry the cross-piece to the place of execution, and then nailed him to it, which they then hung on a post. Pilate had the charge against Jesus nailed above his head in three different languages. This accusation was slightly different in each language, but basically it said "This is the King of the Jews." The Jewish leaders also mocked Jesus, saying things like "Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." As he was dying, Jesus told the disciple John to take care of Mary.

When Jesus died on the cross, a soldier speared his side to make sure he was dead. A wealthy follower asked Pilate for the body and buried Jesus in a new tomb. Because Jesus had said he would rise from the dead, the Jewish leaders requested and received a Roman guard for the tomb. The central claim of Christians is that Jesus rose from the dead, appeared to hundreds of his followers, ascended into heaven, and now sits at the right hand of God the Father.

Jesus is the most influential person in history. His followers spread the good news of his birth and resurrection first throughout the Roman Empire, and then eventually the world. They preached Christ's message of love and his promise of eternal life. Christians believe it became possible for sinful humans to live forever with God the Father because Jesus, who is the sinless Son of God, died not only in Barabbas' place, but also in their place, thereby atoning for their sins.

*In Josephus' The Antiquities of the Jews, there may have been some Christian interpolation during translation of the section on Jesus, but not of the sections on John the Baptist or James, the brother of Jesus.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The pictures are from The New Testament, 311 Copyright-Free Illustrations, D. Rice, ed, (N.Y: Dover Publications, 1986).