Life And Death Of Jesus Christ

John 20:31 “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. What is recorded is to give full proof of the Divinity of Christ; that he is the promised Messiah, that he really suffered and rose from the dead and that through Him every believer might have eternal life.”

John presents a very different Jesus compared to the synoptic gospels. It is clear that for John Jesus has many complex elements to his personality and without all of these the picture is not complete. The above quote by Käsemann suggests that in the gospel of John Jesus’ divinity is definite and his presence is felt on the entire world through his words and actions. This allows for the human Jesus but implies the divine Jesus is imperative.

Boyarin argues that when Jesus claimed to be a divine being as well as the anointed king, he was saying something other Jews would understand and find normal. From his perspective, the difference between Jesus followers and other Jews was not that he claimed to be the unique Son of God but that most Jews didn't think he was that guy.

According to Ehrman’s evidence Jesus “neither thought of himself as God, nor claimed to be God” and that Jesus thought of himself as “an apocalyptic prophet” or Jewish Preacher and that even his disciples didn’t see him as divine until after his death and resurrection. In addition Ehrman finds that it was hard to decipher between human and divine in these times and that, “In other words, if humans could be angels (and angels humans), and if angels could be gods, and if in fact the chief angel could be the Lord himself – then to make Jesus divine, one simply needs to think of him as an angel in human form. ”Ehrman 61. Ehrman uses the bible to help make his case, stating that if Jesus really thought of himself as God, he would go around promoting it. In the Gospel of John in the Bible the writer states ““If Jesus really went around calling himself God [in John], wouldn’t the other Gospels at least mention the fact?”

In our current day and age, removed from the accounts in the Bible, some would still argue the divinity of Jesus. But this is not a new argument, the Disciples and even Jesus himself faced the animosity of doubters. The Gospel of Matthew describes some of these arguments and proves the undeniable truth that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah whom the Jewish Nation waited, and the Savior of the world.

Prior to the twentieth century, theologians limited their discussion of Christ to the views set forth in their respective denominational or confessional traditions.” But, doubt that Christ in tradition was different from the actual Christ created a shift from metaphysical to historical Christology. This sparked the search for the historical Jesus in which two approaches, “Christology from Above” and “Christology from Below arose.

Two thousand years ago, the birth of Jesus, arguably the most influential man the world has ever seen, altered history forever. Christians know him as the Messiah, the son of God who came to save all of mankind, and for others, he may just be a great teacher and person of history. It is the latter that Reza Aslan attempts to shed an unbiased light on by comparing the Jesus that modern Christians believe in to the Jesus that Aslan believes would have fit into first-century Palestine: a violet revolutionary, dedicated to the eradication of the Roman government in Israel and the deposition of the rich priestly class. Aslan paints a portrayal of Jesus using knowledge of the time period, Scripture that has been taken out of context and misinterpreted, and most of all, the author’s imagination and powerful rhetoric to cover up his faulty argumentation. In his book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, Reza Aslan recreates an interesting but purely speculative image of the historical Jesus through exploring the political and social history of first-century Palestine, the life and teachings of Jesus, and the development of early Christianity.

When looking at the divinity of Jesus Christ with a Christian worldview, we have to understand why God would allow a person to be divine. After Genesis God should be jaded and unforgiving towards people. The birth of Jesus represents the rebirth of our faith and the faith of God in us. It proves that God is a forgiving being that will always Love. The birth of Jesus gives the Christians their worldview and religious view. The ability to forgive, love, and to be good to all of man is what the divinity of Jesus

It is possible to write on the life of Jesus from the information gathered from the bible. I will be dividing my essay into three parts. In the first part of the paper, I will talk about the nature of the gospels, John’s views vs. the Synoptic, discuss if the authors of the gospels are eyewitnesses and how they used written sources. Also I will talk about the Q source. Then I will elaborate on the topic of how Matthew and Luke were similar. Then I will continue on by discussing how the Old Testament uses Moses, Samuel and Elijah to interpret Jesus, and finally whether or not the Sermon on the Mount happened. In the second part of my paper, I will talk about Jesus’s birth and childhood, his miracles, his resurrection, and what Jesus did to cure people, spirits and how they are interpreted to the prophet, magician and the mad man compared to Saul and Elijah. The final part of the paper I will talk about what Jesus talked about as regards to the Kingdom of God vs. the Kingdom of the Romans and what he intended by speaking of the end of the world. I will also speak of the reasons behind the Romans executing him. My sources for this paper will be the New Jerusalem Bible Readers edition as my primary source and lecture notes from Professor Trumbach.

As believers, we are constantly reminded that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. His death and his resurrection are fundamental to our Christian faith. Without his death, the relationship between God and His creation would have remained broken. Unfortunately, many believers do not take the time to consider the complex and deep meaning of Jesus’ death. If I have learned one concept throughout this class is that if I do not have a personal comprehension of Jesus’ death, I will never be saved. His death signifies salvation. It motivates us to imitate Jesus’ life as he was completely human and never sinned, yet he died on the cross in the cruelest way. Personally, Jesus’ death means love, reconciliation, redemption, and victory.

Through Matthew 27:11-66 it is evident that the governor Pontius Pilate plays a crucial role in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Scholars throughout history have provided support to see Pilate as positive, negative, or neutral role in the retelling of the crucifixion. Warren Carter is one of the many scholars who have taken note of Pilate’s role in history and within the source “Pontius Pilate. Portraits of a Roman Governor” Carter argues that Pilate is a negative character. He goes as far to claim that Pilate was one to actively seek conflict. While Carter argues that Pilate’s role is one of negativity, I would argue, that through a socio-culture view, that Pilate is not a negative figure, but an ambivalent one, due to his lack to enforce.

    Jesus's divine sonship is introduced in the story of his baptism by God the Father where his divine sonship is recognized and his place as the second person of the Trinity is secured.   The third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit, is also present in the form of the dove descending upon him. The moment reflects Jesus's hypostatic union as one person but with a divine and human nature and identity as the son of the Trinity. Despite being human, Jesus did not have original sin by virtue of immaculate conception but still suffered bodily needs, pains, and human emotions. Jesus as human displays filial obedience to God the Father in accepting his crucifixion. Anything made possible through the son must be through the father because Jesus said “Believe me when I say that I am the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves” (John 14:17). He was not omniscient, omnipotent or omnipresent as Jesus could not appear multiple places at once even to those who witnessed Jesus after his resurrection. Although Jesus was limited by a human body he knew the future of salvation history and could foretell his own prophecies because he had access to God's plans through divine sonship.

There could be several explanations to how Jesus considered himself to be God. According to the article beyond blind faith, “Another possibility is that Jesus was sincere but self-deceived. We have a name for a person today who thinks he is God. Mentally disabled. But as we look at the life of Christ, we see no evidence of the abnormality and imbalance we find in a mentally ill person. Rather, we find the greatest composure under pressure” (Little, 1988).

Throughout the history of mankind, there have been many great men who have left an impact on today’s world. Some of these men may have changed a certain system was run or established a better community for other people. While doing these things is certainly commendable, there is one man who stands above the rest. This man is unique in every way from His conception to His death. In addition, this man made astonishing claims and performed many great miracles. While there were many that embraced this man, there were many that called him foolish and a sinner. This man was Jesus Christ. Through the use of Old Testament prophets, various New Testament testimonies, and certain divine attributes, it is proven that Jesus Christ is unique in that He and God are one.

Jesus came into the world to rescue us from our sins. His nature of human structure made Him similar to us but only different in the context of ‘sin’. He was pure as a crystal in all his makeup as a man. The nature of Jesus came in two forms. One, He was divine. The result is that He was Godly in his spiritual life and deeds, but secondly, He was manly on the context of having a human natural body make-up. His personality was enshrined in a single entity of being the person of God and Son at