Brief Introduction to the Life Of Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ was a man of Jewish descent, born about 2,000 years ago in the small town of Bethlehem in modern-day Israel. His birth, though humble, was quite miraculous for His mother was a virgin and Jesus was conceived by the power of the Spirit of God.
We know little about the early years of Jesus' life. Around the age of 30, Jesus began to teach all throughout his homeland. He taught with great knowledge and wisdom which far exceeded his humble upbringing. People were astounded by His knowledge of the Jewish scriptures and the way that He taught with authority. He soon gathered a very loyal following of 12 men who later became known as His disciples. Some of what he taught was very upsetting to the Jewish leaders (called the Pharisees) and almost from the beginning, they plotted to kill Him but were afraid to do so because He was so popular.
Soon after he began teaching, Jesus performed many miracles. On numerous occasions he healed blindness, paralysis, leprosy and even brought people back from the dead. On two occasions, he multiplied fish and loaves of bread in order to feed thousands of people. He walked on water, calmed the seas and the wind, and turned water into wine.
Beyond teaching on Jewish scripture, Jesus taught about how we should live. His primary message was about love. He taught that we should love God with all out heart, but that we should also love our neighbors as ourselves.
Nearing the end of His life, Jesus began to teach His disciples that He was the Messiah (meaning "Anointed One") whom the Jews had been expecting God to send in order to save their people. He also explained that He was the Son of God and that He had a very special relationship with God the Father in Heaven. Jesus knew that these were very difficult things to believe and so God planned to reveal Jesus' true nature by resurrecting Him from the dead, for He would soon have to die at the hands of the Jewish leaders. Jesus taught his followers that His death was necessary in order to save mankind and to prove to the world who He really was, but they did not understand and were very upset.
A few days after coming to Jerusalem, He was betrayed by one of His disciples and was sentenced to die by crucifixion by the Roman authorities. On Good Friday, Jesus was killed on the cross and was laid in a sealed tomb, but God raised Him from the dead three days later. Upon witnessing this miracle, His disciples and all His followers truly understood that He was the Son God. Jesus stayed with them for 40 days, teaching them many things before He was taken up directly into Heaven. Following His death, His followers began to to teach the good news of Jesus throughout the world and Christianity was born.
Jesus was far more than just a man or a teacher - He was the Son of God and he was our Savior. By believing in Jesus and placing our faith in Him, our sins are forgiven and we are made clean in the sight of God. This is the only way for us to have hope of an everlasting life with God.
These are hard things to understand and hard to believe, so we hope you will continue reading about His life and teachings. Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead is an event which occurred in history, and like any other event, there is evidence that you can investigate for yourself. There are many articles on this site that will show that belief in Jesus Christ is based not just on faith, but on fact, evidence and reason.