Tag: Lord

Jesus (also called Christ which means king or Messiah) was actually born 6–2 B.C. Western civilization marks his birth by dividing time B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini - or the year of our Lord). For his first thirty years, Jesus lived a traditional Jewish life, working as a carpenter. There also is an isolated account of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus's visit to the city of Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, when Jesus was twelve years old (Luke 2:41-50).
Following that episode, there is a blank space in the record that covers eighteen years in the life of Christ (from age 12 to 30). Some scholars believe that Jesus may have been inspired by the Buddhist religion and that the Gospel of Thomas and many Nag Hammadi texts reflect this possible influence. The four canonical gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are the main sources for the biography of Jesus' life; nevertheless, these Gospels were written with the intention of glorifying Jesus and are not strictly biographical in nature.
In his thirties, Jesus began his public teaching and rumors surfaced that he performed miracles. Over a short period, Jesus' reputation spread. Leaders of the Jewish orthodoxy took note of him and felt threatened.
Jesus' most controversial act was that he repeatedly claimed to be the Messiah, which was considered blasphemy by the Jewish law. During this time, all of Palestine was under Roman Empire, including Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, and Nazareth, where he was raised. Therefore the religious leaders asked the Roman government to execute him. In each of several official trials, the Romans found that he was not guilty of breaking any Roman law. Still Jewish religious leaders, using the argument of political disfavor, persuaded Pontius Pilate, a Roman governor of the Southern province of the Empire, to authorize an execution.
Jesus was brutally tortured and then crucified. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me." were his last words.
After his death, the number of his followers increased dramatically. According to most Christian interpretations of the Bible, the theme of Jesus' teachings was that of repentance, unconditional love, forgiveness of sin, grace, and the coming of the Kingdom of God. Starting as a small Jewish sect, it developed into a religion clearly distinct from Judaism several decades after Jesus death. Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire under a version known as Nicene Christianity and became the state religion under Theodosius I. Over the centuries, it spread to most of Europe, and around the world.