Jesus Christ
Approx. 4 B.C. to 30 A.D.
The Revolutionary of the Ages
by Rit Nosotro First Published:: 2003( )
Bleeding from thirty lashes on His back this man turned to face the mob that,
just a mere week ago had praised Him with the highest honor, now hollered for
His blood. He was hungry, tired, weak from a lack of blood, and shamed by mockery
of His name. Jesus Christ of Nazareth that day affected the history of the world
in a way no other man has ever done. Two thousand years later the effects of
this man reverberate around the globe, even having others follow His steps even
to the death.
Jesus Christ was born, some would say, under amazing circumstances in the little,
insignificant town of Bethlehem in Judea. According to the Christian Bible Mary,
Jesus' mother, had never had relations with a man. Instead the Bible says that
it was God who caused Mary to have the child. During his birth he had the angels
of heaven announce His arrival, shepherds and kings bow down before Him to worship.
Jesus grew up under normal circumstances as a normal child. He was the son of
a carpenter who, in those days, was a man skilled with stone as well as wood.
Little is known about his childhood except for two large events. The first great
event of His childhood occurred at the age of two. The ruler of the land was
alerted to Jesus presence by kings, who came to worship him, calling him a great
king. Herod, the ruler of Judea, was very jealous of his position, and ordered
the young children of Judea slaughtered to rid himself of this "king."
Joseph, the father of Jesus, was alerted to Herod's intentions in a dream and
fled Bethlehem before Jesus was killed. Having narrowly escaped death the family
fled to Egypt to wait out the time until Herod, and the threat he posed to Jesus,
should die.
The second great event occurred in Judea's capitol, Jerusalem. When Jesus turned
twelve he was taken for the first time to the Jewish rite of Passover as was
the custom. He attended the ceremony as a normal child, but on the return trip
he did not go with his parents. Instead he stayed and discussed the holy writing
of the Jews with the learned scholars in Jerusalem. His parents found Him only
after He impressed the religious scholars of his knowledge.
Not much is known of His life until he reappears as a man of thirty or so years
at the River Jordan where a radical, John the Baptist, who declared Him the
Son of God, baptized him. Jesus then escapes into the desert where he fasts
for forty days before suffering temptation at the hand of the Devil. Overcoming
this he returns to civilization where he begins His three years of ministry.
Jesus starts by picking twelve disciples to follow Him and learn from His teachings until He should leave the world. For the next three years he wanders Judea and Galilee preaching, healing, restoring and simply loving others. Throughout this era He gains friends among the people as he preaches the gospel of peace and hope, but at the same time enemies amongst the Pharisees. At the end of the three years, when he has done and taught much, he goes once again to Jerusalem for the Passover.
Upon his entrance to the glorious city He is hailed as a king and savior. He abides here another week doing miracles and exercising His power in the temple to clean it out. All this while the Priests and Pharisees are inciting the crowds, through false rumors, to have Christ killed. Finally the night of the Passover Judas, one of Jesus' twelve disciples, betrays Him for money.
Jesus is then forcibly dragged before the High Preist who tries Him and sends
Him on to the Roman governor. The governor tries Christ again, before false
witnesses, and has Him severely beaten to attempt and ease the crowds thirst
for blood.
After cleaning the skin off of Jesus' back the soldiers then brutally pounded
a crown of thorns, the least of which was an inch long, into his head opening
fresh wounds and causing a greater loss of blood. A robe was then placed over
his shoulders and allowed to dry into the blood before being ripped off opening
the wounds again. Christ was then blindfolded and spit upon then His head was
horribly and severely beaten with a stick. Through all this Christ, in his infinite
compassion, never opened His mouth to protest.
The Roman Governor finally washed his hands of the matter and gave Christ over
to the Jews to be crucified. Christ was made to carry His own cross as he slowly
stumbled to His execution. When He finally could not carry it any more it was
given to a foreigner who carried it the remaining distance. Once at Golgotha,
the placed of execution, Christ was stripped naked again and nailed to the cross.
Spikes of the time were about nine inches long and an inch in diameter. The
cross was stood up and dropped into the hole dug for it causing all the bones
to be pulled from their sockets. There, at Golgotha, Christ hung on a cross
for three hours all the time conscious and loving. As the day drew on the heat
grew and Christ was hurt more and more. At the end Christ cried out to his Father
in heaven first to forgive His tormenters, and then to take His spirit. In this
way he ended His own life, no man took it from Him.
Christ has influenced the world through those painful hours, and through the
fact that He rose again to be the greatest in the Universe. It is a fact that
he rose again because why else would men die willingly for Christ if they knew
Him to be dead. Christ revolutionized the world through His actions and words.
He rebelled against the system of the day and created His own system that was
persecuted through out the world, but still grows steadily.
Source:
New Testament
