- Published: September 27, 2022
- Updated: September 27, 2022
- University / College: New York University (NYU)
- Language: English
- Downloads: 27
Jesus Christ was born destined to become the founder of Christianity. His teachings and lessons, spread all over the world, have influenced many people. Jesus, born from The Virgin Mary, is acclaimed to be the Son of God. Through his wisdom and miracles he impacted the world by establishing one of the largest religions in the world. Jesus Christ was born between 2 and 6 BCC, in Bethlehem, Judea. Mary, his mother and also a virgin, was blessed to carry the Son of God. She was married to Joseph, a carpenter. As a young boy, Jesus life was threatened. An angel cautioned
Joseph that Jesus’ life was at stake and together with Mary flew to Egypt until the danger passed. Later, the family moved back to Nazareth in Galilee. There is very little information about the early life of Jesus. In the New Testament, as a young adult Jesus worked as a carpenter. At the age of 30, Jesus founded the religion of Christianity. John the Baptist had baptized Jesus and afterwards claiming him as the Son of God. At the start of his ministry, he was accompanied by 12 disciples. These twelve men helped preach the word of Christianity from the very beginning and intoned to spread the religion after Jesus’ death.
During the life of Jesus, he traveled performing miracles and parables to help people follow him. He helped heal the sick and the suffering and taught many spiritual teachings. Unfortunately, with the new religion thriving and gaining attention, the Pharisees wanted to put an end to it all. They searched for Jesus with the intent of harming him. Jesus became aware and went into hiding with his disciples. In hiding, Jesus gave his last word of faith before he was arrested. He was taken to high court where he was beaten and condemned for being the Son of God.
Pilate ordered for the crucifixion of Jesus and he was nailed to a cross on Mount Calvary. Jesus life was an example to all and the religion of Christianity continues today. Jesus accepted all people to be a part of his ministry. Jesus had a special sense of mission for the poor and oppressed people. He was a man who reached out to the most excluded people in society and gave them acceptance. ” A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, ” Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. ” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. L am willing,” he said. ” Be clean! Immediately he was clearness of his leprosy (CTD. In Bible 230). By Jesus healing the leper taught everyone to extend their sense of inclusiveness. Jesus was a man who believed that everyone should be involved, no matter the looks or social class. Jesus included women and during that time this action was unheard of. Women were apart a huge part of his ministry. Jesus was born of a woman and was first seen by a woman after his resurrection. He accepted woman who were prostitutes and accepted them for the real woman that they were. Here is mercy and righteousness. He condemned the sin and not the sinner” (CTD. N ” Bible” 468). While acknowledging that the woman had sinned, he turned her in a new direction with real encouragement. His manner with the sinful woman was such that she found herself challenged to a new self-understanding and a new life. Jesus was encountered by a similar prostitute as an invited guest in the home of Simon the Pharisee and sitting at the table were men. During the meal a woman known as ” a sinner” entered the room and anointed Jesus’ feet with her tears and with some ointment.
Her tears fell upon his feet and she wiped them with her hair. The nature of her sin is not disclosed. When Jesus permitted her to express her love and appreciation as she did, the host rejected it contemptuously. At a minimum, this story shows the manner of Jesus with one sinful woman. This woman had the courage to take such a great risk to publicly express her love for him who saw her not as a sex object to be exploited, but as a person of worth (” The Bible” 765). Along with including women, Jesus accepted sinners. Jesus reached out to sinners by giving them forgiveness and offering them new life. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his splices: ” Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? ” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, ” It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (CTD. In ” Bible” 432). By Jesus explaining how he had not come for the righteous but for the sinners, shows how he truly carried out his mission in accepting everyone. Jesus knew that the righteous were worthy but the sinners were never given a chance to regain their righteousness.
With this message, Jesus influenced the idea of giving second chances. ” But we are all like an unclean wing, and all our righteousness’s are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. ” (CTD. In ” Bible” 354). With this, shows proof that even though Jesus favored the poor and oppressed people everyone is a sinner. In his eyes, everyone committed sins and he still accepted them anyway. Jesus Christ was a moral teacher, not Just a spiritual leader. Jesus taught how to love someone, as they should love themselves.
He taught the idea that You shall love your neighbor as yourself because it depends on the law and prophets. If everyone earned to love one and other and found love in their enemies then there would be more peace in the world and less crime. As a moral teacher, Jesus preached that if there was love then people should respect each other. With his teachings of love brought about the overall idea of social Justice. With social Justice it gives life and dignity to a human person. Jesus taught that by taking away someone else’s dignity took theirs away too (” Bible” 570-571; ” Catechism” 116).
Jesus showed people how to always attain hope. He was a man who had many trusting followers who had hope in him. The hope that Jesus gave to the world does no good unless the world accepts him as the hope. Jesus told angels to rejoice when a sinner repents because the sinner is hoping to be good again. This gave Jesus more reasons to help the outcasts, sinners and diseased people because they found hope within themselves to be good. Jesus only performed miracles and healed the sick when he knew there was one last hope of faith.
From Jesus showing hope, today people are given second chances because no one is perfect. In society, people are given a second chance when they know that they can have faith in that person. Jesus taught to hope and have faith in people because everyone deserves a chance. Due to their faith which confirmed their hope demonstrated their love for Jesus Christ (” Jesus Gives Us”). Jesus taught the idea of moral kindness. The golden rule, ‘Do unto others, as they would do unto you,’ is a result of Jesus teaching kindness. Simple acts of kindness go a long way.
By Jesus striking a conversation with a woman and Samaritan in a parable shows to not take people for granted. Jesus himself was a very compassionate person. He had compassion for people and loved everyone. With such a big heart, he was easily the reflect example on how to treat other people. Jesus never Judged anyone and always had a good moral conscious. With a good moral conscious the human person perceives the moral quality of an act to be done or which has already been done, permitting to assume responsibility for the act (” Jesus, Justice;” ” Catechism” 110).
Jesus was an example of obedience and how to obey the words that he was teaching. Jesus was obedient with every step in his pathway even until death. Many higher priests and kings wanted to hurt Jesus because they felt that he was a threat for power. Jesus was not looking for power. He had a mission to spread his teachings and was obedient with every word he spoke. Although he was human, Jesus was tempted but resisted to stay true to his word. He was obedient to the commandments and asked his followers to obedient to them as well.
In Jesus’ final hours he asked his own disciples to be obedient to him even after his death. With his request, thousands of years later Christianity is still one of the largest religions in the world (” Jesus, Justice”). Jesus saved many people, spiritually and in health, by performing miracles. His first miracle of turning water into wine implied his enormity and open heart. At a wedding in Can that Jesus attended, they had run out of wine. At this time, it would have been a great embarrassment for the bride and groom to not provide enough wine for their guests.
He ordered the servants to fill water pots with water and when Jesus turned the water into wine his disciples believed in him. Jesus never performed a miracle unless there was an act of faith prior to the miracle. When the disciples showed that there was faith in him, Jesus saw their obedience and love towards him and with his action verified their trust in him (” Bible” 431). Jesus healed a blind man in order to support how he was able to give people healing. As Jesus was passing through Jericho, there was a blind man who sat on the side of the road begging.
As Jesus heard the man begging for his mercy upon him he ordered for him to be brought to him. When Jesus asked what he wanted from him and he asked for mercy he told him that his faith had healed him. By Jesus giving the blind man sight again showed that if you have enough faith in someone or something that good things can happen to you. It also showed how people could trust Jesus as their last hope for healing and saving. With this is why Jesus focused on oppressed people because they still found a little hope within their devastated life to trust him to heal them (” Bible” 734-738).
Jesus brought back Lazarus from the dead in order to express his compassion for people. Jesus had a close relationship with Lazarus and his family. When Martha and Mary told them of Lazarus’ death they get him to come to Judea when he knows it’s dangerous. He waited four days which disappointed Martha but still gave him faith. When they approached the tomb of Lazarus Jesus had been angered that Lazarus was defeated by death. As Jesus saw Martha and Mary weeping, he himself wept also. The tears of Jesus were insightful because he was greatly moved. This shows the great passion within Jesus.
As the women move the stone, Jesus tells Lazarus to come forth he is brought back to life. Due to this great action of Jesus, the many people who had come to see Mary believed in him. But as the Pharisees found out of his great action they felt threatened that he was after their power and they misunderstood the motives of Jesus Christ. From this event is why they felt the need to put him to death, in order to feel less threatened. By performing this miracle proved that Jesus was compassionate for people because when he saw Mary and Martha weeping he wept in compassion (” Bible” 824-826).
Jesus performed the miracle of the five loaves of bread being able to feed a sufficient amount of people to show that he was able to provide for everyone. Jesus saw that five loaves and two fish were not enough to feed five thousand people. By Jesus showing how he could provide for such a crowd of that size, let everyone in that crowd believe in him. Jesus never performed miracles to show off, he performed them in hopes of gaining trust in him (” Bible” 403). Throughout Jesus’ life, he established the religion of Christianity from his knowledge and wisdom.
With the help of the Ten Commandments, it helped Jesus teach the basic guidelines of being a Christian and giving Christianity a structure. The Ten Commandments were established even before Jesus walked the Earth. Reflecting on Jesus’ life, he lived the Ten Commandments and was the perfect example on being a good Christian leader. The first commandment lays the foundation for the whole religion. ‘l am your God, you shall not have any other Gods before me’ shows to have that in Jesus because it is a part of the spiritual relationship of the trinity.
There are nine other commandments that should be abided by and even have an influence upon today’s simple moral rules and government laws (” Catechism” 151-153). Jesus also said the Lord’s Prayer to give a true meaning and explanation of what it meaner to be a Christian. The Lord’s Prayer is considered the perfect prayer’ according to Saint Thomas Aquinas. It contains the seven petitions made to the Father and allows the structure of an individual’s faith. The seven petitions of faith are said in order. Hallowed by thy name’ is the first petition which also corresponds to the first commandment.
As the other six petitions are said, they also are a part of helping lay out the foundation of Christianity (” Catechism” 171-173). Jesus gave his disciples a mission before he died. He told them to spread the word of Christianity and to take communion in remembrance of him. With this request, this is how the religion spread globally. At the Last Supper, Jesus gathered his disciples and told them to take the Eucharist because it is a sign of faith that will flow thru within them. Jesus new that his time on Earth was limited and wanted to enforce this sign of faith.
The Church continues to fulfill Jesus’ last request. Those who believe in Christ and desire a close relationship with him, partake in the Eucharist. It proves that even though Jesus is not physically seen, he is there in spirit and this is why the church enforces the idea of the trinity (” Catechism” 46). From the foundations of Christianity, the Church encompassed the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to reflect upon Jesus’ life. After the death of Christ, the Church established the idea of the Trinity. The Trinity, the son and spirit are distinct but inseparable. The father sent his son to bring faith.
Although the spirit is invisible, the words Jesus said are revealed through faith and actions in the church. With a good understanding of the trinity and being able to uphold a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, an individual can be a good Christian (” Catechism” 41-49). Throughout Jesus’ life, he impacted many other lives greatly. Jesus Christ was a perfect example on how to properly live a Christian life. He lived by the foundations of Christianity to allow people to believe in him. By Jesus’ accepting everyone made this religion possible to become globally spread.