The story of the Messiah of Nazareth

By Amal HEWAVISSENTHI

The Christian religion is the blossoming of the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, who had a better intellectual and conceptual framework to guide the thinking of people of palestine almost two-thousand years ago. In the Christian viewpoint, Jesus is divine and is the son of God who was sent to the earth to channel God's grace into the world. Even non-Christians view him as a great teacher and regard him as an important Prophet who came on earth to rescue human kind.

His questing mind and boundless enthusiasm found solutions to great many questions that long remained unsolved to people. In all probabilities, he lavished love and kindness on people and the moments of His teachings were enormously enlightening and exciting experience for people

Etymological root

The name 'Jesus' is the Greek derivation of the Hebrew word 'Joshua' which implicitly suggest "Saviour' or 'Messiah'. Apart from that, the Greek word, 'Christ', a title name has the underlying meaning of 'anointed one'. Biblical references show that rulers and priests had the practice of being anointed on the assumption of their office.

The remains of a house that dates back to the first century.

This anointment as a mark of honour later gave birth to the belief that God would send an anointed one to restore the fortunes of people. Jesus came to be called Messiah or Christ as his followers strongly believed him to be the God's messenger sent to re-establish prosperity on earth. Generally, most of what we know about Jesus lies written in the Gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John on the New Testament of the Bible. The Gospels (which are named for the men who are simply thought to have written them) are four distinctive interpretations of Jesus' story but most scholars agree on the outline of Jesus' life expanded with slight polarities in them. He was born somewhere in 4 BC, shortly before the death of King Herod the Great, a ruler appointed by Romans in control of Palestine.

On a strange revelation of Jesus' birth, Herod indiscriminately killed the toddlers to bring his possible rival to ruin and to pre-empt any threat of his downfall. Jesus miraculously survived death and grew up in Nazareth with His parents (Mary and Joseph) until he embarked on his religious mission at the age of 30.

Following Herod's death, John, Mary and Jesus returned to Nazareth and Jesus probably grew up learning Joseph's trade of carpentry. His magnetic approach to people's needs and problems earned him a multitude of followers and a few powerful enemies who inevitably detested his religious acumen and mounting popularity.

One of the spectacular events of His life unfolded with His encounter with the teachers at the Temple who were astounded at his understanding of religious questions and his pronounced sympathy for mankind. It is fair to say that he had to struggle against all kinds of adversity and had little prospect of winning honour from Roman rulers. On the other hand, he managed to invade common people's privacy fairly and justifiably and win a growing chorus of worshipful praise from relieved masses.

Undaunted mettle

As the Gospels say, the spirit of God (in the form of a dove) rest on his shoulders when he is baptised and a heavenly voice proclaims him God's son. His public life begins with his teachings in Galilee where he is accompanied by disciples such as Peter, Andrew, John, James the Elder, Mathew and Judas Iscariot.

The Gospels arrange most of Jesus' teachings into prolonged speeches and the most prominent of these, is the sermon on the Mount which was greeted with rapturous applause. The technique he employs in his teachings is the lavish use of parables to illuminate religious or moral principles.

The Gospels are profusely scattered with references to his miracles of superhuman powers and miracles of therapy. People watched, with disbelief, how Jesus Christ restored sight to the blind, cured people afflicted with leprosy, and gave back the walking ability to the lame.

Betrayal

In a crucial moment, his disciple Peter acknowledges him as the saviour and at this point, Jesus predicts his own death and resurrection. Presently John, Peter and James espy a strange beam of light shining on Jesus Christ from heaven and a heavenly voice proclaims him the Son of God. This is purely ironic of his crucifixion and looks ahead to the resurrection. As Jesus and his apostles enter Jerusalem triumphantly to celebrate the Passover, people throng to welcome him by spreading palm branches before him. His revolutionary teaching and popularity directly provoke hostility in other religious leaders who greet his teachings with certain amount of scepticism and begin to conspire to get rid of him.

On the fateful night of his arrest, at the famous last supper, Jesus Christ predicted that he would be betrayed and condemned to death. In the middle of this historic supper, he gave bread to his disciples saying "This is my body" and gave them wine saying" This is my blood". A dramatic incident at shows that he was well prepared for the dark and even sinister possibilities that lay in his path to relieve people of their sufferings.

Crucifixion

After the supper, Jesus Christ was in deep discussion with His disciples (Apostles) in the Garden of Gethsemane where Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus to the Temple police for money.

The ruling Roman government felt threatened and ordered him arrested and sentenced to death by crucifixion. After he was arrested in Jerusalem and condemned as a rebel against the Roman empire, Pointius Pilate, the Roman Governor appealed to free Jesus. Yet, when the crowd that had gathered in perfect antipathy, insisted capital punishment on him, Pilate ordered Jesus to be crucified on Mount Calvary. Each of the Gospels has its own way of interpreting the empty tomb and the reappearance of Jesus but they agree about the central importance of resurrection. For the New Testament writers, the resurrection proved that Jesus was the Son of God.

His teaching

Jesus focuses much of his teaching on the premise that God rules as a loving father who expects his children to believe firmly in him to find happiness on earth and after death in heaven.

His life is the ideal example of his own teaching on self-sacrifice and unconditional love for other people. Even as he was dying on the cross he prayed to the God for forgiving the soldiers who had inhumanly nailed him to the cross.

It is interesting to observe that he encouraged his followers not to worry much about clothing, food or homes but to care for one another and depend truly on God how would re-establish prosperity on earth.

Jesus' message concerned the Kingdom of God which would soon triumph over the world of sin and evil to protect his followers for life. Jesus visualised entry into the Kingdom as a challenge as well as a promise to be accepted by people who would be challenged to lead a new type of life incomplete obedience to God's will. Jesus Christ persistently stressed that people should not repay evil with evil and the most striking part of his teachings is found in his earnest command to love one's enemies.

"And though shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment.

And the second is like, namely this, though shalt love thy neighbour as thyself". (Chapter 12 of Mark's Gospel)