The story of Jesus is told in the biblical books called the Gospels and named for their authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each selected different details of Jesus' life, and wrote for a somewhat different purpose. But they present a unified picture of who Jesus is and why He came.
Jesus exists eternally as the Son of God, and His mission is the center of God's plan to redeem mankind from sin and set creation free from its bondage to decay. God prepared for Jesus' coming in history by establishing a relationship with a people, the Jews. The Old Testament records God's dealings with the Jews, communicating with them through prophets and giving them a sacrificial system that pointed to Jesus' final sacrifice. (The Book of Hebrews explains how Jesus fulfilled the sacrifical system.)
Jesus took upon Himself a human nature and was born of Mary, a Jewish virgin living during the reign of Augustus Caesar. Mary's husband, Joseph, raised Jesus as a construction worker, and Jesus began His ministry as a rabbi when He was in His thirties.
During His ministry, Jesus called both Jews and non-Jews (Gentiles) to repent of their sins. He also performed many miracles, healing people and casting out demons. This attracted a very large following as Jesus travelled around the land of modern-day Israel. But Jesus was opposed by the Jewish religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees. The Pharisees were bothered that Jesus did not give traditions the same respect He gave to the Bible, and that He claimed powers that only God had, such as the ability to forgive sin. Many Jewish people believed Jesus was their long-awaited Messiah, and He made this claim Himself among His close followers, the disciples. The Pharisees were afraid that Jesus would lead a rebellion of the Jewish people against the Roman government, and that this would result in the destruction of their nation. So the Pharisees and other religious leaders looked for opportunities to have Jesus killed.
Throughout His ministry, Jesus predicted that He would be killed in Jerusalem and be raised from the dead. His disciples did not understand this, but when the time was right, Jesus and His disciples traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. He was welcomed there as the Messiah by many crowds, and He spent much of that week teaching in the temple. During the middle of that week, Judas, one of Jesus' disciples, made a deal with the Pharisees to hand Jesus over to them in exchange for thirty pieces of silver. Judas took the temple guard to arrest Jesus while He was praying on the Mount of Olives. Judas soon committed suicide out of remorse for his betrayal.
Jesus' trial was a mockery. As the night passed, He was dragged before the high priest, then before a council of religious leaders, and judged guilty of blasphemy for claiming He was the Son of God. But Rome did not allow the Jews to carry out executions for blasphemy, so in the morning, Jesus was taken to Pilate, the Roman governor. The Pharisees accused Jesus of treason against Caesar and made false charges of insurrection. Pilate questioned Jesus and decided that He had committed no crimes against Rome. But under political pressure from the Jewish leaders and the gathered crowd, Pilate had Jesus beaten and whipped, and He sentenced Jesus to the worst form of execution the Romans had devised–crucifixion.
Jesus was taken to a place called Golgotha ("the Skull") and nailed to a cross between two thieves. He hung there naked for six hours, being mocked by the crowds as He was dying. After Roman soldiers confirmed that Jesus had died, two of His secret followers placed His body in a tomb. The Pharisees remembered Jesus' prediction that He would rise from the dead, and worried that the disciples might steal the body. They convinced Pilate to have a large stone rolled across the tomb's entrance, guarded by soldiers.
On the third day, a Sunday morning, some women came to care for the body. As they were wondering how to get past the stone into the tomb, they found the stone rolled away, and the tomb empty. As Mary Magdalene ran back to tell Jesus' disciples, two angels told the other women that Jesus had been raised from the dead. The women left and met Jesus on the road. They too ran to tell the disciples.
Meanwhile, the disciples John and Peter went to the tomb with Mary Magdalene, and found the tomb empty. John believed immediately, but Jesus appeared to Mary, and later to Peter, to convince them of His resurrection. Jesus also appeared that day to two disciples who were walking to the nearby town of Emmaus. They did not recognize Him at first, but He told them that His death and resurrection were necessary to fulfill the Scriptures. When He disappeared before them, they returned to Jerusalem to report to the disciples.
Ten of the disciples were gathered in a room in Jerusalem, having just heard all these reports, when Jesus appeared to the group. He ate with them, helped them to understand the prophecies about Him in the Scriptures, and commissioned them as witnesses. One of the disciples, Thomas, had been absent and refused to believe Jesus was risen unless he saw Him and touched His wounds. Jesus appeared again the following Sunday while Thomas was there, and he was finally convinced.
Over the next forty days, Jesus gave the disciples additional instruction. He made additional appearances–to His half-brother James, to some disciples while they were fishing, and once to a crowd of five hundred people. Finally, Jesus gave a command to make disciples from all nations, baptize them, and teach them to follow His commands. Jesus was then taken into heaven through the clouds, and an angel appeared to assure the disciples that Jesus would someday return the same way.
Jesus' teachings and the writings of the New Testament reveal that Jesus was not merely the victim of religious fanaticism or jealousy. The very reason Jesus came was to have a people who were His own, from every tribe, nation, and language. He would die as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for His people's sins. Biblical words like salvation, redemption, reconciliation, and atonement all describe the freedom and peace with God that we have as a result of what Jesus did for us. This blessing is for all people everywhere who will embrace Jesus through faith and repentance.
For more on how to receive this salvation, see this page on How to Get to Heaven.
For a concise statement of my beliefs about Jesus, see my Declaration of Faith.
