Life of Jesus
Genealogy and Nativity
The genealogy and Nativity of Jesus are described in two of the four canonical gospels: the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. While Luke traces the genealogy upwards towards Adam and God, Matthew traces it downwards towards Jesus. Both gospels state that Jesus was begotten not by Joseph, but conceived miraculously in the womb of Mary, mother of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Both accounts trace Joseph back to King David and from there to Abraham. These lists are identical between Abraham and David (except for one), but they differ almost completely between David and Joseph. Matthew gives Jacob as Joseph's father and Luke says Joseph was the son of Heli. Attempts at explaining the differences between the genealogies have varied in nature. Much of modern scholarship interprets them as literary inventions.
The Luke and Matthew accounts of the birth of Jesus have a number of points in common; both have Jesus being born in Bethlehem, in Judea, to a virgin mother. In the Luke account Joseph and Mary travel from their home in Nazareth for the census to Bethlehem, where Jesus is born and laid in a manger. Angels proclaim him a savior for all people, and shepherds come to adore him; the family then returns to Nazareth. In Matthew, The Magi follow a star to Bethlehem, where the family are living, to bring gifts to Jesus, born the King of the Jews. King Herod massacres all males under two years old in Bethlehem in order to kill Jesus, but Jesus's family flees to Egypt and later settles in Nazareth. Over the centuries, biblical scholars have attempted to reconcile these contradictions, while modern scholarship mostly views them as legendary. Generally, they consider the issue of historicity as secondary, given that gospels were primarily written as theological documents rather than chronological timelines.
Ministry
The five major milestones in the New Testament narrative of the life of Jesus are his Baptism, Transfiguration, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension.
In the gospels, the ministry of Jesus starts with his Baptism by John the Baptist, when he is about thirty years old. Jesus then begins preaching in Galilee and gathers disciples. After the proclamation of Jesus as Christ, three of the disciples witness his Transfiguration. After the death of John the Baptist and the Transfiguration, Jesus starts his final journey to Jerusalem, having predicted his own death there. Jesus makes a triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and there friction with the Pharisees increases and one of his disciples agrees to betray him for thirty pieces of silver.
In the gospels, the ministry of Jesus begins with his baptism in the countryside of Roman Judea and Transjordan, near the river Jordan, and ends in Jerusalem, following the Last Supper with his disciples. The Gospel of Luke (3:23) states that Jesus was "about 30 years of age" at the start of his ministry. A chronology of Jesus typically has the date of the start of his ministry estimated at 27–29 and the end in the range 30–36.
Jesus's early Galilean ministry begins when after his Baptism he goes back to Galilee from his time in the Judean desert. In this early period he preaches around Galilee and recruits his first disciples who begin to travel with him and eventually form the core of the early Church as it is believed that the Apostles dispersed from Jerusalem to found the Apostolic Sees. The Major Galilean ministry which begins in Matthew 8 includes the commissioning of the Twelve Apostles, and covers most of the ministry of Jesus in Galilee. The Final Galilean ministry begins after the death of John the Baptist as Jesus prepares to go to Jerusalem.
In his later Judean ministry Jesus starts his final journey to Jerusalem through Judea. As Jesus travels towards Jerusalem, in the later Perean ministry, about one third the way down from the Sea of Galilee (actually a fresh water lake) along the River Jordan, he returns to the area where he was baptized. The final ministry in Jerusalem is sometimes called the Passion Week and begins with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The gospels provide more details about the final ministry than the other periods, devoting about one third of their text to the last week of the life of Jesus in Jerusalem. In the gospel accounts, towards the end of the final week in Jerusalem, Jesus has the Last Supper with his disciples, and the next day is betrayed, arrested and tried. The trial ends in his crucifixion and death. Three days after his burial, he is resurrected and appears to his disciples and a multitude of his followers (numbering around 500 in total) over a 40-day period 1 Corinthians 15 NIV Evidence for the Resurrection, after which he ascends to Heaven.
Locations of Ministry
In the New Testament accounts, the principle locations for the ministry of Jesus were Galilee and Judea, with activities also taking place in surrounding areas such as Perea and Samaria.
The gospel narrative of the ministry of Jesus is traditionally separated into sections that have a geographical nature.
Galilean ministry: The ministry of Jesus begins when after his baptism, he returns to Galilee, and preaches in the synagogue of Capernaum. The first disciples of Jesus encounter him near the Sea of Galilee and his later Galilean ministry includes key episodes such as the Sermon on the Mount (with the Beatitudes) which form the core of his moral teachings. Jesus's ministry in the Galilee area draws to an end with the death of John the Baptist.
Journey to Jerusalem: After the death of the Baptist, about half way through the gospels (approximately Matthew 17 and Mark 9) two key events take place that change the nature of the narrative by beginning the gradual revelation of his identity to his disciples: his proclamation as Christ by Peter and his transfiguration. After these events, a good portion of the gospel narratives deal with Jesus's final journey to Jerusalem through Perea and Judea. As Jesus travels towards Jerusalem through Perea he returns to the area where he was baptized.
Final week in Jerusalem: The final part of Jesus's ministry begins (Matthew 21 and Mark 11) with his triumphal entry into Jerusalem after the raising of Lazarus episode which takes place in Bethany. The gospels provide more details about the final portion than the other periods, devoting about one third of their text to the last week of the life of Jesus in Jerusalem which ends in his crucifixion. The New Testament accounts of the resurrection appearances of Jesus and his ascension are also in Judea.
Baptism and temptation
The Baptism of Jesus marks the beginning of his public ministry. This event is recorded in the Canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. In John 1:29–33, rather than a direct narrative, John the Baptist bears witness to the episode.
In the New Testament, John the Baptist preached a "baptism with water", not of forgiveness but of penance or repentance for the remission of sins (Luke 3:3), and declared himself a forerunner to one who would baptize 'with the Holy Spirit and with fire' (Luke 3:16). In so doing he was preparing the way for Jesus. Jesus came to the Jordan River where he was baptized by John. The baptismal scene includes the Heavens opening, a dove-like descent of the Holy Spirit, and a voice from Heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased."
Most modern scholars view the fact that Jesus was baptized by John as an historical event to which a high degree of certainty can be assigned. James Dunn states that the historicity of the Baptism and crucifixion of Jesus "command almost universal assent". Along with the crucifixion of Jesus most scholars view it as one of the two historically certain facts about him, and often use it as the starting points for the study of the historical Jesus.
The temptation of Jesus is detailed in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In these narratives, after being baptized, Jesus fasted for forty days and nights in the Judaean Desert. During this time, Satan appeared to Jesus and tempted him. Jesus having refused each temptation, Satan departed and angels came and brought nourishment to Jesus.
Calling the disciples and early Ministry
The calling of the first disciples is a key episode in the gospels which begins the active ministry of Jesus, and builds the foundation for the group of people who follow him, and later form the early Church. It takes place in Matthew 4:18–22, Mark 1:16–20 and Luke 5:1–11 on the Sea of Galilee. John 1:35–51 reports the first encounter with two of the disciples a little earlier in the presence of John the Baptist. Particularly in the Gospel of Mark the beginning of the ministry of Jesus and the call of the first disciples are inseparable.
In the Gospel of Luke (Luke 5:1–11), the event is part of the first miraculous catch of fish and results in Peter as well as James and John, the sons of Zebedee, joining Jesus vocationally as disciples. The gathering of the disciples in John 1:35–51 follows the many patterns of discipleship that continue in the New Testament, in that who have received someone else's witness become witnesses to Jesus themselves. Andrew follows Jesus because of the testimony of John the Baptist, Philip brings Nathanael and the pattern continues in John 4:4–26 where the Samaritan Woman at the Well testifies to the town people about Jesus.
This early period also includes the first miracle of Jesus in the Marriage at Cana, in the Gospel of John where Jesus and his disciples are invited to a wedding and when the wine runs out Jesus turns water into wine by performing a miracle.
Ministry and miracles in Galilee
Jesus's activities in Galillee include a number of miracles and teachings. The beginnings of this period include The Centurion's Servant (8:5–13) and Calming the storm (Matthew 8:23–27) both dealing with the theme of faith overcoming fear. In this period, Jesus also gathers disciples, e.g. calls Matthew. The Commissioning the twelve Apostles relates the initial selection of the twelve Apostles among the disciples of Jesus.
In the Mission Discourse, Jesus instructs the twelve apostles who are named in Matthew 10:2–3 to carry no belongings as they travel from city to city and preach. Separately in Luke 10:1–24 relates the Seventy Disciples, in which Jesus appoints a larger number of disciples and sent them out in pairs with the Missionary's Mandate to go into villages before Jesus arrives there.
After hearing of John the Baptist's death, Jesus withdraws by boat privately to a solitary place near Bethsaida, where he addresses the crowds who had followed him on foot from the towns, and feeds them all by "five loaves and two fish" supplied by a boy. Following this, the gospels present the Walking on water episode in Matthew 14:22–23, Mark 6:45–52 and John 6:16–21 as an important step in developing the relationship between Jesus and his disciples, at this stage of his ministry. The episode emphasizes the importance of faith by stating that when he attempted to walk on water, Peter began to sink when he lost faith and became afraid, and at the end of the episode, the disciples increase their faith in Jesus and in Matthew 14:33 they say: "Of a truth thou art the Son of God".
Major teachings in this period include the Discourse on Defilement in Matthew 15:1–20 and Mark 7:1–23 where in response to a complaint from the Pharisees Jesus states: "What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.'".
Following this episode Jesus withdraws into the "parts of Tyre and Sidon" near the Mediterranean Sea where the Canaanite woman's daughter episode takes place in Matthew 15:21–28 and Mark 7:24–30. This episode is an example of how Jesus emphasizes the value of faith, telling the woman: "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." The importance of faith is also emphasized in the Cleansing ten lepers episode in Luke 17:11–19.
In the Gospel of Mark, after passing through Sidon Jesus enters the region of the Decapolis, a group of ten cities south east of Galilee, where the Healing the deaf mute miracle is reported in Mark 7:31–37, where after the healing, the disciples say: "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak." The episode is the last in a series of narrated miracles which builds up to Peter's proclamation of Jesus as Christ in Mark 8:29.
Proclamation as Christ
The Confession of Peter refers to an episode in the New Testament in which in Jesus asks a question to his disciples: "Who do you say that I am?" Apostle Peter proclaims Jesus to be Christ – the expected Messiah. The proclamation is described in the three Synoptic Gospels: Matthew 16:13–20, Mark 8:27–30 and Luke 9:18–20.
Peter's Confession begins as a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples in which Jesus begins to ask about the current opinions about himself among "the multitudes", asking: "Who do the multitudes say that I am?" The disciples provide a variety of the common hypotheses at the time. Jesus then asks his disciples about their own opinion: But who do you say that I am? Only Simon Peter answers him: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
In Matthew 16:17 Jesus blesses Peter for his answer, and later indicates him as the rock of the Church, and states that he will give Peter "the keys of the kingdom of heaven".In blessing Peter, Jesus not only accepts the titles Christ and Son of God which Peter attributes to him, but declares the proclamation a divine revelation by stating that his Father in Heaven had revealed it to Peter. In this assertion, by endorsing both titles as divine revelation, Jesus unequivocally declares himself to be both Christ and the Son of God. The proclamation of Jesus as Christ is fundamental to Christology and the Confession of Peter, and Jesus's acceptance of the title is a definitive statement for it in the New Testament narrative. While some of this passage may well be authentic, the reference to Jesus as Christ and Son of God is likely to be an addition by Matthew.
