The Gospel (2)

This is part 2 of chapter 5 of my book, Biblical Glasses.

What happened during Jesus Christ’s life?

Since Jesus Christ is the focal point of Christianity, I want to give His full ancestry as listed both in the Gospel of Matthew, a legally royal lineage to King David from Joseph by adoption, and in the Gospel of Luke, a blood relation to King David through His mother, Mary, by birth. Jesus’ ancestry is full of great men, courageous women, powerful leaders, providing husbands, and serving wives, as well as evil kings, merciless tyrants, murders, and self-indulgent sinners. Yet Jesus did not inherit the sin nature of Adam passed on from the father, because He was born of a virgin. Jesus Christ came at the perfect time in history, when Rome governed the world in relative peace and when communication and travel were easy.

Matthew wrote to the Jews, who were primarily interested in how Jesus was related to their father, Abraham. The Jews already knew Abraham’s ancestry, and all human ancestry, traced back to Adam and Eve. Jesus’ legal or paternal ancestry includes the major male figures in His heritage and is recorded as follows:

1) Abraham
2) Isaac
3) Jacob
4) Judah
5) Perez
6) Hezron
7) Ram
8) Amminadab
9) Nahshon
10) Salmon
11) Boaz
12) Obed
13) Jessie
14) David
15) Solomon
16) Rehoboam
17) Abijah
18) Asa
19) Jehoshaphat
20) Jehoram
21) Uzziah (Azzariah)
22) Jotham
23) Ahaz
24) Hezekiah
25) Manasseh
26) Amon
27) Josiah
28) Jehoiachin
29) Shealtiel
30) Zerubbabel
31) Abiud
32) Eliakim
33) Azor
34) Zadok
35) Akim
36) Eliud
37) Eleazar
38) Matthan
39) Jacob
40) Joseph
41) Jesus

Since Luke was writing to Gentiles, who did not know that Abraham was a descendant of Adam and Eve, he traced Jesus’ lineage all the way back to creation. Because it was not a custom to list the ancestors of women, Luke avoided controversy by including the fathers-in-law of the men, rather than placing women in the genealogy. For example, Joseph is listed as the son of Heli, when, in fact, he was the son-in-law of Heli, Mary’s father. Jesus’ complete blood or maternal ancestry is listed as follows:

1) Adam
2) Seth
3) Enosh
4) Kenan
5) Mahalalel
6) Jared
7) Enoch
8) Methuselah
9) Lamech
10) Noah
11) Shem
12) Arphaxad
13) Cainan
14) Shelah
15) Eber
16) Peleg
17) Reu
18) Serug
19) Nahor
20) Terah
21) Abram
22) Isaac
23) Jacob
24) Judah
25) Perez
26) Hezron
27) Ram
28) Amminadab
29) Nahshon
30) Salmon
31) Boaz
32) Obed
33) Jessie
34) David
35) Nathan
36) Mattatha
37) Menna
38) Melea
39) Eliakim
40) Jonam
41) Joseph
42) Judah
43) Simeon
44) Levi
45) Matthat
46) Jorim
47) Eliezer
48) Joshua
49) Er
50) Elmadam
51) Cosam
52) Addi
53) Melki
54) Neri
55) Sheltiel
56) Zerubbabel
57) Rhesa
58) Joanan
59) Joda
60) Josech
61) Semein
62) Matthias
63) Maath
64) Naggai
65) Esli
66) Nahum
67) Amos
68) Mattathias
69) Joseph
70) Jannai
71) Melki
72) Levi
73) Matthat
74) Heli
75) Joseph
76) Jesus

Jesus lived the first year(s) of His life in Egypt; then Joseph moved the family to Nazareth in Galilee, where Jesus grew up. At age twelve, Jesus visited the Temple in Jerusalem with His family during the Passover celebration week according to the law. He discussed Scripture with the religious leaders, amazing them with His insight and knowledge!

Jesus continued to live in Nazareth for several years, where He worked as a builder using stone and wood. He was likely a physically strong Man, not frail as depicted by most artists. As the oldest in a large family, Jesus may have had to support His mother, brothers, and sisters, because Joseph may have died. Shortly before Jesus’ ministry began around age thirty (see Luke 3:23), the age when priests began their ministry according to the law (see Numbers 4; 1 Chronicles 23:3), the ministry of John the Baptist began.

John’s ministry was predicted by the prophet Isaiah, who said, “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him’” (Isaiah 40:3). John was a simple man, living in the desert wilderness, wearing clothes made of camel’s hair, and eating locusts and honey. John preached a message of repentance similar to the Old Testament prophets, and he offered baptism in the muddy Jordan River for forgiveness of sins to all those who confessed and repented. John was brutally honest; his message was often offensive. But people still journeyed into the wilderness to hear him, because he lived what he preached. Well respected for his lifestyle, John baptized many to prepare them for the coming Savior.

The long-standing tradition of baptizing Gentiles into the Jewish faith was being offered by John for Jewish people to be cleansed from their sins. John offered water baptism, but Jesus would come offering baptism by the Holy Spirit and by fire. John’s baptism was for purification, but Jesus would purge sin from existence by justifying and sanctifying each of His followers by His perfect life, atoning death, bodily resurrection, and gift of eternal life. When Jesus came to John to be baptized in the Jordan River in 26 A.D., John was shocked. The Bible says in Matthew 3:14-17:

John tried to deter Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and do You come
to me?’ Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to
fulfill all righteousness.’ Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized,
He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. And a voice from
heaven said, ‘This is My Son, Whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.’

Just as a wedding serves as the beginning of marriage, so baptism serves as the beginning of our walk with Christ. Jesus was baptized, not for the forgiveness of sin (He was sinless!), but to show us the path to righteousness. We are commanded to be baptized, as Jesus was, to follow God’s will more adequately as a sign of our faith and obedience to God. Baptism has been a source of division within the Church throughout its history, so we will study baptism more closely in chapter seven.

After Jesus was baptized, He was ready to begin His ministry. The Old Testament prophet Daniel predicted that 483 years (sixty-nine sevens) would pass from the time of the decree to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem until the Savior would be revealed (see Daniel 9:25). In 457 B.C., Persian ruler Artaxerxes issued a decree to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (see Ezra 9:9). Some basic math gives us an accurate date of 26 or 27 A.D. for the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.

Jesus went into the desert for forty days of fasting and prayer. There, He was tempted three times by Satan to sin. No doubt Jesus was hungry, so Satan told Him to turn rocks into bread. Quoting Scripture, Jesus replied: “It is written: ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). Then Satan, quoting, but misinterpreting, Psalm 91:11-12, asked Jesus to test God by throwing Himself from the top of the Temple so the angels would save Him. Jesus replied: “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matthew 4:7). Finally, Satan, although he really had nothing to offer, presented Jesus with all the kingdoms of the earth in exchange for bowing down to worship him. “Jesus said to him, ‘Away from Me Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only’’” (Matthew 4:10). Satan never directly challenged Jesus again.

While temptation is not a sin, giving in to temptation is sinful. Jesus overcame temptation by referring to the Scriptures. God’s Word was Jesus’ strength. After overcoming Satan’s temptations, Jesus performed His first miracle at a wedding feast in Cana. He turned water into wine. As He began teaching and healing throughout the land, Jesus set His ministry headquarters in Capernaum, a crossroads town filled with people from all over the world, bringing their diverse cultures and traditions with them. He called twelve men of different backgrounds to follow Him closely.

These disciples would become apostles and begin the Church after Jesus’ mission was complete. A disciple is “one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another.” A true Christian is indeed a disciple of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, an apostle is “one of an authoritative New Testament group sent out to preach the Gospel and made up especially of Christ’s twelve original disciples and Paul.” The apostles were empowered by the Holy Spirit to perform miracles! During His life on earth, Jesus had many disciples, many followers, but He called only a limited number of these disciples to be apostles. The original twelve were:

1) Simon Peter
2) Andrew (Simon Peter’s brother)
3) James (son of Zebedee)
4) John (son of Zebedee)
5) Matthew (Levi)
6) Philip
7) Thomas
8) James (son of Alphaeus)
9) Thaddeus (Jude or Judas, son of James)
10) Simon the Zealot
11) Bartholomew (Nathanael)
12) Judas Iscariot

These ordinary men lived their commonplace lives; then Jesus called them to follow Him. They had heard His preaching; they believed His message. They dropped everything they were doing and immediately followed Jesus. Are we willing to do the same today?

The apostles (the original twelve disciples) expected to gain political power and wealth from following Jesus, but it was not until His resurrection that they understood the type of King He was and is. Ultimately, the apostles, along with scores of other disciples of Jesus, would suffer martyr’s deaths for their faith in Christ. Becoming a martyr was not likely at the top of their list of things to do when they signed up to follow Jesus, but I can assure you they have no regrets over their decision now, despite the torture and persecution they endured.

The apostles followed Jesus everywhere during His three to four year ministry (26–30 A.D.). The map below depicts the region where Jesus spent most of His time.