the life of jesus of nazareth. main idea: jesus of nazareth preached of god’s love and...

The Life of Jesus of Nazareth


Main Idea: Jesus of Nazareth

preached of God’s love and forgiveness…According to

Christian stories Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and

rose from the dead.

The Life of Jesus of Nazareth Lecture Focus:

Have you ever given anyone advice? Was it really important? Maybe you could have

helped them in another way.

The Life of Jesus of Nazareth During the Roman

occupation of Israel , many Jews hoped God would

send a Messiah to help them win back their freedom from

Rome. Israelite prophets

had predicted a messiah would come to help…a

messiah is a religious champion.


Many Jews expected the messiah to be a great king, like David, who would

restore the Israelite Kingdom.


A few decades before the first Jewish

Rebellion against Rome, a Jew named

Jesus left his home in Nazareth and began

preaching. From about 30 C.E. to

33 C.E., Jesus preached throughout Judaea and Galilee,

the area just north of Judaea.


He soon assembled a small band of

12 close followers called

disciples.Disciples were

looked at as personal

supporters of Jesus.


Questions: 1) What does the term Messiah mean?A religious champion2) What two areas did Jesus of Nazareth

travel to and preach?Galilee and Judaea3) What is a disciple? Follower of Jesus

What did Jesus of Nazareth Teach?

According to the Christian Bible, Jesus preached that God was

coming soon to rule the world.

He urged people to turn from

their sins…give up their bad behaviors.


The main points of Jesus of Nazareth’s message are given

in a group of sayings known as the Sermon on

the Mount. In these sayings, Jesus made it clear that a person had to love and forgive

from the heart.


Among Jesus’ sayings were

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy” and “Blessed are

the peacemakers, for they will be

called the children of God”. (Original page from book of Matthew)


Jesus told his listeners to love and forgive each other because

God loves and forgives all people.

According to Jesus, God’s command was simple…he repeated the age old Jewish

teaching: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your

strength”.


Jesus also stressed the Jewish

teaching: “ Love your neighbor as

yourself”. This message of

love and forgiveness helped shape the values many people in

Europe and America hold today.


To a significant degree, these ideas were embedded in

the Jewish environment in

which Jesus lived. Thus, Rabbi (Jewish

Religious Leader) books too speak heavily of loving

God and your neighbor.


A famous Rabbi named Hillel the Elder declared,

“What is hateful to you,

do not do to your friend. This is the

entire Torah. The rest is just commentary.

Go and learn.”


To present his message, Jesus

often used Parables.

A parable were stories that used

events from everyday life to express spiritual and moral ideas.


Take the story of the “Prodigal

(wasteful) Son”.

This story explained how a father welcomed back his reckless son and forgave

his son’s mistakes.


Another parable, told of a shepherd who left his flock unguarded to go

after one lost sheep.

Both of these stories taught that

God forgives mistakes and wants

all people to turn away from bad

deeds


In the parable of the “Good

Samaritan”, a man is beaten by robbers as two people pass by the injured man not offering help. However, a

Samaritan, a member of a group of people who lived in northern Israel,

stops to help.


He treats the man’s

wounds and pays for his

stay in an inn. Which man do you think truly showed

love to his neighbor???


Questions: 4) What is a Parable? Stories that used events from

everyday life to express spiritual ideas.

5) Give an example of one that we discussed.

The Good Samaritan, The Prodigal Son or the Good Shepherd

What is the Crucifixion?

Jesus and his message drew

strong responses from people.

His followers spoke of

instances in which they believed he

healed the sick and preformed

other miracles.


Some people believed he was the long

awaited Messiah

While other Jews rejected him and said that he was a

deceiver.

What is the Crucifixion? Above all,

Judaea’s Roman rulers feared the effects of Jesus’

preaching.The Roman’s thought that a

person who could spark such strong reactions might threaten law and order.


About C.E. 33, Jesus went to Jerusalem to

celebrate Passover, an

important Jewish holy day.

When he arrived in Jerusalem he was greeted by large, cheering

crowds.


In an event known as the Last Supper,

Jesus celebrated

the holy day of

Passover with his 12 disciples.


What is Passover?

Passover is a Jewish festival

that commemorates the story of the

Exodus, in which the ancient

Israelites were freed from

slavery in Egypt.

What is the Crucifixion? Fearing

trouble, leaders in Jerusalem

arrested Jesus and charged

him with treason, or

disloyalty to the

government.


According to the Christian

scriptures, Jesus was crucified, or

hung from a cross until dead.

This was Rome’s way of punishing political rebels and lower class

criminals.

What is the Crucifixion? The death of Jesus

Christ involved a few co-conspirators, each

doing their part to push the process

along. Their motives ranged

from greed, to hatred, to duty… they were

Judas Iscariot, Caiaphas, the

Sanhedrin, Pontius Pilate, Herod Antipas,

and an unnamed Roman centurion.


1) Joseph Caiaphas, High Priest of the Jerusalem temple, was one of the most powerful men in

ancient Israel, yet he felt threatened by the peace loving Jesus of Nazareth.

Caiaphas feared Jesus might start a rebellion,

causing a clampdown by the Romans, so he

decided Jesus had to die, ignoring all the laws to

make sure that happened.


2) The Sanhedrin, Israel's high court

which enforced law. Although Jesus was

innocent, the Sanhedrin voted to convict, with the

penalty being death, but this court had no

authority to order execution, for that

they needed the help of the Roman

governor, Pontius Pilate.


3) Pontius Pilate held the power

of life and death in ancient Israel.

When Jesus was sent to him for

trial, Pilate found no reason to

execute him…instead, he had Jesus brutally

flogged.


The Sanhedrin and Pharisees were not

satisfied, they demanded that Jesus

be crucified, a torturous death

reserved for only the most violent criminals.

Always the politician, Pilate symbolically

washed his hands of the matter and turned Jesus over to one of his

centurions.


4) Judas Iscariot The irony behind the death of Christ was

that one of his closest followers, Judas turned him over to the Roman authorities for 30

silver pieces. After Jesus was killed

Judas hung himself out of pure guilt.


After Jesus’ death, his followers made a startling claim.

They announced

that Jesus had risen from the

dead.


Christian tradition states

that Mary Magdalene, one Jesus’ followers, was the first to see him alive

again. Others including

Jesus’ disciples, reported seeing

him as well.


The disciples also pointed to his

empty tomb as proof that Jesus was in fact the

Messiah. These reports of

Jesus’ resurrection, or rising from the

dead, led to a new religion known as

Christianity.


Questions:

6) Why did the Romans fear Jesus?

They thought he might threaten law and order

7) What was the name of Jesus’ friend who betrayed him?

Judas, for 30 silver pieces

8) What does the term Crucified mean?

Roman punishment where a person is hung from a cross until dead

9) What were the main ideas Jesus taught during his life?

Love and forgiveness

10) What does resurrection mean?

Rise from the dead

the life of jesus of nazareth. main idea: jesus of nazareth preached of god’s love and...

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