Life in Jesus: Jesus of Nazareth

Let us encounter Jesus of Nazareth! Who was he? What did he do? What were his teachings? The best way to begin knowing Jesus is to read the Gospel. There are four versions: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Pick one version and read slowly, pausing now and then to reflect on what you read. Don’t be in a hurry to finish the book. Perhaps, you would just read a few verses to a chapter at a time. Spend at least ten to fifteen minutes daily reading the Gospel, and I am sure you will come to know Jesus quite well after some time.

The Gospel tells us that Jesus belonged to the people of Israel or the Jewish people, as we call them today. He was born in Bethlehem to a virgin, Mary. How do we explain this? You see, his real father is God! Jesus is then the Son of God! Now, to be born in this world, Mary conceived him by the power of God, not through the usual human act. Yes, there was Joseph, but he only acted as his foster father. The family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived in the town of Nazareth in the north of the country of Palestine. This is where Jesus grew up, spending perhaps thirty years of his life.

Then Jesus started preaching around Galilee, the region where Nazareth belongs. This was after he had a brief encounter with his cousin, John the Baptist. Jesus would allow his cousin to baptize him at the river Jordan. At that time, baptism was a sign of repentance for one’s sins and readiness to open one’s life to God. Well, we know that Jesus was sinless; so most probably, he accepted baptism to show his solidarity with sinful humanity.

Jesus preached about the “reign of God.” He said that God is such a loving and merciful father that we should simply allow God to “reign” in our lives! The Gospel has a record of the teachings of Jesus, like the “Sermon on the Mount,” and his stories, known as parables, like the “Prodigal Son.” Besides preaching, Jesus also performed a lot of wonderful deeds, also known as miracles. According to him, these were signs of God’s reign, that is, God’s loving and merciful concern for man. Jesus cured the sick, gave sight to the blind, cleansed the leper, made a lame walk, forgave sins and exorcized people possessed by demons. Jesus even walked over the waters and multiplied a couple of bread and fish to feed thousands of people.

Jesus often asked people to have faith in him, that is, to trust him! He admired people, even if they did not belong to the people of Israel, who had faith in him. Such was the case of a Roman official who believed that Jesus could cure his servant. He rebuked people, even if they were his own disciples, for their lack of faith. According to Jesus, anyone who believes that he is the Son of God, trusting in him and keeping his words, is promised eternal life!

Many people followed Jesus, perhaps because he was such a wonder-worker or a charismatic man. Many believed him to be the expected Messiah, that is, the promised saviour of Israel according to the prophets of old. Now, Jesus himself chose twelve men to be constantly in his company. These were the apostles, of whom Peter was the head. For some three years, Jesus paid special attention to his twelve apostles, teaching them and moulding their character. Despite their weaknesses (except for Judas who would later betray him), they would be sent by Jesus to continue his mission. They would build up the community founded by Jesus. Through the centuries, this community would grow and spread throughout the world, becoming the Catholic Church as we know it today.

Not all people in Palestine would admire and follow Jesus. In fact, when Jesus began preaching in Galilee, his own town mates in Nazareth reject him. The religious leaders in Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, would also reject him and persecute him. They found him quite different from them, like not observing strictly the traditions of the people of Israel. Jesus, however, said that he did not mean to destroy these traditions but to bring them to a fulfilment! The Gospel, however, tells us that the main reason they rejected Jesus and eventually condemned him to death was Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God, that is, literally, a divine being! This was utter blasphemy for them, an intolerable claim for a mere human being!

The last journey of Jesus to Jerusalem would be the most significant in his life. It would be the time of the Passover, the Jewish feast that commemorated the liberation of the people of Israel by God from slavery in Egypt. A ritual during the Passover feast was the killing of a lamb without blemish at the temple. The lamb was to be the sacrificial offering to God!

In Jerusalem on that Thursday evening, Jesus and his apostles would gather for their Passover meal. It would be Jesus’ last supper with them. Now, Jesus did something mysterious: he took a piece of bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his apostles, saying, “Take this all of you and eat it, for this is my body!” Likewise, he took a chalice of wine, saying, “Take this all of you and drink from it, for this is the cup of my blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” What has happened? Jesus gave himself as food to his apostles! Today, we would refer to this as the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus! On that same evening, Jesus would enjoin his apostles and all his future disciples to what he would call his “new” commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you!”

Later in the night, Jesus and his apostles would go to the garden of Gethsemane. While Jesus was praying, a band of soldiers sent by the religious authorities in Jerusalem would arrest him. He would be tried and mocked by them. They would send him on that Friday morning to Pontius Pilate, the Roman authority in Jerusalem, who would finally decide his death by crucifixion. This was the most cruel death penalty meant for criminals and rebels at that time!

Jesus was made to carry the cross to Calvary, a hill just outside the gates of Jerusalem. According to the Gospel version of Mark, Jesus was crucified at around nine in the morning of Friday. He remained there for six hours in pain and suffering, even mocked by the religious authorities and bystanders. At around three in the afternoon, Jesus died! Mysteriously, what Jesus did the evening before, giving himself in his body and blood as food, would be connected to his brutal death, with his body horribly bruised and his blood poured out! Jesus was quickly buried before sunset in a nearby cave, sealed by a large stone.

In the early morning of the third day, that was a Sunday, a group of women-disciples of Jesus went to the tomb to visit his body. To their great surprise, the cave was wide open and the body of Jesus was missing! Immediately, they reported this to the apostles. They concluded that – Jesus of Nazareth is risen from the dead!

The resurrection of Jesus was not a foolish or pious story made up by the apostles and the early disciples of Jesus. Actually, Jesus had been making allusions to his resurrection during his lifetime in his teachings with them. At that moment, the apostles and the other disciples made an act of faith! And their faith was confirmed by their various experiences of the presence of the risen Jesus. The apostles and many of the disciples of Jesus personally encountered Jesus in his risen body, conversed with him and even ate with him.

Since then, this is the good news the followers of Jesus have been spreading – Jesus of Nazareth is alive! One can encounter him if one believes! He is the expected Messiah! He is truly the Son of God!