This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. For other uses, see Jesus (disambiguation).
Jesus
Christ Pantocrator mosaic in Byzantine style, from the Cefalù Cathedral, Sicily, c. 1131
Born 7–2 BC
Herodian Tetrarchy, Roman Empire[5]
Died AD 30–33[b]
(aged 31–39; traditionally 33)
Judea, Roman Empire
Cause of death Crucifixion[c]
Home town Nazareth, Galilee[11]
Parent(s) • Mary
• Joseph[d]
Jesus (/ˈdʒiːzəs/; Greek: Ἰησοῦς Iesous; 7–2 BC to AD 30–33), also referred to as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity, whom the teachings of most Christian denominations hold to be the Son of God. Christians believe Jesus is the awaited Messiah (or Christ, the Anointed One) of the Old Testament Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically, and historians consider the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke ) to be the best sources for investigating the historical Jesus. Most scholars agree that Jesus was a Galilean, Jewish rabbi[23] who preached his message orally, was baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified by the order of the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate. In the current mainstream view, Jesus was an apocalyptic preacher and the founder of a renewal movement within Judaism, although some prominent scholars argue that he was not apocalyptic. After Jesus' death, his followers believed he was resurrected, and the community they formed eventually became the Christian church. The widely used calendar era, abbreviated as "AD" from the Latin "Anno Domini" ("in the year of our Lord") or sometimes as "CE", is based on the birth of Jesus. His birth is celebrated annually on December 25 as a holiday known as Christmas. Christians believe that Jesus has a "unique significance" in the world. Christian doctrines include the beliefs that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of a virgin named Mary, performed miracles, founded the Church, died by crucifixion as a sacrifice to achieve atonement, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, whence he will return. Most Christians believe Jesus enables humans to be reconciled to God, and will judge the dead either beforeor after their bodily resurrection, an event tied to the Second Coming of Jesus in Christian eschatology;hough some believe Jesus's role as savior has more existential or societal concerns than the afterlife, and a few notable theologians have suggested that Jesus will bring about a universal reconciliation.[36] The great majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, the second of three persons of a Divine Trinity. A few Christian groups reject Trinitarianism, wholly or partly, as non-scriptural. In Islam, Jesus (commonly transliterated as Isa) is considered one of God's important prophets and the Messiah, second in importance only to Muhammad. To Muslims, Jesus was a bringer of scripture and was born of a virgin, but was not the Son of God. According to most Muslims, Jesus was not crucified but was physically raised into Heavenby God. Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh.
Etymology
Further information: Jesus (name), Holy Name of Jesus, Name of God in Christianity, Yeshua (name), Yasu and Isa (name)
Hebrew, Greek and Latin transcriptions of the name Jesus
A typical Jew in Jesus' time had only one name, sometimes supplemented with the father's name or the individual's hometown. Thus, in the New Testament, Jesus is commonly referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth (e.g., Mark 10:47). Jesus' neighbors in Nazareth refer to him as "the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon" (Mark 6:3), "the carpenter's son" (Matthew 13:55), or "Joseph's son" (Luke 4:22). In John, the disciple Philip refers to him as "Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth" (John 1:45). The name Jesus is derived from the Latin Iesus, a transliteration of the Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iesous). The Greek form is a rendering of the Hebrew ישוע (Yeshua), a variant of the earlier name יהושע (Yehoshua), in English "Joshua". The name Yeshua appears to have been in use in Judea at the time of the birth of Jesus. The first century works of historian Flavius Josephus, who wrote in Koine Greek, the same language as that of the New Testament, refer to at least twenty different people with the name Jesus (i.e. Ἰησοῦς). The etymology of Jesus' name in the context of the New Testament is generally given as "Yahweh is salvation". Since early Christianity, Christians have commonly referred to Jesus as "Jesus Christ". The word Christ is derived from the Greek Χριστός (Christos), which is a translation of the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (Meshiakh), meaning the "anointed" and usually transliterated into English as "Messiah". Christians designate Jesus as Christ because they believe he is the awaited Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). In postbiblical usage, Christ became viewed as a name—one part of "Jesus Christ"—but originally it was a title. The term "Christian" (meaning "one who owes allegiance to the person Christ" or simply "follower of Christ") has been in use since the first century.
Canonical gospel accounts
Main article: Life of Jesus in the New Testament
See also: New Testament places associated with Jesus and Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament
The four canonical gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John) are the only substantial sources for the life and message of Jesus. Other parts of the New Testament, such as the Pauline epistles, which were probably written decades before the gospels, also include references to key episodes in his life, such as the Last Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:23–26. Acts of the Apostles (10:37–38 and 19:4) refers to the early ministry of Jesus and its anticipation by John the Baptist. Acts 1:1–11 says more about the Ascension of Jesus (also mentioned in 1 Timothy 3:16) than the canonical gospels do. Some early Christian and Gnostic groups had separate descriptions of the life and teachings of Jesus that are not included in the New Testament. These include the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, and the Apocryphon of James, among many other apocryphal writings. Most scholars consider these much later and less reliable accounts than the canonical gospels.
Canonical gospels
See also: Gospel, Gospel harmony, Historical reliability of the Gospels and Internal consistency of the New Testament
A 3rd-century Greek papyrus of theGospel of Luke
The canonical gospels are four accounts, each written by a different author. The first to be written was the Gospel of Mark (written AD 60–75), followed by the Gospel of Matthew (AD 65–85), the Gospel of Luke (AD 65–95), and the Gospel of John (AD 75–100).[64] They often differ in content and in the ordering of events. Traditionally, the writing of the gospels has been attributed to four evangelists with close ties to Jesus: Mark was written by John Mark, an associate of Peter; Matthew was written by one of Jesus' disciples Luke was written by a companion of Paul, someone mentioned in a few epistles; and John was written by another of Jesus' disciples, in fact part of an inner group of disciples, along with Peter and Jesus' brother James. Three of them, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are known as the Synoptic Gospels, from the Greek σύν (syn "together") and ὄψις (opsis "view"). They are similar in content, narrative arrangement, language and paragraph structure. Scholars generally agree that it is impossible to find any direct literary relationship between the Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John While the flow of some events (such as Jesus' baptism, transfiguration, crucifixion and interactions with the apostles) are shared among the Synoptic Gospels, incidents such as the transfiguration do not appear in John, which also differs on other matters, such as the Cleansing of the Temple. Most scholars agree, following what is known as the "Marcan hypothesis", that the authors of Matthew and Luke used Mark as a source when writing their gospels. Matthew and Luke also share some content not found in Mark. To explain this, many scholars believe that in addition to Mark, another source (commonly called the "Q source") was used by the two authors. According to a broad scholarly consensus, the Synoptic Gospels, and not John, are the primary sources of historical information about Jesus. However, not everything contained in the New Testament gospels is considered to be historically reliable. Elements whose historical authenticity is disputed include the Nativity, the Massacre of the Innocents, the Resurrection, the Ascension, some of Jesus' miracles, and the Sanhedrin trial, among others. Views on the gospels range from their being inerrant descriptions of the life of Jesus to their providing little historical information about his life beyond the basics. The Synoptics emphasize different aspects of Jesus. In Mark, Jesus is the Son of God whose mighty works demonstrate the presence of God's Kingdom. He is a tireless wonder worker, the servant of both God and man. This short gospel records few of Jesus' words or teachings. The Gospel of Matthew emphasizes that Jesus is the fulfillment of God's will as revealed in the Old Testament, and he is the Lord of the Church. He is the kingly Messiah, referred to repeatedly as "king" and "Son of David. A noteworthy feature of this gospel are the five discourses, collections of teachings on particular themes, including the Sermon on the Mount. Luke presents Jesus as the divine-human savior who shows compassion to the needy. He is the friend of sinners and outcasts, come to seek and save the lost. This gospel includes Jesus' most beloved parables, such as the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. The Synoptics and John agree on the main outline of Jesus' life. John the Baptist precedes Jesus, their ministries overlap, and John witnesses to Jesus' identity. Jesus teaches and performs miracles, at least partly in Galilee. He then visits Jerusalem, where the leaders have him crucified, and he is buried. After his tomb is found empty on Sunday, the risen Jesus presents himself to his followers.
The prologue to the Gospel of John identifies Jesus as an incarnation of the divine Word (Logos). As the Word, Jesus was eternally present with God, active in all creation, and the source of humanity's moral and spiritual nature. With this prologue, the evangelist establishes that Jesus is not only greater than any past human prophet but greater than any prophet could be. He not only speaks God's Word; he is God's Word. In the Gospel of John, Jesus reveals his divine role publicly. Here he is the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the True Vine and more. In general, the authors of the New Testament showed little interest in an absolute chronology of Jesus or in synchronizing the episodes of his life with the secular history of the age. As stated in John 21:25, the gospels do not claim to provide an exhaustive list of the events in the life of Jesus. The accounts were primarily written as theological documents in the context of early Christianity, with timelines as a secondary consideration. One manifestation of the gospels as theological documents rather than historical chronicles is that they devote about one third of their text to just seven days, namely the last week of the life of Jesus in Jerusalem, referred to as the Passion. Although the gospels do not provide enough details to satisfy the demands of modern historians regarding exact dates, it is possible to draw from them a general picture of the life story of Jesus.
