Christ Jesus - biography. About the nature of the Kingdom of God. Birth and childhood

In the Western Church there is a tradition about the image of St. Veronica, who gave the Savior going to Calvary a towel to wipe His face. An imprint of His face was left on the towel, which later fell to the west.

In the Orthodox Church, it is customary to depict the Savior on icons and frescoes. These images do not seek to convey exactly His appearance. Rather, they are reminders, symbols that raise our thoughts to the One who is depicted on them. Looking at the images of the Savior, we remember His life, His love and compassion, His miracles and teachings; we remember that He, as omnipresent, abides with us, sees our difficulties and helps us. This sets us up to pray to Him: “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on us!”

The face of the Savior and His entire body were also imprinted on the so-called “Shroud of Turin,” a long canvas in which, according to legend, the body of the Savior taken down from the cross was wrapped. The image on the shroud was seen only relatively recently with the help of photography, special filters and a computer. Reproductions of the face of the Savior, made according to the Shroud of Turin, have a striking resemblance to some ancient Byzantine icons (sometimes coinciding at 45 or 60 points, which, according to experts, cannot be accidental). Studying the Shroud of Turin, experts came to the conclusion that a man of about 30 years old was imprinted on it, 5 feet, 11 inches tall (181 cm - much taller than his contemporaries), slender and strong build.

Teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ taught that He is of one essence with God the Father: "I and the Father are one," that He is both "descended from heaven" and "who is in heaven," i.e. - He simultaneously abides on earth, as a man, and in heaven, as the Son of God, being a God-man (; ). Therefore, “all must honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. He also confessed the truth of His Divine nature before His sufferings on the Cross, for which he was sentenced to death by the Sanhedrin. So the members of the Sanhedrin told Pilate about this: “We have a law, and according to our law He must die, because He made Himself the Son of God” ().

Having turned away from God, people got lost in their religious concepts about the Creator, about their immortal nature, about the purpose of life, about what is good and what is bad. The Lord reveals to man the most important foundations of faith and life, gives direction to his thoughts and aspirations. Citing the instructions of the Savior, the Apostles write that “Jesus Christ went through all the cities and villages, teaching in synagogues and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom,” - the good news of the coming of the Kingdom of God among people (). Often the Lord began His teachings with the words: “The kingdom of God is like...” From this it follows that, according to the thought of Jesus Christ, people are called to be saved not individually, but together, as one spiritual family, using those grace-filled means with which He endowed the Church . These means can be defined in two words: Grace and Truth. (Grace is an invisible power given by the Holy Spirit, which enlightens the mind of a person, directs his will to good, strengthens his spiritual strength, brings him inner peace and pure joy, and sanctifies his entire being).

Attracting people to His Kingdom, the Lord calls them to a righteous way of life, saying: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (). To repent means to condemn every one of your sinful deeds, to change your way of thinking and to decide, with God's help, to start a new way of life based on love for God and neighbor.

However, in order to start a righteous life, one desire is not enough, but God's help is also needed, which is given to the believer in grace-filled baptism. In baptism all sins are forgiven a person, he is born for a spiritual way of life and becomes a citizen of the Kingdom of God. The Lord said this about baptism: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Then sending the apostles on a worldwide sermon, he commanded them: “Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, and whoever does not believe will be condemned ”(). The words “everything that I have commanded you” emphasize the integrity of the Savior’s teaching, in which everything is important and necessary for salvation.

About the Christian life

In the nine beatitudes (chapter), he outlined the path of spiritual renewal. This path consists in humility, repentance, meekness, striving for a virtuous life, in works of mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking and confession. With the words - “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" - Christ calls a person to humility - the recognition of his sinfulness and spiritual weakness. Humility serves as the beginning or foundation for correcting a person. crying, because they will be comforted "- they will receive forgiveness and peace of conscience. Having found peace in the soul, a person himself becomes peace-loving, meek: "Blessed are the meek, because they will inherit the earth," they will receive what predatory and aggressive people take away from them. repentance, a person begins to yearn for virtue and righteousness: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied," i.e., with God's help, they will achieve it. Having experienced the great mercy of God, a person begins to feel compassion for other people : "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy." The merciful one is cleansed of sinful attachment to material objects and Divine light penetrates into him, as into the clear water of a still lake: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” This light gives a person the necessary wisdom for the spiritual guidance of other people, for their reconciliation with themselves, with neighbors and with God: “Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God.” The sinful world cannot tolerate true righteousness, it rebels with hatred against its bearers, but there is no need to mourn: "Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."

Saving the soul should be the main concern of man. The path of spiritual renewal can be difficult, therefore: “Enter through the narrow gate; For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go through it. For narrow is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it. A Christian must accept the inevitable sorrows without grumbling, as his worldly cross: “Whoever wants to follow Me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me” (). In essence, “The kingdom of heaven is taken by force, and those who use force take it away” (). For admonition and strengthening, it is necessary to call on God for help: “Watch and pray so as not to fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak ... In your patience save your souls ”(;).

Coming into the world because of His infinite love for us, the Son of God taught His followers to make love the basis of life, saying: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. “This is my commandment, that you love one another” (; ). to neighbors is revealed through deeds of mercy: “I want mercy, not sacrifice!” (Matt. 9:13; ).

Speaking of the cross, of tribulations, and of the narrow path, Christ encourages us with the promise of His help: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; for my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (). Like the beatitudes, so is the whole teaching of the Savior imbued with faith in the victory of good and with the spirit of joy: “Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” “Here I am with you until the end of time” - and promises that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but will inherit eternal life (;).

On the Nature of the Kingdom of God

To clarify His teaching about the Kingdom of God, he used life examples and parables. In one of the parables, He likened the Kingdom of God to a sheepfold, in which obedient sheep live safely, guarded and led by the good Shepherd, Christ: ... I also have other sheep that are not of this fold, and those I must bring, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one Shepherd ... I give them (the sheep) eternal life, and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand... Therefore the Father loves me, because I give my life (for the sheep) to receive it again. No one takes it from Me, but I myself give it. I have power to give it away, and I have power to receive it again” (ch.

In this likening of the Kingdom of God to a sheepfold, the unity of the Church is emphasized: many sheep dwell in one fenced-in yard, have one faith and one way of life. All have one Shepherd - Christ. He prayed to His Father for the unity of believers before His sufferings on the Cross, saying: “May they all be one, as You, Father, in Me, and I in You, so they will be one in us” (). The connecting principle in the Kingdom of God is the love of the Shepherd for the sheep and the love of the sheep for the Shepherd. Love for Christ is expressed in obedience to Him, in the desire to live according to His will: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” The mutual love of believers is an important sign of His Kingdom: “Therefore, everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” ().

Grace and truth are two treasures that the Lord gave to the Church as its main properties, constituting, as it were, its very essence (). The Lord promised the apostles that the Holy Spirit would preserve in the Church until the end of the world His true and intact teaching: you into all truth." Similarly, we believe that the gracious gifts of the Holy Spirit, to this day and until the end of the world, will operate in the Church, reviving her children and quenching their spiritual thirst: “Whoever drinks the water that I will give him, he will not thirst forever. But the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water springing up into eternal life.

As earthly kingdoms need laws, rulers and various institutions, without which no state can exist, so the Lord Jesus Christ endowed with everything necessary for the salvation of believers - the Gospel teaching, the sacraments of grace and spiritual mentors - the shepherds of the Church. This is what He said to His disciples: “As the Father sent Me, so I send you. And having said this, he blew and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. The Lord has entrusted the pastors of the Church with the duty to teach believers, cleanse their consciences, and regenerate their souls. Shepherds are to follow the high Shepherd in His love for the sheep. The sheep must honor their shepherds, follow their instructions, as Christ said: “He who listens to you, listens to me, and whoever rejects you, rejects me” ().

A person does not become righteous instantly. In the parable of the tares, Christ explained that just as weeds grow among wheat in a sown field, so among the righteous children of the Church there are unworthy members. Some people sin out of ignorance, inexperience, and the weakness of their spiritual powers, but repent of their sins and try to correct themselves; others languish in sins for a long time, neglecting God's long-suffering. The main sower of temptations and all evil among people is. Speaking about the tares in His Kingdom, the Lord calls on everyone to fight against temptations and pray: “Forgive us our debts, just as we forgive (forgive) our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Knowing the spiritual weakness and fickleness of believers, the Lord endowed the Apostles with the power to forgive sins: “To whom you forgive sins, they will be forgiven; on whom you leave, they will remain "(). Forgiveness of sins implies that the sinner sincerely regrets his bad deed and desires to correct himself.

But evil will not be tolerated forever in the Kingdom of Christ: “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. But the slave does not stay in the house forever. The Son abides forever. So, if the Son sets you free, then you will be truly free” (). Christ commanded to exclude people who persist in their sins or who do not obey the teachings of the Church from the environment of a grace-filled society, saying: “If the Church does not listen, then let him be to you, like a pagan and a publican” ().

In the Kingdom of God there is a real union of believers with God and with each other. The connecting principle in the Church is the theanthropic nature of Christ, to which believers partake in the sacrament of Holy Communion. In Communion, the divine life of the God-Man mysteriously descends into believers, as it is said: “We (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) will come to him and make our abode in him;” thus the Kingdom of God enters into man (; ). emphasized the need for communion with the following words: “Unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you. Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (). Without union with Christ, a person, like a broken branch, spiritually wilts and is unable to do good deeds: “Just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it is in the vine, so you, unless you are in Me. I am the Vine and you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit. For without Me you can do nothing. Having taught His disciples the need to have unity with Himself, the Lord on Maundy Thursday, on the eve of His suffering on the Cross, established the sacrament of Communion itself (see above), commanding them in conclusion: “Do this (sacrament) in remembrance of Me” ().

Conclusion

So, the entire life and teaching of the Savior was directed towards laying new spiritual principles in human life: pure faith, living love for God and neighbor, striving for moral perfection and holiness. On these principles we should build our religious outlook and our lives.

The history of Christianity has shown that far from all people and not all nations were able to rise to the lofty spiritual principles of the Gospel. The establishment of Christianity in the world was sometimes a thorny path. Sometimes the gospel was accepted by people only superficially, without the desire to correct their hearts; sometimes it was completely rejected and even persecuted. Despite this, all the high humane principles of freedom, equality and fraternity that distinguish modern democratic states are actually borrowed from the Gospel. Any attempts to replace the gospel principles with others lead, at times, to catastrophic consequences. To be convinced of this, it is enough to look at the modern consequences of materialism and atheism. Thus, modern Christians, having before their eyes such a rich historical experience, must clearly understand that only in the teachings of the Savior will they find the right guidance for solving their family and social problems.

Building our lives on the commandments of Christ, we console ourselves with the thought that the Kingdom of God will certainly triumph, and the promised peace, justice, joy, and immortal life will come to the renewed Earth. We pray to the Lord to make us worthy to inherit His Kingdom!

The prophet Isaiah describes the feat of the voluntary self-abasement of the Messiah in this way: “There is neither form nor majesty in Him. And we saw Him, and there was no form in Him that would draw us to Him. He was despised and humbled before men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with sickness. And we turned our faces away from Him. He was despised and regarded as nothing. But He took upon Himself our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. And we thought that He was smitten, punished and humiliated by God. But He was wounded for our sins and tormented for our iniquities. The punishment of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed. We all wandered like sheep, each turned to his own way, and the Lord laid on Him the sins of all of us. He was tormented, but suffered voluntarily and did not open His mouth. From bondage and judgment He was taken. But His generation, who will explain? (Ch.).

With these concluding words, the prophet addresses the consciences of those who will reject their Savior, and, as it were, says to them: you turn away with contempt from the mocked and suffering Jesus, but understand that it is because of you sinners that He suffers so hard. Look into His spiritual beauty, and then, perhaps, you will be able to understand that He came to you from the heavenly world.

But voluntarily humiliating Himself for the sake of our salvation, the Lord, nevertheless, gradually revealed the secret of His unity with God the Father to those who were able to rise above the rough ideas of the crowd. So, for example, He told the Jews: “I and the Father are one ... He who saw Me saw the Father ... The Father abides in Me and I am in the Father ... All Mine is Yours (the Father) and Yours is Mine ... We ( Father and Son) we will come and make our abode with him ”(). These and other similar expressions clearly point to His Divine nature.

Finally, let us remember that the very condemnation of Christ on the cross was caused by His official recognition of His Divinity. When the high priest Caiaphas, under an oath, asked Christ: “Tell us, are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” Christ replied: "You said," using the established form of the affirmative answer (; ; ).

Now we should clarify another, very important question related to this: where did Caiaphas, many Jews and even demons (!) Could get the idea that the Messiah would be the Son of God? There is only one answer here: from the Old Testament Holy Scripture. It was this that prepared the ground for this belief. Indeed, even King David, who lived a thousand years before the birth of Christ, in three psalms calls the Messiah God (Psalms 2, 44 and 109). The prophet Isaiah, who lived 700 years before Christ, revealed this truth even more clearly. Predicting the miracle of the incarnation of the Son of God, Isaiah wrote: “Behold, the Virgin in the womb will receive and give birth to the Son, and they will call His name: Emmanuel,” which means: “God is with us.” And a little further, the prophet even more definitely reveals the Properties of the Son who had been born: “And they will call His name: Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Father of eternity” (). Such names cannot be applied to anyone but to God. The prophet Micah also wrote about the eternity of the Child who had to be born (see:).

The prophet Jeremiah, who lived about two hundred years after Isaiah, calls the Messiah "Lord" (Jer. 23 and 33:16), meaning the Lord who sent him to preach; and Jeremiah's disciple, the prophet Baruch, wrote the following wonderful words about the Messiah: “This is our God, and no one else can compare with Him. He found all the ways of wisdom and gave it to His servant Jacob and His beloved Israel. After that, He appeared on earth and spoke among people ”() - i.e. God Himself will come to earth and live among people!

That is why the more sensitive of the Jews, having such definite indications in the Holy Scriptures, could not hesitate to recognize in Christ the true Son of God (see the pamphlet "Old Testament about the Messiah" about this). It is remarkable that even before the Nativity of Christ, the righteous Elizabeth greeted the Virgin Mary, who was expecting the Baby, with the following solemn greeting: “Blessed are You among women and blessed is the Fruit of Your womb! And where is it to me that the Mother of my Lord came to me ”(). It is clear that the righteous Elizabeth could have no other Lord than the One whom she had served since childhood. As Ap. Luke, Elizabeth said this not on her own, but under inspiration from the Holy Spirit.

Having firmly assimilated faith in the Divinity of Christ, the apostles planted this faith in Him and among all peoples. With the revelation of the Divine nature of Jesus Christ, the Evangelist John begins his Gospel:

"In the beginning was the Word

And the Word was with God

And the Word was God...

Everything came into being through Him.

And without Him, nothing began to be that began to be...

And the Word became flesh

and settled among us,

full of grace and truth...

And we have seen His glory

Glory as the Only Begotten from the Father,

No one has ever seen God;

the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father,

He revealed (God)"

The name of the Son of God by the Word, more than other names, reveals the secret of the inner relationship between the First and Second Persons of the Most Holy Trinity - God the Father and God the Son. Indeed, the thought and the word are different from each other in that the thought resides in the mind, and the word is the expression of the thought. However, they are inseparable. There is no thought without a word, no word without a thought. Thought is, as it were, a hidden word within, and the word is the expression of thought. The thought, embodied in the word, conveys the content of the thought to the listeners. In this regard, thought, being an independent beginning, is, as it were, the father of the word, and the word is, as it were, the son of thought. Before thought it is impossible, but it does not come from somewhere outside, but only from thought and with thought remains inseparable. Similarly, the Father, the greatest and all-encompassing Thought, produced from His bowels the Son-Word, His first Interpreter and Messenger (according to St. Dionysius of Alexandria).

About the Divinity of Christ, the apostles spoke with all clarity: “We know that the Son of God came and gave us light and understanding, so that we might know the true God and may we abide in His true Son Jesus Christ” (). From the Israelites was born "Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all" (). “We look forward to the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (). “If the Jews had known [the wisdom of God], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (). “In Him (Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (). “Unquestioningly - the great mystery of piety: he appeared in the flesh” (). that the Son of God is not a creation, but the Creator, that he is immeasurably higher than all the creatures created by Him, the apostle Paul proves in detail in chapters 1 and 2 of his epistle to the Jews Angels are only ministering spirits.

It must be remembered that calling the Lord Jesus Christ God - Theos - in itself speaks of the fullness of the Godhead. "God," from a logical, philosophical point of view, cannot be a "second degree," a "lower rank," limited. The properties of the Divine nature are not subject to convention, reduction. If "God," then wholly, not partially.

Only thanks to the unity of the Persons in God is it possible to combine in one sentence the names of the Son and the Holy Spirit along with the name of the Father, for example: “Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (). “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (). “Three testify in heaven: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one” (). Here the apostle John emphasizes that the Three are one - one Being.

Note: It is necessary to clearly distinguish between the concept of "person" and the concept of "essence." The word "person" (hypostasis, person) denotes a person, "I," self-consciousness. The old cells of our body die off, new ones replace them, and consciousness refers everything in our life to our “I.” The word "essence" speaks of nature, nature, physis. In God, one essence and three Persons. Therefore, for example, the Son and God the Father can talk to each other, make a joint decision, one speaks, the other answers. Each Person of the Trinity has its own personal properties, in which It differs from another Person. But all Persons of the Trinity have one Divine nature. The Son has the same divine attributes as the Father and the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity reveals to people the inner, mysterious life in God, which is actually inaccessible to our understanding, but at the same time necessary for the correct faith in Christ.

Jesus Christ has one Person (hypostasis) - the Face of the Son of God, but two essences - Divine and human. In His Divine essence, He is equal to the Father - eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent, etc.; according to the human nature he assumed, He is like us in everything: He grew, developed, suffered, rejoiced, hesitated in decisions, etc. The human nature of Christ includes soul and body. The difference is that His human nature is completely free from sinful corruption. Since the same Christ is both God and man at the same time, Holy Scripture speaks of Him either as God or as a man. Even more than that, sometimes human properties are attributed to Christ as God (), and sometimes Divine properties are attributed to Him as a person. There is no contradiction here, because we are talking about one Person.

Taking into account the clear teaching of the Holy Scriptures about the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, in order to stop all interpretations of the word Son of God and belittling His Divine dignity, decided that Christians should believe:

"In the one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

The only begotten, born of the Father before all ages.

Light from Light, true God from

true God, begotten, uncreated,

consubstantial with the Father (one essence with God the Father),

By whom all things were created."

The Arians especially vehemently objected to the word consubstantial, because it could not be interpreted in any other way than in the Orthodox sense, namely, what is recognized as true God, in everything equal to God the Father. For the same reason, the Fathers of the Council insisted that this word be included in the Creed.

Summing up what has been said, it must be said that faith in the Divinity of Christ cannot be planted in people's hearts either by quotations or formulas. Here you need personal faith, personal willpower. As it was two thousand years ago, so it will be until the end of the world: for many, Christ will remain "a stumbling block and a stone of stumbling block ... let the thoughts of their hearts be revealed" (;). It was pleasing to God by an attitude towards Christ to reveal the hidden direction of the will of each person. And what He hid from the prudent and wise, He revealed to babies ().

Therefore, this article does not aim to "prove" that Christ is God. It is impossible to prove this, like many other truths of faith. The purpose of this article is to help a Christian understand his faith in the Savior and give him the necessary arguments to defend his faith from heretics.

So, who, God or Man? “He is a God-Man. On this truth our faith must be established.

Christianity is one of the world's leading religions. Millions of people around the world consider themselves followers of Christ. However, unlike the founders of other religions, Jesus Christ preached for only three years and died crucified on the cross - this is how criminals were executed in those days.

He was then thirty-three years old. He didn't leave a single line behind, and we can only guess what He looked like. However, we keep track of our chronology from the year of His birth. Every year people all over the world, even those who are not His followers, celebrate Christmas - the day when He was born. Who was Christ that He managed to make such an incomprehensible upheaval in world history? Several decades after the death of Christ, testimonies of His life were collected and written down for the edification of posterity. These records are called Gospels, which means the Gospels. The earliest of these may have been written around 50 CE. e., although some historians attribute them to a later period. The four gospels of the New Testament are the main sources from which we draw our information about the life of Jesus Christ.

historical era

The country in which Christ was born and lived was seething and living with expectations. In 63 BC. e. The Roman general Pompeii captured Jerusalem. This marked the end of the short political independence of the Israelites - from then on, a Roman garrison was constantly in Jerusalem. The Romans could not understand the religion of the Jews, seeing in it only a mixture of prejudice and barbaric customs. They tried to convert the Israelis to their faith, insulted them, subjected them to robbery and exactions. The Jews hated the Romans and often rebelled against their rule. In 40 BC. e. With the blessing of the Romans, a native of the country, Herod the Great, who was distinguished by an extremely cruel disposition, became the king of Judea. During his reign in Judea, the planting of Hellenistic culture continued. Fearing the loss of power, he flooded the country with secret spies and severely punished every Jew on whom even the shadow of suspicion of treason fell. Fearing betrayal even in his own family, he killed his two sons and his wife. After his death, the country was divided between his two sons, whom the people treated with the same hatred as they did to Herod himself. In 6 AD e. Jerusalem and Judea passed into direct submission to Rome. Governors and procurators sent from Rome began to rule the country. The Jews dreamed of deliverance from the hated yoke of the Romans. Some of them united in original parties. So, for example, the Zealots were going to achieve liberation through an armed uprising and struggle. They urged the people not to pay taxes to the Romans. Zealots became the basis of the liberation movement, defeated in 73 AD. e.

For the Jews, this was a time of religious quest. There was a split into religious groups. One of the groups that we often find mentioned in the New Testament was called the Pharisees. This direction united the laity, people who did not have a holy order. The Pharisees called their teachers "Rabbi", which means "teacher". They brought many new ideas to the ancient teachings, such as ideas about life after death, angels and demons, and also about the fact that history is driven by Divine Providence. They tried to interpret the Torah in a new way in relation to the changed needs of people. However, this led to an endless multiplication of rules that were difficult to follow, and to the charge of being too legalistic. After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. e. The Pharisees became the backbone of Judaism. Another important group were the Sadducees, the conservative party of the aristocracy. The ruling elite of society consisted mainly of representatives of this particular group. Religiously and politically, they were extremely conservative and opposed the reform-minded Pharisees. They literally interpreted the law of Moses and apparently did not believe in life after death. After the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple, they lost their power and influence. In addition, there were other spiritual groups. The most famous among them were the Essenes who lived in the desert - an ascetic religious community, to whose members very severe requirements were imposed. The Essenes condemned the venality of the Temple priests. They were preparing for the coming of the Messiah, who was to lead them to fight against the tyranny of the Roman Empire, for the restoration of the kingdom of Israel.

The Birth of Christ and His Childhood

Being under the yoke of the oppressors, the Jews supported themselves with the thought that God would not leave them. As in the days of Egyptian slavery, a new Moses will appear and lead them. This will be the Messiah (i.e., chosen by God). He will free the Jews from foreign enslavers, complete the Law of Moses and bring new revelations about God to earth. Eternal peace, order and prosperity will reign on earth. The last of the prophets Malachi also spoke about the coming of the Messiah. However, he warned people that if they did not prepare for this day, they would die. The Gospel of Luke begins with a story about how an angel appeared to the elderly priest Zacharias, when he was serving in the Temple, and brought the news that his already elderly and barren wife Elizabeth would give birth to a son. Archangel Gabriel also told that a high mission was prepared for the son of Zechariah. The shocked priest at first could not believe what he heard, but what the angel said came true. Zechariah's wife became pregnant and soon gave birth to a son named John. And then Zechariah. prophesying, he turned to his son:

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will come as forerunners of the Lord to prepare His ways. (Luke 1:76)

The angel also appeared to a relative of Elizabeth, Mary. Appearing before the astonished girl, the angel told her that she would give birth to a son who "will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High", inherit the throne of David and establish an eternal kingdom in the house of Israel. Mary is surprised and confused: "How will it be when I don't know my husband?" (Luke 1:34). However, the angel told her about what had happened to Elizabeth and assured her that the Lord would perform this miracle as well. When the carpenter Joseph, betrothed to Mary, found out that she was pregnant, he wanted to leave her. However, the angel who appeared to him revealed that the baby to whom he was to be born was called to save people from their sins, and this is the will of the Lord. Having believed in the revelation of the angel, Joseph stayed with Mary. The baby born to Mary and Joseph was named Jesus. Shortly before his birth, Joseph and his wife went to Bethlehem, the place of his birth, since at that time a census was being conducted in the country, and all residents were ordered to return to the villages where they were born. So Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in a manger for cattle, for there was no other place for Joseph's family. Nevertheless, three wise men from the East, having received a sign from above about the birth of an extraordinary baby, came to Him with gifts, calling Him the King of the Jews. However, Herod also heard about the birth of the "king". Fearing a rebellion against his authority, he ordered the killing of all children under two years of age born in Bethlehem and the surrounding area. Warned of this in a dream, Joseph, together with Mary and the newborn Jesus, fled to Egypt. After the death of Herod, they returned to their homeland, settling in the city of Nazareth in Galilee, where Joseph used to live.

We know almost nothing about the childhood of Christ. We only know that Jesus spoke Aramaic, read Hebrew, and possibly understood Greek, since there was a Greek city not far from Nazareth. When He was twelve years old, His parents took Him to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. On the way home, they found that Jesus was not with them. They returned to Jerusalem and only three days later found their son in the Temple, conversing with the teachers of the Law. They were amazed at the boy's wisdom. A few more years passed. The emperor Augustus, who considered himself a member of the host of gods, died, and the gloomy and suspicious Tiberius became his heir. The sixth procurator, Pontius Pilate, was appointed to Judea. At this time, the young hermit John, the son of Zechariah, gradually became more and more famous in Israel. John lived in the desert, eating only locusts and wild honey, dressed in a rough shepherd's sackcloth made of camel hair. And so, when he was thirty years old, John first turned to the people with a sermon. Filled with a righteous determination to bring his people to God, he spoke of the need for repentance and the imminent Judgment of the world: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2). Priests and ordinary people from all over the country came to John to listen to his sermons and to be baptized by him in the Jordan River, which since ancient times was considered the boundary of the holy land. Immersion in water symbolized cleansing from sins and the beginning of a new life - just as water washes the body, so repentance cleanses the soul. John, who soon became known as the Baptist, urged people to recognize their errors and sins and correct them, for the coming of the Messiah is not far off. One day Jesus also came to John to be baptized by him. But at that moment, when Jesus stood in the river and prayed, the Lord sent John a spiritual illumination, and it was revealed to him that the person standing in front of him was the Son of God. John testified to the assembled people about Jesus. Two of John's disciples left with Christ, becoming His followers, while John himself continued to preach and baptize people in the Jordan. Soon after this, John, who denounced the wicked way of life of King Herod Antipas (the son of the former ruler, Herod the Great), was taken into custody and then executed.

Christ Gathers the First Disciples

After being baptized by John, Jesus went into the wilderness. There, in the vicinity of the Dead Sea, He spent more than a month in fasting and prayer before starting to preach to the people. After that, He returned to Judea and began to preach the gospel, preaching the same as John: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). Along with several of his disciples, Jesus also baptized people in the waters of the Jordan, and many came to Him. When word reached Jesus that more people were coming to him to be baptized than to John, he left Judea and returned home to Galilee. Christ went around the cities and villages, preaching now in prayer houses, now somewhere on the hills or in the open air. Returning to Nazareth, the city where he spent his childhood, Jesus preached in the synagogue. All the parishioners were surprised: where does such eloquence come from in the son of a carpenter? But they were no less embarrassed and even angered by the content of Christ's words, so that they even tried to throw Him off the top of the mountain on which the city stood (Luke 4:16-30). However, this did not intimidate Jesus. He went on a journey through Galilee, preaching and announcing the approach of the Kingdom of Heaven. He preached in the synagogues, and the people were mesmerized by the confidence that filled His words. Crowds followed Him wherever He went. He healed the sick, cast out demons. The crowd of thousands held their breath, catching His every word. People looked in amazement at the miracles He performed. They recognized that, unlike other pastors, He preaches "with authority", and even evil spirits are forced to obey Him. It was impossible to calmly listen to the words of Christ - they called for decisive changes in everyone's life. He preached complete and unconditional submission to the will of God, saying that everyone should, in repentance and humility, prepare themselves for the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 6:25-34). His disciples had to leave everything: wealth, family, friends and follow Him. He urged the Jews to love their Roman enemies, treated the despised Samaritans as equals, spoke highly of the destiny of women, and challenged the religious, social, and political prejudices of his time. During his wanderings in Galilee, Christ gathers the disciples. The first were the fishermen Simon (Peter), Andrew, James and John Zebedee; then the tax collector Matthew joined them. The Pharisees marveled that Jesus surrounded himself with such sinners. Jesus answered them: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). Some time after the night spent in prayer, Jesus chose himself and other disciples, bringing their number to twelve. These were Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, James the Younger, Simon, Judas (brother of James) and Judas Iscariot.

Instructions from Jesus

Jesus spent much time with his disciples teaching and instructing them. In sermons and parables, He helped them understand what it means to love one another, spoke about how one should turn to the Lord in prayer. Christ not only instructed people, He himself was the living embodiment of his teaching. Jesus deeply believed in prayer. In the gospels, we often find references to how He left the hustle and bustle of everyday life and retired to the mountains to pray. In response to the request of his disciples, he taught them how to pray:

Our Father who art in heaven! hallowed be thy name; May your kingdom come; may Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; Give us our daily bread for this day; And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one... (Mat. 6:9-13)

He gave them a new commandment, which from now on was to become the basis of their lives: "Love one another; as I have loved you, love one another" (John 13:34). Christ taught his followers to serve one another and not to try to exalt themselves one before another: "Let the greatest among you be your servant: for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Matthew 23:11- 12). In the Sermon on the Mount, He expressed the essence of his teaching, designed to bring people love, harmony and the true joy of unity with God:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they reproach you and persecute you and slander you in every way unrighteously for me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven: so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Mat. 5:3-12)

Teaching people, Christ said that true happiness is not in power or money, and it is not the powers that be who own it. Only those who open their hearts to sacrificial love can inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

Crowds of people come to Christ

All kinds of people flocked to Jesus during this spring in Galilee. Once a Roman centurion came to Him and asked Him to heal his servant. On another occasion, one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus asked Him to bring back to life a daughter who was dying, which Christ did. The Pharisees also attended the sermons of Christ, invited Jesus to their homes, where they listened attentively to Him. People from all walks of life came to the Savior; there were so many of them that Jesus alone could no longer guide all these people on the true path. Therefore, he sent first 12, and later 70 closest disciples to proclaim the Good News on their own. Sending the apostles to preach, the Master warned that they would be persecuted, but God would always be with them and protect them. The apostles went to different cities, preaching and carrying the good news about the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God. Like Jesus, they also healed the sick and cast out demons. From now on, their life was devoted only to service, for they were called to give themselves to God and the world, as Jesus the Nazarene gave himself.

Confusion around Christ

Meanwhile, talk and controversy about Jesus continued to multiply. People argued heatedly about who He was: a prophet, the Messiah, or an impostor. Despite the fact that hundreds of people came to Christ, listening to His sermons, receiving healing, misunderstanding gradually grew, and sometimes even open opposition to Him.

Once, when Jesus was talking with the disciples, a paralyzed man was brought to Him and asked to heal him. Christ addressed the sick man with the words: "Your sins are forgiven you." The scribes who were present were indignant, because, in their opinion, only God can forgive sins. However, Jesus, having read their thoughts, with the words "The Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" (Mark 2:5,10) healed the sick man. The scribes and other religious mentors were also outraged by the environment of Christ, because among his followers there were sinners, tax collectors and harlots. The Pharisees reproached Jesus for healing the sick on the Sabbath (Jews were forbidden to do any work on the Sabbath, which was considered a day of rest). Some of the Pharisees, jealous of the power He had over the people, began to challenge the authority of Christ more and more forcefully. Trying to slander Jesus, they reproached Him for violating the Law. However, Christ always wisely answered all questions and could refute any of their arguments. Much of what Jesus talked about offended the religious leaders. When He declared, "I and the Father are one," they became so enraged that they were about to stone Him: "We want to stone You for blasphemy and because You, being a man, make yourself God" (John 10 :33). Christ understood that it was difficult for them to accept his teaching, which was so different from the religious norms they were accustomed to. And so He invited them to at least acknowledge that the good works and miracles that He does testify that He was sent by God.

Time passed. The gossip grew around Christ. Crowds followed Him, considering Him to be the new Prophet. Some of the followers hoped that Christ would lead them in the fight against the Romans. They began to openly proclaim Christ as the Messiah, although He asked that this be kept secret. Fearing the growth of rebellious moods, the high priests decided to convene the Sanhedrin - the supreme court of Judea. What to do with the Nazarene and his disciples? If the whole nation believes in Jesus, the Roman authorities may take this as a riot and start a bloodbath again. Why this new bloodshed? And the high priests decide that it is better for Jesus alone to die than to give the whole country to be torn to pieces. So, Jesus decided to kill.

The Followers of Christ Leave Him

Many of the supporters of Christ also could not accept what He preached, it was so contrary to the usual norms and traditions. It is one thing to witness miraculous healings, and quite another to love the enemies of the Romans. Gradually, the followers began to leave Christ, and even those who remained faithful found it difficult to fully understand and accept His teaching. Jesus tried again and again to instruct his disciples. He told parables in which everything was so familiar, so recognizable - Samaritans, Pharisees, shepherds, tax collectors. However, it was difficult for the apostles to understand the meaning of His parables. The crowded crowds that had so recently surrounded Christ also began to thin out. The heart of Christ was filled with pain. He came in order to tell people about love, which they did not yet know, which could change their whole life, but they did not understand it. Filled with sorrow, He mourned Jerusalem and the sad fate of his people, who did not know what he was rejecting.

Christ still continued to teach people, but the content of His sermons had already become different. “From that time on, Jesus began to reveal to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and rise again on the third day” (Matthew 16:21). The first time He told this to His disciples, they were shocked, for until now they had only talked about how they would be with the Teacher in the Kingdom of Heaven (Luke 24:21).

Holy Week

Christ turned His face towards Jerusalem. There was only a week left until Easter, the main Jewish holiday that celebrated the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. Jerusalem was full of pilgrims gathered from all parts of the country. When Jesus, accompanied by his disciples, entered Jerusalem, those people who had previously followed Him, and then dispersed, seemed to remember again the miracles he had shown:

And as He rode, they spread their clothes along the road. And when He approached the descent from the Mount of Olives, all the multitude of disciples began to joyfully publicly praise God for all the miracles that they saw, saying: Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! peace in heaven and glory in the highest! (Luke 19:36-38)

All the days before Easter, the city was seething, discussing this triumphal meeting, everyone was talking about Jesus. Many supported Him, others virulently denounced Him. Roman authorities and high priests were increasingly afraid of unrest. On the very first day, Christ went to the Temple and, seeing that it was full of merchants and money changers, angrily drove them out. The next day, Jesus was again in the Temple preaching and instructing the people. The lawyers again and again approached Jesus, tempting Him, but each time He answered tricky questions so wisely that they were forced to be silent in anger. The clergy wanted to take Christ half guard, but were afraid to do it openly, because the people supported the prophet from Galilee. Fearing rebellion, they looked for opportunities to secretly seize Christ. Such an opportunity soon presented itself. One of the disciples of Christ, Judas Iscariot, harbored a grudge against the Teacher in his heart. When the situation around Jesus began to deteriorate, Judas decided to betray. He told the chief priests that he knew a way to arrest Jesus when there were not many people around him, and for this he received thirty pieces of silver. However, betrayal did not save him from mental heaviness, did not bring peace. Later, realizing the severity of the perfect deed. Judas hanged himself.

The Last Supper

The next day, Thursday, Jesus and His disciples celebrated Passover. At the Easter meal, which later became known as the "Last Supper", all twelve apostles gathered. At the beginning of the evening, Christ took a jug to wash the feet of his disciples. The apostles were embarrassed, feeling that they could not accept such a humiliation of the Master. But Jesus also taught on the last evening - not with words, but with life - how to take care of each other, love each other, serve each other. Then He shared a meal with the disciples. It was on it that the first communion was performed, which became the main sacrament of the Christian church:

And he took bread and gave thanks, and broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me. Likewise the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you. (Luke 22:19-20)

During the Last Supper, Christ for the first time told the disciples that betrayal would soon take place, and He would die. Speaking of the one who would betray Him, he said: "It would have been better for this man not to have been born" (Matthew 26:24).

Christ's Prayer and His Imprisonment

After the meal, Christ and His disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives, which towered over Jerusalem. Jesus asked his disciples to wait for him while he prayed:

And he took with him Peter, James, and John; and began to be horrified and to grieve. And he said to them: My soul is grieving to death; stay here and stay awake. And, going a little way, he fell to the ground and prayed that, if possible, this hour would pass from him; and said: Abba Father, everything is possible for you; carry this cup past Me; but I do not want it, but what do you want. (Mark 14:33-36)

Returning, Christ found his disciples sleeping. He woke the apostles, and at that moment the garden was filled with voices, lit up with lanterns and torches. Armed men were walking through the garden. Judas Iscariot approached Christ and kissed Him, indicating to the persecutors exactly whom they should arrest. Jesus was seized, and the disciples, seeing this, fled in confusion. Christ was taken to the high priest Caiaphas. At the Sanhedrin, which met to pass the death sentence on Jesus, no one tried to defend Him. He was also silent: "Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him: I conjure you by the living God, tell us. Are you the Christ, the Son of God? Jesus said to him: you said" (Matt. 26:63-64).

The chief priests, hearing this answer, were furious. But the Sanhedrin had no right to pass death sentences, and therefore Jesus was sent to the Roman governor in Judea, Pontius Pilate. Pilate, having interrogated Christ, found Him innocent and wanted to release him, but the roar of the crowd incited by the high priests: "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" forced the procurator to agree to the execution of Jesus.

Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ

Then Christ was delivered into the hands of the soldiers. They put a crown of thorns on his head and led him to the place of execution. Showered with ridicule and scolding, Christ carried his cross. He soon became exhausted from the heat and the beatings he endured, and then Simon of Cyrinth was called from the crowd to carry the cross of the Savior. On the top of Calvary - a hill not far from the walls of the city, past which a crowded road went - Christ was crucified between two robbers. Pilate ordered that an inscription be attached to His cross, which read: "Jesus of Nazarene, King of the Jews." But even being crucified, Christ did not curse his persecutors. On the contrary, even at this last moment of his life, he was filled with love for people and asked God to forgive them, who did not know what evil they were doing:

Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing .... Jesus, having exclaimed with a loud voice, said: Father! into your hands I commit my spirit. And having said this, he gave up his spirit. (Luke 23:34,46)

When evening came, one of the followers of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea, removed the body of the Savior from the cross, carried it to a tomb carved into the rock, and closed the entrance there with a large stone. Early Sunday morning, the women who accompanied Jesus to the place of execution came to the tomb, only to find it empty.

Instead of the Master's body, they saw an angel who told them that Christ had risen from the dead (Mark 16:6). The excited women hurried to report what they had seen and heard to the disciples of Jesus, but they did not believe them. However, in the evening, when the ten apostles gathered together for a conversation, Christ himself suddenly appeared among them, causing confusion and fear (John 20:19). Over the next forty days, Jesus appeared to his disciples more than once. And every time He talked with them, encouraged them, strengthened them in faith, instructed them. He taught them what was to be their most important mission from now on:

Go therefore, teach all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you all the days to the end of the age. (Mat. 28:19-20)

On the fortieth day after the resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. On the fiftieth day, when His disciples gathered together, the Spirit of God descended on them in the form of flames (Acts of the Apostles, 1). The hitherto timid and fearful disciples of Jesus gained strength to boldly bring the light of the gospel to people. From that time on, they began to fulfill the great mission that Christ entrusted to them. Many of them were persecuted, but no longer feared death or other threats. This is how Christianity was born.

The apostles, who at first had been so terrified by the crucifixion of Jesus, now gained unbending courage and dispersed to preach the Good News.

Teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ

About the Christian life

On the Nature of the Kingdom of God

Conclusion

"In the beginning was the Word

And the Word was with God

And the Word was God...

Everything came into being through Him.

And without Him, nothing began to be that began to be...

And the Word became flesh

and settled among us,

full of grace and truth...

And we have seen His glory

Glory as the Only Begotten from the Father,

No one has ever seen God;

the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father,

He revealed (God)"

"In the one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

The only begotten, born of the Father before all ages.

Light from Light, true God from

true God, begotten, uncreated,

consubstantial with the Father (one essence with God the Father),

By whom all things were created."

So, who, God or Man? “He is a God-Man. On this truth our faith must be established.

Name: Jesus Christ (Jesus of Nazareth)

Date of Birth: 4 BC e.

Age: 40 years

Date of death: 36

Activity: the central figure in Christianity, the Messiah

Jesus Christ: biography

The life of Jesus Christ is still the subject of contemplation and gossip. Atheists claim that his existence is a myth, while Christians are convinced of the opposite. In the 20th century, scholars intervened in the study of the biography of Christ, who made strong arguments in favor of the New Testament.

Birth and childhood

Mary, the future mother of the holy child, was the daughter of Anna and Joachim. They gave their three-year-old daughter to the Jerusalem monastery as God's bride. Thus, the girls atoned for the sins of their parents. But, although Mary swore an oath of eternal fidelity to the Lord, she had the right to live in the temple only until the age of 14, and after that she was obliged to marry. When the time came, Bishop Zachary (confessor) gave the girl as a wife to the eighty-year-old old man Joseph, so that she would not violate her own vow with carnal pleasures.

Joseph was upset by this turn of events, but did not dare to disobey the clergyman. The new family began to live in Nazareth. One night, the couple had a dream in which the Archangel Gabriel appeared to them, warning that the Virgin Mary would soon become pregnant. The angel also warned the girl about the Holy Spirit, who would descend for conception. On the same night, Joseph learned that the birth of a holy baby would save the human race from hellish torments.

When Mary was carrying a child, Herod (the king of Judea) ordered a census, so the subjects had to appear at their place of birth. Since Joseph was born in Bethlehem, the couple went there. The young wife endured the journey hard, as she was already eight months pregnant. Due to the accumulation of people in the city, they did not find a place for themselves, so they were forced to go outside the city walls. Nearby there was only a barn built by shepherds.

At night, Mary is relieved of her burden by her son, whom she calls Jesus. The birthplace of Christ is the city of Bethlehem, located near Jerusalem. Things are not clear with the date of birth, as sources indicate conflicting figures. If we compare the reign of Herod and Caesar Rome Augustus, then this happened in the 5th-6th century.

The Bible says that the baby was born on the night when the brightest star lit up in the sky. Scientists believe that such a star was a comet that flew over the Earth in the period from 12 BC to 4 BC. Of course, 8 years is not a small spread, but due to the prescription of years and conflicting interpretations of the Gospel, even such an assumption is considered a hit on the target.

Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7, and Catholic Christmas on December 26. But, according to religious apocrypha, both dates are incorrect, since the birth of Jesus fell on March 25-27. At the same time, the pagan day of the Sun was celebrated on December 26, so the Orthodox Church moved Christmas to January 7. The confessors wanted to wean the parishioners from the "bad" holiday of the Sun, legitimizing the new date. This is not disputed by the modern church.

Eastern sages knew in advance that a spiritual teacher would soon descend to Earth. Therefore, seeing the Star in the sky, they followed the glow and came to the cave, where they found the holy baby. Entering inside, the wise men bowed to the newborn, as to a king, and presented gifts - myrrh, gold and incense.

Immediately, rumors about the newly-appeared King reached Herod, who, angry, ordered the destruction of all the babies of Bethlehem. In the works of the ancient historian Joseph Flavius, information was found that two thousand babies were killed on a bloody night, and this is by no means a myth. The tyrant was so afraid for the throne that he even killed his own sons, to say nothing of other people's children.

From the wrath of the ruler, the holy family managed to escape to Egypt, where they lived for 3 years. Only after the death of the tyrant, the spouses with the child returned to Bethlehem. When Jesus grew up, he began to help his betrothed father in the carpentry business, which later earned him a living.

At the age of 12, Jesus arrives with his parents for Easter in Jerusalem, where for 3-4 days he has spiritual conversations with the scribes who interpreted the Holy Scriptures. The boy amazes his mentors with his knowledge of the Laws of Moses, and his questions baffle more than one teacher. Then, according to the Arabic Gospel, the boy withdraws into himself and hides his own miracles. The evangelists do not even write about the child's later life, explaining that zemstvo events should not affect the spiritual life.

Personal life

Since the Middle Ages, disputes about the personal life of Jesus have not subsided. Many were worried - whether he was married, whether he left behind descendants. But the clergy tried to keep these conversations to a minimum, since the son of God could not become addicted to earthly things. Previously, there were many gospels, each of which was interpreted in its own way. But the clergy tried to get rid of the "wrong" books. There is even a version that mentions of the family life of Christ are not included in the New Testament on purpose.

Other gospels mention the wife of Christ. Historians agree that his wife was Mary Magdalene. And in the Gospel of Philip there are even lines about how the disciples of Christ were jealous of the teacher for Mary for a kiss on the lips. Although in the New Testament this girl is described as a harlot who took the path of correction and followed Christ from Galilee to Judea.

At that time, an unmarried girl had no right to accompany a group of wanderers, unlike the wife of one of them. If we remember that the resurrected Lord first appeared not to the disciples, but to Magdalene, then everything falls into place. In the Apocrypha there are indications of the marriage of Jesus, when he performed the first miracle, turning water into wine. Otherwise, why would he and Our Lady worry about food and wine at the wedding feast in Cana?

In the time of Jesus, unmarried men were considered a strange phenomenon and even ungodly, so a single prophet would not have become a Teacher in any way. If Mary Magdalene is the wife of Jesus, then the question arises as to why he chose her as his betrothed. There are probably political influences at play here.

Jesus could not become a pretender to the throne of Jerusalem, being a stranger. Having taken as his wife a local girl belonging to the princely family of the Benjamin tribe, he already became his own. A child born to a couple would become a prominent political figure and a clear contender for the throne. Perhaps that is why there was persecution, and subsequently the murder of Jesus. But the clergy present the son of God in a different light.

Historians believe that this was the reason for the 18-year gap in his life. The Church tried to eradicate heresy, although a layer of circumstantial evidence remained on the surface.

This version is also confirmed by a papyrus published by Karin King, a professor at Harvard University, in which the phrase is clearly written: “ Jesus said to them, "My wife..."

Baptism

God appeared to the prophet John the Baptist, who lived in the desert, and ordered him to preach among sinners, and those who wanted to be cleansed from sin should be baptized in the Jordan.

Until the age of 30, Jesus lived with his parents and helped them in every possible way, and after that he was enlightened. He strongly desired to become a preacher, telling people about divine phenomena and the meaning of religion. Therefore, he goes to the Jordan River, where he is baptized by John the Baptist. John immediately realized that before him was the same youth - the son of the Lord, and, perplexed, objected:

“I need to be baptized by You, and You come to me?”

Then Jesus went into the wilderness, where he wandered for 40 days. Thus, he prepared himself for the mission to atone for the sin of the human race through an act of self-sacrifice.

At this time, Satan is trying to prevent him through temptations, which each time became more sophisticated.

1. Hunger. When Christ was hungry, the tempter said:

"If You are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread."

2. Pride. The devil lifted the man to the top of the temple and said:

“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, because the angels of God will support you and you will not stumble on stones.”

Christ denied this too, saying that he did not intend to test the power of God for his own whim.

3. Temptation Faith and wealth.

“I will give you power over the kingdoms of the earth that is devoted to me, if you bow down to me,” Satan promised. Jesus answered: "Get away from me, Satan, for it is written: God must be worshiped and only he must be served."

The Son of God did not give up and was not tempted by the gifts of Satan. The rite of Baptism gave him strength to fight the sinful parting words of the tempter.

12 apostles of Jesus

After wandering in the desert and fighting the devil, Jesus finds 12 followers and gives them a piece of his own gift. Traveling with his disciples, he brings the word of God to the people and performs miracles so that people would believe.

Miracles

Turning water into fine wine.
Healing the paralyzed.
Miraculous resurrection of the daughter of Jairus.
Resurrection of the son of Nain's widow.
Calming the storm on the lake of Galilee.
Healing of the demon-possessed Gadaria.
Miraculous nourishment of the people with five loaves.
Walking of Jesus Christ on the water surface.
Healing of the daughter of the Canaanite.
Healing of ten lepers.
The miracle at Lake Gennesaret is the filling of empty nets with fish.

The Son of God instructed people and explained each of his commandments, incline to God's teaching.

The popularity of the Lord grew every day and masses of people hurried to see the miraculous preacher. Jesus bequeathed the commandments, which later became the foundations of Christianity.

Love and honor the Lord God.
Don't worship idols.
Do not use the name of the Lord in empty talk.
Work six days, and pray on the seventh.
Respect and honor your parents.
Do not kill another or yourself.
Do not commit adultery.
Do not steal or embezzle someone else's property.
Don't lie and don't be jealous.

But the more Jesus won people's love, the more the people of Jerusalem hated him. The nobles were afraid that their power would be shaken and conspired to kill the messenger of God. Christ triumphantly enters Jerusalem on a donkey, thereby reproducing the legend of the Jews about the solemn coming of the Messiah. The people enthusiastically welcome the New Tsar, throwing palm branches and their own clothes at his feet. People expect the age of tyranny and humiliation to end soon. With such a pandemonium, the Pharisees were afraid to arrest Christ and took a waiting position.

The Jews expect from Him victory over evil, peace, prosperity and stability, but Jesus, on the contrary, invites them to give up everything worldly, to become homeless wanderers who will preach the word of God. Realizing that nothing would change in power, people hated God and considered him a deceiver who destroyed their dreams and hopes. An important role was also played by the Pharisees, who incited a rebellion against the "false prophet". The environment is getting more and more tense, and Jesus is step by step closer to the loneliness of Gethsemane.

Passion of Christ

According to the Gospel, it is customary to call the passions of Christ the torments endured by Jesus in the last days of his earthly life. The clergy compiled a list of the order of the passions:

The Entry of the Lord into the Jerusalem Gates
Supper in Bethany, when a sinner washes Christ's feet with peace and her own tears, and wipes her with her hair.
Washing the feet of his disciples by God's son. When He and the Apostles came to the house where it was necessary to eat the Passover, there were no servants to wash the guests' feet. Then Jesus himself washed the feet of his disciples, thereby teaching them a lesson in humility.

The Last Supper. It was here that Christ predicted that the disciples would reject him and betray him. Shortly after this conversation, Judas left the supper.
The road to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayer to the Father. At the Mount of Olives, he appeals to the Creator and asks for deliverance from the threatening fate, but does not receive an answer. In deep sadness, Jesus goes to say goodbye to his disciples, expecting earthly torments.

Judgment and crucifixion

Having descended from the mountain in the dead of night, he informs them that the traitor is already close and asks his followers not to leave. However, at the moment when Judas arrived with a crowd of Roman soldiers, all the apostles were already fast asleep. The traitor kisses Jesus, supposedly welcoming, but thereby showing the guards the true prophet. And they shackle Him and take Him to the Sanhedrin to do justice.

According to the Gospel, this happened on the night from Thursday to Friday of the week before Easter. Anna, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, was the first to interrogate Christ. He expected to hear about witchcraft and magic, thanks to which crowds of people follow the prophet and worship him like a deity. Having achieved nothing, Anna sent the captive to Caiaphas, who had already gathered elders and religious fanatics.

Caiaphas accused the prophet of blasphemy because he called himself the son of God and sent him to the prefect Pontius. Pilate was a just man and tried to dissuade the audience from killing a righteous man. But the judges and confessors began to demand that the guilty be crucified. Then Pontius offered to decide the fate of the righteous man to the people gathered in the square. He announced: "I consider this man innocent, choose for yourself, life or death." But at that moment, only the opponents of the prophet gathered near the court, shouting about the crucifixion.

Before the execution of Jesus, 2 executioners were beaten with whips for a long time, torturing his body and breaking the bridge of his nose. After the public punishment, he was put on a white shirt, which was immediately saturated with blood. A wreath of thorns was placed on the head, and a sign with the inscription: “I am God” in 4 languages on the neck. The New Testament says that the inscription read: “Jesus of Nazareth is the King of the Jews,” but such a text would hardly fit on a small board, and even in 4 dialects. Later, the Roman priests rewrote the Bible, trying to keep silent about the shameful fact.

After the execution, which the righteous endured without uttering a sound, he had to carry a heavy cross to Golgotha. Here the hands and feet of the martyr were nailed to a cross, which was dug into the ground. The guards tore off his clothes, leaving only a loincloth. Simultaneously with Jesus, two criminals were punished, who were hanged on both sides of the sloping crossbar of the crucifix. In the morning they were released, and only Jesus remained on the cross.

At the hour of Christ's death, the earth trembled, as if nature itself rebelled against the cruel execution. The deceased was buried in a tomb, thanks to Pontius Pilate, who was very sympathetic to the innocent-executed.

resurrection

On the third day after his death, the martyr rose from the dead and appeared in the flesh to his disciples. He gave them final instructions before his ascension to heaven. When the guards came to check whether the deceased was still there, they found only an open cave and a bloody shroud.

It was announced to all believers that the body of Jesus had been stolen by his disciples. The pagans hastily covered Golgotha and the Holy Sepulcher with earth.

Evidence for the Existence of Jesus

Having become acquainted with the bibles, primary sources and archaeological finds, one can find real evidence of the existence of the Messiah on earth.

In the 20th century, during excavations in Egypt, an ancient papyrus containing verses from the Gospel was discovered. Scientists have proven that the manuscript dates back to 125-130 years.
In 1947, the oldest scrolls of biblical texts were found on the coast of the Dead Sea. This find proved that parts of the original Bible are closest to its modern sound.
In 1968, during archaeological research in the north of Jerusalem, the body of a man crucified on the cross, John (son of Kaggol), was discovered. This proves that then criminals were executed in this way, and the truth is described in the Bible.
In 1990, a vessel with the remains of the deceased was found in Jerusalem. On the wall of the vessel, an inscription was engraved in Aramaic, which reads: "Joseph, son of Caiaphas." Perhaps this is the son of the same high priest who subjected Jesus to persecution and judgment.
In Caesarea in 1961, an inscription on a stone was discovered, associated with the name of Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judea. He was called precisely the prefect, and not the procurator, like all subsequent successors. The same record is in the Gospels, which proves the reality of biblical events.

Science has been able to confirm the existence of Jesus by corroborating the testament stories with facts. And even a famous scientist in 1873 said:

“It is extremely difficult to imagine that this vast and wonderful universe, just like man, arose by chance; this seems to me the main argument for the existence of God.”

New religion

He also predicted that at the turn of the century a New Religion would emerge, bringing light and positivity. And so his words began to come true. The new spiritual group was born quite recently and has not yet received public recognition. The term NRM was introduced into scientific use as a contrast to the words sect or cult, which obviously carry a negative connotation. In 2017, there are more than 300 thousand people in the Russian Federation who are attached to any religious movement.

Psychologist Margaret Theler compiled a classification of the NRM, consisting of a dozen subgroups (religious, oriental, interest, psychological, and even political). New religious trends are dangerous because the goals of the leaders of these groups are not known for certain. And also the bulk of the groups of the new religion is directed against the Russian Orthodox Church and carries a hidden threat to the Christian world.