New Testament view on Jesus' life

The four canonical gospels of the New Testament are the main sources of information for the doctrinal Christian narrative of Jesus' life. There is not a single New Testament "view" of Jesus' life, the four gospels tell different but dependent stories. There is wide consensus among contemporary critical scholars that Mark is the earliest written gospel, dating to around 70, that the authors of Matthew and Luke had copies of Mark when they wrote, and adapted Mark for their purposes, and that John, written last, had knowledge of the other three. It has been the work of Christian apologists since Tatian to blend the four books into a coherent account, Tatian's work was the Diatessaron, a "harmony," or synthesis, of the four New Testament Gospels into a combined narrative of the life of Jesus. Ephrem the Syrian referred to it as the "Evangelion da Mehallete" ("The Gospel of the Mixed"). This article comes from that synthetic tradition.

In all four gospels, Jesus conducted a miraculous ministry, leads a circle of disciples, draws the ire of religious authorities, is crucified, and rises from the dead. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the Synoptic gospels, portray Jesus as the Son of God, a healer and exorcist who told parables about the Kingdom of God and coming Judgment. Jesus' identity as the Messiah is kept secret, except to chosen disciples. For example, the current generation was denied any sign in Mark, or given only the "Sign of Jonah" in Matthew and Luke. John portrays Jesus as the physical incarnation of the Logos, or Divine Word. John's Jesus tells no parables, demonstrates his divine identity with seven signs, and speaks at length about himself. John makes no direct reference to the synoptic concept of a coming judgment.

Genealogy and family

The Gospels give two different accounts of Jesus' genealogy through Joseph (] "Son of God",, .] The Gospels also state that Jesus travelled as a wandering rabbi and performed various miracles, including healings, exorcisms, walking on water, turning water into wine, and raising several people, such as Lazarus, from the dead (, ; "Dined:" .]

Jesus' critics claimed he was a drunk and a glutton, [ Matthew 11:19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' Luke 7:34 "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." 'Luke 7:33-35 ] because he often shared meals with society's outcasts, such as whores and publicani (Imperial tax collectors who were despised for extorting money), including the apostle Matthew; when the Pharisees objected to meeting with sinners rather than the righteous, Jesus replied that it was the sick who need a physician, not the healthy () but close to the start in John (at , Jewish Encyclopedia [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=368&letter=N&search=money-changers Numismatics] : "Therefore if the taxpayer could not manage to procure an old Phenician or Ptolemaic coin, he had to take change for his money; and this may have been the first occasion in which money-changers set up their booths in the precincts of the Temple."] . According to the Gospels, Jesus took offence to this, and drives out the livestock, scatters the coins of the money changers, and turns over their tables and those of the people selling doves. In the synoptics Jesus begins his journey to Jerusalem upon a colt. Matthew expands on this, citing Zachariah 9:9, claiming Jesus rode not only a colt, but also a donkey, and simultaneously. The synoptics also mention three other Old Testament references. The crowds greet Jesus by repeating the verses of Psalm 118:26. And after over turning the money tables, Jesus chastises the money changers with a combination of Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11: "It is written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a den of robbers" (Matt 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46).

According to the synoptic Gospels, Jesus ate a meal, called The Last Supper, with his disciples before going to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane (the Last Supper in John's gospel occurs possibly two years after the overturning of the tables). This meal was possibly the Passover Seder. In the course of the Last Supper, according to the synoptics (but not John), Jesus divides up some bread, says grace, and hands the pieces to his disciples, saying, "This is my body". He then takes a cup of wine, says grace, and hands it around, saying, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured for many". Finally, he tells the disciples, "Do this in remembrance of me".

While in the garden, Jesus was arrested by Roman soldiers on the orders of the Sanhedrin and the high priest, Caiaphas (cited later in ) used a sword to attack one of the captors, cutting off his ear, which, according to Luke, Jesus immediately healed (, , , , , , ] he ascended to heaven, to the "right hand of God" [, , , , , the high priests and Pharisees, with Pilate's permission, had posted guards in front of the tomb to prevent the body from being stolen by Jesus' disciples.) niv|Mark|16:9|Mark states that on the morning of his resurrection, Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene. niv|john|20:11-18|John states that when Mary looked into the tomb, two angels asked her why she was crying; and as she turned round, she initially failed to recognise Jesus until he spoke her name.

The Acts of the Apostles tell that Jesus appeared to various people in various places over the next forty days. Hours after his resurrection, he appeared to two travellers on the road to Emmaus. To his assembled disciples, he showed himself on the evening after his resurrection. niv|ICorinthians|15:7|First Corinthians, the Gospel of the Hebrews, and some other ancient sources mention he appeared to his "adelphos" Jacob ("James" in most English Bibles). According to niv|John|20:24-29|John, during one of these visits, Jesus' disciple Thomas initially doubted the resurrection, but after being invited to place his finger in Jesus' pierced side, said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Thereafter, Jesus went to Galilee and showed himself to several of his disciples by the lake and on the mountain. These disciples were present when he returned to Mount Olivet, between Bethany and Jerusalem. Although his own ministry had been specifically to the "lost sheep" of Israel,sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Matthew |chapter=15|verse=24] Jesus sent his apostles to the Gentiles with the Great Commission and then ascended to heaven while a cloud concealed him from their sight.niv|Mark|16:19|Mark 16:19; niv|Luke|24:51|Luke 24:51niv|Acts|1:6-11|Acts 1:6–11.] According to Acts, Paul of Tarsus, who called himself the "Apostle to the Gentiles", also saw Jesus during his Road to Damascus experience (niv|Acts|9:1-19|Acts 9:1–19.). Jesus promises to come again to fulfill the remainder of Messianic prophecy.niv|Matthew|24:36-44|Matthew 24:36–44]

Notes

Some books of historical research

* Bruce J. Malina: "Windows on the World of Jesus: Time Travel to Ancient Judea." Westminster John Knox Press: Louisville (Kentucky) 1993
* Bruce J. Malina: "The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology". 3rd edition, Westminster John Knox Press Louisville (Kentucky) 2001
* Ekkehard Stegemann and Wolfgang Stegemann: "The Jesus Movement: A Social History of Its First Century." Augsburg Fortress Publishers: Minneapolis 1999

External links

* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6121524153548519701&q=jesus&hl=en Jesus Movie (Google Video)]
* [http://www.gnmagazine.org/booklets/JC/]

See also

*Jesus
*Gospel harmony‎
*Cultural and historical background of Jesus
*"The Foundations of New Testament Christology"
*Religious perspectives on Jesus
*Temptation of Christ
*Christianity and Biblical prophecy