Jesus Christ

The Gospels often describe people’s reactions to Jesus Christ as being “astonished” or “amazed” (Mark 1:22, 27). Generally, people would not have been able to distinguish Jesus from other first century Jewish men based simply on his physical appearance as he began his ministry. The initial reaction to Jesus Christ was not, therefore, based on what he looked like. Only later did people begin to recognize him and distinguish him from others as his fame spread throughout the land. 622 Mark highlights two events at the beginning of his narrative revealing the reason people reacted with amazement as they often did when encountering the Son of Man and hearing his words. When Jesus Christ taught in the synagogue in Capernaum for the first time, Mark noted, the people “were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes” (Mark 1:22; emphasis added). The second event happened just after he finished teaching on that memorable day,... Read the rest of this entry »

Of the four gospels, only Matthew and Luke give an account of the Jesus Christ’s conception and birth. Written from two different perspectives and containing different details, these two narratives complement each other and together paint an important picture of the nativity, including that Jesus‘ mother was named Mary, that she lived at one time in Nazareth, that he would be born near Jerusalem, and that his conception was a divine miracle. 370 Although Matthew testifies that Mary conceived by the power of God, he emphasizes that Jesus Christ was the son of David by the genealogy at the beginning of the birth narrative and by his focus on the role of Joseph, Jesus’ legal father. Through dreams, Joseph received instructions to wed Mary, accept and name the infant Jesus, and move the family when threatened by Herod and then his son Archelaus. Through the use of quotations from the Old Testament, Matthew further demonstrates how Jesus Christ’s birth fulfilled messianic... Read the rest of this entry »