Pontius Pilate

2007-06-02T01:25:10Z

ILoveJesus132:

'''Pontius Pilate''', [[Roman]] governor of [[Palestine]] from 26 to 36 A.D., famous for ordering [[Jesus]] to be [[crucifixion|crucified]]. When the [[Sanhedrin]] had brought Jesus to him to be put to death, a charge that they had no authority to carry out themselves, Pilate at first tried to remove himself by having the case given to [[Herod Antipas|Herod]] on the grounds that Jesus was a [[Galilean]]. Herod subsequently bounced the case back to Pilate who, after briefly talking with Jesus, determined Jesus was not worthy of death. The religious authorities had stirred up the crowd and wanted crucifixion. Pilate had Jesus [[flogged]], but this did not appease them. Ultimately he had the crowd choose between Jesus or [[Barabbas]]. They chose to free Barabbas. Pilate had Jesus crucified, but only after first "washing his hands" of the blood of this innocent man.

There has been much debate as to how to view Pilate and his choices and how Pilate truly thought. What is known is that Pilate was on very shaky ground. He owed his political position to [[Sejanus]], a man who had already lost his head. Jewish complaints against him had already resulted in him being overruled by the Emperor once before. His record was such that another difficulty could well lead to his removal, and, indeed, that's exactly what happened in 36 A.D. when the Jews complained against him and he was dismissed from his position. In the [[Gospel]] accounts there is a reference made that if Pilate lets Jesus go, then he is "no friend of Caesar". Being a "friend of Caesar" was a term that had significance to the time as it was the way that political appointments were made. Saying that he was no friend of Caesar would have been viewed as a veiled threat that if he didn't rule the right way, accusations could be made against him to [[Rome]].

Whatever Pilate's ultimate desires, what he did is recorded in history, and that has certainly made him more famous in history than any other man of his position has ever been.

Pontius Pilate was a totally awesome dude.

[[Category:Biblical persons]]

Jesus Christ

2007-06-02T01:21:24Z

ILoveJesus132:

[[Image:Jesus5.jpg‎|thumb|350px|Jesus Christ (Conceptualization)]]
'''Jesus Christ''' is the only Son of [[God]] who, in the fullness of time, was sent by God the Father to be the propitiation for our sins and to ransom us from death.<ref>1 John 4:10; 2 Corinthians 5:19.</ref> By the power of the [[Holy Spirit]], Jesus was conceived in the womb of the [[Virgin Mary]], and became man in an event known as the Incarnation, as possibly referred to in Isaiah 7:14. Indeed, the calendar itself reflects this truth, with the traditional calculation of Jesus’ birth marking the first century A.D., that is, "''in the year of Our Lord…''".

When he was about thirty, Jesus was baptized by [[John the Baptist]], inaugurating his ministry. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ or Messiah, prophesied in the Old Testament (Greek: Χριστός; [[Hebrew]]: 'משיחא'). Jesus proclaimed that “[t]he time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe in the Gospel.”<ref>Mark 1:14-15.</ref> As signs of these truths, Jesus performed various miracles.

However, not all who heard the Lord believed in him, and, because he “was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God”, some sought to put him to death.<ref>John 5:18.</ref> Jesus was handed over to the Roman governor [[Pontius Pilate]] and crucified. But it was through his redemptive death, as the scriptures had foretold, that Jesus reconciled mankind with God.<ref>Romans 5:10.</ref> And so, on the third day, in a truly historical event, Jesus physically rose from the dead, making possible salvation and eternal life for those who believe in him. Indeed, his very name (Hebrew 'יהושע', Joshua) means ‘[[YHWH]] is [[salvation]]’. After appearing to his disciples on various occasions, Jesus ascended to Heaven, where he acts as our mediator, assuring, by his constant intercession, the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

''For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. '' (John 3:16).

==Jesus' Life==
The [[Gospels]] tell us that Jesus was born in [[Bethlehem]] of [[Judea]] to a young virgin named [[Virgin Mary|Mary]], by the [[Holy Spirit]]. [[Gospel of Luke|Luke's account]] of the gospel relates that the angel [[Gabriel]] visited Mary in order to announce that she had been chosen to bear the Son of God (Luke 1:26–38). A survey of the [[Roman Empire]] was ordered by [[Augustus|Caesar Augustus]], which caused Mary and [[Joseph (father of Jesus)|Joseph]] to leave Nazareth and go to the home of Joseph's forebears - to the house of [[David|King David]]. After Jesus' birth, they were forced to use a [[manger]] for a crib because the town's inn was full. According to Luke 2:8–20, an [[angel]] spread word of Jesus' birth to several shepherds who came to visit the newborn. Matthew also tells of the "Magi" ([[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] priests) who brought many gifts to the infant Jesus (among which were [[gold]], [[frankincense]], and [[myrrh]])<ref>Note: This has led to the incorrect assumption that there were only three Magi, whereas the actual number is not given.</ref> after following a star which they believed was an indication that the [[Messiah]], or King of the Jews, had been born.

Jesus' early home is stated to have been in the town of Nazareth in [[Galilee]], and except for an escape to [[Egypt]] in early childhood, to avoid [[Herod the Great|Herod's]] massacre of the other male infants, all other events in the Gospels take place in ancient Israel. Luke's Finding in the Temple (Luke 2:41–52), where Jesus impressed the priests by discoursing in [[Old Testament|scripture]] with them, is the only detailed event between Jesus' infancy and adult life mentioned in any of the canonical Gospels.

The Gospel of Mark begins with the [[baptism]] of Jesus by [[John the Baptist]], which appears to be the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Jesus came to the [[Jordan River|River Jordan]], where John was preaching and baptizing people in the crowd. After Jesus had been baptized, and had risen up out of the water, Mark states Jesus 'saw the heavens torn apart and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from [[heaven]], 'You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased' (Mark 1:10–11). Luke adds the chronological anchor that John the Baptist had begun preaching in the fifteenth year of [[Tiberius]] Caesar, approximately in 28 AD (Luke 3:1) and that Jesus was thirty years old when he was baptized (Luke 3:23).

After this baptism, according to Matthew, Jesus was brought into the desert by God where he fasted for forty days nights. During this period, the [[Satan]] appeared before him and tried three times to tempted Jesus into demonstrating his supernatural powers as a proof of his divine status; each temptation was refused by Jesus, with a scriptural quote from the Book of [[Deuteronomy]].

Jesus then began to preach. [[Gospel of John|John]] describes three different [[passover]] feasts that Jesus attended, thus implying that his ministry lasted three years.

The larger part of this was directed towards his closest followers, the [[Apostles]], although all of his followers were considered [[disciples]]. At the highest point of his ministry, Jesus attracted disciples and audiences in the thousands; in particular in the area of Galilee. Many of Jesus' most well-known teachings were given during the [[Sermon on the Mount]], such as the [[Beatitudes]] and the [[Lord's Prayer]]. Jesus often used parables in his rhetorical technique, such as the [[Parable of the Good Samaritan]] and the [[Parable of the Sheep and the Goats]]; these teachings encouraged unconditional self-sacrificing [[Shema|love for God]] and [[Agape|for all people]]. During these sermons, he also discussed service and humility, forgiveness of sins, how faith should be applied, the [[Golden Rule]], and the necessity of following the spirit of the law as well as its wording.

Jesus also often conversed with social outcasts, such as the publican ([[Rome|Roman]] tax collectors who were unpopular for their practice of extorting money).

Throughout his ministry, Jesus performed many miracles including healing the sick and possessed, feeding 5000, and even raising from the dead.

As He preached, Jesus ran afoul of the [[Sanhedrin]] the recognized Jewish religious authorities who were allowed to have considerable religious, political and monetary influence under Roman rule. Jesus chastised them, accusing them of making laws for the people to follow that were the laws of men, not God. The Sanhedrin tried to set traps for Jesus by asking Him questions to either discredit Him with the people or get Him in trouble with the Roman authorities, but all of their efforts failed and they gave up. They lacked the means to stop Jesus until [[Judas Iscariot]] came to them and offered to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. He would tell them where Jesus would be that night so they could seize Him.

Jesus knew that His time was short and that He was about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. He had His last supper with his disciples and went with them to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed vehemently knowing what was about to come.

Jesus was betrayed by Judas into the hands of the Jewish religious authorities who took Him away and secretly put Him on trial during the night, trying to find justification for their desire to have Him killed. Finally, they convicted Him of blasphemy. As they did not have the authority to put a man to death, they took him to [[Pontius Pilate]], the Roman governor of Palestine, with their charges and demand his execution. Pilate avoided the issue by sending him to [[Herod Antipas|King Herod]] since Jesus was a Galilean, but Herod sent him back to Pilate. Pilate at first tried to release Jesus with a flogging, and then gave the crowd a choice to either spare Jesus or a criminal called [[Barabbas]] as part of the passover tradition. The crowd chose to free Barabbas and Pilate washed his hands to signify that he bore no responsibility for Jesus' death before ultimately condemning Him to [[crucifixion]].<ref>Matthew 27: 15-44</ref> Jesus died after suffering and giving up his spirit. The Bible goes on to record His resurrection on the third day, appearing before his disciples, and his later ascension into heaven as His disciples watched.

==The Historical Jesus==
Modern historians generally place the actual date of Jesus' birth between 7 and 4 B.C. due to problems reconciling the Roman and Jewish calendars with the [[Gregorian Calendar]] which is in use today throughout the industrialized world.

Occasionally non-historians deny the [[Historicity of Jesus|existence of Jesus]], but few scholars take this seriously.
[[Tacitus]], the Roman historian, wrote about Jesus in A.D. 115<ref>http://www.digisys.net/users/ddalton/evidence_of_jesus_outside_the_bible.htm</ref>, and [[Josephus]], a Jewish historian who did not believe in Jesus' divinity, wrote about him. <ref>http://www.christian-thinktank.com/jesusref.html</ref>. Dr. [[Gary Habermas]] wrote an extensive analysis of the historicity of the existence of Jesus in his work ''The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ'' which discusses many historical sources which mention Jesus.

[[Lee Strobel]]'s book ''The Case for Christ'' contains a number of interviews with experts on the historical Jesus and a defense of Jesus's resurrection, and is a good resource on this subject.

==The Name Jesus==
Considering that Christianity is 2000 years old, the name Jesus for Jesus Christ is not a very old word in English. In Old English he was called hæland “saviour”, from the Proto-Germanic root hailjan “to heal, to save”.

After the Norman conquest, the French form Iesu or Iesus was adopted. This derived from Latin Iosus, which the Romans adopted from the Greek Iesous. The Greeks derived the name from the late Hebrew or Aramaic name Yoshua, today’s version of which is “Joshua”. The earlier Aramaic form was Jehoshua (Y’hoshua) or Joshua., deriving from Hebrew Jah, short for Jahweh, and Aramaic y’shuoh meaning “salvation”. The name thus meant “Jah is salvation”. Both Joshua and Jehoshua were common names in the time of Jesus.

Also, unbeknownst to most, Jesus was a proven closet homosexual, spending most weekends at local gay bars, attempting to find men worthy enough to shove meat into his holy rectum.

In 16th century written English both Iesu and Iesus were used, for example in Tyndale’s New Testament of 1526. J did not replace I until the 17th century and the form with the final s became common in the 18th century.

In Middle English documents, Jesus was often written IHS, an abbreviation of Greek IHSOYS (Iesous). However, in spoken English between the 11th and 17th centuries, the letter I could sound like either an I or a J, so the pronunciation of Iesus was similar to today’s sound. Welsh still retains the Iesu form but pronounces it “yessy”.

Reference: <ref>http://www.takeourword.com/Issue068.html</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Byzantine Empire]]
*[[Andrew the Apostle]]
*[[Lazarus (brother of Mary)]]
*[[Lazarus (Parable)]]
*[[Judaism]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.ccci.org/wij/ Who is Jesus? Is Jesus Christ God?]
*[http://www.bible-history.com/links.php?cat=19&sub=302&cat_name=Jesus&subcat_name=Background Jesus Background] Bible History on line.
*[http://www.lewissociety.org/ C. S. Lewis Society of California].
*[http://www.lewissociety.org/bodily.php The Bodily Resurrection of Jesus, by William Lane Craig].
*[http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Historical_Problem.htm Christian Origins and the Resurrection of Jesus: The Resurrection of Jesus as a Historical Problem, by N. T. Wright].
*[http://www.lewissociety.org/resurrection.php Contemporary Scholarship and the Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, by William Lane Craig].
*[http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Justice_Jesus.htm Doing Justice to Jesus: A Response to J.D. Crossan: "What Victory? What God?", by N. T. Wright].
*[http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Historical_Jesus.htm The Historical Jesus and Christian Theology, by N. T. Wright].
*[http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=37 The Wright Quest for the Historical Jesus, by Ben Witherington, III].

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Jesus]]
[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Christian History]]
[[Category:Religion]]

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Pontius Pilate

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