April 10, 2022- Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God, who led as a lamb to slaughter, He was sacrificed for the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem to a virgin known as Mary. Mary and her husband Joseph had made the journey to Bethlehem for the census. This miraculous birth was the result of God’s love for us, and it fulfilled the prophecy, a promise from God, in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” It also fulfilled the prophecy written in Micah 5:2, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”
As Mary and Joseph departed from Bethlehem, an angel of the Lord told Joseph to flee to Egypt with his family. The angel also told Joseph that Herod (the Roman appointed king of Judah) was going to kill all male children from two years old and under that were registered in Bethlehem. This became known as the Massacre of the Innocents, and it fulfilled Jeremiah 31:15, “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”
The family would stay in Egypt for roughly three and half years before returning to Nazareth. The Holy Bible tells us that “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.” (Hosea 11:1). When the family returned to the land of Israel, they came to reside in Nazareth. As Jesus Christ grew, He “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52).
When he became an adult, Jesus Christ would be baptized by John the Baptist, tempted by the devil in the desert (Matthew 4:1), and once He prevailed over the devil, His ministry would begin in the region of Galilee. These things happened when Jesus Christ was 30 years old, and Jesus Christ’s ministry would last for three years. In physical, human form, His ministry would last for approximately three years.
Jesus Christ’s Ministry
The very first message that Jesus Christ has for us in the New Testament is “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17). This simple message is two parts in one sentence: repent from your sins (doing evil, and thinking evil), for I AM (Exodus 3:14) here. God is watching, and He always has, but He sent His Son for the first time on earth in physical and human flesh form. Read the Old Testament and you will understand that Jesus was always there too, but born to Mary, and raised by Joseph, this was truly the first time Jesus Christ was in human flesh.
If Jesus’s first message was on repenting from our sins, then what were the other lessons that He taught His disciples and the people that followed Him? Jesus Christ explained that sin goes greater than the action of committing the sin, but your mere thoughts are enough to qualify as sin and evil. Jesus Christ taught us about love. He told us that the first, and greatest commandment is that “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’ [see Deuteronomy 6:5] …And the second is: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’.” (Matthew 22:37, and 39).
He taught us about having faith in God in the good times and the bad times. As Christians, we are not to worry about our lives, what we will eat or drink, nor about what we wear, because “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:25-26).
Oh, how precious we are to God! The Holy Bible says that every hair on your head is numbered and that we should not be afraid because God values us (Luke 12:7). Jesus Christ told us that, we are to seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). Why? Look at what Jesus said, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45). Beloved, do you know that you are that “one pearl of great price”?
Jesus also explained that one day, He would return and taught us to watch for the signs of His second coming. No one can tell you when that time will be, so if a person comes to you and says it will come in a certain year or time, ignore them, and rebuke them, for they are a false prophet.
Signs and Miracles Performed by Jesus
Jesus taught many things to people, but He also healed people, and He removed evil spirits and demons from many people. Jesus never rejected anyone that requested to be healed, and He never rejected anyone to be delivered from demonic oppression. Even today, Jesus will not reject you when you repent from sins, ask for help, and believe in Him. Hallelujah! He never charged anyone for all that He had done, and he taught His disciples to go preach with bare necessities (just clothes and their staff, no food).
Aside from healing and delivering people, Jesus Christ performed many signs and wonders to the people around Him. The Holy Bible says that the multitudes knew Him and would come to Him. On one occasion, Jesus taught the multitudes many things, and when His teachings concluded, His disciples told Jesus to “Send them away that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat.” (Matthew 6:36). Jesus did not do this. Instead, He told His disciples to give them something to eat. The disciples doubted their ability to do so given the time of day and lack of money to purchase food for such a crowd.
This is when Jesus was able to take five loaves of bread, and two fish, bless them, and divide them into twelve baskets full of fragments of fish, and feed over 5,000 men with the loaves of bread. (See Mark 6:30-39). This is one occasion, but the gospel of John says that the signs in his gospel are written “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31). John also said that “there are so many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25)
Why Jesus was Crucified
Jesus Christ had a ministry of peace, and taught of loving God and your neighbor, but why was He crucified?
Much of Jesus’s life that is recorded in the Holy Bible fulfills several prophecies. Not only was Jesus Christ as the Messiah a fulfilled prophecy, but His crucifixion also fulfilled Biblical prophecy in Exodus 12:46, and Psalm 22:18. Ultimately, God saw the sin among the world, and knew that people are evil at the heart. Because God loves us, He provided the ultimate sacrifice through His Son (before Jesus, animals were sacrificed to the Lord for forgiveness of sins). The Holy Bible says that “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16).
Jesus Christ was crucified for the forgiveness of your sins so that you can have everlasting life (go to heaven) and have direct communication with God. The Holy Bible states that “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus calls you, and communication to God is possible through Jesus. God never breaks a promise, and He remains the same. How many people do you know can say the same?
Beloved, if you have not received Jesus into your life, and come to believe in Him as your savior, He is reaching out to you now. If you want to accept Jesus Christ, for nothing is done in force by Christ, say this prayer:
God, I confess that Jesus came in the flesh and blood, paid the price for my sins, died on the cross, rose on the third day, ascended to the heavens, and sent the Holy Spirit to help me understand Your ways. For that, I accept Jesus Christ as my savior and Lord, and I welcome the Holy Spirit in my life. In Jesus’s name I pray, amen!