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Where Christianity Was Born
One of the major religions of the world today is Christianity. It’s very interesting to learn the history of how Christianity began. Present day Israel was once called Judea and Christianity began there about 2,000 years ago. Israel at this time was a melting pot with many businesses, cities and farms. The Romans had control over Israel at this time and the Jews resented them. The Romans were a pagan people and the Jews refused to conform. The one hope that the Jews had was that their Messiah would come and deliver them from roman rule.
Jesus of Nazareth was born during this tempestuous time of Jewish history. He was a well-taught Jew who observed the Jewish faith. He also knew Jewish law very well. When Jesus was in his early thirties, he began going to various villages, teaching and healing people along the way. The world was literally revolutionized by his teachings. Jesus was not afraid of the religious teachers of the day and told them that they were sinful men who needed to repent of their self-righteousness. The whole community was in an uproar and people began to question the religious leaders.
Soon after Jesus began his ministry, a group of men began to follow him and recognized him as a teacher of the law. These men became known as the twelve disciples. Jesus spoke of a 'new covenant' to his disciples, teaching that it was no longer necessary to obey all of the levitical laws of the Old Testament. He taught them about a loving, faithful god who wanted to have a relationship of grace with his people.
The new covenant that Jesus spoke of was a result of Jesus himself dying on a Roman cross, judged unjustly, for the sins of all humanity. He promised to rise again three days after being crucified, proving that he ws their promised Messiah. The disciples became excited and began to teach Jesus' ways to everyone they met.
To make things even more interesting, the life of Jesus fulfilled many of the prophecies of the Old Testament regarding the coming of their Messiah. Jesus himself spoke of the words of the prophets and his uncanny ability to quote and understand the law was most unsettling to the religious scholars and leaders of the day. They decided that the only way that Jesus could be silenced was for him to be put to death.
Jesus was betrayed by one of his own disciples, Judas Iscariot, and was taken to be judged by Pilate, the Roman ruler. Pilate could not find any fault in Jesus, but the people demanded that he be killed. They were so angry that they demanded that Barabbas, a thief and murderer, be released instead. Pilate finally gave in to the request of the people and allowed Jesus to be crucified.
Three days after Jesus was crucified, some of his friends came to place spices on his body. To their amazement, he was gone. Of course, when the disciples heard, they immediately remembered that Jesus had promised to rise from the dead. Although the religious leaders did their best to stop the gossip, word quickly spread that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead.
Soon after this, Jesus visited his disciples and told them what they needed to do. They were to return to Jerusalem where they would receive the gift of the Holy spirit on the Day of Pentecost. He taught them about the supernatural power that they would have after this event. They left, excited and ready to build churches for the kingdom of God.
If you visit Israel on one of the many Holy Land tours, you will be privileged to see where many of these events took place. You will have the privilege to see where Jesus was born, lived, taught in the temple and was crucified. An Israel trip will also take you to the Upper Room, where the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost. There is no end to the excitement of walking where Jesus walked and imagining all that happened there so many years ago.
Has Christianity Failed You? A new book by Ravi Zacharias
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