christianity Summary Brief

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. rome had control over Israel at this time and the Jewish people hated it. The Jews refused to the pagan ways of the roman people. 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 Jew and observed all areas of the Jewish faith. He was also well versed in Jewish law. 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. This was exciting to the disciples and they began to tell everyone about this new way of hope and forgiveness of sins.

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' ability to understand and quote the law upset the religious leaders and scholars of the day, along with his knowledge of the prophets. They decided that the only way that Jesus could be silenced was for him to be put to death.

Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' own disciples, betrayed him and Jesus was then taken before the Roman ruler, Pilate. The people demanded that he be killed, even though Pilate could not find any reason to judge him. 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.

On the third day after Jesus’ crucifixion, some ladies came to place spices on the body of Jesus. To their amazement, he was gone. When Jesus' disciples heard that his body was missing, they remembered his promise to rise from the dead on the third day. 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 also told them about the power 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 Holyland tours, you will be privileged to see where many of these events took place. You will see where Jesus was born, lived, taught in the temple and eventually crucified. An Israel trip will also take you to the Upper Room, where the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost. Walking where Jesus walked and imagining all that happened there so many years ago is truly the dream of a lifetime.
More Than Conquerors: The Christian Walk - Keith Schwartz

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