Over 900 times in the New Testament, you will find the name, Jesus. Such a sweet and powerful name it is! The name Jesus is known around the world and when His name is spoken, people know who He is whether they are a believer in Him or not. I’ll never forget hearing my husband’s aunt and cousin singing the song Jesus is the Sweetest Name I Know to my father in law when he passed away. All the noise and drama in the back of the room hushed to the sweet words of this song.
Not one time in the Old Testament is the name Jesus mentioned, but there is the name Joshua. Joshua led the Children of Israel through battles, across a river and into the Promised Land. During those years, he stayed steadfast in his allegiance to God and to the people.
N.T. Wright: During my first semester at Northwestern College, I was assigned the book, “The Challenge of Jesus” by N.T. Wright for one of my Biblical Studies courses. This book and every other book Tom Wright has written has dramatically impacted my Christian faith. Dr. Wright has not only defended the basic tenants of the Christian faith, but also has shown how an academically-minded pastor ought to love and care for his or her congregants. N.T. Wright was previously the Bishop of Durham and pastored some of the poorest in the United Kingdom. His pastoral ministry has helped shape his understanding of God’s kingdom-vision which he is diagramming within his magnum opus “Christian Origins and the Question of God”. This series has instructed myself and countless other pastors to be for God’s kingdom as we eagerly await Christ’s return. Additionally, I have had the privilege of meeting with N.T. Wright one-on-one on numerous occasions to discuss faith, the Church, and his research. I firmly believe Tom Wright is the greatest New Testament scholar of our generation and he is the primary reason why I feel called into ministry.
“The other Jesus”; a book that reveals the true meaning of being a Christian and gives another view on the characteristics on Jesus, Garrett shows the beauty of the Gospel and how it differs from other religions views on Jesus. In studying the Christianity of the American society he gives his own personal rendition of how this chase for the true meaning of Jesus started: “When, after twenty-five years of wondering, I came back to church, I finally encountered the Other Jesus. I discovered an authentic message of love and acceptance, the one that the Other Jesus seems to be exemplifying in the Christian Testament….I discovered believers who were trying to live lives that reflected the change this Other Jesus had wrought in them. I discovered people who practiced faith as well as preached it.” (Garrett. 8)
From birth, Jesus of Nazareth was known to be special, something the world had never seen. The legendary birth, his mother being the Virgin Mary, that night in the manger in Bethlehem presented the world with the man who would become known as the Messiah, the one who, according to Christianity, would rescue the world and offer it everlasting life. Jesus knew of his calling and his holy purpose on Earth. While Mary and her husband, Joseph, a carpenter, raised Jesus as a child, much is not known of the early life of Jesus through scripture, or accounted for through historical evidence. It is not...
This fragment is taken from THE NEW TESTAMENT (King James version). More importantly, the fragment appears in THE GOSPAL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, which is the first gospel out of four. While there is no speaking character in the fragment, it is possible to witness several characters in it. First, there are the wise men who came to visit and see baby Jesus. Second, when they entered the house, they saw Jesus with “Mary, his mother.” In this fragment, one can notice the significance of the wise men (Magi). Seeing that, the wise men function as evidence to display Jesus’s godliness and his relation to God, by seeing him they “fell down, and worshiped him.” Due to God’s intervention in the wise men’s dreams, they have changed their actions, understanding
After reading Courageous Faith: Life Lessons from Old Testament Heroes, the biblical hero I most relate to is Joshua. Joshua succeeded Moses as the leader to lead the Israelites into the promise land. The promise land was prosperous but filled with many strong cities and armies. Joshua had to place his faith in God and His promise that the Israelites will conquer the land. Joshua and the new generation of Israelites had faith in God and they went into the promise land even without a battle plan. They placed faith in God before their fears and concerns. “God was telling Joshua to put Him first, and then he would be prosperous and successful” (Hindson, 77). Joshua obeyed God’s battle plan instead of being afraid and make his own battle plan. The
Jesus claimed to be the divine Son of God and settled His claims by living a sinless life, His death on the cross, and His resurrection. Jesus’ life was recorded in the four Gospels, and has been historically accurately proven and witnessed by first century writers. Since Jesus is God incarnate, anything opposing his teachings if false, because what He taught was true. The authority of both the Old and New Testaments have been declared. Jesus named the prophets and the canon of the Old Testament. Abel was named the first prophet in Genesis, and Zechariah the last prophet in 2 Chronicles. The Old Testament is referred to as the commands of God in Mark 7:8-9. Jesus made it clear throughout His ministry that His teachings corrections and actions were unchanging from the Old Testament. Jesus affirmed historical disputed stories of the Old Testament. He professes as true the accounts of Adam and Eve (Matthew 19:4-5), Noah and the Ark (Matthew 24:39), and many more. Jesus proved the Old Testament and promised the Holy Spirit would inspire the apostles in the preservation of His teaching and writing of the New Testament (John 14:25-26). The apostles displayed the authority of God through the wonders they performed as Jesus and the Prophets did before them. The book of Acts, also proven to be historically accurate record written by first century eyewitness, records the miracles of the
“Who is Jesus Christ to you?” When first presented with this particular writing prompt, I quickly dismissed it as being “easy” to write. However, as I brainstormed the meaning of this question, I realized that writing this essay would be more difficult than I originally thought. I wondered how I could possibly illustrate the extent of who Jesus Christ is to me in a single personal essay. I then realized that as hard as I try to put everything Jesus Christ is to me into words, I would never be able to properly accomplish this task. While I feel like my essay could never do justice to the relationship I have with Jesus Christ, I found three ways to describe who he is to me and how he and his story control my life.
From the excerpt from the novel, “Under the Feet of Jesus” by Helena Maria Viramontes, the main character is Estrella, a young Spanish girl with a powerful desire to learn to read. Although she is persistent, her teachers refuse to educate her because they are more concerned of Estrella’s personal hygiene. This leaves Estrella resentful because of the barrier between herself and knowledge. Estrella remains silent until a man named Perfecto Flores teaches her how to read by using his expertise in hardware and tools to represent the alphabet. Viramontes depicts the heartfelt growth of Estrella through her use of tone, figurative language, and detail.
"It appears, that of all the apostle John was especially favoured with our Lord's regard and confidence, so as to be called the disciple whom Jesus loved" (Peoples Bible-John 1). Even though John loved his leader so much, he still ran away like the other disciples did when Jesus was arrested. John was still their when Jesus had his trial and was crucified. Jesus also in trusted John with the care of his mother. John was there with Jesus when he would perform all of his great miracles. On of the famous lines from John is "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (Peoples Bible- John 6). John was the spiritual evangelist. John and his brother James were called the Sons of Thunder.
The book Under the Feet of Jesus by Helena Maria Viramontes shows you the story of Estrella and her family and the struggles they face as migrant workers. Among all the symbolism in the book the one that stand out the most is Petra’s statue of Christ, which symbolizes the failure of religion and the oppressive nature of the Christian religion especially in minorities. Throughout the book, Estrella’s mother, Petra relies on superstitions and religion to get her through the hardships in life. In tough times, she turns to the statue and prays for guidance. Her thirteen-year-old daughter Estrella is the first of her family to realize that she needs to stop relying on religion and take control of her life. This brings in a wave of self-empowerment, not only for Estrella but eventually for all the characters as well. In the book, you’re able to see how religion exemplifies the failures of religion in minorities and how it hinders the growth of the characters while helping some of them.
A great leader is a person who takes and guides a group to a certain direction or goal. Leaders do not just designate tasks and responsibilities to the people under them, they teach them, and help them complete their tasks. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a great leader who was faithful to God until he took his last breath. We will explore Joshua’s history, personality and leadership style.
His inspired knowledge and prophecies about Jesus made many believers of Christianity. The Gospel of Mark provides supporting evidence of John’s actions and influence: “And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River” (Mark 1:3-5). John was a very important figure. According to the Gospel of Mark, when Jesus appeared, John actually baptized him and it was during this baptism that Jesus “saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Mark
The Bible revolves around one central individual; this person is Jesus. Jesus is discussed numerous times in the Old Testament, but His name is never explicitly stated until the New Testament. The Old Testament contains numerous prophecies about a coming Messiah who will save God’s children and make them Holy. This Messiah will come and defeat Satan, crushing the head of the serpent. He will come from the line of King David and reign on David’s throne which was included in the covenant to Abraham. The Messiah will humbly fulfill the prophecies from the Old Testament and perform many miracles. Mankind will receive grace from Him and all sinners will become sanctified through him. Jesus is the promised King, the Messiah of Israel and the Son of God. This is what the Old Testament discusses before the Gospel message is introduced in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
One of the most perplexing events in the ministry of Jesus Christ is His resurrection from the dead. Many skeptics look at it as made up stories or hallucinations, or mass hysteria, yet the biblical accounts and other evidences point to another conclusion. This research paper will explore three pieces of evidence that the resurrection story is factual and can be accepted as a historical event.
The prophet Nehemiah is known too much such an interesting character within the Bible; the meaning of Nehemiah is “The Lord comforts.” Not many people today know who Nehemiah is in the Bible. However for those who do know, they would say that Nehemiah was probably one of the most influential characters in the Bible. Many do not commonly know Nehemiah because he is not commonly mentioned throughout the Bible. In fact, he is only mentioned in the Old Testament and in the only book that bears his name ; with the exception of Ezra 2:2.