Written by Who is Jesus?
Jesus was born about 2000 years ago and he did some amazing things in his life. Jesus wandered throughout Israel and taught, healed, and did miraculous works. He lived to be 33 years old when the leaders and people of Israel killed him.
Why do people still read about him?
Jesus is a good example of how we should live because he cared so much about people. He fed them, healed them and loved them. Jesus even performed miracles. People like to read about what Jesus did and said so they can know how to live a good life like him. There is no one else like him.
Is he really God?
Jesus and his disciples say several times that Jesus is God.
“[Jesus] said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You
are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ ” Matthew 16: 15-16.
God promised he would send a Messiah or Savior to Israel. Many of the Old
Testament books like Isaiah and the Psalms predicted that the Messiah would
come be born in Bethlehem, teach and do miracles die and rise again. Jesus does
all of these things showing that he is the person these prophets meant.
Jesus himself told the disciples this: “These are my words which I spoke
to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law
of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Luke 24: 44
How can he not have a father?
Jesus does have a father. He called God his father. He doesn’t have an earthly father like you or I because he is God. It was important that Jesus’ father is God and his mother is human so that Jesus is both human and God. That way he knows what it is like to have a body and feel joy and sadness like we do, but he is also still our all-powerful God who can do miracles and have power over death.
Did Jesus ever do anything wrong?
Nope. That’s the God part of Jesus because the rest of us do things wrong all the time. Jesus was perfect and he never even disobeyed his parents
How come he got angry? Isn’t it wrong to be angry?
Jesus did get angry sometimes, like when he threw over tables in the temple (John 2:12-25). But that is righteous anger. Sometimes it is ok to be angry when someone is doing something bad. Wouldn’t you get angry and want to stop someone from kicking a dog or bullying a little kid. We just have to be careful. Often when we get angry, our anger controls us and makes us do things that are mean or unnecessary. That is when anger is wrong.
What kinds of things did Jesus teach?
Jesus taught us a lot of things. Often he used stories or parables to tell us about God and how we should treat each other. There are many parables in the Gospels but some of the most well-known are the Good Samaritan, The Prodigal Son and The Mustard Seed. A famous speech that Jesus made was the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-8 in which he talk about marriage, murder and how to treat the poor. Some famous passages are from this sermon including the beatitudes (5:1-12), the Lord’s Prayer (6: 9-13).
Did Jesus really perform miracles and healings?
Jesus performed many miracles during his ministry. He healed people (Luke 13:10-17) fed people (Luke 9:10-17), and even helped out in a wine shortage (John 2:1-11). Jesus did these things to show that he was God and because he wanted to help people.
Why did people kill him?
The leaders of Israel were afraid that Jesus was causing trouble. Jesus often said that the Pharisees weren’t truly obeying God. The Pharisees were legalistic about their faith. That means they cared more about making strict rules and making everyone follow them. Jesus said that the Pharisees cared more about their rules than about God. The Pharisees were worried that if people listened to Jesus, no one would want to come to their temples anymore. So they made plans to arrest Jesus and accused him of blasphemy (telling lies about God). They didn’t believe that Jesus was really God so when Jesus told them he was (Mark 14: 60-62); they said he was guilty of blasphemy.
Why didn’t Jesus just use his powers to stop the people from killing him?
That wasn’t part of God’s plan. Jesus needed to die, even though he was innocent so that he could take the punishment for our sins. If Jesus didn’t die we wouldn’t be able to go to Heaven.
Did Jesus want to die?
That’s a hard question to answer. Jesus wanted to do this for us, but that doesn’t mean it was easy. Crucifixion is a painful way to die and Jesus wasn’t looking forward to it. Jesus prayed to God in the garden of Gethsemane and asked if there was any other way to do this. But there wasn’t so Jesus willingly went to the cross for us (Matthew 26:36-46, Mark 14: 32-42).
What is crucifixion?
The Romans (the government of Jesus’ time) used crucifixion to kill criminals. They put nails through the criminal’s hands and feet and nailed them onto two intersecting pieces of wood called a cross. The person wouldn’t die right away and it could take days. The person on the cross couldn’t breathe unless they pushed up with their feet. This hurt a lot and eventually the person would get too tired to do it anymore and they would die. Jesus went through this just for us! That is why one of the symbols of Christianity is a cross.
Did he really rise from the dead?
According to the Bible a lot of people saw Jesus after he died. His disciples watched Jesus rise up into heaven. People watched Jesus die and put his body in a grave (Matthew 27: 57-61, Luke 23: 50-56). A lot of people saw Jesus after he was alive again: the two Marys and Joanna (Luke 24: 1-12) the disciples (Luke 24: 36-49) and more. The more people that saw him or witnessed Jesus after his resurrection, the more proof we have that he did rise from the dead.
Why is that important?
Jesus resurrection from the dead is the heart of the Christian faith. Jesus defeated death. Christians believe that Jesus died and took God’s punishment for all our sins so we don’t have to. That means that Jesus died for you too! Jesus’ death is his gift to us. He died so that we can go to heaven after we die and live with God forever.
Where did Jesus go after the resurrection?
After Jesus appeared to his followers he ascended, or went up into heaven (Acts 1:1-11, Luke 24:50-53, Mark 16:19-20).
Is he still alive?
Yes. In the Bible it says that Jesus now sits at the right hand side of God. He is up in heaven watching over us with God. (Romans 8: 34, Ephesians 1:20)
Is Christmas really Jesus’ birthday?
No. We don’t know on what day Jesus was born. We celebrate Christmas as a representative day for his birth. Many of the traditions of Christmas have nothing to do with Jesus or his birth but we can still use this special day to celebrate Jesus’ birthday at church and with our families.
What is Easter?
Again, we don’t know exactly what day Jesus died. Like Christmas, Easter has many traditions that have little to do with the church’s celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection. We do know that it was near the Jewish holiday the Passover, so it was likely in the spring sometime. We celebrate Easter to remember what Jesus did and be thankful for his gift of eternal life.
Will Jesus come again?
Just like God promised a savior to the Israelites he
promised that Jesus would return in the last days of the earth. The Bible says
that Jesus would return to earth just like he ascended into heaven (Revelations
1:7, Acts 1:11). When Jesus comes back everyone will live in heaven and God
will make a new heaven and a new earth for us to live on (2 Peter 3:13,
Revelation 21:1).
We don’t know when Jesus will come again. Ever since Jesus left people have
been guessing to when He will come but we don’t know. The people who think they
know the time God will return are simply guessing. God said that we wouldn’t
know the time or the date (Acts 1:7).
