This page is meant to be used as a resource to help begin your exploration into the question of who Jesus is. Since arbitrarily searching for web information about Jesus can lead to many tangents far removed from the topic of interest, it is my hope that this page can make the process of answering this question easier by organizing various links that provide thoughtful information and comprehensive viewpoints. Links about Jesus have been organized by subject below.

We begin with the question of 'why Jesus-' why it is important to better understand this fascinating figure. We then proceed to the 'Overview' of his life according to the Gospels to obtain a general understanding of who Jesus is, then look deeper at the major points of his life in the section entitled 'Looking Deeper.' I should note here that the overviews and looking deeper sections are based on the Gospel accounts of Jesus, the reliability of which are under debate. (For discussion about the accuracy of these sources, please click here.) Some of the 'looking deeper' links approach the life of Jesus through a non-gospel lense, and some with a mix of both gospel and non-gospel sources.

Then given a general understanding of his life as told from gospel and non-gospel sources, we will then explore how those from different religions perceive him to be. From this, we see a glimpse of how the person of Jesus has influenced people's perceptions of life in strikingly different ways.
Why Jesus?
Overview
Looking Deeper
His family and heritage
His Ministry and Teaching
His Arrest and Execution
Perspectives
Other Links



The name, ‘Jesus’, can spark a variety of reactions, ranging from impassioned anger to awe-inspired adoration. He is a figure that is not only the corner stone of Christianity, but a person that continues to affect the viewpoints of other major religions of the world, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.

Even though the great philosopher Neitze said that God is dead, religion-or belief in the divine- is an integral part of today’s society. In the United States alone, 97% believe in God, 90% identify as a part of a specific religious group, and approximately 75 million attend a religious function weekly (statistics taken from sociologist Doctor Becker at Cornell University). Given these statistics, it is not unreasonable to expect that the values taught by these religions have directly and indirectly affected the way we think. Since Jesus appears to be the originator of many teachings that have, in a sense, shaped who we are, understanding the person of Jesus will better enable us to understand ourselves and the world around us. Therefore, before we can begin to see how Jesus has affected us and those around us, we must have a basic grasp of his life course.




According to the Gospel accounts of Jesus, Jesus was born in a Bethlehem animal barn, an unlikely place for 'the Messiah' to make his initial appearance on earth. In Judaism, the messiah is foretold to come and establish Israel's sovereignty.

Jesus' conception was immaculate, but throughout his life undoubtedly faced ridicule and disapproval from others as being the product of an out of wedlock affair. Even today, some contend that Jesus was Mary's bastard child, although the Gospel accounts specify otherwise. Later in his childhood, the Magi came to pay their respects, believing him to be the one God had sent to save His people. As the popular Christmas song depicts with some accuracy, the Magi brought gold, incense, and myrrh- gold symbolizing Jesus divinity, incense signifying his anointing as the Son of God, and myrrh for his future suffering.

Jesus' ministry began in his early thirties; after being rejected from his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus traveled to Capernaum and gathered the first of his 12 disciples. Although Jesus' following grew, his disciples were his 'inner circle' so to speak, the ones who worked most intimately with him. Jesus' teachings were radical during his time. He publicly forgave people's sins, which was believed that only God could do, and embraced the outcasts of society. His band of followers included tax collectors, prostitutes, and the poor. On one occassion, a respected teacher of the law had Jesus over for dinner. In the middle of the meal, a woman who had lived a sinful life-a prostitute-came to the Pharisees' house and stood weeping behind Jesus. The members of the table objected, but Jesus rebuked the host and told the woman that her sins were forgiven her. Jesus not only forgave the woman of her sins, which was blasphemous in the culture to being with, but treated those considered to be less-the 'unclean,' sinners, women- with equal respect to those who were revered.

As Jesus' popularity grew, the priests and scribes grew more afraid that Jesus would usurp their authority. Therefore, they planned a conspiracy to have him arrested and executed. With the cooperation of one of Jesus' disciples, Judas Iscariot, the Jewish authorities had him arrested and brought before the high priest for a preliminary trial. At the trial, Jesus claimed that he was the Son of God; claiming to be the Christ, Jesus was claiming to be God incarnate in human form to bring deliverance to the people. The gospel records that after Jesus stated his believed identity, the high priest ripped his garment in half, signifying horror and grief. Jesus was immediately charged with blasphemy and was brought before higher authorities for capital punishment.

Jesus was crucified at Golgatha. Above his cross, hung the sign 'king of the Jews', a claim Jesus had confirmed earlier. Ironically, ‘the king’ died next to two thieves who were crucified alongside him.

Jesus’ body was placed in a tomb and guarded by a squadron of soldiers because during his ministry, Jesus had foretold of his death and subsequent resurrection. The priests and scribes wanted to prevent Jesus’ followers from stealing his body to later claim his resurrection. However, after three days the gospels speak of Jesus’ disappearance from the tomb and later visits to his disciples and others. Interestingly, Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene, who was doubly marginalized in society because of her past as a prostitute and her status as a woman. Jesus then ascended back to heaven with the promise that he would return to complete the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth.

Other Links
Life summary of Jesus
http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=035C4000
http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/articles/j/jesus_christ.html

Timeline of Jesus' life
http://www.lifeofchrist.com/history/timeline/index.html






Given that we know the basic overview of Jesus' life, let us now look at some aspects of his life in greater detail.

Jesus' family and heritage
According to the Gospel accounts, Jesus was the son of a carpenter and a peasant woman, and was thus unfamiliar with material wealth or high social status. Jesus parents, Mary and Joseph, were devout Jews; early in his life, they presented Jesus to the Lord in Jerusalem, as was customary to those who honored 'the Law of the Lord,' the law of the Jewish people. Therefore, Jesus was well versed in the Torah.

Other Links about Jesus' Family and Heritage
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/0/0,5716,109560+2+106456,00.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/bornliveddied.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/socialclass.html

Jesus' Ministry and Teaching

It is difficult to summarize Jesus' Ministry and Teachings in a few paragraphs or a few pages, for that matter, because some of his statements recorded in the gospels range from the straightforward to the enigmatic.

For example, Jesus talked about love in a way that the world in his time expected: "The most important [commandment]. . . is this. . . Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all of your mind and with all of your strength." He also talked about love in a way that was not expected: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (to be killed). . . ."(John 3:16) Here, he emphasizes love as an act of obedience rather than an emotion.

In general, Jesus' teachings were in the form of parables, and not always popular; the gospels say that many initial followers deserted him because they thought "this is hard teaching. Who can accept it?" (John 6:60)

Jesus' ministry was also accompanied by many miracles- the blind saw, the lame walked, and the dead were resurrected. However, Jesus seemed reluctant at the time to make himself known: After he healed two blind men, Jesus "warned them sternly, 'See that no one knows about this.'" (Matthew 9:30)

Yet despite Jesus' many miracles, his message was beyond physical healing, and focused more on the healing within. He talked of giving rest to the weary and cleansing from sin through repentance. He taught about the heart's intentions as a truer measure of goodness than positive appearances. What made him such a controversial figure at the time, though, were the claims he made of himself as the source of rest, a pure heart, and immortality: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." (John 11:25-26) Therefore it is understandable that some believe Jesus to be a good man and others, a lunatic.
Other Links about Jesus' Ministry and Teaching

http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/0/0,5716,109560+4+106456,00.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/ministry.html Message.html

Jesus' Arrest and Execution

Jesus was taken by the chief priests, officers and elders to be arrested; the group that came to arrest Jesus was led by one of his disciples, who identified Jesus with a kiss-a common greeting of welcome. After Jesus was taken away to be presented before Pilate, the Roman governer, his disciples scattered and hid from fear that they too would be arrested.

Pilate questioned Jesus and found no basis for a charge against him, but the Jews insisted that . . . "he must die because he claimed to be the Son of God." (John 19:7). Ironically, the very people who followed Jesus during his ministry either deserted him or demanded his death. He was then taken to Golgotha-the place of the Skull-and crucified.

Other Links about his arrest and execution
suffering.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/arrest.html





People view the person of Jesus in a variety of ways depending on how they interpret the gospel and non-gospel accounts of him. Out of all the major religions of the world, Christianity bases its beliefs entirely on the gospels. Thus, the summaries given above about his life give a fairly accurate view of Christian belief.

Other religions, such as Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, draw upon their oral traditions and choose to believe certain aspects of the gospel. Though there are no historical records of this, in India there is the strong tradition that Jesus went to India as a teenager to bring Hindu values of realizing 'god-consciousness' back to the Jews. In Hindu belief, everyone is capable of realizing their universal divine-consciousness, a spiritual experience that brings the awareness that all of us are gods-the same beings.

Unlike Hinduism, Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet from the true god Allah, and Buddhist see Jesus as Buddha's 'brother' in the sense that he taught about the ability of love to bridge differences between people. In contrast to the religions mentioned thus far, Judaism initially did not admire the person of Jesus and for most of Jewish history Jesus was seen as a blasphemer, someone who tried to elevate himself on the same level as God. However, today there seems to be a distinction between believing the Jesus who claimed to be God versus the Jesus who taught truths from the Jewish scriptures. According to theologian John Cobb, "They see Jesus as an admirable Jew, but they don't believe any Jew could be God."

So what can we gather from these drastically different perspectives of one man? From just a very superficial look at Jesus' life and how others view him, we can see the sanctity we place on love, the admiration we have for someone who teaches us to value each other, and the yearning of our hearts for something bigger than ourselves that lasts forever. Thus the question of who Jesus is not only an interesting and revealing one, but a question that has only begun to be answered.

The Christian perspective
http://www.gospelcom.net/rzim/jt/wjtoe.htm
http://www.whoisjesus.com/whois.html

The Buddhist perspective
http://newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/so/a17552-2000mar19.htm

The Jewish perspective
jewishperspective.html

The Islamic perspective
islamicperspective.html

The Hindu perspective
hinduperspective.html





http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/0/0,5716,109559+1,00.html
http://www.newsweek.com/nw-srv/issue/13_99a/printed/us/so/rl0113_1.htm http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/