Gospel story of jesus christ summary. Alternative Biographies of Jesus Christ

This river is a symbolic image of the spiritual depth and greatness of the content of the Holy Gospel.

The Holy Fathers saw another symbol for the four Gospels in the mysterious chariot that the prophet Ezekiel saw at the river Khovar. It consisted of four animals, each of which had four faces: a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle. These animal faces, taken individually, became symbols for each of the evangelists.

Christian art, starting from the fifth century, depicts Matthew with a man or an angel, since ap. Matthew in his Gospel speaks more about the human and messianic character of Christ.

The Evangelist Mark is depicted in iconography with a lion, since St. Mark in his Gospel tells mainly about the omnipotence and royal dignity of Jesus Christ (the lion is the king of animals). Evangelist Luke is depicted with a calf, because St. Luke speaks primarily of the high priestly ministry of Jesus Christ (calf is a sacrificial animal).

And, finally, the Evangelist John is depicted with an eagle, for just as an eagle rises high above the earth and penetrates deep distances with its sharp gaze, so St. John the Theologian, spiritually rising above everything earthly and human, mainly speaks in his Gospel about Christ as God the Word, the Second Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity.

Gospel of Matthew

Matthew, the son of Alpheus, was one of the twelve Apostles called by the Lord Jesus Christ to preach the gospel. He also bore the name Levi, and before being called by the Lord, he was a publican, that is, a tax collector, in Capernaum.

A faithful disciple of Christ, Matthew was an eyewitness to many miracles performed by the Savior and a constant listener to His instructions. After the ascension of Jesus Christ, he preached the good news to the Jews in Palestine and wrote the Gospel for them in Hebrew, more precisely, Aramaic. This is evidenced by Papias, ep. Hierapolsky, student of St. John the Evangelist.

But the original Aramaic text of the Gospel of Matthew has been lost, and only a very ancient Greek translation has come down to us. Scientists suggest that the Evangelist Matthew himself translated the Gospel into Greek from Aramaic.

The main goal of the evangelist is to show the Jews that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah, promised by God to the chosen people. To this end, he cites many prophecies about the Messiah from the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament and says that they were all fulfilled in Jesus. Therefore, ap. Matthew more often than other evangelists, there is an expression: "May the prophet speak come true ...".

The Jews looked forward to the coming of a Messiah who would establish a mighty kingdom on earth and make the Jews a nation that would rule the world. In contrast to this narrowly earthly understanding of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, the Evangelist Matthew preached to his fellow tribesmen the true Kingdom of Christ, a spiritual, supernatural Kingdom, laying its foundation on earth and ending in heaven. The Gospel of Matthew was written about 50 years. It contains 28 chapters, begins with a presentation of the genealogy of Christ from Abraham and ends with the farewell conversation of the Savior with the apostles on one of the mountains of Galilee.

Gospel of Mark

The Evangelist Mark did not belong to the twelve Apostles of Christ and did not follow the Savior. He was originally from Jerusalem and had two names: in Roman he was nicknamed Mark, and his Hebrew name was John. App was converted to. Peter, who calls him his spiritual son ().

Burning with a desire to spread the faith of Christ among the pagans, St. Mark in 45, together with the apostles Paul and Barnabas, his uncle, travels to Asia Minor, but in Pamphylia he was forced to say goodbye to the apostles and returned to Jerusalem ().

Evangelist Mark from a young age becomes a devoted disciple of St. Peter, is a constant companion in his preaching work and does not part with his teacher until his death in Rome. From the year 62 to the 67th year, St. Mark along with App. Peter is in Rome. Roman Christians even at their first visit to St. Peter asked him to write them a book about the life and teachings of the Savior. In response to this request, St. Mark stated everything that he heard from ap. Peter about the earthly life of Christ, in writing, very clearly and vividly. This is evidenced by St. Clement, Ep. Alexandrian, as follows: "While the Apostle Peter was preaching the gospel in Rome, Mark, his companion, ... wrote ... the Gospel, called the Gospel of Mark." And St. Papias, Ep. Hierapolsky, says: "Mark, the interpreter of the Apostle Peter, wrote down the words and deeds of Jesus with accuracy, but not in order." These testimonies, dating back to the second century, are sufficient to leave no doubt as to the belonging of the second gospel of St. Mark.

In all likelihood, St. Mark wrote the Gospel for Christians converted from paganism and little acquainted with the history and way of life of the Jewish people. Therefore, in the Gospel there are very few references to, but various Jewish customs are often explained, the geography of Palestine is described, Aramaic expressions incomprehensible to Roman Christians are explained.

The main goal of the gospel is to establish in converted pagans faith in the divinity of the Savior and to show them the divine power of Christ, the Son of God, over all creation.

Gospel of St. The stamp consists of 16 chapters. It begins with the call of St. John the Baptist to repentance and ends with the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven and the preaching of St. apostles. We do not have data to accurately determine the time of writing the Gospel of Mark. In any case, it was written later than the Aramaic Gospel of St. Matthew and, in all likelihood, in the fifties, when St. Peter visited the Roman Christians for the first time.

According to ancient tradition, the Evangelist Mark was the first bishop of the Church of Alexandria and died a martyr.

Gospel of Luke

The ancient unanimously names the Apostle Luke as the author of the third Gospel. According to the historian Eusebius (4th century). Luke came from a pagan family native to Syrian Antioch. He received a good Greek education and was a doctor by profession.

Believing in Christ, St. Luke becomes a zealous student and constant companion of St. Paul in his apostolic travels. He relentlessly follows his teacher, shares with him the labors of the second and third apostolic journey () and remains with him during the stay of the apostle. Paul in custody in Caesarea and in Rome (; ). “Luke, the beloved doctor,” says St. Paul is among his companions, who were his consolation during the time of Roman bonds ().

Influenced by the preaching of St. Paul of St. Luke writes the Gospel, addressing it to Theophilus (), a man of high social status, converted from pagans, and in his person to the Christian communities founded by St. Paul, apostle of tongues.

Wishing to give Christians from the Gentiles a solid foundation for the teaching in which they were instructed by St. Paul, St. Luke sets himself the goal: 1) to convey to those who believed, "by careful study" and "in order", the words and deeds of the Savior and 2) to strengthen faith in the Savior of the world by this narrative.

Sources for writing the Gospel of St. Luke was served, as he himself says, by the stories of living persons "who were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word from the very beginning" (). He met with them in the company of St. Paul - both in Jerusalem and in Caesarea. At the heart of the gospel narrative about the birth and childhood of Jesus Christ (Ch. 1 and 2) lies, apparently, the Sacred Tradition written in Aramaic, in which the voice of the Virgin Mary herself is still heard. But there is another tradition that says that St. Luke himself met with the Mother of God, heard from Her stories about the Lord and painted the first icon of the Holy Virgin with the Infant Jesus in her arms.

In addition, when writing his gospel, St. Luke also used the previously written Gospels of Matthew and Mark.

In addition to the Gospel, Saint Luke also wrote the book Acts of the Holy Apostles. In both of these creations, the talented hand of the historian is revealed, who, despite the extraordinary accuracy and conciseness of the narrative, was able to give a picturesque and, moreover, historically grounded narrative. But we must not forget that on the whole narrative of Luke and on his very language lies the imprint of the thought and speech of St. Paul.

Gospel of St. Luke has 24 chapters. It begins with the events that preceded the birth of Jesus Christ and ends with the ascension of the Lord into heaven.

Gospel of John

Apostle John the Theologian, younger brother of St. Jacob, was the son of Zebedee the fisherman and Solomia. John was born on the shores of the Lake of Galilee. In his youth, he helped his father to fish, but then he went to the Jordan to St. John the Baptist and became his disciple. When the Savior appeared on the banks of the Jordan, John fell in love with the Messiah with all his heart, became His faithful and beloved disciple, and never parted with Him until the day of His ascension to heaven. After the death of the Savior, St. the apostle accepted the Mother of God into his house and took care of her until her dormition. Then, probably after the death of St. Paul, John the Theologian moved to the city of Ephesus for a preaching purpose, which, after the destruction of Jerusalem, became the center of the Christian Church in the East. There he raised future bishops: Papias of Hierapolis, Polycarp of Smyrna.

Under the emperor Domitian, he was exiled to the island of Patmos, where in visions the Lord showed him the future fate of the world. He recorded all these visions in a book called "Revelation", or "Apocalypse". Only under Emperor Nerva, St. the apostle was able to return from exile to Ephesus.

Having in person ap. John, one of the closest witnesses and eyewitnesses of the "ministry of the Word", the Christians of Ephesus began to ask him to describe to them the earthly life of Christ the Savior. When they brought the books of the first three evangelists to John, he approved of these books and praised the evangelists for their sincerity and truthfulness of the story. But at the same time, he noticed that the three evangelists pay more attention to the human nature of Christ. The Apostle John told his followers that when talking about Christ who came into the world in the flesh, it is necessary to talk more about His Divinity, because otherwise people over time will begin to judge and think about Christ only by what He appeared in earthly life.

Therefore app. John begins his Gospel not with a presentation of events from the human life of Christ, but first of all points to His eternal existence with God the Father. The incarnate Christ is the Second Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity, the Divine Word (Logos), through which everything that exists () happened.

Thus, the goal of writing the Gospel can be expressed in the words of the evangelist himself, addressed to the Ephesian Christians: “These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”() By this, the evangelist wishes to protect Christians from heresies spreading in Asia Minor (Kerinth, Ebionites, Nicolaitans), who denied the Divine nature of the Savior.

Complementing the weather forecasters, St. John describes mainly the activities of Christ in Judea, tells in detail about His visits to Jerusalem on major holidays. The Gospel was written in the nineties of the first century, shortly before the death of St. apostle. Gospel of St. John the Evangelist consists of 21 chapters. It ends with a story about the appearance of the resurrected Lord to the disciples on the Lake of Galilee.

2. Gospel - Book of Life

When embarking on the study of Gospel history, one must remember that knowledge of Sacred History is necessary for every Christian, but even more so for the pastor of the Church of Christ, for whom the Word of God and serving Him is his life.

We must know that Christ is not a mythological, but a very real, historical Person who accomplished on earth the great work of the Redemption of the human race, which no mortal could do either before Him or after Him.

He lived among people, walked this earth, had his followers, visited the cities and villages of Palestine with a sermon, was persecuted by enemies, suffered on the cross, died a shameful death, rose again in glory, ascended to heaven and remains in His Church - "all the days until the end of time" ().

We must know well the geography of Palestine, the historical situation of the time when Christ lived, be interested in archaeological finds confirming the truth of the Gospel narrative - all this is necessary for a future theologian to know, since the Gospel history is the background against which theology is studied.

But when studying Sacred History, one must avoid extremes, one must remember that bare historical knowledge alone is of no essential importance in the matter of faith, in the matter of our salvation. If, for example, we are carried away only by clarifying the date of the birth of Christ and the details of His earthly life, but without faith in Christ, then we, of course, will acquire a lot of historical information, but our heart will remain indifferent to salvation. Isn't that what atheists do? What then is the difference between a so-called me who is interested in the life of Christ without believing in Him, and an atheist who studies Christianity? Of course, none.

Evangelical historical events are essential for us only if they are perceived through a believing heart, through faith in Christ as the God-man, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Only in this way, only through faith in Christ, or, to put it better, in the light of Christ, should we perceive the Sacred Gospel History.

Every Gospel word, every sacred event must be perceived and realized by our mind through the basic meaning of the Gospel, through the "crucible of our faith." Then the gospel events will live in our hearts. Then the image of Christ will become close and dear to our spirit, then the Holy Gospel will become for us the Book of Life, leading us to salvation.

And indeed, no book on earth in its content and effect on the human soul can be compared with the Gospel, much less replace it. As Spourgeon said, “The gospel is the Word, which surpasses all human speech. The Scriptures are above all works of the pen, the inimitable creation of the Holy Spirit; it is suitable for all places, times and countries, for all nationalities, classes and persons. The Gospel is the Book of books, the source of eternal life (), salvation (; ) and comfort for the unfortunate and suffering. This is a book that has no equal on earth, the content of which, like the gaze of God Himself, would penetrate into the depths of the soul of every person, which would contain the truth in everything to a single word, would be wiser than all codes of laws, more instructive than all teachings, more beautiful than poetry the whole world, and would touch the human heart like the gentle voice of a loving mother. The gospel is a wondrous unearthly light that illuminates our spiritual being stronger than the sun (); this is the breath of the Eternal, awakening in the soul of a happy person, among all earthly pleasures, a sigh for the best and higher, longing for his heavenly homeland; this is the breath of the Holy Spirit - the Comforter, filling the soul of the sufferer with indescribable bliss in the midst of hard life's adversities.

But in order for the Gospel to act gracefully on our mind and heart, for this blessed living Book of the living God to help us fight evil in this world, we need to love it and have deep reverence for this shrine.

We must make the reading of the Holy Gospel our daily need. But one must read with a prayerful mood, for to read the Gospel means to converse with God.

Do not read the Gospel... in order to subject it to dry criticism of our limited mind, do not read it with poetic imagination, but read it with your conscience, seeking to see the infallible holy truth, so that the gospel commandments would spiritualize your whole being. The Gospel is the Book of Life, and it must be read in deeds. Later, you can apply to the Gospel a measure of sound criticism... But in the name of this Holy Book, which has no equal among the books of the whole world - the works of mankind, in the name of its immeasurable spiritual height and divine wisdom, which blows at you from every page of it , we ask you to read the Gospel first with a simple mind and conscience. Read in this way, the Book of "Verbs of Eternal Life" will make your conscience tremble before the good, before the lofty beautiful morality of the Gospel; you will obey the spirit that lives in the Gospel, touch the living Christ and feel the grace-filled "power emanating" from the holy lines and healing, as the bleeding robe of the Lord healed, your spiritual wounds. This Book will evoke in you a cry of delight and tears of joy, and you will close it, touched and delighted...

May this sacred book be your unchanging companion everywhere and always.

May this book of salvation

Gives you comfort

During the years of struggle and labor.

In the sadness of the earthly vale.

Let them pour into your heart -

And the skies match

With your pure soul.

K. R. ( Grand Duke Konstantin Romanov)

The life of Jesus Christ is still the subject of contemplation and gossip. Atheists claim that his existence is a myth, while Christians are convinced of the opposite. In the 20th century, scholars intervened in the study of the biography of Christ, who made strong arguments in favor of the New Testament.

Birth and childhood

Mary, the future mother of the holy child, was the daughter of Anna and Joachim. They gave their three-year-old daughter to the Jerusalem monastery as God's bride. Thus, the girls atoned for the sins of their parents. But, although Mary swore an oath of eternal fidelity to the Lord, she had the right to live in the temple only until the age of 14, and after that she was obliged to marry. When the time came, Bishop Zachary (confessor) gave the girl as a wife to the eighty-year-old old man Joseph, so that she would not violate her own vow with carnal pleasures.

Joseph was upset by this turn of events, but did not dare to disobey the clergyman. The new family began to live in Nazareth. One night, the couple had a dream in which the Archangel Gabriel appeared to them, warning that the Virgin Mary would soon become pregnant. The angel also warned the girl about the Holy Spirit, who would descend for conception. On the same night, Joseph learned that the birth of a holy baby would save the human race from hellish torments.

When Mary was carrying a child, Herod (the king of Judea) ordered a census, so the subjects had to appear at their place of birth. Since Joseph was born in Bethlehem, the couple went there. The young wife endured the journey hard, as she was already eight months pregnant. Due to the accumulation of people in the city, they did not find a place for themselves, so they were forced to go outside the city walls. Nearby there was only a barn built by shepherds.

At night, Mary is relieved of her burden by her son, whom she calls Jesus. The birthplace of Christ is the city of Bethlehem, located near Jerusalem. Things are not clear with the date of birth, as sources indicate conflicting figures. If we compare the reign of Herod and Caesar Rome Augustus, then this happened in the 5th-6th century.

The Bible says that the baby was born on the night when the brightest star lit up in the sky. Scientists believe that such a star was a comet that flew over the Earth in the period from 12 BC to 4 BC. Of course, 8 years is not a small spread, but due to the prescription of years and conflicting interpretations of the Gospel, even such an assumption is considered a hit on the target.

Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7, and Catholic Christmas on December 26. But, according to religious apocrypha, both dates are incorrect, since the birth of Jesus fell on March 25-27. At the same time, the pagan day of the Sun was celebrated on December 26, so the Orthodox Church moved Christmas to January 7. The confessors wanted to wean the parishioners from the "bad" holiday of the Sun, legalizing new date. This is not disputed by the modern church.

Eastern sages knew in advance that a spiritual teacher would soon descend to Earth. Therefore, seeing the Star in the sky, they followed the glow and came to the cave, where they found the holy baby. Entering inside, the wise men bowed to the newborn, as to a king, and presented gifts - myrrh, gold and incense.

Immediately, rumors about the newly-appeared King reached Herod, who, angry, ordered the destruction of all the babies of Bethlehem. In the works of the ancient historian Joseph Flavius, information was found that two thousand babies were killed on a bloody night, and this is by no means a myth. The tyrant was so afraid for the throne that he even killed his own sons, to say nothing of other people's children.

From the wrath of the ruler, the holy family managed to escape to Egypt, where they lived for 3 years. Only after the death of the tyrant, the spouses with the child returned to Bethlehem. When Jesus grew up, he began to help his betrothed father in the carpentry business, which later earned him a living.

At the age of 12, Jesus arrives with his parents for Easter in Jerusalem, where for 3-4 days he has spiritual conversations with the scribes who interpreted the Holy Scriptures. The boy amazes his mentors with his knowledge of the Laws of Moses, and his questions baffle more than one teacher. Then, according to the Arabic Gospel, the boy withdraws into himself and hides his own miracles. The evangelists do not even write about the child's later life, explaining that zemstvo events should not affect the spiritual life.

Personal life

Since the Middle Ages, disputes about the personal life of Jesus have not subsided. Many were worried - whether he was married, whether he left behind descendants. But the clergy tried to keep these conversations to a minimum, since the son of God could not become addicted to earthly things. Previously, there were many gospels, each of which was interpreted in its own way. But the clergy tried to get rid of the "wrong" books. There is even a version that mentions of family life Christ is not included in the New Testament on purpose.

Other gospels mention the wife of Christ. Historians agree that his wife was Mary Magdalene. And in the Gospel of Philip there are even lines about how the disciples of Christ were jealous of the teacher for Mary for a kiss on the lips. Although in the New Testament this girl is described as a harlot who took the path of correction and followed Christ from Galilee to Judea.

At that time, an unmarried girl had no right to accompany a group of wanderers, unlike the wife of one of them. If we remember that the resurrected Lord first appeared not to the disciples, but to Magdalene, then everything falls into place. In the Apocrypha there are indications of the marriage of Jesus, when he performed the first miracle, turning water into wine. Otherwise, why would he and Our Lady worry about food and wine at the wedding feast in Cana?

In the time of Jesus, unmarried men were considered a strange phenomenon and even ungodly, so a single prophet would not have become a Teacher in any way. If Mary Magdalene is the wife of Jesus, then the question arises as to why he chose her as his betrothed. There are probably political influences at play here.

Jesus could not become a pretender to the throne of Jerusalem, being a stranger. Taking as a wife local girl, belonging to the princely family of the Benjamin tribe, was already becoming his own. A child born to a couple would become a prominent political figure and a clear contender for the throne. Perhaps that is why there was persecution, and subsequently the murder of Jesus. But the clergy present the son of God in a different light.

Historians believe that this was the reason for the 18-year gap in his life. The Church tried to eradicate heresy, although a layer of circumstantial evidence remained on the surface.

This version is also confirmed by a papyrus published by Karin King, a professor at Harvard University, in which the phrase is clearly written: “ Jesus said to them, "My wife..."

Baptism

God appeared to the prophet John the Baptist, who lived in the desert, and ordered him to preach among sinners, and those who wanted to be cleansed from sin should be baptized in the Jordan.

Until the age of 30, Jesus lived with his parents and helped them in every possible way, and after that he was enlightened. He strongly desired to become a preacher, telling people about divine phenomena and the meaning of religion. Therefore, he goes to the Jordan River, where he is baptized by John the Baptist. John immediately realized that before him was the same youth - the son of the Lord, and, perplexed, objected:

“I need to be baptized by You, and You come to me?”

Then Jesus went into the wilderness, where he wandered for 40 days. Thus, he prepared himself for the mission to atone for the sin of the human race through an act of self-sacrifice.

At this time, Satan is trying to prevent him through temptations, which each time became more sophisticated.

1. Hunger. When Christ was hungry, the tempter said:

"If You are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread."

2. Pride. The devil lifted the man to the top of the temple and said:

“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, because the angels of God will support you and you will not stumble on stones.”

Christ denied this too, saying that he did not intend to test the power of God for his own whim.

3. Temptation Faith and wealth.

“I will give you power over the kingdoms of the earth that is devoted to me, if you bow down to me,” Satan promised. Jesus answered: "Get away from me, Satan, for it is written: God must be worshiped and only he must be served."

The Son of God did not give up and was not tempted by the gifts of Satan. The rite of Baptism gave him strength to fight the sinful parting words of the tempter.

12 apostles of Jesus

After wandering in the desert and fighting the devil, Jesus finds 12 followers and gives them a piece of his own gift. Traveling with his disciples, he brings the word of God to the people and performs miracles so that people would believe.

Wonders

• Turning water into fine wine.
• Healing the paralyzed.
• Miraculous resurrection of the daughter of Jairus.
• Resurrection of the son of Nain's widow.
• Calming the storm on the lake of Galilee.
• Healing of the demon-possessed Gadaria.
• Miraculous nourishment of the people with five loaves.
• Walking of Jesus Christ on the water surface.
• Healing of the daughter of the Canaanite.
• Healing of ten lepers.
• The miracle at Lake Gennesaret is the filling of empty nets with fish.

The Son of God instructed people and explained each of his commandments, incline to God's teaching.

The popularity of the Lord grew every day and masses of people hurried to see the miraculous preacher. Jesus bequeathed the commandments, which later became the foundations of Christianity.

• Love and honor the Lord God.
• Don't worship idols.
• Do not use the name of the Lord in empty talk.
• Work six days, and pray on the seventh.
• Respect and honor your parents.
• Do not kill another or yourself.
• Do not commit adultery.
• Do not steal or embezzle someone else's property.
• Don't lie and don't be jealous.

But the more Jesus won people's love, the more the people of Jerusalem hated him. The nobles were afraid that their power would be shaken and conspired to kill the messenger of God. Christ triumphantly enters Jerusalem on a donkey, thereby reproducing the legend of the Jews about the solemn coming of the Messiah. The people enthusiastically welcome the New Tsar, throwing palm branches and their own clothes at his feet. People expect the age of tyranny and humiliation to end soon. With such a pandemonium, the Pharisees were afraid to arrest Christ and took a waiting position.

The Jews expect from Him victory over evil, peace, prosperity and stability, but Jesus, on the contrary, invites them to give up everything worldly, to become homeless wanderers who will preach the word of God. Realizing that nothing would change in power, people hated God and considered him a deceiver who destroyed their dreams and hopes. An important role was also played by the Pharisees, who incited a rebellion against the "false prophet". The environment is getting more and more tense, and Jesus is step by step closer to the loneliness of Gethsemane.

Passion of Christ

According to the Gospel, it is customary to call the passions of Christ the torments endured by Jesus in the last days of his earthly life. The clergy compiled a list of the order of the passions:

• The Entry of the Lord into the Jerusalem Gates
• Supper in Bethany, when a sinner washes Christ's feet with peace and her own tears, and wipes her with her hair.
• Washing the feet of his disciples by God's son. When He and the Apostles came to the house where it was necessary to eat the Passover, there were no servants to wash the guests' feet. Then Jesus himself washed the feet of his disciples, thereby teaching them a lesson in humility.

• The Last Supper. It was here that Christ predicted that the disciples would reject him and betray him. Shortly after this conversation, Judas left the supper.
• The road to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayer to the Father. At the Mount of Olives, he appeals to the Creator and asks for deliverance from the threatening fate, but does not receive an answer. In deep sadness, Jesus goes to say goodbye to his disciples, expecting earthly torments.

Judgment and crucifixion

Having descended from the mountain in the dead of night, he informs them that the traitor is already close and asks his followers not to leave. However, at the moment when Judas arrived with a crowd of Roman soldiers, all the apostles were already fast asleep. The traitor kisses Jesus, supposedly welcoming, but thereby showing the guards the true prophet. And they shackle Him and take Him to the Sanhedrin to do justice.

According to the Gospel, this happened on the night from Thursday to Friday of the week before Easter. Anna, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, was the first to interrogate Christ. He expected to hear about witchcraft and magic, thanks to which crowds of people follow the prophet and worship him like a deity. Having achieved nothing, Anna sent the captive to Caiaphas, who had already gathered elders and religious fanatics.

Caiaphas accused the prophet of blasphemy because he called himself the son of God and sent him to the prefect Pontius. Pilate was a just man and tried to dissuade the audience from killing a righteous man. But the judges and confessors began to demand that the guilty be crucified. Then Pontius offered to decide the fate of the righteous man to the people gathered in the square. He announced: "I consider this man innocent, choose for yourself, life or death." But at that moment, only the opponents of the prophet gathered near the court, shouting about the crucifixion.

Before the execution of Jesus, 2 executioners were beaten with whips for a long time, torturing his body and breaking the bridge of his nose. After the public punishment, he was put on a white shirt, which was immediately saturated with blood. A wreath of thorns was placed on the head, and a sign with the inscription: “I am God” in 4 languages ​​on the neck. The New Testament says that the inscription read: “Jesus of Nazareth is the King of the Jews,” but such a text would hardly fit on a small board, and even in 4 dialects. Later, the Roman priests rewrote the Bible, trying to keep silent about the shameful fact.

After the execution, which the righteous endured without uttering a sound, he had to carry a heavy cross to Golgotha. Here the hands and feet of the martyr were nailed to a cross, which was dug into the ground. The guards tore off his clothes, leaving only a loincloth. Simultaneously with Jesus, two criminals were punished, who were hanged on both sides of the sloping crossbar of the crucifix. In the morning they were released, and only Jesus remained on the cross.

At the hour of Christ's death, the earth trembled, as if nature itself rebelled against the cruel execution. The deceased was buried in a tomb, thanks to Pontius Pilate, who was very sympathetic to the innocent-executed.

resurrection

On the third day after his death, the martyr rose from the dead and appeared in the flesh to his disciples. He gave them final instructions before his ascension to heaven. When the guards came to check whether the deceased was still there, they found only an open cave and a bloody shroud.

It was announced to all believers that the body of Jesus had been stolen by his disciples. The pagans hastily covered Golgotha ​​and the Holy Sepulcher with earth.

Evidence for the Existence of Jesus

Having become acquainted with the bibles, primary sources and archaeological finds, one can find real evidence of the existence of the Messiah on earth.

1. In the 20th century, during excavations in Egypt, an ancient papyrus containing verses from the Gospel was discovered. Scientists have proven that the manuscript dates back to 125-130 years.
2. In 1947, on the coast of the Dead Sea, they found ancient scrolls biblical texts. This find proved that parts of the original Bible are closest to its modern sound.
3. In 1968, during archaeological research in the north of Jerusalem, the body of a man crucified on the cross, John (son of Kaggol), was discovered. This proves that then criminals were executed in this way, and the truth is described in the Bible.
4. In 1990, a vessel with the remains of the deceased was found in Jerusalem. On the wall of the vessel, an inscription was engraved in Aramaic, which reads: "Joseph, son of Caiaphas." Perhaps this is the son of the same high priest who subjected Jesus to persecution and judgment.
5. In Caesarea in 1961, an inscription on a stone was discovered, associated with the name of Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judea. He was called precisely the prefect, and not the procurator, like all subsequent successors. The same record is in the Gospels, which proves the reality of biblical events.

Science has been able to confirm the existence of Jesus by corroborating the testament stories with facts. And even a famous scientist in 1873 said:

“It is extremely difficult to imagine that this vast and wonderful universe, just like man, arose by chance; this seems to me the main argument for the existence of God.”

New religion

He also predicted that at the turn of the century a New Religion would emerge, bringing light and positivity. And so his words began to come true. The new spiritual group was born quite recently and has not yet received public recognition. The term NRM was introduced into scientific use as a contrast to the words sect or cult, which obviously carry a negative connotation. In 2017, there are more than 300 thousand people in the Russian Federation who are attached to any religious movement.

Psychologist Margaret Theler compiled a classification of the NRM, consisting of a dozen subgroups (religious, oriental, interest, psychological, and even political). New religious trends are dangerous because the goals of the leaders of these groups are not known for certain. And also the bulk of the groups of the new religion is directed against the Russian Orthodox Church and carries a hidden threat to the Christian world.

The main version of the life and work of Jesus Christ came from the depths of Christianity itself. It is set forth primarily in original testimonies about Jesus Christ - a special genre of early Christian literature, called the "gospels" ("good news"). Some of them (the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are recognized by the official church as authentic (canonical), and therefore they form the core of the New Testament; others (the Gospels of Nicodemus, Peter, Thomas, the First Gospel of James, the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, the Gospel of Childhood) are classified as apocrypha (“secret texts”), i.e. inauthentic.

The name "Jesus Christ" reflects the essence of its bearer. "Jesus" is the Greek version of the common Hebrew name "Yeshua" ("Joshua"), which means "God help/salvation." “Christ” is a translation into Greek of the Aramaic word “meshiya” (messiah, i.e. “anointed one”).

The gospels present Jesus Christ as an extraordinary person throughout his life path- from the miraculous birth to the amazing end of his earthly life. Jesus Christ is born (Christmas) during the reign of the Roman emperor Augustus (30 BC - 14 AD) in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem in the family of Joseph the Carpenter, a descendant of King David, and his wife Mary. This corresponded to the Old Testament prophecies about the birth of the coming Messianic king from the lineage of David and in the "city of David" (Bethlehem). The appearance of Jesus Christ was predicted by the angel of the Lord to his mother (Annunciation) and her husband Joseph.

A child is born miraculously - not as a result of the carnal union of Mary with Joseph, but due to the descent of the Holy Spirit on her (immaculate conception). The atmosphere of the birth emphasizes the uniqueness of this event - the baby Jesus, born in a barn, is glorified by a host of angels, and a bright star lights up in the east. Shepherds come to bow to him; the wise men, whose path to his dwelling is indicated by the Bethlehem star moving across the sky, bring him gifts. Eight days after his birth, Jesus undergoes the rite of circumcision (Circumcision of the Lord), and on the fortieth day in the Jerusalem temple - the rite of purification and dedication to God, during which he is glorified by the righteous Simeon and the prophetess Anna (Meeting of the Lord). Having learned about the appearance of the messiah, the wicked Jewish king Herod the Great, in fear for his power, orders the extermination of all babies in Bethlehem and its environs, but Joseph and Mary, warned by an angel, flee with Jesus to Egypt. Apocrypha tells of numerous miracles performed by the two-year-old Jesus Christ on the way to Egypt. After a three-year stay in Egypt, Joseph and Mary, upon learning of the death of Herod, return to their hometown of Nazareth in Galilee (Northern Palestine). Then, according to the apocrypha, for seven years the parents of Jesus moved with him from city to city, and everywhere behind him stretches the glory of the miracles he performed: according to his word, people were healed, died and were resurrected, inanimate objects came to life, wild animals humbled themselves, water The Jordan parted. The child, showing extraordinary wisdom, confounds his mentors. As a twelve-year-old boy, he strikes with unusually deep questions and answers of the teachers of the Law (the laws of Moses), with whom he enters into conversation in the Jerusalem temple. However, then, as the Arabic gospel of childhood reports (“He began to hide His miracles, His secrets and sacraments, until He was thirtieth year old.”

When Jesus Christ reaches this age, he is baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist (this event Luke refers to the "fifteenth year of the reign of the emperor Tiberius", i.e. to 30 AD), and the Holy Spirit descends on him, which leads him to the desert. There, for forty days, he fights with the devil, rejecting three temptations one after another - hunger, power and faith. Upon returning from the wilderness, Jesus Christ begins his preaching work. He calls his disciples to him and, wandering with them through Palestine, proclaims his teaching, interprets the Old Testament Law and performs miracles. The activity of Jesus Christ unfolds mainly in the territory of Galilee, in the vicinity of the Gennesaret (Tiberias) Lake, but every Easter he goes to Jerusalem.

The meaning of the preaching of Jesus Christ is the good news about the Kingdom of God, which is already near and which is already being realized among people through the activity of the messiah. The acquisition of the Kingdom of God is salvation, which became possible with the coming to earth of Christ. The path to salvation is open to all who reject earthly blessings for the sake of spiritual ones and who love God more than themselves. The preaching activity of Jesus Christ takes place in constant disputes and conflicts with representatives of the Jewish religious elite - the Pharisees, Sadducees, "teachers of the Law", during which the messiah rebels against a literal understanding of the Old Testament moral and religious precepts and calls to comprehend their true spirit.

The glory of Jesus Christ grows not only because of the sermons, but also because of the miracles performed by him. In addition to numerous healings and even resurrections of the dead (the son of a widow in Nain, the daughter of Jairus in Capernaum, Lazarus in Bethany), this is turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee, miraculous fishing and taming a storm on Lake Gennesaret, feeding five thousand with five loaves of bread. a person, walking on water, feeding four thousand people with seven loaves, discovering the divine essence of Jesus during prayer on Mount Tabor (the Transfiguration of the Lord), etc.

The earthly mission of Jesus Christ is inevitably moving towards its tragic denouement, which is predicted in the Old Testament and which he himself foresees. The popularity of the preaching of Jesus Christ, the growth in the number of his followers, the crowds of people following him along the roads of Palestine, his constant victories over the zealots of the Law of Moses arouse hatred among the religious leaders of Judea and the intention to deal with him. The Jerusalem finale of the story of Jesus - the Last Supper, the night in the Garden of Gethsemane, the arrest, trial and execution - is by far the most penetrating and most dramatic part of the Gospels. Against Jesus Christ, who arrived in Jerusalem at Easter, the Jewish high priests, "teachers of the Law" and elders conspire; Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ, agrees to sell his teacher for thirty pieces of silver. At the Easter meal in the circle of the twelve apostles (Last Supper), Jesus Christ predicts that one of them will betray him. The parting of Jesus Christ with the disciples takes on a universal symbolic meaning: “And taking bread and giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying: this is my body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me. Likewise the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:19-20); thus the rite of communion is introduced. In the Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives, in sorrow and anguish, Jesus Christ prays to God to deliver him from the fate that threatens him: “My Father! if possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39). In this fateful hour, Jesus Christ remains alone - even his closest disciples, despite his requests to stay with him, fall asleep. Judas comes with a crowd of Jews and kisses Jesus Christ, thereby betraying his teacher to the enemies. Jesus is seized and, showered with insults and beatings, is brought to the Sanhedrin (an assembly of Jewish high priests and elders). He is found guilty and handed over to the Roman authorities. However, the Roman procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, finds no fault with him and offers to pardon him on the occasion of Easter. But the crowd of Jews raises a terrible cry, and then Pilate orders to bring water and washes his hands in it, saying: "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man" (Matthew 27:24). At the request of the people, he condemns Jesus Christ to be crucified and releases the rebel and murderer Barabbas instead of him. Together with two thieves, he is crucified on the cross. The agony of Jesus Christ lasts six hours. When he finally expires, the whole earth is plunged into darkness and shakes, the veil in the Jerusalem temple is torn in two, and the righteous rise from the tombs. At the request of Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, Pilate gives him the body of Jesus Christ, which he, wrapped in a shroud, buries in a tomb carved into the rock. On the third day after the execution of Jesus Christ, he rises in the flesh and appears to his disciples (the Resurrection of the Lord). He entrusts them with the mission to spread his teaching among all peoples, and he himself ascends to heaven (Ascension of the Lord). At the end of time, Jesus Christ is destined to return to earth to perform the Last Judgment (Second Coming).

Best of the day

Having barely emerged, the doctrine of Christ (Christology) immediately gave rise to the most difficult questions, the main of which were the question of the nature of the messianic feat of Jesus Christ (supernatural power and the agony of the cross) and the question of the nature of Jesus Christ (divine and human).

In most New Testament texts, Jesus Christ appears as the messiah - the long-awaited savior of the people of Israel and the whole world, the messenger of God, who works miracles with the help of the Holy Spirit, an eschatological prophet and teacher, a divine husband. The idea of ​​the Messiah itself is undoubtedly of Old Testament origin, but in Christianity it has acquired a special meaning. Early Christian consciousness faced a difficult dilemma - how to reconcile the Old Testament image of the messiah as a theocratic king and the gospel idea of ​​the messianic power of Jesus Christ as the son of God with the fact of his death on the cross (the image of the suffering messiah)? In part, this contradiction was removed due to the idea of ​​the resurrection of Jesus and the idea of ​​his coming Second Coming, during which he will appear in all his power and glory and establish the thousand-year kingdom of Truth. Thus, Christianity, offering the concept of two Comings, deviated significantly from the Old Testament, which promised only one Coming. However, the question arose before the early Christians - if the messiah was destined to come to people in power and glory, why did he come to people in humiliation? Why do we need a suffering messiah? And what then is the meaning of the First Coming?

Trying to resolve this contradiction, early Christianity began to develop the idea of ​​the redemptive nature of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ - by betraying himself to torment, the Savior makes the necessary sacrifice to cleanse all mankind mired in sins from the curse imposed on him. However, the grandiose task of universal redemption requires that the one who solves this task be more than a man, more than just an earthly agent of the will of God. Already in the epistles Paul emphasizes the definition of "son of God"; thus the messianic dignity of Jesus Christ is associated with his special supernatural nature. On the other hand, in the Gospel of John, under the influence of Judeo-Hellenistic philosophy (Philo of Alexandria), the idea of ​​Jesus Christ is formulated as the Logos (Word of God), the eternal mediator between God and people; The Logos was with God from the very beginning, all living things came into being through him, and he is consubstantial with God; at a predetermined time, he was destined to incarnate for the sake of atonement for human sins, and then return to God. Thus, Christianity began to gradually master the idea of ​​the divinity of Jesus Christ, and Christology from the doctrine of the Messiah turned into an integral part of theology.

However, the recognition of the divine nature of Jesus Christ could cast doubt on the monotheistic nature of Christianity (monotheism): speaking of the divinity of the Savior, Christians risked coming to the recognition of the existence of two gods, i.e. to pagan polytheism (polytheism). All subsequent development of the doctrine of Jesus Christ went along the line of resolving this conflict: some theologians leaned towards St. Paul, who strictly distinguished between God and his Son, others were guided by the concept of St. John, closely linking God and Jesus Christ as his Word. Accordingly, some denied the essential unity of God and Jesus Christ and emphasized the subordinate position of the second in relation to the first (modalist dynamists, subordinationists, Arians, Nestorians), while others argued that the human nature of Jesus Christ was completely absorbed by the divine nature (Apollinarians, Monophysites), and even there were those who saw in him a simple manifestation of God the Father (modalist monarchists). The official church chose the middle path between these directions, combining both opposite positions into one: Jesus Christ is both a god and a man, but not a lower god, not a demigod, and not a half-man; he is one of the three persons of the one God (the dogma of the Trinity), equal to the other two persons (God the Father and the Holy Spirit); he is not without beginning, like God the Father, but he is not created, like everything else in this world; he is born of the Father before all ages, as the true God from the true God. The incarnation of the Son meant the true union of the divine nature with the human (Jesus Christ had two natures and two wills). This form of Christology was established after a bitter struggle between church parties in the 4th-5th centuries. and was recorded in the decisions of the first ecumenical councils (Nicaea 325, Constantinople 381, Ephesus 431 and Chalcedon 451).

Such is the Christian, certainly apologetic, point of view on Jesus Christ. It is based on the gospel story about the life and work of Jesus Christ, which for Christians is beyond doubt. Are there, however, documents independent of the Christian tradition that can confirm or refute its historical authenticity?

Unfortunately, Roman and Judeo-Hellenistic literature of the 1st c. AD practically did not convey to us information about Jesus Christ. The few pieces of evidence include fragments from the Antiquities of the Jews of Flavius ​​Josephus (37–c. 100), the Annals of Cornelius Tacitus (c. 58–117), the letters of Pliny the Younger (61–114), and the Lives of the Twelve Caesars Suetonius Tranquillus (c. 70–140). ). The last two authors say nothing about Jesus Christ himself, mentioning only groups of his followers. Tacitus, reporting on the persecution of the emperor Nero against a Christian sect, only notes that the name of this sect comes "from Christ, who, in the reign of Tiberius, was put to death by the procurator Pontius Pilate" (Annals. XV. 44). The most unusual is the famous “testimony of Flavius”, which speaks of Jesus Christ, who lived under Pontius Pilate, performed miracles, had many followers among Jews and Hellenes, was crucified at the denunciation of the “first men” of Israel and resurrected on the third day after the execution (Jewish Antiquities. XVIII.3.3). However, the value of this very meager evidence remains doubtful. The fact is that they have come down to us not in originals, but in copies of Christian scribes, who could well make additions and corrections in the text in a pro-Christian spirit. On this basis, many researchers have considered and are considering the messages of Tacitus and especially Josephus Flavius ​​as a late Christian forgery.

Much more interest than Roman and Judeo-Hellenistic writers shows in the figure of Jesus Christ Jewish and Islamic religious literature. Judaism's attention to Jesus Christ is determined by a tough ideological confrontation between two kindred religions, challenging each other's Old Testament heritage. This attention is growing in parallel with the strengthening of Christianity: if in the Judaic texts of the second half of the 1st - early 3rd centuries. we find only scattered reports about various heresiarchs, including about Jesus Christ, then in the texts of a later time they gradually merge into a single and coherent story about Jesus of Nazareth as the worst enemy of the true faith.

In the early layers of the Talmud, Jesus Christ appears under the name Yeshua ben (bar) Pantira ("Jesus, son of Pantira"). Note that in Jewish texts, the full name "Yeshua" is given only twice. In other cases, his name is shortened to "Yeshu" - a sign of an extremely dismissive attitude towards him. In the Tosefta (3rd century) and the Jerusalem Talmud (3rd-4th centuries), Yeshu ben Pantira is presented as the head of a heretical sect, whom his followers considered a god and in whose name they healed. In the later Babylonian Talmud (3rd–5th centuries), Jesus Christ is also called Yeshu ha-Notzri (“Jesus of Nazareth”): it is reported that this sorcerer and “seducer of Israel”, “close to the royal court”, was tried in compliance with all legal norms (witnesses were called in his defense for forty days, but they were never found), and then they were put to death (on the eve of Easter they stoned him and hanged his body); in hell he suffers a terrible punishment for his wickedness - boiled in boiling feces. In the Babylonian Talmud, there is also a tendency to identify Jesus Christ with the heresiarch Ben Stada (Soteda), who stole the magical art from the Egyptians by carving mysterious signs on his body, and with the false teacher Biliam (Balaam). This trend is also recorded in Midrashim (Jewish interpretations of the Old Testament), where Balaam (= Yeshu) is spoken of as the son of a harlot and a false teacher who pretended to be God and claimed that he would leave, but at the end of time he would return.

A holistic Jewish version of the life and work of Jesus Christ is presented in the famous Toldot Yeshu (5th century) - a real Jewish anti-gospel: here all the main events of the gospel story are consistently discredited.

According to Toldot, Yeshu's mother was Miriam, the wife of Johanan, a teacher of the law, from a royal family known for their piety. One Saturday, the criminal and lecher Joseph ben Pandira deceived Miriam, and even during her menstruation. Thus, Yeshu is conceived in a triple sin: adultery is committed, menstrual abstinence is violated, and the Sabbath is defiled. Out of shame, Jochanan leaves Miriam and goes to Babylon. Yeshu is given to be taught by the teachers of the Law. The boy, with an extraordinary mind and diligence, shows disrespect for mentors and utters impious speeches. After the truth about the birth of Yeshu is discovered, he flees to Jerusalem and there steals from the temple the secret name of God, with the help of which he gets the opportunity to work miracles. He proclaims himself the messiah and gathers 310 disciples. The Jewish wise men bring Yesha to Queen Elena for trial, but she lets him go, amazed at his abilities as a miracle worker. This creates confusion among the Jews. Yeshu goes to Upper Galilee. The wise men convince the queen to send a military detachment after him, but the Galileans refuse to extradite him and, having seen two miracles (the resurrection of clay birds and swimming on a millstone on occasion), they worship him. In order to expose Yeshu, the Jewish sages encourage Judas Iscariot to also steal the secret name of God from the temple. When Yeshu is brought to the queen, he rises into the air as proof of his messianic dignity; then Judas also flies over him and urinates on him. The defiled Yeshu falls to the ground. The sorcerer, who has lost his power, is arrested and tied to a column for ridicule, but his followers free him and take him away to Antioch. Yeshu goes to Egypt, where he masters the local magical art. Then he returns to Jerusalem to steal the secret name of God again. He enters the city on the Friday before Easter and enters the temple with his disciples, but one of them, named Gaisa, betrays him to the Jews by bowing to him. Yeshu is arrested and sentenced to be hanged. However, he manages to speak all the trees; then they hang him on a huge "cabbage trunk". On Sunday he is buried, but soon Yeshu's tomb is empty: the body is stolen by Yeshu's supporters, who spread the rumor that he has ascended to heaven and that he was therefore undoubtedly the messiah. Embarrassed by this, the queen orders the body to be found. In the end, the gardener Judas finds out where the remains of Yeshu are, kidnaps them and hands them over to the Jews for thirty pieces of silver. The body is dragged through the streets of Jerusalem, showing the queen and the people "the one who was going to ascend to heaven." The followers of Yeshu are scattered throughout all countries and spread everywhere a slanderous rumor that the Jews crucified the true Messiah.

In the future, this version is supplemented by various and incredible details and facts. So, for example, in the Aramaic “History of Yeshu bar Pandira”, which has come down to us in an arrangement of the 14th century, it is said that Yeshu is brought to trial before the emperor Tiberius, where with one word he makes the emperor’s daughter pregnant. When he is led to his execution, he rises into the sky and is transferred first to Mount Carmel, and then to the cave of the prophet Elijah, which he locks from the inside. However, Rabbi Judah Ganiba (“The Gardener”), who is chasing him, orders the cave to open, and when Yeshu tries to fly away again, he catches him by the edge of his clothes and delivers him to the place of execution.

Thus, in the Jewish tradition, Jesus Christ is not a god, not a messiah, but an impostor and a sorcerer who worked miracles with the help of magic. His birth and his death were not of a supernatural nature, but, on the contrary, were associated with sin and shame. The one whom Christians revere as the Son of God is not just an ordinary man, but the worst of men.

The Muslim (Koranic) interpretation of the life and work of Jesus (Isa) appears completely different. It occupies an intermediate position between the Christian and Jewish versions. On the one hand, the Qur'an denies divinity to Jesus Christ; he is not a god and not a son of a god; on the other hand, he is in no way a sorcerer or a charlatan. Isa is a person, a messenger and a prophet of Allah, like other prophets, whose mission is addressed exclusively to the Jews. He acts as a preacher, miracle worker and religious reformer, asserting monotheism, calling people to worship Allah and changing some religious prescriptions.

The Koranic texts do not give a coherent biography of Isa, dwelling only on certain moments of his life (birth, miracles, death). The Qur'an borrows from Christians the idea of ​​the virgin birth: "And We breathed into her [Maryam] of Our spirit and made her and her son a sign to the worlds" (21:91); “When Maryam was seventeen years old, Allah sent Jabrail (Gabriel) to her, who breathed into her, and she conceived the Messiah, Isa ben Maryam” (Al-Masudi. Golden Meadows. V). The Qur'an tells about some of the miracles of Isa - he heals and resurrects the dead, revives clay birds, brings down a meal from heaven to earth. At the same time, the Koran gives an interpretation of the death of Isa that is different from the Gospels: it denies the reality of the crucifixion (it only seemed to the Jews, in fact, Isa was taken to heaven alive) and the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day (Isa will rise only in the last days of the world, along with all other people), as well as the possibility of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ: in the Quran, Isa foreshadows not his imminent return, but the coming of the main prophet, Muhammad, thus acting as his forerunner: “I am the messenger of Allah, confirming the truth of what was sent down before me in the Torah, and announcing the messenger who will come after me, whose name is Ahmad" (6:6). True, in the later Muslim tradition, under the influence of Christianity, the motive for the coming return of Isa arises in order to establish the kingdom of justice.

Jesus Christ as an object of Christian worship belongs to theology. And this is a matter of faith, which excludes any doubt and does not require investigation. Nevertheless, attempts to penetrate into the spirit of the Gospels, to understand the true essence of Jesus Christ, never ceased. The entire history of the Christian Church is full of fierce struggles for the right to possess the truth about Jesus Christ, as evidenced by the ecumenical councils, the separation of heretical sects, the separation of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and the Reformation. But, in addition to purely theological disputes, the figure of Jesus Christ became the subject of discussion in historical science, which was interested and continues to be interested primarily in two problems: 1). the question of the real content of the gospel story, i.e. was Jesus Christ a historical figure; 2). the question of the image of Jesus Christ in the early Christian consciousness (what is the meaning of this image and what are its origins?). These problems turned out to be at the center of discussions of two scientific directions that arose as early as the 18th century - mythological and historical.

The mythological direction (Ch. Dupuy, K. Volney, A. Dreve, etc.) completely denied the reality of Jesus Christ as a historical person and considered him exclusively as a fact of mythology. In Jesus they saw the personification of either a solar or lunar deity, or the Old Testament Yahweh, or the Qumranite Teacher of righteousness. Trying to identify the origins of the image of Jesus Christ and "decipher" the symbolic content of the gospel events, representatives of this trend did a great job of finding analogies between the motifs and plots of the New Testament and earlier mythological systems. So, for example, the idea of ​​the resurrection of Jesus was associated with the ideas of a dying and resurrecting deity in Sumerian, ancient Egyptian, West Semitic and ancient Greek mythologies. They also tried to give the Gospel story a solar-astral interpretation, which was very common in ancient cultures (the path of Jesus Christ with the 12 apostles was represented, in particular, as the annual path of the sun through 12 constellations). The image of Jesus Christ, according to the adherents of the mythological school, gradually evolved from the original image of a pure deity to the later image of a god-man. The merit of mythologists is that they were able to consider the image of Jesus Christ in the broad context of ancient Eastern and ancient culture and show its dependence on the previous mythological development.

The historical school (G. Reimarus, E. Renan, F. Bauer, D. Strauss, etc.) believed that the gospel story has a certain real basis, which over time, however, became more and more mythologized, and Jesus Christ from real person(preacher and teacher) gradually turned into a supernatural personality. Supporters of this trend set themselves the task of freeing the truly historical in the Gospels from later mythological processing. To this end, in late XIX v. it was proposed to use the method of rationalistic criticism, which meant the reconstruction of the "true" biography of Jesus Christ by excluding everything that cannot be rationally explained, i.e. in fact, the "rewriting" of the Gospels in a rationalistic spirit (Tübingen School). This method caused serious criticism (F. Bradley) and was soon rejected by the majority of scientists.

The cornerstone thesis of the mythologists about the "silence" of the sources of the 1st c. about Jesus Christ, which, in their opinion, proved the mythical character of this figure, prompted many supporters of the historical school to shift their attention to a careful study of the New Testament texts in search of the original Christian tradition. In the first quarter of the XX century. a school of study of the "history of forms" (M. Dibelius, R. Bultman) appeared, the purpose of which was to reconstruct the history of the development of the tradition about Jesus Christ - from oral origins to literary design - and to determine the original basis, clearing it of the layers of subsequent editions. Textual studies led representatives of this school to the conclusion that even the original Christian version of the middle of the 1st century BC isolated from the Gospels. does not make it possible to recreate the real biography of Jesus Christ: here he also remains only a symbolic character; the historical Jesus Christ could exist, but the question of the true events of his life is hardly resolvable. The followers of the school of study of the "history of forms" still constitute one of the leading trends in modern biblical studies.

In view of the absence of fundamentally new documents and the informative limitations of archaeological material, it is still difficult to expect any significant breakthrough in solving the problem of the historical Jesus Christ.

The Truth of Christ as the Savior of the World
Ruslan 24.12.2007 05:15:30

You ask for an opinion .. I'll try .. Probably not surprising that I used to think like the author of this article about God. The fact is that I was uninitiated in the word of God, I didn’t know that many prophets of the Old Testament spoke about the appearance of the Messiah .. And probably most importantly, I was not born again and baptized later with the Holy Spirit .. If you type these words in a search engine, you will surely stumble upon similar words. Jesus himself in his Word tells Nicodemus about being born again and that only those who are born again can see the kingdom of heaven. John chapter 3. More words from the Scriptures - the New Testament about the Comforter - who will come after the ascension of Jesus to heaven after His crucifixion. It is the Spirit of Truth - the third part of the Holy Trinity .. - the Holy Spirit is sent and! Attention settles in a person (quote from Scripture: Rivers of living water will flow from the womb of those who believe in Me (Jesus), this He said about the Spirit of which believers in It was because the Holy Spirit was not yet on them, because Jesus was not yet glorified). This is the feast of the descent of the Holy Spirit on earth and on the apostles. .unless, of course, he takes his pride to hell and worldly knowledge that, as a person, thinks is true. as it is written who is from the earth on earth and is and speaks as who is from the earth .. Also, about this worldly knowledge, Jesus tells people the phrase - deny yourself and follow Him ..What does it mean? This means precisely to renounce your knowledge .. because they are darkness, for a God-enlightened person lives in darkness .. And pride and much more will have to be renounced and left .. Of course, I understand you, the author of the article .. your questions are relevant and doubts are popular .. It remains to wish you to come and repent before God and accept Jesus as your personal Savior .. This means admitting that you are a sinner to see darkness in your life in the form of lust or other manifestations of an evil human heart .. And find salvation .. Or it also remains to wish you applying to you lines from Scripture: No one can come to me unless it is given to him from My Father .. (He spoke about unbelievers, not chosen for salvation and not attracted by the grace of God to Christ) Goodbye, my dear ones. AMEN

Adonai
Ruslan 24.12.2007 07:39:17

Jesus is the Son of God. It will be a pity for you when you go to hell after death. Without accepting His sacrifice .. because He took your sins upon Himself. By the way, God has death for sin in the Old Testament .. so without Christ you are doomed to death.

Very interesting!
Philip 26.07.2017 08:42:45

If you need details about Jesus and his time, they can be found in abundance in the book The Party of Jesus (I found it on Ozone and Amazon). Who Jesus was, what he achieved, what kind of relationship he had with others, what is known about his messianic status - all this can be found in this book.

The Orthodox Jews of Jerusalem were implacable in their hostility to the teachings of Christ. Does this mean that Jesus was not a Jew? Is it ethical to question the Virgin Mary?

Jesus Christ often called himself the Son of Man. The nationality of the parents, according to the theologians, will shed light on the Savior's belonging to one or another ethnic group.

According to the Bible, all mankind descended from Adam. Later, people themselves divided themselves into races, nationalities. Yes, and Christ during his lifetime, given the gospels of the apostles, did not comment on his nationality.

Birth of Christ

The country of Judea, the Son of God, in those ancient times was a province of Rome. Emperor Augustus ordered to conduct He wanted to find out how many inhabitants in each of the cities of Judea.

Mary and Joseph, the parents of Christ, lived in the city of Nazareth. But they had to return to the homeland of their ancestors, to Bethlehem, in order to put their names on the lists. Once in Bethlehem, the couple could not find shelter - so many people came to the census. They decided to stop outside the city, in a cave that served as a shelter for shepherds during bad weather.

At night, Mary gave birth to a son. Wrapping the baby in diapers, she put him to sleep where they put the feed for livestock - in the manger.

Shepherds were the first to know about the birth of the Messiah. They were tending their flocks in the vicinity of Bethlehem when an angel appeared to them. He broadcast that the savior of mankind was born. This is a joy for all people, and the sign for the identification of the baby will be that he lies in the manger.

The shepherds immediately went to Bethlehem and came across a cave, in which they saw the future Savior. They told Mary and Joseph about the words of the angel. On the 8th day, the couple gave the child a name - Jesus, which means "savior" or "God saves."

Was Jesus Christ Jewish? Nationality by father or by mother was determined at that time?

star of bethlehem

On the very night that Christ was born, a bright, unusual star appeared in the sky. The Magi, who studied the movements of celestial bodies, went after her. They knew that the appearance of such a star speaks of the birth of the Messiah.

The Magi began their journey from an eastern country (Babylonia or Persia). The star, moving across the sky, showed the way to the sages.

Meanwhile, the numerous people who came to Bethlehem for the census dispersed. And the parents of Jesus returned to the city. Above the place where the baby was, the star stopped, and the Magi went into the house to present gifts to the future Messiah.

They offered gold as a tribute to the future king. They gave incense as a gift to God (even then incense was used in worship). And myrrh (scented oil, which was rubbed on the dead), as a mortal man.

King Herod

The local king, who obeyed Rome, knew about the great prophecy - a bright star in the sky marks the birth of a new king of the Jews. He called to himself the Magi, priests, soothsayers. Herod wanted to know where the baby Messiah was.

With false speeches, deceit, he tried to find out the whereabouts of Christ. Unable to get an answer, King Herod decided to exterminate all the babies in the area. 14,000 children under the age of 2 were killed in and around Bethlehem.

However, ancient historians, including do not mention this bloody event. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the number of children killed was much smaller.

It is believed that after such villainy, the wrath of God punished the king. He died a painful death, eaten alive by worms in his luxurious palace. After his terrible death, power passed to the three sons of Herod. The lands were also divided. The regions of Perea and Galilee went to Herod the Younger. Christ spent about 30 years in these lands.

Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, for the sake of his wife Herodias, beheaded The sons of Herod the Great did not receive the royal title. Judea was ruled by a Roman procurator. Herod Antipas and other local rulers obeyed him.

Mother of the Savior

The parents of the Virgin Mary were childless for a long time. At that time it was considered a sin, such a union was a sign of the wrath of God.

Joachim and Anna lived in the city of Nazareth. They prayed and believed that they would definitely have a child. Decades later, an angel appeared to them and announced that the couple would soon become parents.

According to legend, Virgin Mary Happy parents swore that this child would belong to God. Until the age of 14, Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, was brought up in the temple. From a young age, she saw angels. According to legend, the Archangel Gabriel took care of and guarded the future Mother of God.

Mary's parents had died by the time the Virgin had to leave the temple. The priests could not keep her. But they were sorry to let the orphan go. Then the priests betrothed her to the carpenter Joseph. He was more of a guardian of the Virgin than her husband. Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, remained a virgin.

What was the nationality of the Virgin? Her parents were natives of Galilee. This means that the Virgin Mary was not a Jew, but a Galilean. By confession, she belonged to the law of Moses. Her life in the temple also points to her upbringing in the faith of Moses. So who was Jesus Christ? The nationality of the mother, who lived in pagan Galilee, remains unknown. Scythians predominated in the mixed population of the region. It is possible that Christ inherited his appearance from his mother.

father of the savior

Theologians have long been arguing about whether Joseph should be considered the biological father of Christ? He had a fatherly attitude towards Mary, he knew that she was innocent. Therefore, the news of her pregnancy shocked the carpenter Joseph. The Law of Moses severely punished women for adultery. Joseph had to stone his young wife to death.

He prayed for a long time and decided to let Mary go, not to keep her near him. But an angel appeared to Joseph, announcing an ancient prophecy. The carpenter realized what a great responsibility lies on him for the safety of the mother and child.

Joseph is Jewish by nationality. Is it possible to consider him a biological father if Mary had an immaculate conception? Who is the father of Jesus Christ?

There is a version that the Roman soldier Pantira became the Messiah. In addition, there is a possibility that Christ had an Aramaic origin. This assumption is due to the fact that the Savior preached in Aramaic. However, at that time this language was common throughout the Middle East.

The Jews of Jerusalem had no doubt that the real father of Jesus Christ existed somewhere. But all versions are too doubtful to be true.

The face of Christ

The document of those times, describing the appearance of Christ, is called the "Message of Leptulus." This is a report to the Roman Senate, written by the proconsul of Palestine, Leptulus. He claims that Christ was of medium height with a noble face and a good figure. He has expressive blue-green eyes. Hair, the color of a ripe walnut, combed into a straight parting. The lines of the mouth and nose are impeccable. In conversation, he is serious and modest. Teaches softly, friendly. Terrible in anger. Sometimes he cries, but he never laughs. Face without wrinkles, calm and strong.

At the Seventh Ecumenical Council (VIII century), the official image of Jesus Christ was approved. The Savior should have been written on the icons in accordance with his human appearance. After the Council, painstaking work began. It consisted in the reconstruction of a verbal portrait, on the basis of which a recognizable image of Jesus Christ was created.

Anthropologists assure that the iconography uses not the Semitic, but the Greco-Syriac thin, straight nose and deep-set, large eyes.

In early Christian icon painting, they were able to accurately convey the individual, ethnic features of the portrait. The earliest depiction of Christ was found on an icon dated to the beginning of the 6th century. It is kept in Sinai, in the monastery of St. Catherine. The face of the icon is similar to the canonized image of the Savior. Apparently, the early Christians considered Christ to be of the European type.

Nationality of Christ

Until now, there are people who claim that Jesus Christ is a Jew. At the same time, a huge number of works have been published on the topic of the non-Jewish origin of the Savior.

At the beginning of the 1st century AD, as Hebraic scholars found out, Palestine broke up into 3 regions, which differed in their confessional and ethnic characteristics.

1. Judea, headed by the city of Jerusalem, was inhabited by Orthodox Jews. They obeyed the law of Moses.
2. Samaria was closer to the Mediterranean Sea. The Jews and Samaritans were old enemies. Even mixed marriages between them were forbidden. In Samaria there were no more than 15% of the Jews of the total number of inhabitants.
3. Galilee consisted of a mixed population, some of which remained faithful to Judaism.

Some theologians claim that the typical Jew was Jesus Christ. His nationality is not in doubt, since he did not deny the entire system of Judaism. And only he did not agree with some postulates of the Mosaic law. Then why did Christ react so calmly to the fact that the Jews of Jerusalem called him a Samaritan? This word was an insult to a true Jew.

God or man?

So who is right? Those who claim that Jesus Christ is God? But then what nationality can be demanded from God? He is out of ethnicity. If God is the basis of all things, including people, there is no need to talk about nationality at all.

What if Jesus Christ is a man? Who is his biological father? Why did he get the Greek name Christos, which means "anointed one"?

Jesus never claimed to be God. But he is not a man in the usual sense of the word. His dual nature was to acquire a human body and a divine essence within this body. Therefore, as a man, Christ could feel hunger, pain, anger. And as a vessel of God - to work miracles, filling the space around him with love. Christ said that he does not heal from himself, but only with the help of a divine gift.

Jesus worshiped and prayed to the Father. He completely submitted himself to His will in the last years of his life and called on the people to believe in the One God in heaven.

As the Son of Man, he was crucified in the name of saving people. As the Son of God, he resurrected and incarnated in the trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Miracles of Jesus Christ

About 40 miracles are described in the Gospels. The first happened in the city of Cana, where Christ, his mother and the apostles were invited to the wedding. He turned water into wine.

Christ performed the second miracle by curing the patient, whose illness lasted 38 years. The Jews of Jerusalem were angry with the Savior - he violated the Sabbath rule. It was on this day that Christ worked himself (healed the patient) and forced another to work (the patient himself carried his bed).

The Savior resurrected the dead girl, Lazarus and the widow's son. He healed the possessed and tamed the storm on the lake of Galilee. Christ fed the people with five loaves after the sermon - about 5 thousand of them gathered, not counting children and women. Walked on water, healed ten lepers and blind men of Jericho.

The miracles of Jesus Christ prove his divine nature. He had power over demons, sickness, death. But he never performed miracles for his glory or to collect offerings. Even during the interrogation of Herod, Christ did not show a sign as evidence of his strength. He did not try to defend himself, but only asked for sincere faith.

Resurrection of Jesus Christ

It was the resurrection of the Savior that became the basis for a new faith - Christianity. The facts about him are reliable: they appeared at a time when eyewitnesses of the events were still alive. All recorded episodes have slight discrepancies, but do not contradict each other as a whole.

The empty tomb of Christ testifies that the body was taken away (enemies, friends) or Jesus rose from the dead.

If the enemies took the body, they would not fail to mock the students, thus stopping the emerging new faith. Friends had little faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, they were disappointed and depressed by his tragic death.

Honorary Roman citizen and Jewish historian Flavius ​​Josephus mentions the spread of Christianity in his book. He confirms that on the third day Christ appeared alive to his disciples.

Even modern scholars do not deny that Jesus appeared to some followers after death. But they attribute this to hallucinations or some other phenomenon without questioning the authenticity of the evidence.

The appearance of Christ after death, the empty tomb, the rapid development of the new faith are proof of his resurrection. There is not a single known fact that denies this information.

Appointment by God

Already from the first Ecumenical Councils, the Church unites the human and divine nature of the Savior. He is one of the 3 hypostases of the One God - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This form of Christianity was recorded and declared official version at the Council of Nicaea (in 325), Constantinople (in 381), Ephesus (in 431) and Chalcedon (in 451).

However, the controversy about the Savior did not stop. Some Christians claimed that Jesus Christ is God. Others claimed that he was only the Son of God and was completely subject to his will. The basic idea of ​​the trinity of God is often compared with paganism. Therefore, disputes about the essence of Christ, as well as about his nationality, do not subside to this day.

The cross of Jesus Christ is a symbol of martyrdom in the name of atonement for human sins. Does it make sense to discuss the nationality of the Savior if faith in him is able to unite different ethnic groups? All people on the planet are children of God. The human nature of Christ stands above national characteristics and classifications.

Person of Christ contains one of the most amazing mysteries of Christianity - the mystery god-man. In all epochs, it was easier for the world to accept the opposite idea - the man-god. But Christ does not become God. In Christ, God incarnates in a human body (incarnates) out of love for people, while, without detracting from either the Divine or human nature, Jesus Christ is a real God and a real man.

The birth of the Messiah was preceded by a miraculous event: “The angel Gabriel was sent from God to the city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to the Virgin, betrothed to her husband, the name of Joseph, from the house of David; the name of the Virgin is Mary. The angel told her the will of the creator: "you will conceive in the womb, and you will give birth to a Son, and you will call His name: Jesus." Mary said to the angel: “How will it be when I don’t know my husband?” The angel said to her in response: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the Holy One who is being born will be called the Son of God.”

The Holy Spirit filled with Himself the human nature of a Jewish girl, betrothed to the carpenter Joseph from the city of Nazareth, a husband from the lineage of David. This family ascended to the righteous King David, who ruled Israel in the era of its highest power.

Joseph, having received a warning from an angel in a prophetic dream, accepted the will of God and since then protected the virginity of Mary. Christians believe that she remained a virgin even after the birth of her Son.

Mary became the Mother of Christ. The Gospels emphasize His human nature. However, the same Gospels call Jesus the Son of the Most High, the Son of God. For Christians, this serves as an indication of the fullness of the incarnation of God in Christ. The Orthodox tradition calls Mary the Mother of God, thereby affirming the reality of a miracle that unites the finite with the infinite, the perishable with the eternal, the earthly with the heavenly.

The Savior takes on the “form of a slave”, a man and an outwardly humbled, dependent commoner from a people enslaved by foreigners. The Savior, when he is born, does not even have a place in a human dwelling. In those days, fulfilling the decree of the Roman emperor Augustus on the census of the population of Judea, each family had to come to the city where its head was from. Many families came from the family of David, whose city was considered Bethlehem, so the local hotels were overcrowded. Mary and Joseph, who came to Bethlehem, could only find shelter in a cave that served as a barn, where Mary gave birth to a Son. The first to know about the birth of the Savior were also simple people- shepherds. It was they, and not the wise men and priests, who were rewarded with news of Him from above and hastened to worship Him.

The ruler of Judea, Herod the Great, learned from the magi (astrologers) who came to Jerusalem about the birth of the Messiah, the King of the Jews - this was indicated by a mysterious star. Herod, who seized the throne against the custom and will of the people, saw the Divine Infant as a threat to his power. The high priests informed the ruler that the prophecies speak of the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem. Herod sent the Magi there to find out everything and report to him. But, having brought their gifts to the Savior - gold as a king, incense (resin for fragrant incense) as God, myrrh (a fragrant ointment for rubbing the body of the deceased) as a mortal man, the Magi received a command in a dream not to return to Herod and went to their homeland by another way. Enraged, Herod gave a monstrous order: to destroy in Bethlehem and its environs all babies under the age of two years. Saving Jesus, his mother and Joseph flee to Egypt - the land of the former slavery of the Jews.

There is almost no information about the childhood and youthful years of Christ.

At the age of 30, Jesus was baptized in the waters of the Jordan River by the righteous and ascetic John, who was called the Baptist, who lived in the desert. This is how the Jews (and many other peoples) designate the rite of immersion in water, which marks the cleansing of the soul from sin, similar to the cleansing of the body with water.

After baptism, Jesus retired to the desert, which was considered by the Jews to be the abode of death and evil forces: there is no water, and therefore there is no life. Jesus spent 40 days in the desert without food. Fasting has long been known as a means of subordinating the flesh to the spirit, and the spirit to God, and thus as a victory over evil. The Son of God set an example of such victory. At the end of the fast, the open ministry of Jesus Christ began. He went on a journey through Palestine, "preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God."

When preaching, Christ often used parables - figurative stories in which the listener could recognize himself. Gospel parables are not just worldly illustrations of some moral truths, but an appeal to the conscience of a person: do you understand what is happening to you?

A parable is an allegorical story in which there is an implicit key to unraveling some mystery or teaching. The parable does not impose an opinion or assessment, it is not compatible with passive perception at all, in the center of it is a riddle that requires reflection, efforts of the mind and heart. A parable is a language with the help of which familiar things reveal the secrets of an unknown world..

The coming of the Messiah into the world was accompanied by extraordinary events, and his earthly life was also filled with them. Jesus performed many healings, but not in order to gain popularity among the people with the fame of a healer. In the most unusual cases (healing of lepers, resurrection from the dead), he directly forbade telling about what he had done. Jesus did not come to heal carnal diseases, but to strike at the root of every disease - spiritual evil. But out of mercy and compassion, He could not refuse the suffering. Rumors ran ahead of him, healings became part of his preaching.

In those days, personal sins or the sins of ancestors were considered the true cause of the disease. “Your sins are forgiven,” Jesus said to paralytics, the blind, and lepers, and people were healed while accepting the preaching of Christ.

The Jews, who fell under the rule of Rome, were waiting for the Messiah as a hero who would protect and establish the true faith for all time. The more difficult it turned out to recognize the Messiah in a wandering preacher from semi-pagan Galilee.

The first to reject Christ were those who, by the standards of this world, constituted the elite of society. They belonged to different religious and political currents. One of these leading trends was Pharisees.They considered themselves the keepers of the true national-religious traditions. The ideological opponents of the Pharisees were Sadducees.Both the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who were at enmity with each other, were distinguished by contempt for the ignorant common people. The appearance of a preacher, who was considered the son of a carpenter from the provincial Galilee, was met with hostility by them. The Pharisees and Sadducees turned out to be the main persecutors of Christ, and later of Christians. They stubbornly "sought where to catch him", not stopping at slander, bribery, perjury. Jesus foresaw this and warned his disciples several times that he would be betrayed, tortured, killed, and resurrected on the third day. However, those who recognized Him as the Messiah do not hear Him.

Christ enters Jerusalem. The evening meal that Jesus had with his disciples on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover entered the history of Christianity as The Last Supper- the last meal of Jesus and His disciples, which took place on the eve of the crucifixion and death of the Savior on the cross. At the Last Supper, Jesus tasted the Paschal lamb and wine for the last time, washed the feet of His disciples, gave a new commandment of mutual love, established the Sacrament of the Eucharist (otherwise the Sacrament of Communion, in which the believer, under the guise of bread and wine, partakes of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and into Eternal Life), predicted the betrayal of Judas and the denial of Peter, and talked with the apostles.

Evangelicals focus on the last days of the earthly life of Jesus Christ. In the Epistles of the Apostles, the death and resurrection of Christ is much more important than all His previous life. And in the Gospels themselves, the story of the events of the Paschal cycle occupies a place that is completely incomparable with the description of the previous years of the life of Christ.

The suffering of Christ begins from the moment when He and the apostles go to the Garden of Gethsemane, located outside the city, to spend the last hours of his life in prayer to the Father. Christ prayed, and the apostles at this time fell asleep. During prayer, blood, like drops of sweat, flowed down the face of Christ. This phenomenon is known to physicians. If a person experiences a state of extreme mental stress, then sometimes (very rarely) this happens. In such a state, a person loses too much strength. It is during the prayer that Christ is taken into custody.

Jesus, betrayed by his disciple Judas, was seized by the guards Sanhedrin- The Council of Elders, which ruled Judea, headed by the high priest. The Sanhedrin met in Jerusalem and consisted of 71 judges. Jesus was brought to the high priest's house and tried in haste, resorting to false witness and slander. The Roman procurator Pontius Pilate did not see in Jesus the guilt that the Sanhedrin placed on him: the corruption of the people, the call to refuse to pay taxes to Caesar, claims to power over the Jewish people. However, the high priest Caiaphas insisted on the execution. And in the end, Pilate agreed.

The high priests and ministers pronounced a sentence on Christ: “according to our law, He must die, because He made Himself the Son of God.” This means that even those who did not at all sympathize with Christ's preaching noted that He equated Himself with God, i.e., asserted His divine dignity. In the eyes of the faithful Jews, who profess the strict unity of God, this really looked like blasphemy.

Calvary- a low hill outside the walls of Jerusalem (now in the city itself and all built up with temples) - was a traditional place of public executions. It was for this that several pillars were constantly raised on the top of the hill. According to custom, those sentenced to crucifixion were supposed to carry the beam themselves, which served as the crossbar of the cross. Christ also carried such a beam; in the Gospel it is referred to as a cross. But he was too exhausted and could not carry her to Golgotha.

Prior to this, Christ had already been subjected to punishment once - scourging - blows with a five-tailed scourge with lead balls at the end of each belt. Jesus received 39 such blows because Jewish law forbade more than 40 blows, which was considered a lethal dose. The law has been broken. Christ was punished twice, while any law, including Roman law, forbids punishing a person twice for the same act. Flagellation is the first and in itself a rather terrible punishment. After him, not everyone survived. The second punishment is crucifixion. Apparently, Pontius Pilate really tried to defend the life of Jesus, and hoped that the sight of a preacher beaten to a pulp would satisfy the crowd. However, this did not happen. The crowd demanded execution, and Jesus was led to Golgotha. Beaten and exhausted, he fell several times along the road, and finally the guards forced a peasant named Simon, who met him, to take the cross and carry it to Golgotha. And on Calvary, Jesus Christ was crucified: his feet were nailed to a post dug into the ground, and his hands were nailed to the crossbar, which he carried on himself.

What is a crucifixion? Mark Thulius Cicero in his writings called this execution the most terrible of all the executions invented by people. During the crucifixion, the human body hangs on the cross in such a way that the fulcrum is in the chest. When the arms are raised above shoulder level and the person hangs without leaning on the legs, the entire weight of the upper half of the body falls on the chest. Because of this tension, blood rushes to the muscles of the pectoral girdle and stagnates there. The muscles gradually stiffen and squeeze the chest. They do not allow the diaphragm to expand, so a person cannot take air into the lungs and begins to suffocate. Such an execution could last a day or more. In most cases, the condemned were simply tied, and sometimes they were nailed to a cross. Forged faceted nails were driven between the radius bones of the hand, next to the wrist, and into the legs. The Gospel says that the suffering of Christ lasted about six hours. To speed up the execution, the guards or executioners often resorted to this technique: the crucified was interrupted by the shins with a sword. The man lost his last point of support and suffocated. The guards guarding Golgotha ​​that day were in a hurry to finish their terrible work before sunset, because after sunset came a great holiday - Jewish Passover, and the bodies of the three executed were not supposed to hang over the city. In the Gospel of John, it is noted that the soldiers broke the legs of two robbers who were crucified together with Christ, but they did not touch Christ himself, for they saw that he was already dead. “But one of the soldiers pierced his ribs with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.”

They managed to take Jesus off the cross before sunset, hastily wrapped him in burial linens and laid him in a tomb - a small cave carved into the rock not far from Golgotha. The entrance to the tomb was blocked with a heavy stone and guards were placed so that the students would not steal the body. A day and another night passed. When the next morning the disciples of Christ went to the tomb to wash His body and complete the funeral rites, they found that the stone had been rolled away, there were no guards, the tomb was empty. Their hearts were filled with new grief: not only was the Master killed, now even his body had disappeared. But just at that moment, an angel appeared to them, who announced: “Christ is risen!”

The gospel describes several encounters with the risen Christ. He appeared only to those who believed and managed to receive him.

What happened on the cross and after the crucifixion? Christ repeatedly said that it was for this moment that he came into the world. The last enemy that Christ fights is death. For people, this means that from now on, the death of a person becomes nothing more than an episode of his life. Since Christ found a way out of death, if a person follows Him, figuratively speaking, “grabs hold of His clothes,” Christ will lead him through the corridors of death, and death will not be a dead end, but just a door. That is why the apostles say that the death of Jesus Christ is the most important event in their personal lives.

Birth of the Church

The word "church" comes from the Greek kiriake- "house of the Lord". But in the Slavic and Russian texts of the Holy Scriptures, "church" also corresponds to the Greek word "ekklesia" - "assembly (called)". Christ himself is considered the head of the Christian Church; the church is His body.

Contrary to the expectations of the Sanhedrin, the death of Jesus of Nazareth did not stop the spread of His sermon. In Galilee, Samaria, and in Jerusalem itself, hundreds of those who saw and heard Jesus believed that God had finally sent the Messiah to His people, and tried to live according to His commandments, supporting each other in faith. The communities they created became the first shoots of the Christian church. The early church consisted of separate congregations. Each of them was headed bishop(caretaker) who was helped presbyters(elders) and deacons(servants), later deacons began to be called clergymen of the lower rank. This was the beginning of the church hierarchy.

In the life of the early church and each of its members, two sacraments occupied a special place - baptism and Eucharist.They laid the foundation for Christian worship.

Baptism in Christianity comes from the rite that John the Baptist performed on Jesus in the Jordan River. It meant for the one who is baptized - the one being baptized - cleansing from the sins of a past life and entering the Church. The sacrament of baptism at all times is performed once in a lifetime. Initially, baptism was carried out in the open air, in streams and rivers, later - in special rooms (baptistery, or baptistery).

Eucharist(gr. "thanksgiving") - communion, the main sacrament of the Church, performed in memory of the resurrection of Christ. During this sacrament, according to Christians, transubstantiation bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. Through communion, Christians believe, mystical communion with God is possible.

Conflict with Rome

At first, the Roman authorities saw no difference between Jews and Christians. Both of them refused to participate in the sacrifices to the local gods and the Roman emperor, who, according to the laws of the empire, was considered equal to the gods. Thus, the Jews and followers of Christ turned out to be violators of general civil law.

However, if in the I century. the Roman authorities did not require the Jews to make sacrifices to the gods of Rome (the Romans recognized and allowed all national religions), then this was not required of Christians only in the early years, until they began to distinguish them from the Jews. Then Christians began to be perceived as a dangerous sect, and Rome already demanded that they abandon the most important of the 10 commandments: "I am the Lord your God, that you have no other gods before me." Christians could not honor the Roman gods, and as soon as the authorities realized this, persecution began.

For Christians, death and martyrdom became an act of thanksgiving, a Eucharistic union with Christ. The memory of the victims was preserved thanks to the written monuments of early Christianity - lists of martyrs, which indicated the suffering they endured. Such lists were kept in local churches and were called martyrology(gr. "catalog of witnesses"). Martyrology became the basis of the church calendar.

Already at the end of the II century. some communities began to celebrate the days of memory of Christian martyrs. At the same time, the anniversary of the death of one or another martyr was celebrated as his birthday, since it was believed that it was on this day that he was born for a new eternal life.

Apparently, the first Christian churches appeared at the same time. icons(gr. "image", "image") - images of Jesus Christ, the Virgin, any saint, evangelical or church-historical event. Dogmatically, the veneration of icons was approved in the 8th century, although church art, including icon painting, existed from the first centuries of Christianity.

The first temples

Initially, Christians attended synagogues, but after the break with Judaism, access there was closed to them. For a long time, Christians did not have special places of worship, and prayer meetings were held in a variety of places, most often in the homes of wealthy believers, but sometimes in empty barns or craft workshops, or even simply in the open.

Christian temples were called differently: houses of God, shrines or churches. The first Christian churches were in the form basilicas(royal house). In its plan, the Christian basilica is a rectangle, which is twice as long as it is wide. The internal space of the basilica is divided in length by two or four rows of columns into three or five oblong parts, which are called naves. On the eastern side of the rectangle, according to the number of naves, there is a corresponding number (three or five) of altar semicircles. In the part of the basilica opposite the altar semicircles, there is a vestibule and a portico made up of columns. The middle nave is wider and higher than the side ones, and between its columns, in the walls, above the roof of the side aisles, windows are placed that illuminate the basilica. In the subsequent time, the basilic type of the temple was preserved in the West for a long time (until the 11th century) and acquired new features: the building took the form of a Latin cross, domes appeared, as a rule, of the same diameter. In the East, the basilica was later replaced by a cross-domed church.

under the Roman emperor Constantine I the Great(306-337) The Church launched an intensive construction of temple buildings, since it was this emperor who declared Christianity the state religion. Since his time, state institutions, laws, military service began to focus on the requirements that lie in Christianity. So, in particular, in 315, Constantine abolished the execution by crucifixion. On the Bosphorus, Constantine founded the new capital of the empire, which was simultaneously consecrated in accordance with pagan and Christian rites, calling it Constantinople. Constantine himself was baptized shortly before his death. History has given him the name of the Great. The Church, for his great merits, calls him Equal-to-the-Apostles.

One of the merits of Constantine is the convening of the First Ecumenical Council in the city of Nicaea in 325. Ecumenical Councils- these are meetings of the higher clergy and representatives of local Christian Churches, at which the foundations of the Christian faith were formulated and approved, canonical liturgical rules were formed, various theological concepts were evaluated and heresies were condemned. Before division of the Churches into Western (Catholic) and Eastern (Orthodox) in 1054. seven Ecumenical Councils were held. After the division of the Churches, general Christian Councils were not held, although the Catholic Church calls the Councils she convenes Ecumenical.

Mystery of Christian Symbols

Christian art was originally very symbolic. The symbol in Christian art connects two worlds - visible and invisible (natural and supernatural). In cruel times of persecution, the first Christians recognized each other by these secret signs. The mystery of a symbol is both silence and revelation of its deep meaning.

A fish - one of the earliest and most common symbols personifying Christ himself. The Greek word "fish" consists of letters that add up to the following phrase: "Jesus Christ of God the Son of the Savior", and this is what Christians believe in, for which the early Christian martyrs gave their lives.

Lamb known since the Old Testament. The rite of the Jewish Passover included the slaughter and eating of the Paschal lamb (a young, first-born lamb without "stain or blemish"). So God commanded the Jews on the eve of their Exodus from Egyptian captivity, and then it entered the celebration of Easter as a remembrance of the Exodus. Gradually, the lamb becomes a symbol of redemption, humility, meekness and obedience of Christ. At first, Christ was depicted as a lamb, and in the 7th century. Trullo Council decided to "write Christ in human form."

Pigeon - an image that also came into Christian art from the Old Testament. The book of Genesis tells how a dove brought a green branch to Noah and thereby notified him of the end of the Flood and that God's wrath had been replaced by mercy. Since then, the dove with an olive branch in its beak has become a symbol of peace.

Peacock - a symbol of immortality, so the image of this bird is often found on tombstones.

Phoenix - a magical bird that came from ancient Egyptian myths. According to legend, she dies once every 500 years, burning herself in a sacrificial fire, and each time reborn from the ashes. For Christians, this symbol was directly related to the resurrection of Christ and was perceived as an image of the coming resurrection of the dead.

Vine - Eucharistic image, as well as a symbol of divine election. Grapes in the Holy Scriptures are a symbol of the Promised Land, which God gave to his chosen people as an inheritance. Grape wine at the Last Supper becomes the Blood of Christ, which Jesus gives for the life of the world, for the atonement of sins.

Lily - a symbol of innocence and purity, a symbol of a God-loving soul. According to legend, on the day of the Annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel came to the Virgin Mary with a white lily, which has since become a symbol of the Mother of God, Her purity, innocence and devotion to God.

Anchor- since early Christian times, a sign of hope and salvation.

good shepherd- this is the name given to the image of Christ in the form of a young man with a lamb on his shoulders.