Objective: SWBAT Trace the life of Jesus and the spread of
Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.
Lesson 27

Lesson 27

It was during the reign of Augustus that Jesus was born in
Bethlehem, a town in Judea, in Southwest Asia.

Judea was then part of the Roman Empire.

Jerusalem , the capital of
Judea , had been captured by
Pompey in 63
BCE.

This is the story of Jesus, as told by his disciples in the
Gospels. The Gospels are the recordings of the life of Jesus.

The story of Jesus begins with Mary and Joseph. They were pledged to be married, but before they had gotten married Mary became pregnant.

They had not had any physical relations, so Joseph planned on divorcing her. Before he did so, he was confronted by an angel.
The angel told
Joseph that he was not to divorce Mary, but to take her as his wife.

The angel also told
Joseph that her child was from the
Spirit of Yahweh.
And that he was to be named Jesus.

Joseph followed the angel ’ s instructions and he married Mary.
The two then journeyed to Bethlehem , a town in Judea, in order to enroll in the Roman census.

However, when they arrived, there were no rooms available.

Unable to find any place to stay for the night, Mary and
Joseph found a manger, and stayed there. That night their baby was born.

When he was eight days old the baby was circumcised and named
Jesus. It is believed that Jesus was born between 9 and 5 BC.

For his first thirty years, Jesus lived a traditional
Jewish life, and grew up working as a carpenter.

During this time there were members of the Jewish community that were hoping for the coming of a Messiah .
According to Jewish tradition, Yahweh promised that a
Messiah would restore the kingdom of the Jews and bring peace to the world .

One of those people who was awaiting the Messiah was a man named John the Baptist . He believed that he had been chosen by God for a special mission. That mission was to prepare the hearts of the people for the coming Messiah .

He dressed in clothes made of camel's hair and had a leather belt around his waist. He lived in the desert and ate locusts and wild honey .

He went through all the country around the
Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Crowds of people came confessing their sins and he baptized them in the
Jordan River.
When the people confessed their sins they also vowed to stop sinning. The
Baptism symbolized a washing of their soul.

Jesus came to be baptized by John.

According to the Gospels, When Jesus emerged from the water the sky opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down on him like a dove. Then a voice from heaven said, "This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him."

From this point on, Jesus began teaching people and performing miracles. He was about 30 years old.

Jesus selected twelve men to be his disciples.

A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other wise figure.

Jesus claimed to be the Son of God . He taught his disciples that the kingdom of
God was within ones own heart.

Jesus gave two commandments for his followers :
1. that they should love
God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.
2. that they should, in return for this love, love their neighbors (ie fellow humans) as much as they would love themselves.

Jesus said that these two commandments summed up the whole of God's kingdom on earth and the Law of Moses as described in the Torah.

As Jesus ’ fame grew, some believed him to be the long awaited

Jesus taught that those who would accept his sacrifice, turn from their sins, and seek forgiveness would have eternal life in heaven .

Jewish leaders believed that Jesus was committing blasphemy. They believed that he had not fulfilled all of the Messianic prophesies . By failing to do so, he was claiming to be something that he was not .

The leaders believed that the
Messiah was supposed to accomplish the following:
• Build the Third Temple
(Ezekiel 37:26-28).
• Gather all Jews back to the
Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-
6).
• Usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. As it says: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4)
• Spread universal knowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one. As it says: "God will be King over all the world " (Zechariah
14:9).
From: http://www.aish.com/jw/s/48892792.html

They decided to arrest Jesus bring him before them and confront him on the issue of blasphemy. They offered one of
Jesus ’ disciples,
Judas, money if he would help them arrest Jesus. Judas helped them.

The leaders questioned Jesus to see if he claimed to be the
Messiah. He would not deny being the
Messiah. They accused him of blasphemy, and the Law said that the punishment for this was death.

Finding him guilty, they brought him before Pilate, the
Roman leader of
Judea.

Pilate had Jesus crucified .

After Jesus’ death, his body was placed in a tomb.

According to the Gospels, three days later his body was gone.

A living Jesus began appearing to his followers.

Then one day it was said that he ascended into heaven.

Jesus ’ disciples and other followers said this proved he was the Messiah .

They called him Christ. Christos is a Greek word meaning “messiah” or “savior.” The name Christianity was derived from “Christ.”

Jesus ’ followers came to be called
Christians .
Jesus followers were led by Peter , the first disciple , they spread his teachings throughout Judea and Syria.

Catholic tradition holds that Peter was the first pope . The pope was the head of the Christian Church .

According to
Catholic teachings,
Peter and all the remaining disciples except one were killed for trying to teach others about
Jesus.

That one was put in prison on an island in the Aegean
Sea.

One man, the apostle Paul , had enormous influence on Christianity’s development . Paul was a Jew whose Hebrew name was Saul. He had never met Jesus and at first was an enemy of Christianity. While traveling to
Damascus in Syria, he reportedly had a vision of Christ .

He then began using his Roman name, Paul, and spent the rest of his life spreading and interpreting Christ’s teachings.

The writings of Paul and the other disciples would be compiled into what is known as the
New Testament . The
Christian Bible is a combination of the
Hebrew Bible (the
Tanakh), which the
Christians call the Old
Testament.

Christianity spread for several reasons. First, it accepted all believers: rich or poor, male or female.

Second, it gave hope to the powerless.

Third, it appealed to those who were bothered by lack of morality in Rome.

Fourth, it offered a personal relationship with God.

Fifth, it offered the promise of life after death.

Christians also posed a problem for Roman rulers because
Christians refused to worship Roman gods.
This refusal was seen as opposition to Roman rule. Christianity was seen as an illegal religion.