One God, Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Lecture 4 - Jesus of Nazareth: Teacher, Messiah, Redeemer

Introduction:

A consideration of the life, teachings and work of Jesus of Nazareth from a

Christian perspective.

A. Jesus, What Do We Know and How Do We Know it?

1. The Historical Jesus
   a. Daniel was one of many post-exilic books that indicated a growing
   belief in the coming of a Messiah.
   b. Josephus’ writings mention Jesus’ life, but he doesn’t call him Messiah.


2. The Gospels (official and unofficial) and Paul
   a. The New Testament is made up in the first place of four Gospels
   (evangelionor “Good News” in Greek). These books are credited to
   Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
   b. The Church eventually chose them, out of a number of such works in
   circulation, as authentic testimony to the man whom they considered
   the Messiah and the Son of God.
   c. The Gospels are clearly biographical in intent, telling the story of
   Jesus’ life from birth through death and beyond.
   d. The other books in the New Testament are the Acts of the Apostles, a
   second volume to the Gospel of Luke, a number of letters chiefly from
   Paul who became one of Jesus’ most devoted and influential disciples,
   and an apocalyptic book called The Revelation.
   B. Jesus, Messiah and Redeemer


3. A Theological Take on the Life of Jesus
   a. From the beginning, God had a plan to redeem humankind. His plan
   was to purchase the freedom of humankind by sending his own son to
   “take on flesh” and offer himself as a living sacrifice.
   b. The critical event in Jesus’ life is his death and resurrection.

Consider this...

1. Why were the four gospels written?


2. What is the meaning of the word Messiah?


3. Do Muslims accept the Gospels? Do Jews?

Before beginning this lecture you may want to...

Read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Revised Standard Version).