Jesus
King Herod died in 4 BC, which places the birth of Jesus before that time - possibly in 6 BC. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus later returned to Nazareth, a city 25km west of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus remained until he was about 30 years old. The start of Jesus' ministry was marked by his baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, who was declaring the coming of the Messiah. After his baptism, Jesus was tempted of the Devil 40 days in the wilderness, which he overcame by remembering the holy scriptures. Coming from the wilderness, Jesus returned to a synagogue in Nazareth, where he stood to read the following scripture from the Prophet Isaiah:
While Isaiah's prophecy of the Messiah continues, Jesus closed the book, and said This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. What Jesus did not read begins with the prophecy "and the day of vengeance of our God;" indicating that a military liberation of Israel was not the purpose of Jesus' ministry. Jesus performed many miracles during the three and a half years of his ministry, including healing the sick (blind, possessed, lepers), raising the dead, revealing the secrets of people's hearts, prophesying, controlling nature (walking on water, stopping a storm), and creating food for thousands from a small boy's lunch. While people loved the miracles, Jesus' teaching was radical, unorthodox, and very divisive. Jesus said "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." Jesus demanded that people believe his testimony as the Son of God based on the evidence of the supernatural, even if they did not understand his teachings. Jesus said Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. It was this teaching that turned the religious leaders against Jesus, who had him falsely accused, humiliated, beaten, and finally crucified. After the death of Jesus, his body was set in a tomb, and soldiers were placed to guard the tomb from his followers. Jesus was crucified on a Friday (the Jewish feast of Passover being celebrated on the preceding night) and his body lay in the tomb until Sunday morning, when the Angel of the Lord descended from Heaven in the sight of the guards, and rolled back the stone from the tomb. God, having submitted himself to a mortal life and death in the body of his son Jesus Christ, conquered the permanence of death with his resurrection. Pilate, the Roman Prefect of Judea who presided over part of Jesus' trial, came to power in 26 AD, which places the crucifixion after that time - possibly in 27 AD. After his resurrection Jesus continued to instruct his disciples for about 40 days. The only difference was that Jesus now moved like the wind - appearing and disappearing at will. One day while Jesus was speaking to about 500 followers, he began to ascend into heaven, until he disappeared into the clouds. As the crowd stared at the heavens, not knowing what to do, two men appeared in white garments and said: "Why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." The full life story and teachings of Jesus can be found in the Bible in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
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