Born of a poor family, Jesus' virgin birth is accepted by the faithful. When one connects the dots with the reported observations of people 2000 years ago, it is easy to see how Jesus was a unique person. He is considered the son of God and lived a 'perfect' life. Very little is known about his early childhood except that he was raised in the traditional Jewish ways. His mother was Mary, Mary's husband was Joseph, and Jesus had a brother, James.
Only when he was thirty when his ministry became apparent do we have more information about his life. What is amazing given what we know about the difficulty of 'getting the word' out today is that Jesus did it when the basic means of communications (transportation) was by foot. There were no cell phones or iPads or such. It was all face-to-face or word-of-mouth communications. Yet, he was able to spread his message that there is a better way of living. There is a heaven and there is an evil one, the devil, who prefers you not know about heaven.
Jesus was brilliant as a debater and a spell-binding teacher. He often used stories to make a point. The story made you think to try to discern what he meant. He did not lose debates. When he was challenged by leaders who adhered to Jewish law who said, "This women was caught in the act of adultery. The Law commands us to stone such a woman. What do you say?" These leaders' goal was to trap Jesus in breaking the law by sparing the woman. Instead Jesus said, "If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." No one did.
During Jesus' time, there were many others preaching about a better life. There were magicians and other charlatans to entice people to join their movements, often for a fee. Jesus just used well-placed miracles to make his point that he was the real deal. You've got to love his math that I learned recently, where 5 (loaves of bread) + 2 (fish) = 5000 (people fed), with a remainder of 12 (baskets of food)! His miracles and teaching could not be countered by the powers in control of society, neither the priests, pharisees, nor the Roman authorities. As more and more people 'joined' the Jesus movement (as it was not Christianity then) his detractors saw Jesus as a threat to their power and to the stability of their society. Hence, Jesus had to be silenced. He was ultimately betrayed by one within his inner circle of 12 disciples. Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve and, for 30 pieces of silver, turned Jesus over to the Roman authorities.
Even though the Roman official, Pontias Pilate, could find no crime that Jesus committed, the custom of the day was to select a prisoner to be executed. The crowd, consisting mostly of those who would best benefit if Jesus were eliminated, selected Jesus.
He was tortured and hung on a cross, as was done with criminals, and died. While Jesus suffered and died a painful death as one of us, he told his disciples that he would return in three days after being killed. No one understood what this meant until it happened. In his greatest miracle, on the third day he rose from the dead.
The rest is history. In the short span of three years of ministry, Jesus was able to solidify teachings about God and Him, the son, to the disciples and to other believers so that his words would ultimately change the world. However one views this Jesus story, it is irrefutable that Jesus Christ was born, preached, died, and for the faithful, he rose from the grave to change the way we might live. Christmas is a celebration of Jesus' birth. Happy Birthday and Hallelujah!
© Baldwin H. Tom CMC
www.tbgroupconsultants.com
