“Let us now go even unto Bethlehem” —Luke 2:15
Jesus of Nazareth was a First-Century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the central leader of Christianity. His birth is celebrated annually December 25. The name Jesus is derived from the Latin Jesus and that from the Greek form of Iesous. Christians of the time designated Jesus as “the Christ” because they believed him to be the Messiah whose arrival was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament.
In Jesus’ time, Jews had only one name. His neighbors in Nazareth referred to him as “the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and his unnamed sisters.” The four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John delineate the life and message of Jesus. Scholars today take the position that the gospels are a type of ancient biography and not everything contained in the New Testament gospels can be considered to be historically reliable.
With more than 15,000 books written about Jesus, opinions vary widely about what is the truth and what, since the Gospel of Mark was written in 60-75 AD, contains the most accurate depictions of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The Gospel of Mark paints Jesus as the Son of God whose mighty works demonstrate the presence of God’s Kingdom. Jesus is a tireless wonder worker, the servant of both God and man. Mark’s account records few of Jesus’ words or teachings.
Last year National Geographic magazine ran an article on “The Search for the Real Jesus” and it was most interesting.
At Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre there is a shrine that Christian tradition indicates was built over the place where Jesus Christ was buried. In 2016 it was discovered by restorers who uncovered remnants of an ancient tomb behind the ornate walls. In Jerusalem at the Pool of Bethesda, the Gospel of John reported that Jesus healed a paralyzed man. Archaeologists discovered clear traces of it beneath the ruins of centuries-old churches.
The faith that began as a small Jewish sect has become the world’s largest, most diverse, religion with more than two billion believers. It is 2,000 years later that a partially-restored second-to-fifth century synagogue is found in Capernaum lying on top of an older structure very likely visited by Jesus. Scholars and archaeologists have discovered a dwelling that was venerated by early Christians and was possibly the home of the Apostle Peter.
The Church of the Nativity is the oldest Christian church still in use today, but not all scholars are convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem. However, down into a lamp-lit grotto there is a small marble-clad niche. Here, a silver star marks the very spot where, according to tradition, Jesus Christ was born. Visitors touch the “holy rock, and by faith, the Holy Child.”
Author Kristin Romey suggests that the quest to document the life of Jesus will “be endless, full of shifting theories, unanswerable questions, irreconcilable facts. But for true believers, their faith is the life, death, and Resurrection of the Son of God.”
As we begin the celebrations to mark the birth of Jesus of Nazareth in December, take time to read your Bible and the Holy Scriptures. That reading will calm your thoughts and refresh your soul. Forget the cacophony of the world around you.