What does Christ mean?
Christians follow Jesus Christ. They believe Jesus is "the Christ". Christ means "anointed one." The equivalent Jewish word is Messiah. It refers to the One sent from God to save the people of God. For centuries the Jews had waited for the Messiah, always hoping to be delivered from their current problems. At the time of Jesus, the current problem was Roman domination of Palestine. So their dreams of a Messiah took the shape of a powerful political and military figure who would drive the Romans out.
Many Jews were unprepared for a Messiah like Jesus. Throughout his days it was quite common to find a "division in the crowd because of him" (John 7:43), eventually leading to Jesus being killed by crucifixion.
What did Jesus do?
At the age of 30 Jesus began three years of public ministry, teaching, healing, and enlisting disciples. People at first thought he was a prophet, like his contemporary John the Baptist. On the route along the Jordan River between Galilee and Jerusalem, John baptised people who turned to God. He also spoke about a greater one who was coming, later identifying Jesus as the one. John regarded himself as the forerunner. But he announced the arrival of a spiritual leader not a military one.
What was Jesus like?
The Gospels use many incidents to depict Jesus' character, but not his physical appearance. An early description of the Apostle Paul remains, but not of Jesus. This has allowed people of all nations to identify with him. From the beginning the church viewed Jesus as the Son of God, who therefore should not be depicted only in human terms. At the same time, all people should be able to relate to Jesus as if he was in their skin.
The relationship of Jesus to the twelve disciples most accurately describes him to us. He was their leader, teacher, and mentor. Typical were the occasions when Peter the fisherman came home empty-handed, only to meet Jesus who told him what to do, and they hauled in a huge catch. They recognised in Jesus a mastery that overwhelmed them, whether it applied to this world or the next. And they were overwhelmed by his love for them, which cared about them, grieved with them, corrected them, washed their feet, and took full account of their human failings. His love was the reason he died for them.
What is the kingdom of God?
Like John, Jesus called people to turn to God. Jesus taught that God was near. He taught that "the kingdom of God" is a realm that coexists here and now alongside the world we see and touch. People should belong to this kingdom, observe its ways, act by its ethics, enjoy its privileges, and celebrate it benefits. People thought the existence of this kingdom where God is recognised as sovereign was "good news", the meaning of gospel.
All that Jesus said or did related to this kingdom. The accounts are in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Jesus showed that the realm of God overlapped with daily life. He often used stories or parables starting with "The kingdom of God (or heaven) is like ..."
What about miracles?
Clearly from the Gospels, people in Jesus' day were just as surprised by his miracles as we are. Each miracle illustrated aspects of this kingdom, frequently showing that the people whom others rejected were accepted by God. They can receive the blessings of the kingdom, abide by its ethics, and belong like everyone else. Sometimes they are closer to it than expected.
Lepers, prostitutes, tax-collectors, Gentiles, and women were all alienated from the mainstream of Jewish society. When Jesus openly accepted such people, turning social values upsidedown, Jewish leaders were often uncomfortable. One of his stories is about a rich man in this life and the beggar at his gate. In the kingdom of God the beggar is on the inside, and the rich man begs outside. In the same way, his miracles overturned social attitudes, and reversed the damage which people suffered.
Why the conflict of loyalty?
A kingdom exists where a sovereign is recognised by the people, who has their allegiance and loyalty. Jesus was always inviting people to give their allegiance and loyalty to God, using words like faithfulness, faith, believing, following, abiding, and so on.
Conflicts of loyalty are real. "No one can serve two masters." The kingdom of God conflicts with other loyalties. Many of Jesus' stories are about such conflicts. Materialism ruled some lives then, just as it does now. Jesus' encounter with the Rich Young Ruler (Luke 18:18-30) shows some of the conflicts involved.
Inner demons are variously attributed to evil spirits, the devil, or psychopathic madness. Such powers ruled some lives then, just as they do now. The Gospels show Jesus' power to deliver people enslaved like this.
The disciples were often reminded of the conflict between their own ambitions and the ethos of God's kingdom. Jesus used the example of children, or his own acts of service, to straighten their thinking.
Why was Jesus crucified?
The major conflict overshadowing each Gospel account is antagonism between the Jewish hierarchy and Jesus, especially as growing numbers became loyal to him and the unseen kingdom he represented.
Jewish leadership was engaged with Herodian dynasty in a huge scheme of rebuilding Jerusalem's temple and much of the city, with stunning architectural grandeur and glitter. The first phase was done by 9 BC, and continued through Jesus' life, until completion in AD 64. Six years later it was destroyed by Roman forces in the fall of Jerusalem under Titus. At stake throughout were issues of revenue, prestige, power, and national destiny.
God had intended the temple as "a house of prayer", but Jesus called it "a den of robbers" (Lk.19:26). Much more serious were underlying conflicts between contemporary Jewish belief and the teaching of Jesus that the kingdom of God for all people. Eventually, Jewish leaders viewed his claim to be Christ (Messiah) as a challenge against themselves. The intensity of the conflict rose until Jesus was brought to trial and crucifixion.
How was Jesus different?
More and more of what Jesus did showed signs of being from God. Old Testament predictions were fulfilled. Eventually it was seen that his whole life from birth to resurrection conformed to Old Testament descriptions of the Messiah. As he lived amongst them people began to feel that Jesus was much more than a prophet, that he might be the Messiah, the Son of God. At first there was ambiguity in the terms that Jesus used about himself, like Son of Man, waiting for the disciples to make connections. But later Jesus unmistakably identified himself as the Messiah, even at the dubious trial set up to kill him.
Jesus forgave people their sins, the prerogative of God alone. He commanded the sea and the storm. People were stunningly healed. Event followed surprising event, until those closest felt driven to say openly and unambiguously they believed he was the Messiah (Matthew 16:16, Mark 8:29, etc).
Why don't people understand Jesus?
The idea of a Messiah who suffers, rather than a Messiah who conquers, is a huge conflict for people to resolve in their minds. Though a basic Christian concept, Jesus had to repeat it again and again and again. The disciples struggled to comprehend. They were neither prepared for the idea of a suffering Messiah, nor for a pathway which might lead followers similarly to suffer.
Partly it was a conflict between what the Scriptures taught about the Messiah, and what they conjured up in their own minds the Messiah should be. Of course, we have exactly the same conflict today, between how we would like things to be and how things are in reality. Partly also, they had confused the two comings of the Messiah; the first time to suffer as Jesus did, and the second time in a more glorious way, yet to come.
The suffering of Jesus shows that the Messiah is in touch with the depths of our human experience. Also through suffering Jesus accomplished the atonement, which makes more sense to those who appreciate that human behavior is sometimes offensive to God.
Did his disciples misunderstand him?
The Jesus story is also about his disciples, and how they grew progressively to understand the kingdom of God - that he represented, and they committed themselves to. The disciples experienced Jesus first-hand. Their own journey of understanding became a pattern of others to follow. They show that understanding Jesus is a developing experience, which includes seeing the importance of his death and resurrection.
The death of Jesus seriously shook the disciples at first, even though he had often tried to explain it to them. They were taken by surprise once again when he rose from the dead on the third day. The Gospels don't hide their early misunderstandings. But written later, the Gospels also make clear what the disciples finally came to understand from their encounters with Jesus.
What evidence is there for Jesus' resurrection?
The disciples' reports of Christ's resurrection were greeted with as much scepticism then as now. Everyone tends to disbelieve, until the evidence is assessed. Four separate yet congruent accounts in the Gospels let us consider the evidence for ourselves. The accuracy of this foundational Christian claim accorded with what people involved at the time asserted. The accounts we presently hold in our hands were circulating within a mere 35 years of the actual events.
The evidence includes disinterested sources who affirmed Jesus was dead. His entombment was witnessed. Later the open tomb made further evidence accessible, including the remarkable graveclothes still wrapped in place. The intervention of God in the event is indicated by phenomena unusual to us, though not uncommon in the biblical records. Several appearances of angelic messengers are reported, who rolled the stone from the tomb and told the disciples Jesus was not there, but risen.
What convinced the disciples?
The disciples were convinced that Jesus was risen by his appearance to many at various times and places. Opponents attacked this claim. The suggestion that the disciples took the body themselves is reported in the Gospels. But a secure guard of Romans soldiers was set, which eliminates that possibility. If the authorities themselves had the body, they could have produced it to squash the claims of resurrection. They did not because they could not.
After the disciples' shock and confusion at Jesus' death, their sudden change of demeanour and claims of Jesus' resurrection is very surprising unless something had happened. Thomas was not the only one who demanded firsthand proof. Yet so profound and unanimous was their experience of Jesus alive from the dead they were willing to die for their belief, and some eventually did. Every generation since has made its own investigation, and the historical and personal evidence has convinced among the most sceptical of people.
Once more it is a case of facts flying in the face of the expected and the usual. What we expect, however, depends on whether we view it in the light of Scripture and Jesus' own teaching. And the actions of the Messiah would not, by definition, be usual. Both the death and the resurrection of the Messiah are clearly implied in Old Testament, written long before he appeared.
When did the Christians begin to say Jesus is Christ and Lord?
After the Gospels, the rest of the New Testament spills over with the developing story, and the disciples' progressive understanding of the kingdom of God. Within seven weeks of his crucifixion and resurrection, Peter is openly and publicly asserting, "God has made both Lord and Messiah this Jesus whom you crucified" (Acts 2:26). Both titles, Lord and Messiah, carry overtones of deity, leading to the common title Jesus Christ. New Christians accepted "Jesus is Lord" when they were baptised. They recognised God is really real, that God is behind this world, and paradoxical though it sounds, they lived in the real recognition of God's kingship in every aspect of their lives. Earthly life took on an eternal perspective. Their outlook on life and death changed radically.
And they told the wider world. In every generation since, people have met the same Jesus, discovered the same kingdom, felt the same exuberance, and lived and died with the same outlook. Though faulted and failing, they aspired to be loyal to the kingdom of God, and to tell its good news.
