Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ
(Easton's Bible Dictionary)

Je'sus, the proper, as Christ is the official, name of our Lord. To distinguish Him from others so called, He is spoken of as "Jesus of Nazareth" (Jn 18:7), and "Jesus the son of Joseph" (Jn 6:42).

This is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which was originally Hoshea (Nu 13:8,16), but changed by Moses into Jehoshua (Nu 13:16; 1Ch 7:27), or Joshua. After the Exile it assumed the form Jeshua, whence the Greek form Jesus. It was given to our Lord to denote the object of His mission, to save (Mt 1:21).

The life of Jesus on earth may be divided into two great periods,
(1) that of His private life, till He was about thirty years of age; and
(2) that of His public life, which lasted about three years.

In the "fulness of time" He was born at Bethlehem, in the reign of the emperor Augustus, of Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph, a carpenter (Mt 1:1; Lk 3:23; comp. Jn 7:42). His birth was announced to the shepherds (Lk 2:8-20). Wise men from the east came to Bethlehem to see Him who was born "King of the Jews," bringing gifts with them (Mt 2:1-12). Herod's cruel jealousy led to Joseph's flight into Egypt with Mary and the infant Jesus, where they tarried till the death of this king (Mt 2:13-23), when they returned and settled in Nazareth, in Lower Galilee (2:23; comp. Lk 4:16; Jn 1:46, etc.). At the age of twelve years He went up to Jerusalem to the Passover with His parents. There, in the temple, "in the midst of the doctors," all that heard Him were "astonished at His understanding and answers" (Lk 2:41, etc.).

Eighteen years pass, of which we have no record beyond this, that He returned to Nazareth and "increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man" (Lk 2:52).

He entered on His public ministry when He was about thirty years of age. It is generally reckoned to have extended to about three years. "Each of these years had peculiar features of its own.

(1) The first year may be called the year of obscurity, both because the records of it which we possess are very scanty, and because He seems during it to have been only slowly emerging into public notice. It was spent for the most part in Judea.

(2) The second year was the year of public favour, during which the country had become thoroughly aware of Him; His activity was incessant, and His frame rang through the length and breadth of the land. It was almost wholly passed in Galilee.

(3) The third was the year of opposition, when the public favour ebbed away. His enemies multiplied and assailed Him with more and more pertinacity, and at last He fell a victim to their hatred. The first six months of this final year were passed in Galilee, and the last six in other parts of the land.", Stalker's Life of Jesus Christ.

The only reliable sources of information regarding the life of Christ on earth are the Gospels, which present in historical detail the words and the work of Christ in so many different aspects.


Jesus, The Lord
(<<)  (Concise Bible Dictionary)

Jesus is the pre-announced name of the Son of God as man. It signifies ‘Jehovah the Saviour.’ #Mt 1:21. What is revealed of Him historically may be thus divided: --

1. His birth and early years until He was about thirty years old.

2. His baptism by John; His being anointed with the Holy Ghost,

and consequently John’s testimony that He was the Lamb of God, the Baptiser with the Holy Ghost, and the Son of God. This testimony attracted, as to a new centre, some of John’s disciples. Subsequently, and before entering upon His public ministry, He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

3. His public ministry, extending over the period of three-and-a-half years.

4. His sufferings and death upon the cross.

5. His resurrection and subsequent exaltation to glory.

1. Begotten by the power of the Holy Ghost, He was born of the Virgin Mary, as predicted in #Isa 7:14. The details of this wonderful event are given in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. The former gospel records the accomplishment of the prophetic word that God would be present with His people, signified by the name Immanuel, ‘God with us.’ The latter, that the babe born of Mary was ‘that Holy thing,’ called "the Son of God." For thirty years He led a life of lowly retirement, but the references of scripture to this period shew that He grew up under the eye of God in the perfection of manhood, and yet in conscious Sonship to the Father, the vessel of the grace and wisdom of God.

2. At thirty years of age He took His place in Jordan with the repentant remnant of Israel, entering in by the door according to divine appointment, and He fulfilled righteousness in being baptised of John. He was at once owned of God by being sealed with the Holy Ghost, as distinct from all the others baptised, a voice from heaven declaring "Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." The gospel of John, at this moment, shews the momentous issues which hung upon the truth of His person. The taking away of the sin of the world by the Lamb of God, the baptising with the Holy Ghost, and Himself as the powerful attraction and commanding object for repentant sinners. The gospels of Matthew and Luke here record His being led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. It was necessary that the tempter of man should be overcome by man, and Jesus overcame all the wiles of Satan by the spiritual power of the word of God. Thus vanquished, the devil left Him for a season.

3. In the power of the Spirit (John the Baptist’s preparatory ministry having closed through his imprisonment by Herod), He now commenced the marvellous ministry of divine words and works of grace and power which is presented to us in the four gospels. In Matthew we see Him as the Seed of promise, the Son of Abraham, and as the Son of David, the Heir of the throne of the Lord in Israel; He is also Emmanuel, the Jehovah of Israel. In Mark He is viewed as the Son and Servant of God, acting and speaking for God in the midst of the circumstances of sin and sorrow into which He had entered. In Luke He is Son of man, yet altogether of a new order of manhood, the vessel of grace for man in the like circumstances of sin and sorrow. In John He is the Word, the Light and Revelation of God, but He became flesh and tabernacled here, full of grace and truth; and, as the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He fully declared God, whom no man had seen at any time. It is said of Him, that He "went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil." He relieved man of every pressure which sin had brought upon Him. He preached glad tidings to the poor, and brought to man the light of another sphere—the kingdom of God. It is also said of Him, that "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses." He refused to judge, for He came to save. He perfectly set forth God to men, and in Him as Man God found His delight. His words were the words of God, {#Joh 3:34} and the Father who dwelt in Him did the works. #Joh 14:10. His presence among men exposed men and revealed the thoughts of many hearts, and divine wisdom in Him detected the hollow religiousness, the infidelity, and the worldliness of the heart of man. As sent to do the will of God, He received all that came to Him, drawn by the grace of the Father. He led them and went before them as the Good Shepherd, held them in His hand, securing them thus for eternal life, and finally laid down His life for the sheep. In death He wrought redemption and by that work gave effect to His ministry.

4. From the first He was refused by the leaders of Israel, and ‘the world knew Him not.’ From the mount of transfiguration, where God gave Him honour and glory, He descended to suffer at the hands of men, though His death was according to "the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God." Because of this enmity of man, He retired beyond Jordan till the time came for the counsels of God to be accomplished in His death. During that period He visited Bethany to raise Lazarus, but again retired into the wilderness till six days before the Passover. He then presented Himself to Zion as her king, cleansed the temple of God, and judged with divine wisdom all the questions by which they sought to entrap Him. Then approached the ‘hour’ of man and of ‘the power of darkness.’ Jesus, knowing that this hour was at hand, ate the last Passover with His disciples, and instituted the Lord’s supper. He then crossed the Kidron valley into the garden of Gethsemane. There His soul was ‘exceeding sorrowful even unto death’ in the anticipation of the cup which He had to drink, but, in the submission which flowed from His perfect accord with the Father’s will, He received the cup from the Father’s hands, and went forth to drink it. On the cross the judgment of God as to sin was fully executed; God was glorified as to it, and redemption was accomplished, hence a dying malefactor who turned to Jesus could that day be with Him in Paradise. He gave up His life, and the blood and water which flowed from His dead side witnessed that expiation and cleansing for man are alone found in His death. His death also laid the righteous ground for God to effectuate His counsels with regard to man, and to fulfil His promises.

5. Though rejected here by men, He was "raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father," and "God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." As Lord, He administers everything for God according to the redemption He has accomplished, and the place He has taken in resurrection life and glory. He is there as the last Adam and the Second man, the Head and pattern of a new race of men. He is also the Advocate, Intercessor, and High Priest on behalf of those who believe on Him, who are still in weakness on earth and need His support and aid.

He is sitting at the right hand of God until His enemies are made His footstool. It is revealed that He will descend from heaven into the clouds to receive His own to Himself: the living changed and the dead raised in glory will be caught up to meet Him in the air. He will come with all His saints to reign where once He was rejected. He will purge out of His kingdom all evil and reign in righteousness, King of Righteousness and King of Peace. He will finally, having put down all enemies, deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; and, as the Son who has assumed manhood, take the place of subjection to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all—supreme in a vast universe of bliss, the Son being the Head and Pattern of the whole redeemed and blessed race of man.

He is Judge of living and dead, and all that have done evil He will exclude from the presence of God, in the hopeless and helpless misery prepared for the devil and his angels. He will thus have brought to an issue the whole question of good and evil. Good will be for ever secured, and evil be in its own place of powerless misery.


Jesus Christ
(<<)  (Unger's Bible Dictionary)

In order to understand the life of the Lord, recourse should first be had in brief to the broad teachings of the NT respecting the character, relations, and claims of Jesus Christ. He is the one subject whose history fills the four gospels. We should properly apprehend, although we cannot comprehend, the divine personality set forth in these Scriptures; that personality whose words, deeds, and sufferings, and whose revealing names and titles, are recorded for our learning. Names Assigned to the Lord Matthew opens his gospel as “the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David.” Both designations are used here as a personal name, although usually “Christ” is a term employed rather as an appellative, or common name.

His Personal Name. The Lord's personal name was Jesus, which signifies Savior. It is carefully accented by repetitions in the record as being highly important. (1) He was so called prospectively by Gabriel to Mary: “And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus” (Lk 1:31, italics added). (2) He was so named by the angel to Joseph in his supernatural dream respecting Mary and the child: “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). (3) He was so called on the day of His birth: “She gave birth to a son; and he called His name Jesus” (Mt 1:25). (4) He was so called when His name was officially bestowed at circumcision: “His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb” (Lk 2:21).

His Official Name:

His official appellative was Christ, which means the Anointed One. Here the Messiah and the Christ of the Scriptures meet and identify themselves in the personality of Jesus, who was anointed of God as the Prophet, Priest, and King (Christos = Christ = the Anointed. Hebrews "Mashiltah," Messiah = the Anointed). “You know, Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him” (Ac 10:38).

Andrew, who had been one of John the Baptist's disciples, when he turned to follow Jesus, “found first his own brother Simon, and said to Him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which translated means Christ)” (Jn 1:41, italics added). “It had been revealed” to the just and devout Simeon “by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ” (Lk 2:25-26, italics added). Peter, answering the Lord's question, said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16, italics added).

Other Titles:

The Jehovah of the OT is the Jesus of the NT.

(1) Jesus is called “the Son of Man” (ho huios tou anthropou). With this formula Jesus usually addressed Himself to the apprehension of His disciples. The reasons are obvious: Jesus was in His condition of humility; He was, as yet, thus best known to His followers in His humanity. He was to be known as the promised “seed” of the woman. He was a perfect man whose unique mission into this world was to be the Redeemer of lost mankind.

(2) Jesus is called distinctively “the Son of God” (ho huios tou thepou). This title expresses the deity of the Lord Jesus as distinguished from His humanity. In Scripture this designation is never applied to His miraculous birth, or exclusively to His messiahship, which, however, is included, but invariably to His original relation to the Father as He was in His preexistence before He assumed humanity. Our Lord declared Himself to be the Son of God, and included His messiahship as based upon His proper oneness and equality with God, either by direct expression or indirectly by implication. That relation made the messiahship possible, as expressed in “God … sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Ro 8:3). The reference is not to the incarnation or miraculous conception of Christ but to His oneness with God in the glory that He had with the Father before the world was created (Jn 17:5). Jesus said to the Jews, “Do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, “I am the Son of God’?” (Jn 10:36; cf. 9:35-37; Mt 26:33,64). The Jews understood that Jesus made this high claim and wanted to stone Him because He, being a man, had made Himself God (Jn 10:33). Paul reaffirms the claim when he represents Jesus Christ as He “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped…. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phl 2:6-11).

(3) Jesus is called “God our Savior” (ho Soteros hemon Theos). These passages express Christ's unity and identity with God, illustrating the character of the preexistence of Jesus. Hence, the apostle Paul speaks of “the commandment of God our Savior” (1Ti 1:1; Tit 1:3); of “the kindness of God our Savior and His love” (Tit 3:4); of that which “is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior” (1Ti 2:3); and that men should “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect” (Tit 2:10), “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Tit 2:13).

Ground of Christian Belief The four gospels are occupied in furnishing facts illustrative of Jesus Christ and His work as related to mankind; also in teaching His relation to God. As these Scriptures derive all their character and significance from His personality and life—without which they would have no occasion to exist—our faith in their teaching rests on the following propositions:

    (1) the absolutely unique and perfect manhood of Jesus Christ among men;
    (2) the realization in Him of all the messianic predictions of Scripture;
    (3) all His miracles (see Table 20, “The Miracles of Jesus”), being restorative, were part of His redemptive plan;
    (4) the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, an absolute historical fact;
    (5) the transformation secured in the character of the individual believer;
    (6) the Spirit's witness to personal adoption in Christian consciousness; and
    (7) the preeminence of the Christian nations as seen on the atlas of the world.

The Uniqueness of Christ as a Person As a result of form critics of the twentieth century, such as K. L. Schmidt, M. Dibelius, and R. Bultmann, and the consequent common critical view that the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and work are strongly mythological, there has been a strong tendency to strip Jesus Christ of the uniqueness ascribed to Him in the four gospels. The question may well be asked, In what sense was Jesus Christ unique?

Unique in His Birth. Was Jesus born like all other children by natural generation? Was Joseph His physical father? Is the doctrine of His virgin birth a myth effectually disposed of by form criticism and completely unhistorical? Whatever modern criticism may say, the record of the birth of Jesus as catalogued in the gospels presents the eternal Word who “was with God” and “was God” (Jn 1:1), becoming flesh (Jn 1:14) in a virgin's womb by the Holy Spirit and under the overshadowing “power of the Most High” (Lk 1:35).

Scripture gives a chaste, exalted story of the nativity. The gospels present Jesus as if He was divine. If God was actually becoming incarnate, conception in other than a virgin's womb would have been pure nonsense. No birth in all history was so simple and sublimely beautiful. If it is quasi-legendary and must be demythologized, why the absence of the fanciful and fantastic? Conception by the Holy Spirit, the virgin birth, the angelic choir on Judean hills, and the wise men's star present a marvelous blending of the simple and the sublime, the humanly inscrutable and the spiritually satisfying. If the incarnation was God become man, as the gospels present, and not merely God entering a man, as modern criticism teaches, the miraculous would be expected. If the critic conveniently labels these details in the nativity as myth and succeeds in demythologizing it, the result is a divine man but not a God-man. The resulting creation of the critics is an historical misfit not dovetailing with OT prophecies, NT doctrine, apocalyptic, general church history, and human experience. Besides, it crashes head-on with the rest of the gospel accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, which are of one piece with the nativity story. If we believe the gospels, we shall find ourselves bowing at the manger cradle of the Christ Child and adoring Him.

Unique in His Life. Was Jesus’ earthly life unique? Was He compassed with sin, afflicted with error and frailty common to all other men? Did He have a genuine messianic consciousness? Did He know who He was and what He had come into the world to do, or was He an apocalyptic enthusiast dominated by grandiose dreams, deluding Himself and His followers? Criticism of the life of Christ in the early part of this century tended to deny Him ethical flawlessness (cf. such liberal interpretations as Benjamin W. Bacon, Jesus the Son of God [1930]; Harry E. Fosdick, The Manhood of the Master [1913]; id., The Man from Nazareth [1950]; Sherwood Eddy, A Portrait of Jesus [1943]; Ralph W. Sockman, Paradoxes of Jesus [1936]; Ernest F. Tittle, Jesus After Nineteen Centuries [1932]). Whatever such criticism might conclude concerning the interpretation of the life of Jesus Christ, it is inescapable that He is presented in the gospels as sinless in life. A unique life is indicated as subsequent to a unique birth. With wonderful clarity the evangelists present a sinless Savior against the backdrop of a sinful world. He is portrayed as a Savior who came to save sinners and was able to save them because He Himself was sinless.

Although He was presented as sinless, He had the keenest sensitivity to sin. He was never conscious of sin in Himself. He never confessed sin. He is always depicted in the gospel accounts as acting and speaking apart from sin. John, the disciple closest to His affection, declares, “In Him there is no sin” (1Jn 3:5). Peter says He “committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth” (1Pe 2:22). Paul pens the fact that He “knew no sin” (2Co 5:21). Enemies were constrained to confess the same fact. Pilate confessed Him to be a righteous man (Mt 27:24) and declared, “I find no guilt in Him” (Jn 18:38). Judas had to own that he had betrayed “innocent blood” (Mt 27:4).

The gospels are filled with the fascination of a sinless and selfless Christ who cultivated unbroken fellowship with the Father in full obedience to the divine will, even to the death of the cross. Moreover, men who refuse to exercise faith in the gospel accounts and who view the sinlessness of Jesus as a pious fiction of the early church are confronted with the poignant beauty and power of Christ as the dominating character of the gospels.

Men like Wilhelm Wrede (Das Messiasgeheimnis in den Evangelien [1901]) denied the mystic consciousness of Jesus in the synoptic gospels, particularly in Mark. Wrede contended that mystery attaches to the problem of Jesus’ messiahship, and he used the term “Mystic Secret.” He declared this was a dogmatic invention of the primitive church. He held that the church had no real proof that Jesus Himself held to or declared Himself to be the Messiah. Consequently Wrede maintained it superimposed this dogmatic invention upon the traditional account of Christ's life in order to explain the silence of tradition on the subject. Wrede forgot that the phenomena he cited are explainable as simple historical facts rather than an artificial invention forced upon the accounts. Works in a general sense favorable to Wrede's position, with variations, are A. Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, 2d ed. (1911); M. Dibelius, From Tradition to Gospel (1935); C. C. McCown, The Search for the Real Jesus (1940); R. Bultmann, Theology of the N. T., vol. 1 (1951). More conservative interpretations are found in J. W. Bowman, The Intention of Jesus (1943); W. Manson, Jesus, the Messiah (1943); V. Taylor, The Gospel According to St. Mark (1952).

Unique in His Death. Were the sufferings of Jesus radically different from those of the saints and martyrs? Was His death unparalleled, or was it merely the martyrdom of a misguided zealot rather than the redemptive act of the Savior of the world? Was it vicarious, redemptive, and substitutionary, or was it purely an example and ethically influential? The theological thinking of the past century has been dominated by the spirit of relativism. This view, a product of the History of Religions school of the nineteenth century, professes to find elements similar to Christianity in the various great ethnic faiths. Its tendency is more and more to refuse to speak in absolutes, denying the uniqueness of Christianity and Christ and thus to put the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ on a general par with the experience of other great and good men. The present-day question of relativism in relation to the uniqueness of Christ and Christianity presents one of the most profound problems of our present ecclesiastical climate. Only by walking the way of faith will contemporary relativizing scholarship correct itself. Contemporary biblical criticism must realize that faith in the uniqueness of Christ and the absoluteness of Christianity is not an attainment of human intellect or human brilliance. It is gained rather through the enlightenment of the Spirit of God.

Looking at the gospel accounts, we discover that the sufferings of Christ are presented as entirely different from those of any other human being. The agony in the Garden and the sweat that “became like drops of blood” (Lk 22:44) were the result not merely of extreme mental and physical anguish on the human plane but were occasioned by the sinless soul of the Son of God coming in contact with the weight of the world's sin. Apart from this explanation the gospel accounts of the darkness of Gethsemane's anguish are unexplainable. The sufferings of Calvary are more than the excruciating pain of crucifixion or body-racking thirst. Other men have endured as much or more. The cross of Christ is a travesty unless He who hung there knew no sin but was made a sacrifice for sin “that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2Co 5:21). The sinless One coming in contact with the sin of the world and enduring the wrath of God against sin are the only sensible explanations of the unique sufferings of Christ. Without a sinless life and a virgin birth as antecedents, such a death is impossible and meaningless.

Contemporary scholarship develops the life of Christ under various presentations based on the assumption that Jesus differed only by degree from other people. Some, realizing the obvious fact that the gospels would never have been penned unless Jesus was an eminent personality, stress this element (cf. S. J. Case, The Historicity of Jesus [1912]; also the works of Browne and Ray O. Miller). Others highlight His character, such as Martin J. Scott. Others, His spiritual insight (F. W. Lewis) or His spiritual life (cf. Rittelmeyer, E. Irvine, and Steer). Others emphasize His strength of character and spiritual eminence (cf. David Smith, Wendling, and Coates). Others dwell upon the everyday naturalness of Jesus and His love of outdoor life (Bruce Barton and Kagawa). Albert Schweitzer held that Jesus reacted as a fanatic believer in an apocalyptic program (The Quest of the Historical Jesus [1910]; The Psychiatric Study of Jesus [1948]). The flaw of all of those treatments of the life of Christ is that our Lord differed only in degree from other men, whereas the gospels present Him as God become flesh, deity and humanity united in one Person.

Unique in His Resurrection. Is the bodily resurrection of Christ historically and experientially defensible, or is it a mere myth dreamed up by excited followers? Rationalism has always questioned the resurrection of Christ on the grounds of the miraculous, but this aspect of His Person and work is inseparable from His supernatural birth, life, and death. If Jesus was He whom the gospels portray Him to be and He whom He Himself claimed to be, resurrection was the vindicating event of His sinless life and redemptive death. More than this, it was an absolute necessity.

The prevailing problem in modern thinking is the difficulty of fitting the resurrection into the scientific atmosphere of our day that assumes that the universe is shut up to the rigid and irrefutable rule of natural law. But natural law is not a body of regulations that forces compliance. Rather, it is merely an observation of how things have been known to occur in the space-time universe. An adequate view of natural law does not preclude the possibility of divine intervention in the space-time universe any more than it rules out human exercise of mind over matter. By their abilities, men violate the laws of nature constantly.

Numerous writers in this scientific age labor to explain away Christ's physical resurrection. For example, Shirley Jackson Case maintains that the early Christian believers were compelled to outstrip their heathen rivals by attributing to their “hero” a resurrection that was already believed in by devotees of Osiris, Hercules, Dionysius, Adonis, and Attis (cf. S. J. Case, Experience with the Supernatural in Early Christian Times [1929]; The Origins of Christian Supernaturalism [1946]). Old writers such as K. H. Venturini at the beginning of the nineteenth century held the absurd position that Jesus did not really die but merely swooned, revived in the tomb, and was rescued by His disciples. D. F. Strauss, another noted rationalist, saw the ridiculousness of this view and supplanted it by a mystical theory (1835). Similarly C. H. Weisse, after the middle of the nineteenth century, refused to allow that the resurrection had to do with the outward corporeal existence but merely touched the spiritual and psychic life. Adolf Harnack accepted the Easter message of the soul's survival after death but rejected the Easter event.

Despite the unbelief of the naturalists the Christian church has hung tenaciously to the resurrection. The Lord's Day, the climax of the church calendar in Easter Sunday, and the experiential assurance of myriads of regenerated believers all attest the importance of this doctrine in Christian conviction. J. S. Stewart (A Faith to Proclaim [1953], pp. 106f.) speaks clearly of this as a “cosmic event” and as “the shattering of history by a creative act by God Almighty.” This, Stewart says, was God “doing something comparable only with what He had done at the first creation.”

All who clearly evaluate the resurrection see its inseparable connection with other unique features of the Person and work of Christ. Disbelievers in the resurrection of Christ must realize that this truth, like any other spiritual truth, becomes experiential on the basis of faith. Those who walk with the risen Christ, like the Emmaus disciples, will receive the revelation that they received. The present spiritually adrift age, dazzled by man's scientific progress and ensnared by towering intellectual pride, must realize that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a great experienced reality that makes intelligible all the other realities of the Person and work of Christ. Men are blundering today by thinking that science can speak ex cathedra on such a matter as Christ's resurrection. The voice of science is authoritative and often unquestioned in the natural realm, but regarding the life of Christ science cannot speak because it is confined to the natural and the life of Jesus of Nazareth spans both time and eternity and embraces the natural as well as the supernatural.

However, as an actual event of history, the resurrection of Christ on purely naturalistic grounds is as well attested an event as any happening of ancient times. The glowing faith of the hitherto unbelieving disciples, the establishment of the Christian church, the production of the NT Scriptures, and the history of the redemptive touch of the risen Christ upon the human heart are all phenomena that are unexplainable to the rationalistic denier of the historicity of the resurrection. Such a resurrection saga as confronts us in the NT, not only in the gospels but in all the other books, in itself is an eloquent contradiction of man's proud unbelief.

Unique in His Redemptive Touch. In the resurrection was fulfilled Christ's incipient announcement of the purpose of His coming into the world. “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). Down through the ages those who have rested their faith in a crucified and risen Redeemer have experienced the regenerating touch of God upon their lives. No change is quite so wonderful as that which takes place in the person who begins to have faith in Jesus Christ. Those who know His redemptive touch and make their quest the supreme goal of knowing Him (Phl 3:10), such as the apostle Paul did, have moved and are moving the world for God and for good. Not only does the believing soul receive life but fullness of life. The whole magnificent theology of Paul is based on the believer's union with the resurrected Christ. This exalted position Paul contends is transferred into experiential reality on the basis of faith. The believer in the resurrected Christ is “dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Ro 6:11). This high position is transferred into his everyday experience when he believes. Thus the resurrection power of Jesus Christ manifested in fullness of life is on a faith basis.

Those who do not exercise faith cannot hope to understand or interpret the life of Jesus, appreciate His personal work, or have any knowledge of the life or fullness of life He came to bring. They are shut up, if intellectually honest, to explaining away the miraculous and supernatural elements of His Person and unique work, which make Him what He is, and form the basis of what He accomplished. Thomas believed because he saw. But millions since his day and because of Christ's redemptive touch have been “blessed … who did not see, and yet believed” (Jn 20:29). It remains a thrilling fact that Christians, not only the ignorant and unlearned but the philosophical and learned, have this as a treasure, that they know the living Christ. Through the channel of faith His life has flowed into their being. Although they have never seen Him with the physical eye, He is no less real to the spiritual perception.

Because Jesus was unique in birth, in life, in sufferings, in death, and in resurrection, He is the basis of the good news, or gospel, that Christians have received and that they proclaim, by which gospel, Paul says, “you stand, by which also you are saved…. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1Co 15:1-3). It is thus apparent that apart from the many-sided uniqueness of the Person and work of Christ there can be no Christian gospel. The gospel centers in Christ. The gospel is Christ. The gospel brings to men redemption. Men who reject the Christ of the four gospels cut away the foundation of the Christian gospel. This may not seem a tragedy to those with superficial views of sin and the necessity of God's grace. But souls awakened to the depravity of sin and the lostness of the human soul apart from God's mercy, see in the rejection of the supernatural Christ a catastrophe of first magnitude. Without the Christ of the gospels fulfilling the messianic prophecies of the OT and furnishing the gospel as expounded by the apostle Paul, Christianity is an empty shell, a mere corpse overlaid with elaborate ritual and costly trappings, but spiritually meaningless. Christ is the life of Christianity and its very heart. If the heart is rejected, the life is forfeited. Jesus must remain the absolute One or the greatest unanswered riddle of history.M.F.U.


250 Events in the Life of Christ / A Harmony of the Gospels
(<<)  (Life Application New Testament Commentary)

All four books in the Bible that tell the story of Jesus Christ—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—stand alone, emphasizing a unique aspect of Jesus' life. But when these are blended into one complete account, or harmonized, we gain new insights about the life of Christ.

This harmony combines the four Gospels into a single chronological account of Christ's life on earth. It includes every chapter and verse of each Gospel, leaving nothing out.

The harmony is divided into 250 events. The title of each event is identical to the title found in the corresponding Gospel. Parallel passages found in more than one Gospel have identical titles, helping you to identify them quickly.

Each of the 250 events in the harmony is numbered. The number of the event corresponds to the number next to the title in the Bible text. When reading one of the Gospel accounts, you will notice, at times, that some numbers are missing or out of sequence. The easiest way to locate these events is to refer to the harmony.

In addition, if you are looking for a particular event in the life of Christ, the harmony can help you locate it more rapidly than paging through all four Gospels. Each of the 250 events has a distinctive title keyed to the main emphasis of the passage to help you locate and remember the events.

THIS HARMONY WILL HELP YOU TO BETTER VISUALIZE THE TRAVELS OF JESUS, STUDY THE FOUR GOSPELS COMPARATIVELY, AND APPRECIATE THE UNITY OF THEIR MESSAGE.

I. BIRTH AND PREPARATION OF JESUS CHRIST

1 Luke's purpose in writing Lk 1:1-4
2 God became a humanJn 1:1-18
3 The record of Jesus' ancestors Mt 1:1-17 Lk 3:23-38
4 An angel promises the birth of John to Zechariah Lk 1:5-25
5 An angel promises the birth of Jesus to Mary Lk 1:26-38
6 Mary visits Elizabeth Lk 1:39-56
7 John the Baptist is born Lk 1:57-80
8 An angel appears to Joseph Mt 1:18-25
9 Jesus is born in Bethlehem Lk 2:1-7
10 Shepherds visit Jesus Lk 2:8-20
11 Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the Temple Lk 2:21-40
12 Visitors arrive from eastern lands Mt 2:1-12
13 The escape to Egypt Mt 2:13-18
14 The return to Nazareth Mt 2:19-23
15 Jesus speaks with the religious teachers Lk 2:41-52
16 John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus Mt 3:1-12 Mk 1:1-8 Lk 3:1-18
17 The baptism of Jesus Mt 3:13-17 Mk 1:9-11 Lk 3:21, 22
18 Satan tempts Jesus in the wilderness Mt 4:1-11 Mk 1:12, 13 Lk 4:1-13
19 John the Baptist declares his missionJn 1:19-28
20 John the Baptist proclaims Jesus as the MessiahJn 1:29-34
21 The first disciples follow JesusJn 1:35-51
22 Jesus turns water into wineJn 2:1-12

II. MESSAGE AND MINISTRY OF JESUS CHRIST

23 Jesus clears the TempleJn 2:13-25
24 Nicodemus visits Jesus at nightJn 3:1-21
25 John the Baptist tells more about JesusJn 3:22-36
26 Herod puts John in prison Lk 3:19, 20
27 Jesus talks to a woman at the wellJn 4:1-26
28 Jesus tells about the spiritual harvestJn 4:27-38
29 Many Samaritans believe in JesusJn 4:39-42
30 Jesus preaches in Galilee Mt 4:12-17 Mk 1:14, 15 Lk 4:14, 15 Jn 4:43-45
31 Jesus heals a government official's sonJn 4:46-54
32 Jesus is rejected at Nazareth Lk 4:16-30
33 Four fishermen follow Jesus Mt 4:18-22 Mk 1:16-20
34 Jesus teaches with great authority Mk 1:21-28 Lk 4:31-37
35 Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law and many others Mt 8:14-17 Mk 1:29-34 Lk 4:38-41
36 Jesus preaches throughout Galilee Mt 4:23-25 Mk 1:35-39 Lk 4:42-44
37 Jesus provides a miraculous catch of fish Lk 5:1-11
38 Jesus heals a man with leprosy Mt 8:1-4 Mk 1:40-45 Lk 5:12-16
39 Jesus heals a paralyzed man Mt 9:1-8 Mk 2:1-12 Lk 5:17-26
40 Jesus eats with sinners at Matthew's house Mt 9:9-13 Mk 2:13-17 Lk 5:27-32
41 Religious leaders ask Jesus about fasting Mt 9:14-17 Mk 2:18-22 Lk 5:33-39
42 Jesus heals a lame man by a poolJn 5:1-15
43 Jesus claims to be the Son of GodJn 5:16-30
44 Jesus supports his claimJn 5:31-47
45 The disciples pick wheat on the Sabbath Mt 12:1-8 Mk 2:23-28 Lk 6:1-5
46 Jesus heals a man's hand on the Sabbath Mt 12:9-14 Mk 3:1-6 Lk 6:6-11
47 Large crowds follow Jesus Mt 12:15-21 Mk 3:7-12
48 Jesus chooses the twelve disciples Mk 3:13-19 Lk 6:12-16
49 Jesus gives the Beatitudes Mt 5:1-12 Lk 6:17-26
50 Jesus teaches about salt and light Mt 5:13-16
51 Jesus teaches about the law Mt 5:17-20
52 Jesus teaches about anger Mt 5:21-26
53 Jesus teaches about lust Mt 5:27-30
54 Jesus teaches about divorce Mt 5:31, 32
55 Jesus teaches about vows Mt 5:33-37
56 Jesus teaches about revenge Mt 5:38-42
57 Jesus teaches about loving enemies Mt 5:43-48 Lk 6:27-36
58 Jesus teaches about giving to the needy Mt 6:1-4
59 Jesus teaches about prayer Mt 6:5-15
60 Jesus teaches about fasting Mt 6:16-18
61 Jesus teaches about money Mt 6:19-24
62 Jesus teaches about worry Mt 6:25-34
63 Jesus teaches about judging others Mt 7:1-6 Lk 6:37-42
64 Jesus teaches about asking, looking, knocking Mt 7:7-12
65 Jesus teaches about the way to heaven Mt 7:13, 14
66 Jesus teaches about fruit in people's lives Mt 7:15-20 Lk 6:43-45
67 Jesus teaches about building on a solid foundation Mt 7:21-29 Lk 6:46-49
68 A Roman officer demonstrates faith Mt 8:5-13 Lk 7:1-10
69 Jesus raises a widow's son from the dead Lk 7:11-17
70 Jesus eases John's doubt Mt 11:1-19 Lk 7:18-35
71 Jesus promises rest for the soul Mt 11:20-30
72 A sinful woman anoints Jesus' feet Lk 7:36-50
73 Women accompany Jesus and the disciples Lk 8:1-3
74 Religious leaders accuse Jesus of getting his power from Satan Mt 12:22-37 Mk 3:20-30
75 Religious leaders ask Jesus for a miracle Mt 12:38-45
76 Jesus describes his true family Mt 12:46-50 Mk 3:31-35 Lk 8:19-21
77 Jesus tells the parable of the four soils Mt 13:1-9 Mk 4:1-9 Lk 8:4-8
78 Jesus explains the parable of the four soils Mt 13:10-23 Mk 4:10-25 Lk 8:9-18
79 Jesus tells the parable of the growing seed Mk 4:26-29
80 Jesus tells the parable of the weeds Mt 13:24-30
81 Jesus tells the parable of the mustard seed Mt 13:31, 32 Mk 4:30-34
82 Jesus tells the parable of the yeast Mt 13:33-35
83 Jesus explains the parable of the weeds Mt 13:36-43
84 Jesus tells the parable of hidden treasure Mt 13:44
85 Jesus tells the parable of the pearl merchant Mt 13:45, 46
86 Jesus tells the parable of the fishing net Mt 13:47-52
87 Jesus calms the storm Mt 8:23-27 Mk 4:35-41 Lk 8:22-25
88 Jesus sends demons into a herd of pigs Mt 8:28-34 Mk 5:1-20 Lk 8:26-39
89 Jesus heals a bleeding woman and restores a girl to life Mt 9:18-26 Mk 5:21-43 Lk 8:40-56
90 Jesus heals the blind and mute Mt 9:27-34
91 The people of Nazareth refuse to believe Mt 13:53-58 Mk 6:1-6
92 Jesus urges the disciples to pray for workers Mt 9:35-38
93 Jesus sends out the twelve disciples Mt 10:1-15 Mk 6:7-13 Lk 9:1-6
94 Jesus prepares the disciples for persecution Mt 10:16-42
95 Herod kills John the Baptist Mt 14:1-12 Mk 6:14-29 Lk 9:7-9
96 Jesus feeds five thousand Mt 14:13-21 Mk 6:30-44 Lk 9:10-17 Jn 6:1-15
97 Jesus walks on water Mt 14:22-33 Mk 6:45-52 Jn 6:16-21
98 Jesus heals all who touch Him Mt 14:34-36 Mk 6:53-56
99 Jesus is the true bread from heavenJn 6:22-40
100 The people disagree that Jesus is from heavenJn 6:41-59
101 Many disciples desert JesusJn 6:60-71
102 Jesus teaches about inner purity Mt 15:1-20 Mk 7:1-23
103 Jesus sends a demon out of a girl Mt 15:21-28 Mk 7:24-30
104 Jesus heals many people Mt 15:29-31 Mk 7:31-37
105 Jesus feeds four thousand Mt 15:32-39 Mk 8:1-10
106 Leaders demand a miraculous sign Mt 16:1-4 Mk 8:11-13
107 Jesus warns against wrong teaching Mt 16:5-12 Mk 8:14-21
108 Jesus restores sight to a blind man Mk 8:22-26
109 Peter says Jesus is the Messiah Mt 16:13-20 Mk 8:27-30 Lk 9:18-20
110 Jesus predicts his death the first time Mt 16:21-28 Mk 8:31-9:1 Lk 9:21-27111 Jesus is transfigured on the mountain Mt 17:1-13 Mk 9:2-13 Lk 9:28-36
112 Jesus heals a demon-possessed boy Mt 17:14-21 Mk 9:14-29 Lk 9:37-43
113 Jesus predicts his death the second time Mt 17:22, 23 Mk 9:30-32 Lk 9:44, 45
114 Peter finds the coin in the fish's mouth Mt 17:24-27
115 The disciples argue about who would be the greatest Mt 18:1-6 Mk 9:33-37Lk 9:46-48
116 The disciples forbid another to use Jesus' name Mk 9:38-41 Lk 9:49, 50
117 Jesus warns against temptation Mt 18:7-9 Mk 9:42-50
118 Jesus warns against looking down on others Mt 18:10-14
119 Jesus teaches how to treat a believer who sins Mt 18:15-20
120 Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving debtor Mt 18:21-35
121 Jesus' brothers ridicule HimJn 7:1-9
122 Jesus teaches about the cost of following Him Mt 8:18-22 Lk 9:51-62
123 Jesus teaches openly at the TempleJn 7:10-31
124 Religious leaders attempt to arrest JesusJn 7:32-52
125 Jesus forgives an adulterous womanJn 7:53-8:11
126 Jesus is the light of the worldJn 8:12-20
127 Jesus warns of coming judgmentJn 8:21-30
128 Jesus speaks about God's true childrenJn 8:31-47
129 Jesus states he is eternalJn 8:48-59
130 Jesus sends out seventy-two messengers Lk 10:1-16
131 The seventy-two messengers return Lk 10:17-24
132 Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan Lk 10:25-37
133 Jesus visits Mary and Martha Lk 10:38-42
134 Jesus teaches his disciples about prayer Lk 11:1-13
135 Jesus answers hostile accusations Lk 11:14-28
136 Jesus warns against unbelief Lk 11:29-32
137 Jesus teaches about the light within Lk 11:33-36
138 Jesus criticizes the religious leaders Lk 11:37-54
139 Jesus speaks against hypocrisy Lk 12:1-12
140 Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool Lk 12:13-21
141 Jesus warns about worry Lk 12:22-34
142 Jesus warns about preparing for his coming Lk 12:35-48
143 Jesus warns about coming division Lk 12:49-53
144 Jesus warns about the future crisis Lk 12:54-59
145 Jesus calls the people to repent Lk 13:1-9
146 Jesus heals the crippled woman Lk 13:10-17
147 Jesus teaches about the Kingdom of God Lk 13:18-21
148 Jesus heals the man who was born blindJn 9:1-12
149 Religious leaders question the blind manJn 9:13-34
150 Jesus teaches about spiritual blindnessJn 9:35-41
151 Jesus is the good shepherdJn 10:1-21
152 Religious leaders surround Jesus at the TempleJn 10:22-42
153 Jesus teaches about entering the Kingdom Lk 13:22-30
154 Jesus grieves over Jerusalem Lk 13:31-35
155 Jesus heals a man with swollen limbs Lk 14:1-6
156 Jesus teaches about seeking honor Lk 14:7-14
157 Jesus tells the parable of the great festival Lk 14:15-24
158 Jesus teaches about the cost of being a disciple Lk 14:25-35
159 Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep Lk 15:1-7
160 Jesus tells the parable of the lost coin Lk 15:8-10
161 Jesus tells the parable of the lost son Lk 15:11-32
162 Jesus tells the parable of the shrewd manager Lk 16:1-18
163 Jesus tells about the rich man and the beggar Lk 16:19-31
164 Jesus tells about forgiveness and faith Lk 17:1-10
165 Lazarus becomes ill and diesJn 11:1-16
166 Jesus comforts Mary and MarthaJn 11:17-37
167 Jesus raises Lazarus from the deadJn 11:38-44
168 Religious leaders plot to kill JesusJn 11:45-57
169 Jesus heals ten men with leprosy Lk 17:11-19
170 Jesus teaches about the coming of the Kingdom of God Lk 17:20-37
171 Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow Lk 18:1-8
172 Jesus tells the parable of two men who prayed Lk 18:9-14
173 Jesus teaches about marriage and divorce Mt 19:1-12 Mk 10:1-12
174 Jesus blesses the children Mt 19:13-15 Mk 10:13-16 Lk 18:15-17
175 Jesus speaks to the rich young man Mt 19:16-30 Mk 10:17-31 Lk 18:18-30176 Jesus tells the parable of the vineyard workers Mt 20:1-16
177 Jesus predicts his death the third time Mt 20:17-19 Mk 10:32-34 Lk 18:31-34
178 Jesus teaches about serving others Mt 20:20-28 Mk 10:35-45
179 Jesus heals a blind beggar Mt 20:29-34 Mk 10:46-52 Lk 18:35-43
180 Jesus brings salvation to Zacchaeus's home Lk 19:1-10
181 Jesus tells the parable of the king's ten servants Lk 19:11-27
182 A woman anoints Jesus with perfume Mt 26:6-13 Mk 14:3-9 Jn 12:1-11
183 Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a young donkey Mt 21:1-11 Mk 11:1-11 Lk 19:28-44 Jn 12:12-19
184 Jesus clears the Temple again Mt 21:12-17 Mk 11:12-19 Lk 19:45-48
185 Jesus explains why he must dieJn 12:20-36
186 Most of the people do not believe in JesusJn 12:37-43
187 Jesus summarizes his messageJn 12:44-50
188 Jesus says the disciples can pray for anything Mt 21:18-22 Mk 11:20-26
189 Religious leaders challenge Jesus' authority Mt 21:23-27 Mk 11:27-33 Lk 20:1-8
190 Jesus tells the parable of the two sons Mt 21:28-32
191 Jesus tells the parable of the evil farmers Mt 21:33-46 Mk 12:1-12 Lk 20:9-19
192 Jesus tells the parable of the wedding dinner Mt 22:1-14
193 Religious leaders question Jesus about paying taxes Mt 22:15-22 Mk 12:13-17 Lk 20:20-26
194 Religious leaders question Jesus about the Resurrection Mt 22:23-33 Mk 12:18-27 Lk 20:27-40
195 Religious leaders question Jesus about the greatest commandment Mt 22:34-40 Mk 12:28-34
196 Religious leaders cannot answer Jesus' question Mt 22:41-46 Mk 12:35-37 Lk 20:41-44
197 Jesus warns against the religious leaders Mt 23:1-12 Mk 12:38-40 Lk 20:45-47
198 Jesus condemns the religious leaders Mt 23:13-36
199 Jesus grieves over Jerusalem again Mt 23:37-39
200 A poor widow gives all she has Mk 12:41-44 Lk 21:1-4
201 Jesus tells about the future Mt 24:1-25 Mk 13:1-23 Lk 21:5-24
202 Jesus tells about his return Mt 24:26-35 Mk 13:24-31 Lk 21:25-33
203 Jesus tells about remaining watchful Mt 24:36-51 Mk 13:32-37 Lk 21:34-38204 Jesus tells the parable of the ten bridesmaids Mt 25:1-13
205 Jesus tells the parable of the loaned money Mt 25:14-30
206 Jesus tells about the final judgment Mt 25:31-46

III. DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

207 Religious leaders plot to kill Jesus Mt 26:1-5 Mk 14:1, 2 Lk 22:1, 2
208 Judas agrees to betray Jesus Mt 26:14-16 Mk 14:10, 11 Lk 22:3-6
209 Disciples prepare for the Passover Mt 26:17-19 Mk 14:12-16 Lk 22:7-13
210 Jesus washes the disciples' feetJn 13:1-20
211 Jesus and the disciples share the Last Supper Mt 26:20-30 Mk 14:17-26 Lk 22:14-30 Jn 13:21-30
212 Jesus predicts Peter's denial Lk 22:31-38 Jn 13:31-38
213 Jesus is the way to the FatherJn 14:1-14
214 Jesus promises the Holy SpiritJn 14:15-31
215 Jesus teaches about the vine and the branchesJn 15:1-17
216 Jesus warns about the world's hatredJn 15:18-16:4
217 Jesus teaches about the Holy SpiritJn 16:5-15
218 Jesus teaches about using his name in prayerJn 16:16-33
219 Jesus prays for HimselfJn 17:1-5
220 Jesus prays for his disciplesJn 17:6-19
221 Jesus prays for future believersJn 17:20-26
222 Jesus again predicts Peter's denial Mt 26:31-35 Mk 14:27-31
223 Jesus agonizes in the garden Mt 26:36-46 Mk 14:32-42 Lk 22:39-46
224 Jesus is betrayed and arrested Mt 26:47-56 Mk 14:43-52 Lk 22:47-53 Jn 18:1-11
225 Annas questions JesusJn 18:12-24
226 Caiaphas questions Jesus Mt 26:57-68 Mk 14:53-65
227 Peter denies knowing Jesus Mt 26:69-75 Mk 14:66-72 Lk 22:54-65 Jn 18:25-27
228 The council of religious leaders condemns Jesus Mt 27:1, 2 Mk 15:1 Lk 22:66-71
229 Judas hangs himself Mt 27:3-10
230 Jesus' trial before Pilate Mt 27:11-14 Mk 15:2-5 Lk 23:1-5 Jn 18:28-37
231 Jesus stands trial before Herod Lk 23:6-12
232 Pilate hands Jesus over to be crucified Mt 27:15-26 Mk 15:6-15 Lk 23:13-25 Jn 18:38-19:16
233 Roman soldiers mock Jesus Mt 27:27-31 Mk 15:16-20
234 Jesus is led away to be crucified Mt 27:32-34 Mk 15:21-24 Lk 23:26-31 Jn 19:17
235 Jesus is placed on the cross Mt 27:35-44 Mk 15:25-32 Lk 23:32-43 Jn 19:18-27
236 Jesus dies on the cross Mt 27:45-56 Mk 15:33-41 Lk 23:44-49 Jn 19:28-37
237 Jesus is laid in the tomb Mt 27:57-61 Mk 15:42-47 Lk 23:50-56 Jn 19:38-42
238 Guards are posted at the tomb Mt 27:62-66
239 Jesus rises from the dead Mt 28:1-7 Mk 16:1-8 Lk 24:1-12 Jn 20:1-10
240 Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene Mk 16:9-11 Jn 20:11-18
241 Jesus appears to the women Mt 28:8-10
242 Religious leaders bribe the guards Mt 28:11-15
243 Jesus appears to two believers traveling on the road Mk 16:12, 13 Lk 24:13-34
244 Jesus appears to his disciples Lk 24:35-43 Jn 20:19-23
245 Jesus appears to Thomas Mk 16:14 Jn 20:24-31
246 Jesus appears to seven disciplesJn 21:1-14
247 Jesus challenges PeterJn 21:15-25
248 Jesus gives the great commission Mt 28:16-20 Mk 16:15-18
249 Jesus appears to the disciples in Jerusalem Lk 24:44-49
250 Jesus ascends into heaven Mk 16:19, 20 Lk 24:50-53

-- John 3:16-17:
16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

-- Hebrews 13:8:
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

-- Hebrews 12:2:
"2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

-- Isaiah 9:6:
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."