Jesus Christ(savior, saviour, christ, yeshua)
Summary
The incarnate Son of God and Savior of mankind, born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, who fulfilled the Old Testament messianic prophecies through His sinless life, atoning death, and resurrection, establishing the new covenant and founding the Christian faith.
☩The Names
The designation 'Jesus Christ' combines a personal name with an official title. 'Jesus' (Greek Ἰησοῦς, Iēsous) is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, Yehoshua), meaning 'Jehovah is salvation' or 'Jehovah saves.' This name was divinely appointed before His birth, as the angel declared to Joseph: 'Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins' (Matthew 1:21). The name 'Christ' (Greek Χριστός, Christos) means 'anointed' and is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew 'Messiah' (מָשִׁיחַ, Mashiach). In the Old Testament, prophets, priests, and kings were anointed for their offices, and Christ fulfills all three roles supremely. Jesus was anointed not with oil but with the Holy Spirit—in the womb at His incarnation and publicly at His baptism when the Spirit descended upon Him as a dove. 'Son of Man,' a title Jesus frequently used of Himself, derives from Daniel 7:13 and emphasizes both His identification with humanity and His future glorification.
☩Birth and Early Life
Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem of Judea during the reign of Augustus Caesar and Herod the Great, approximately 6-4 BC. His birth fulfilled the prophecy of Micah 5:2 concerning the Messiah's birthplace. After the visit of the Magi and the flight into Egypt to escape Herod's massacre of the infants, the family settled in Nazareth of Galilee, where Jesus grew up. At His presentation in the Temple, the aged Simeon recognized Him as 'a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel' (Luke 2:32). The only recorded incident from His youth is His visit to Jerusalem at age twelve, where He astonished the religious teachers with His understanding and declared His devotion to 'my Father's business' (Luke 2:49). For approximately thirty years, Jesus lived in obscurity, subject to His parents, working as a carpenter, and 'increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man' (Luke 2:52).
☩Baptism and Temptation
At approximately thirty years of age, Jesus began His public ministry by being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. Though sinless and having no need of repentance, He submitted to baptism 'to fulfill all righteousness' (Matthew 3:15), identifying Himself with sinful humanity and formally inaugurating His messianic mission. At His baptism, the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, and the Father's voice declared, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased' (Matthew 3:17)—a divine attestation of His identity and mission. Immediately afterward, the Spirit led Jesus into the Judean wilderness where He fasted forty days and was tempted by Satan. The three temptations—to turn stones to bread, to cast Himself from the Temple pinnacle, and to worship Satan in exchange for the kingdoms of the world—tested His obedience to the Father's will and His commitment to accomplish salvation by the appointed path of suffering. Jesus defeated each temptation by appealing to Scripture, demonstrating His perfect humanity and qualification as the sinless Savior.
☩Public Ministry
Jesus' public ministry lasted approximately three years, from His baptism (c. AD 26-27) to His crucifixion (c. AD 30). He proclaimed the arrival of the kingdom of God, calling people to repentance and faith. His ministry was characterized by authoritative teaching—especially through parables—and miraculous works including healings, exorcisms, nature miracles, and raising the dead. These miracles authenticated His divine mission and demonstrated the inbreaking of God's kingdom. Early in His ministry, Jesus chose twelve apostles to be His intimate companions, witnesses, and future leaders of the Church. His teaching emphasized inward righteousness over external formalism, love of God and neighbor as the summation of the Law, and faith in Himself as the way to the Father. The Sermon on the Mount presents the ethical standards of His kingdom, while His discourses in John's Gospel reveal His divine self-consciousness as the eternal Son, the bread of life, the light of the world, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth, and the life, and the true vine.
☩Death and Resurrection
Jesus' final week began with His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, where crowds hailed Him as the Son of David. During the Passover week, He cleansed the Temple, debated religious leaders, taught about the end times, and instituted the Lord's Supper with His disciples. After agonizing prayer in Gethsemane, He was betrayed by Judas, arrested, and subjected to Jewish and Roman trials marked by false testimony and injustice. Though Pilate found no fault in Him, Jesus was scourged, mocked, and crucified at Golgotha between two criminals. His death was substitutionary—'the just for the unjust'—bearing the sins of the world and satisfying divine justice. At His death, the Temple veil was torn, signifying open access to God through His sacrifice. Buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, Jesus rose bodily on the third day, as He had predicted and as the Scriptures foretold. Over forty days, He appeared to His disciples on multiple occasions, providing 'many infallible proofs' of His resurrection (Acts 1:3), before ascending to heaven from the Mount of Olives.
☩Person and Character
The unique glory of Jesus Christ lies in the union of His divine and human natures in one Person. As the eternal Word made flesh (John 1:14), He possessed all the attributes of deity while experiencing genuine human life, development, and emotion—yet without sin. His character displayed perfect holiness, infinite compassion, courageous truth-telling, humble service, and unwavering obedience to the Father's will. Even His enemies could bring no legitimate charge against Him. He was meek under provocation yet dignified; accessible to sinners yet uncompromisingly pure; tender toward the weak yet fierce in denouncing hypocrisy. His constant communion with the Father through prayer was the secret spring of His unstained holiness. The life and character of Jesus Christ, as one scholar noted, 'is the holy of holies in the history of the world'—a character so sublime that no human imagination could have invented it.
Related Verses1832 mentions
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Jesus Christ," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IV (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Jesus Christ," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. III (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Jesus Christ," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).
- 4.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Jesus Christ," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).