Jesus Christ
Overview
- Testament: Both — eternal and pre-existent before the Old Testament; incarnate and revealed fully in the New Testament
- Role: Eternal Son of God; Messiah and Anointed One; Prophet, Priest, and King; Savior of the world; head of the church; coming Judge
- Books: All 66 — the entire Bible is his story from Genesis to Revelation. He is the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), the seed of Abraham (Genesis 12:3; Galatians 3:16), the son of David (2 Samuel 7:12-16), the suffering servant (Isaiah 53), and the returning King (Revelation 19). The Old Testament anticipates him; the Gospels reveal him; the Epistles explain him; Revelation consummates his reign.
No figure in Scripture — or in all of history — occupies the place that Jesus Christ does. He is the axis on which the whole of God’s redemptive purpose turns. Every sacrifice points forward to him; every apostolic letter looks back to him and outward to his return. To understand the Bible is to understand Jesus Christ.
The Eternal Son
Before time, before creation, before Israel, before Adam, the Son of God existed in eternal fellowship with the Father. He is not a created being who attained divinity; he is coeternal and coequal with the Father, sharing the divine nature fully.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3). John’s prologue is the most compressed and complete summary of his identity in all of Scripture. The Greek Logos — the Word — carries both the Hebraic sense of God’s active, creative, self-revealing speech and the Greek sense of divine reason ordering all things. Both meanings are in view. He is God’s eternal self-expression.
Colossians 1:15-17 declares him “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” He is not first among creatures; he is the ground of all creaturely existence. Creation did not precede him — he preceded and produced creation.
Hebrews 1:2-3 says God “hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power.” He is not only the agent of creation but its sustainer — the one by whose ongoing word all things cohere.
Philippians 2:6 says he existed “in the form of God” — morphe theou — the outward expression of a divine nature. This was his eternal condition before the Incarnation.
Pre-incarnate Appearances: The OT appearances of the Angel of the LORD — who speaks as God, receives worship, and yet is distinguished from the LORD — are widely interpreted as pre-incarnate appearances of the Son. At Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 18), three visitors appear to Abraham; one speaks as God. At the burning bush (Exodus 3), the Angel of the LORD appears yet the voice is God himself. Before the fall of Jericho (Joshua 5:13-15), the Commander of the LORD’s army appears to Joshua and receives worship. These theophanies prepared the way for the full appearance of God in flesh.
Isaiah 9:6 gives him the name “Everlasting Father” — meaning he bears the character and authority of the eternal God, the Father of all that is — alongside “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The Prince of Peace.” These names are not titles of a creature; they are names of God himself applied to the coming child.
The Incarnation
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The eternal Son of God took to himself a real human nature — not a disguise, not a temporary form, but genuine humanity, complete in all respects except sin. This is the miracle of miracles: God becoming man without ceasing to be God.
The Annunciation to Mary (Mother of Jesus) through the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26-38) announced what no human wisdom could have devised. The Holy Ghost would overshadow her and the child conceived would be the Son of God (Luke 1:35). Joseph’s dream confirmed it: “that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 1:20). The virgin conception was not a biological curiosity; it was the entry point of the eternal into the temporal, the sinless into the sinful.
The Birth of Jesus occurred in Bethlehem of Judaea, fulfilling Bethlehem Ruler Promised (Micah 5:2) — “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel.” The census of Caesar Augustus brought Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and so the sovereign purposes of God worked through the policies of a pagan emperor. Angels announced the birth to shepherds; wise men from the east brought gifts and homage. Herod the Great sought to kill him; Joseph fled with the family to Egypt (Matthew 2:14-15), fulfilling “Out of Egypt have I called my son” (Hosea 11:1). He returned to Nazareth after Herod’s death, growing up in obscurity.
The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple fulfilled the law (Luke 2:22-38); Simeon held him and declared him “a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (2:32), and warned Mary that a sword would pierce her own soul. Anna the prophetess gave thanks and spoke of him to all who waited for redemption in Jerusalem.
The Boy Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41-52) offers the only glimpse into his boyhood. At twelve, he remained behind in Jerusalem, found three days later in the Temple among the teachers, “both hearing them, and asking them questions.” To his mother’s gentle alarm he replied, “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49) — his first recorded words, and already a declaration of divine sonship. He was subject to his parents and “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (2:52). He experienced genuine human development.
The Incarnation means that everything that can be said of a true human being can be said of Jesus Christ in his earthly life. He was hungry after fasting (Matthew 4:2). He was tired at a well (John 4:6). He was moved with compassion at sorrow (John 11:33-35). He wept (John 11:35) — the shortest verse in Scripture, and one of the most profound: God weeping at the grave of a friend. He suffered real pain; he died a real death. Yet in all of this he never ceased to be the eternal Son of God.
Public Ministry
Jesus began his public ministry at approximately age thirty (Luke 3:23), the age at which Levitical priests entered full service — fitting for the great High Priest.
Baptism and Temptation
The Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist at the Jordan inaugurated his public work. John protested — “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?” — but Jesus insisted it was necessary “to fulfil all righteousness” (Matthew 3:14-15). He identified with sinners not because he was sinful but because he came to bear their sin. As he came up from the water, the Spirit of God descended as a dove and the Father spoke: “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). The Trinity was manifest at the inauguration of the ministry of redemption.
Immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness for the Temptation of Jesus — forty days of fasting and temptation by the devil. Satan attacked on three fronts: appetite (“command that these stones be made bread”), presumption (“cast thyself down”), and worldly ambition (“all these kingdoms will I give thee”). Each was an offer to fulfill a legitimate goal by an illegitimate means — comfort, confirmation, and kingship — without the cross. Jesus repelled every temptation with Scripture alone: “It is written.” Where Adam failed in a garden and where Israel failed in the wilderness over forty years, Jesus the true Man and true Israel stood firm. His victory here was the first installment of his conquest over Satan.
Galilean Ministry
The Galilean ministry was characterized by preaching, calling disciples, and demonstrating the power of the kingdom. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15) was his opening proclamation. He called fishermen — Peter, Andrew, James, John — with the words “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).
The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is the most comprehensive summary of the kingdom’s ethics ever delivered. The Beatitudes describe the character of those who belong to the kingdom — poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungry for righteousness. The Antitheses (“Ye have heard that it was said… but I say unto you”) do not overturn the OT law but penetrate to its root in the heart, deepening rather than weakening it. The Lord’s Prayer (6:9-13) is the kingdom’s prayer. The Sermon ends with the two foundations — hearing and doing, or hearing and not doing — the rock and the sand.
His Parables disclosed the mysteries of the kingdom to those with ears to hear and concealed them from those hardened against the truth (Matthew 13:10-15). The Parable of the Sower: four soils, one seed. The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32): the scandalous mercy of the Father running to meet the returning sinner. The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37): mercy without borders. The Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price: the kingdom is worth everything. The Ten Virgins: readiness for his return. The Talents: faithful stewardship until he comes back.
His miracles were not merely works of compassion — though they were genuinely compassionate — but signs of the kingdom’s arrival and his authority as its King. He stilled a storm with a word (Mark 4:39). He walked on water (Matthew 14:25). He fed five thousand with five loaves and two fish (John 6:1-13). He raised Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5:41-42), the widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:14-15), and most dramatically, Lazarus after four days in the tomb (John 11). He healed lepers, who were untouchable; he gave sight to the blind (Healing at Bethsaida, Ephphatha); he cast out demons with authority that amazed even hostile witnesses. These were not incidental to his mission — they were previews of the new creation that his death and resurrection would purchase.
The Messianic Secret
Especially prominent in Mark’s Gospel (Messianic Secret), Jesus repeatedly commanded those he healed and the demons he cast out to be silent about his identity. This was not false modesty but strategic timing: the meaning of his person could only be properly understood in light of the cross and resurrection. A Messiah who healed and performed signs, apart from the suffering and atonement he came to accomplish, would be radically misunderstood — as the crowd’s attempt to make him king by force demonstrated (John 6:15).
Peter’s Confession and First Passion Prediction
At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples who men said he was, and then: “But whom say ye that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). Peter’s Confession — “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (16:16) — was the hinge-point of the ministry. Jesus declared that this revelation came not from flesh and blood but from his Father, and upon this confession — that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God — he would build his church, against which the gates of hell would not prevail (16:18). Immediately afterward he gave the first clear prediction of his suffering, death, and resurrection on the third day (16:21). The Messiah was not the triumphant warrior king the disciples expected; he would suffer and die and rise. Peter rebuked him; Jesus rebuked Peter: “Get thee behind me, Satan” (16:23). The cross was the purpose, not an obstacle.
The Transfiguration
Six days after Peter’s confession, the Transfiguration occurred on a high mountain (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36). Jesus was transfigured — his face shone as the sun, his raiment was white as the light. Moses and Elijah appeared with him — the Law and the Prophets — and spoke with him of his “decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). The Father spoke again from a cloud: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” (Matthew 17:5). The disciples fell prostrate. When they arose, they saw “Jesus only” (17:8) — Moses and Elijah had departed. The Law and Prophets bore witness and gave way; the Son remained. The Transfiguration was a glimpse behind the veil of his humanity at the divine glory he had always possessed.
Passion Week
Triumphal Entry
At the culmination of his ministry, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12-19), fulfilling King on a Donkey (Zechariah 9:9) — “Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass.” The crowds spread their garments and palm branches and cried “Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 21:9). He wept over Jerusalem, pronouncing its coming destruction for failing to recognize the time of its visitation (Luke 19:41-44). He cleansed the Temple, overturning the tables of the money-changers: “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13).
The final days were filled with controversy and teaching. Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes each came with questions designed to trap him; each departed confounded. He silenced them all and turned to his own question: “What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?” (Matthew 22:42). The Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 21) was his extended prophecy of Jerusalem’s fall (fulfilled in 70 AD) and of his own return at the end of the age. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
The Last Supper
On the night of his betrayal, Jesus gathered with his disciples for the Passover meal (Last Supper, Matthew 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-38; John 13-17). He washed his disciples’ feet — a servant’s act, reversing the expected order, demonstrating the nature of his kingdom. He took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and said “This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). He took the cup: “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you” (22:20). The Passover sacrifice — which for fifteen centuries had looked forward to the Lamb of God — now found its meaning in him. Every element of the Exodus deliverance was fulfilled in his person.
The Farewell Discourse (John 14-16) followed: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (14:6). He promised the Holy Spirit — the Comforter, the Spirit of truth — to guide them into all truth after his departure. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (16:33). John 17 — the High Priestly Prayer — is perhaps the most intimate window into the relationship between the Father and the Son in all of Scripture. He prayed for himself (unity with the Father), for his disciples (protection, sanctification), and for all who would believe through their word (“that they may all be one”).
Gethsemane and Betrayal
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus “fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). He prayed three times. The “cup” was not merely death but the full weight of divine wrath against sin — “made a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). His agony was real; Luke records that his sweat was as it were great drops of blood (22:44). Yet his submission was total: “Not my will, but thine, be done” (22:42). Judas Iscariot arrived with a multitude bearing swords and staves; the betrayal was with a kiss. Jesus was arrested; Peter drew a sword; Jesus healed the servant’s ear (Luke 22:51) — mercy even at the moment of his arrest.
Trials
Jesus was taken before Annas, then before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, where false witnesses were assembled. When the high priest asked “Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” he answered, “I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:61-62) — a direct citation of Daniel 7:13 and Psalm 110 - Sit at My Right Hand. The charge was blasphemy. Before Pilate, the charge shifted to treason — “We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King” (Luke 23:2). Pilate found no fault. Before Herod Antipas, Jesus was silent. Pilate offered to release him; the crowd chose Barabbas. Pilate washed his hands; the crowd said “His blood be on us, and on our children” (Matthew 27:25). Jesus was scourged, crowned with thorns, mocked, and led away to be crucified.
Crucifixion
The Crucifixion (Matthew 27:33-56; Mark 15:22-41; Luke 23:33-49; John 19:17-30) took place at Golgotha — the Place of the Skull. He was crucified between two thieves. The inscription read: JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS (John 19:19). Soldiers divided his garments and cast lots — fulfilling Psalm 22 - My God My God precisely (“They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture,” Psalm 22:18). He was mocked: “If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matthew 27:40). One thief railed at him; the other repented, and Jesus said, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
The Seven Last Words from the cross: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). “Woman, behold thy son!” (John 19:26). “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46 — the opening cry of Psalm 22 - My God My God, the psalm of the righteous sufferer). “I thirst” (John 19:28). “It is finished” (John 19:30). “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46).
Tetelestai — “It is finished” — was a commercial term meaning a debt had been paid in full. The atoning work was complete. From the sixth to the ninth hour (noon to 3 PM) darkness covered the land. As he died, the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51) — God opening the way into his presence that the Temple had symbolically barred. He was buried in the new tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, a stone rolled to the door, a seal set, and a guard posted.
Resurrection and Ascension
Resurrection
“He is not here: for he is risen, as he said” (Matthew 28:6). On the first day of the week — Sunday — the stone was found rolled away, the tomb empty, the grave-clothes lying undisturbed. Angels announced the resurrection. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Christian faith; “if Christ be not risen, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17).
Post-resurrection appearances established the reality beyond doubt. He appeared to Mary Magdalene in the garden (John 20:14-17). He appeared to the disciples on the Emmaus Road (Emmaus Road) — walking with two of them, expounding in all the scriptures the things concerning himself, recognized at the breaking of bread. He appeared to the ten disciples in the upper room (Luke 24:36-49; John 20:19-23). He appeared to Thomas eight days later (John 20:24-29) — “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands” — and Thomas confessed, “My Lord and my God” (20:28). He appeared to Peter individually (1 Corinthians 15:5; John 21) and restored him after his denial: “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). He appeared to five hundred brethren at once (1 Corinthians 15:6). He appeared to his brother James. He appeared last of all to Paul (1 Corinthians 15:8; Acts 9).
He ate fish with his disciples (Luke 24:42-43) — proof of bodily resurrection, not a ghost or vision. His body bore the marks of crucifixion (John 20:27) yet could pass through locked doors (20:19) and disappear (Luke 24:31). It was the same body, glorified — the prototype of the resurrection body all believers will one day receive (Philippians 3:21).
Ascension
Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus led his disciples out to the vicinity of Bethany and was “taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). Two angels appeared: “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). He ascended bodily, and he will return bodily.
He is now seated at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 1:3; Psalm 110 - Sit at My Right Hand) — the place of supreme honor, authority, and power. He “ever liveth to make intercession” for his people (Hebrews 7:25). He has sent the Holy Spirit in his name (John 14:26; Acts 2). He is building his church (Matthew 16:18). He will come again “to judge the quick and the dead” (2 Timothy 4:1).
Titles and Roles
| Title | Meaning | Key Passage |
|---|---|---|
| Son of God | Divine identity; coequal with the Father | Matthew 16:16; John 20:31 |
| Son of Man | Daniel’s cosmic figure; authority and suffering | Daniel 7:13-14; Mark 2:28; 14:62 |
| Messiah / Christ | The Anointed One; David’s heir and greater | Matthew 16:16; John 1:41 |
| Lord | Kurios; the divine Name; sovereign authority | Romans 10:9; Philippians 2:11 |
| Lamb of God | Sacrificial atonement; takes away sin | John 1:29; Revelation 5:6, 12 |
| High Priest | Intercessor; once-for-all offering; Melchizedekian | Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:24-25 |
| The Word | Eternal divine self-expression; divine reason | John 1:1-14 |
| The Bread of Life | Sustaining nourishment; satisfies the soul | John 6:35, 48, 51 |
| Light of the World | Dispels spiritual darkness; reveals the Father | John 8:12; 9:5 |
| Good Shepherd | Knows his sheep; lays down his life for them | John 10:11, 14-15 |
| The Resurrection and the Life | Source of all life; conqueror of death | John 11:25 |
| The Vine | Source of all spiritual fruitfulness | John 15:1, 5 |
| Alpha and Omega | First and Last; eternal; beginning and end | Revelation 1:8; 21:6; 22:13 |
| King of Kings, Lord of Lords | Universal sovereignty over all powers | Revelation 19:16 |
| Immanuel | God with us; the great condescension | Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23 |
Jesus and the Old Testament
Jesus himself declared that the Scriptures testify of him (John 5:39) and that all things written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms concerning him were fulfilled in his person (Luke 24:44-45). He is not one thread in the tapestry of Scripture; he is the tapestry itself. Every major pattern, institution, and office in the OT finds its meaning and completion in him.
He is the true Israel — he relives Israel’s story and succeeds where Israel failed. His family’s time in Egypt and return to the land (Matthew 2:15) echoes the Exodus. His forty days in the wilderness correspond to Israel’s forty years, but where Israel murmured and rebelled, he stood firm. He went through the waters of baptism as Israel passed through the Red Sea. He gave a new law on a mountain as Moses received the Torah on Sinai.
He is the greater Moses — the prophet like Moses whom Moses himself predicted (Deuteronomy 18:15-18; Acts 3:22). Where Moses gave law, Jesus gives himself. Where Moses mediated a covenant written on tablets of stone, Jesus mediates the new covenant written on the heart (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:6). Moses was a servant in God’s house; Jesus is the Son over God’s house (Hebrews 3:5-6).
He is the greater David — the son of David who inherits the eternal throne promised by the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:12-16). David killed the Philistine champion; Jesus crushed the serpent. David established Jerusalem; Jesus is building the heavenly city. David was the anointed shepherd-king; Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life.
He is the final and true sacrifice — the Lamb to whom every Passover lamb, every burnt offering, every sin offering and peace offering pointed forward. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). His one offering perfected forever those who are sanctified (Hebrews 10:14), something the ten thousand sacrifices of the old covenant could never accomplish.
He is the eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek — not of Levi but of a prior and superior priesthood, “made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life” (Psalm 110 - Sit at My Right Hand; Hebrews 7:16). He does not serve in a tabernacle made with hands but in the true tabernacle in heaven (Hebrews 8:2).
He is the suffering servant of Isaiah’s fourth servant song (The Suffering Servant, Isaiah 52:13-53:12) — despised and rejected, acquainted with grief, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. “The LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (53:6). The servant who poured out his soul unto death and bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
He is the son of Abraham in whom all the families of the earth are blessed (Genesis 12:3; Matthew 1:1). Paul argues in Galatians 3:16 that the singular “seed” of Abraham points to Christ. In him, Jew and Gentile are equally heirs of the Abrahamic blessing.
He is the new temple — “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). His body is the meeting place of God and man; in him God dwells fully (Colossians 2:9) and through him worshippers draw near to God (Hebrews 10:19-22).
Theological Significance
His Two Natures: Jesus Christ is fully divine and fully human — two complete natures in one person, without mixture, confusion, separation, or division. This is the Chalcedonian formulation (451 AD) stated in biblical terms: the same one who was “in the form of God” (Philippians 2:6) “was made in the likeness of men” (2:7); the same one who created all things was born of a woman; the same one who raised Lazarus wept at Lazarus’s tomb. His divinity did not dissolve his humanity; his humanity did not diminish his divinity. He is the one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5) — and only one who is both could mediate between both.
Substitutionary Atonement: “He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). On the cross, the sinless Son of God bore the sin and guilt of his people — not merely as a sympathetic sufferer but as a substitute, standing in the place of the condemned and absorbing the wrath of God against sin so that those who believe in him are “accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). This is the heart of the gospel.
Resurrection as Vindication: God raised him from the dead on the third day — his “amen” upon the cross, his declaration that the sacrifice was accepted and the price paid in full. The resurrection is not a sign added to the cross; it is the Father’s public vindication of the Son’s obedience and the seal of justification for all who are in Christ (Romans 4:25). “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17).
Current Intercession: He is not absent. Having passed into the heavens, “he ever liveth to make intercession” for his people (Hebrews 7:25). He is our advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1). He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15) — the eternal Son who was tempted as we are can bring the full understanding of human weakness to his intercession.
His Return: He will come again — bodily, visibly, gloriously — to judge the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 2 Timothy 4:1). He will consummate the kingdom, destroy death, put all enemies under his feet, and present the kingdom to the Father (1 Corinthians 15:24-28). Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11).
Key Events
| Event | Description | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Annunciation | Gabriel announces his birth to Mary | Annunciation |
| Birth of Jesus | Born in Bethlehem; shepherds; angels | Birth of Jesus |
| Presentation of Jesus | Presented in the Temple; Simeon and Anna | Presentation of Jesus |
| Boy Jesus in the Temple | ”About my Father’s business” | Boy Jesus in the Temple |
| Baptism of Jesus | Spirit descends; Father speaks | Baptism of Jesus |
| Temptation of Jesus | 40 days in the wilderness; overcomes Satan | Temptation of Jesus |
| Sermon on the Mount | Constitution of the kingdom | Sermon on the Mount |
| Peter’s Confession | ”Thou art the Christ” at Caesarea Philippi | Peter’s Confession |
| Transfiguration | Glorified on the mountain; Moses and Elijah | Transfiguration |
| Triumphal Entry | Enters Jerusalem on a donkey | Triumphal Entry |
| Last Supper | Institution of the Lord’s Supper | Last Supper |
| Crucifixion | Atoning death at Golgotha | Crucifixion |
| Resurrection | Risen bodily on the third day | Resurrection |
| Emmaus Road | Explains himself in all the Scriptures | Emmaus Road |
| Restoration of Peter | ”Feed my sheep” — threefold restoration | Restoration of Peter |
| Ascension | Taken up into heaven; seated at right hand | Acts 1:9-11 |
| Lazarus Raised | Four days dead; “I am the resurrection” | Lazarus Raised |
| Water to Wine | First sign; at Cana; at Mary’s prompting | Water to Wine |
Key Verses
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” — John 1:1
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” — John 1:14
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” — John 3:16
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” — John 14:6
“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” — Isaiah 53:5
“It is finished.” — John 19:30
“He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.” — Matthew 28:6
“Wherefore 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.” — Philippians 2:9-11
“He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” — Hebrews 7:25
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” — Revelation 22:13
Cross-References
Gospels: Matthew · Mark · Luke · John
Acts and Epistles: Acts · Romans · 1 Corinthians · 2 Corinthians · Galatians · Ephesians · Philippians · Colossians · Hebrews · 1 John
Revelation: Revelation
OT Prophetic Patterns: The Suffering Servant · Psalm 22 - My God My God · Psalm 110 - Sit at My Right Hand · Bethlehem Ruler Promised · King on a Donkey · Davidic Covenant
Related People: Mary (Mother of Jesus) · John the Baptist · Peter · John (Apostle) · Paul (Apostle) · David · Abraham · Moses · Pilate · Judas Iscariot
Related Events: Annunciation · Birth of Jesus · Baptism of Jesus · Temptation of Jesus · Sermon on the Mount · Transfiguration · Triumphal Entry · Washing Feet · Last Supper · Farewell Discourse · Crucifixion · Resurrection · Emmaus Road · Passion Week