New Testament Worldview Essay

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James Lane New Testament History 04/29/12 Professor Gary New Testament History and Worldview It is hard to imagine that a Jew started the first Christian church. It began with the calling of his disciples, an unlikely group of men whom he gathered together and taught about the kingdom of God. Becoming a follower of Christ was costly. Besides leaving their professions, they had to leave behind everything in which they were accustomed. In Jesus’ day, Jews were under Roman authority. They despised the Romans and hated their life under them, which resulted in several factions of Judaism forming. One such group was the Pharisees. They were very legalistic, following strictly Jewish law. Another group was the Sadducees who…show more content…
The Zealots got their ideas from the Maccabees and were always ready to revolt against Roman authority. The Essenes were unlike the other groups in that they weren’t interested in revolting against their rulers or getting involved in politics. Instead they were a group of Jews who withdrew into the wilderness and formed a community of believers who lived in isolation, studying the Scriptures. Jesus’ desire was to separate his mission from that of these other groups and still draw a group of loyal follower. Jesus chose to begin his ministry by being baptized by John the Baptist. John and Jesus alike called for repentance. The main theme of Jesus’ teaching was the kingdom of God. He performed many miracles of healing but asked that they be kept quiet for fear that they would be misinterpreted. But soon the news got out and large crowds followed him. During his ministry, Jesus contrasted his message of repentance and grace with the observance of laws by the Pharisees. Regarding Luke 18:11-12, Jesus made it clear that the despised tax collector was more justified in his prayer than that of the…show more content…
Because Jesus was upsetting the Romans the Sadducees feared they would lose their power. The Pharisees were upset because Jesus was openly breaking the Sabbath laws. So the two groups formed an alliance in an effort to bring Jesus to trial and sentence him to death. The next day Jesus shared the ritual Passover meal with his disciples. After the meal Jesus spoke of the new covenant and told them that the forgiveness of sins could be enjoyed because of the shedding of his blood. While Jesus was speaking Judas came followed by a large crowd of men, armed with swords and clubs. The arrested Jesus, and took him away to await trial. His trial was unjust and hastily assembled; they charged him with blasphemy and chose to put him to death. The Jewish authorities took his case to the Roman Governor Pilate, who had to make a tough decision on whether or not to crucify him during the Passover. With his own career at heart, he delivered Jesus to his soldiers for crucifixion. Jesus remained silent through the agonizing pain engulfing him as he was nailed to the cross. The soldiers put a sign on the cross above his head saying “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”. After a long period of excruciating pain Jesus cried out “it is finished” and yielded his spirit to heaven. Joseph took Jesus’ body down from the cross and placed him in a tomb. Joseph then secured the tomb with a large boulder, and went

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