IGLESIA NG DIOS (npb) KAY CRISTO JESUS (ISABELA AREA)

We often think of Christ as Jesus’ surname or second name, but this is a title, not a name. In the ancient world there were no surnames. People were named with their father’s name or biography (Joseph of Arimmathea) or by their vocation. Jesus’ name would have been Jesus bar Joseph, meaning “Jesus, son of Joseph.” Altogether there are some fifty names or titles for Jesus in the New Testament, among them Savior, Son of the Most High, Immanuel (“God with us”), Lord, Master (a title of respect), Teacher, Rabbi, Son of David (a messianic title), the Galilean, the Nazarene, the Carpenter, the Prophet, the Lamb, the Word, the Lion of Judah, the Great High Priest and the Alpha and the Omega. The three most common titles are the following: Messiah - The title Messiah comes from the Hebrew word mashiah, meaning “one who has been anointed.” Israel’s expectation was that the Messiah - the Anointed of God - would come from the House of David and would, like David, lead Israel in the defeat of ...

     Jesus’ public life ends with his passion, a word that has changed in meaning over the centuries. In the New Testament sense it means “suffering.” It was first applied to Jesus’ suffering on the cross, then took on a broader meaning to include Jesus’ agony beginning in the Garden of Gethsemane and ending with his death on the cross. The passion narrative is included in all four gospels, and is the longest self-contained segment in each of the Gospels. JESUS’ FINAL WEEK There are large gaps in the Jesus story, but in the final week we get a day-by-day, then an hour-by-hour account. Palm Sunday : Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey (Zech. 9:9b), with people waving palm branches (John 12:13) and crying “Hosanna!” (Palm branches were symbols of victory; Hosanna means “Lord, save us.”) Monday: Jesus overturns the money changers’ tables and drives the merchants out of the temple. Tuesday: The Pharisees and others ask Jesus about his “authority”; whether ...

The following is a brief chronology of the principal events in the public ministry of Jesus in the first three gospels. John the Baptist, the Elijah-like “messenger” prophesied by Malachi (3:1; 4:5), announces that Jesus is the one Israel has long been waiting for, Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River , receives God’s Spirit and is led into the wilderness where he is tested by Satan. Following his baptism and temptation , Jesus returns to Galilee, saying, “The time is fulfilled . . . the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15). Jesus calls twelve disciples and begins his ministry , much of which occurs in and around Capernaum , a fishing village and commercial center on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, which became Jesus’ home after he was rejected in Nazareth (Luke 4:24-30). The people are amazed by Jesus’ teachings and healings, but don’t understand him to be the hoped-for Messiah. Conflicts erupt between Jesus and the religious l...

There are two Greek words for time. One is khronos , which denotes linear time, from which we get the word “chronology .” The other is kairos , which denotes the “right time” or “perfect time.” Jesus came in kairos time - “in the fullness of time” (Gal. 4:4) - which made it possible for the Gospel to spread throughout the Roman Empire. There was universal peace, prosperity and stability in the world - the Pax Romana (“Peace of Rome”) - which began with the reign of Augustus in 27 B.C. There was a lingua franca or common universal language, Greek , made it possible for the Gospel to be preached everywhere in the Greco-Roman world, and a road system and safe sea routes, which allowed Paul, Barnabas and others easy access to important cities in the Mediterranean world. There was a spiritual hunger for something other than Roman mythology and emperor worship. People wanted a faith that could give meaning and hope in life. There was a growing, widespread belief in one God, partly as a r...

The following are some brief comments on the first-century economic, social, domestic, and religious world into which Jesus was born and lived out his ministry. ECONOMICS Palestine was an agrarian economy , with a rich variety of grains, vegetables and fruits, and sheep and goats. Wealthy landowners farmed their lands by leasing them out to tenants, sharecroppers and day laborers. In addition to farmers, there were stonemasons, carpenters, butchers, bakers, weavers, potters and other craftsmen and merchants. Village life was primitive and never easy. Travel was by foot and very slow (fifteen to twenty miles a day ). Rome levied taxes on crops and imposed tolls and duties on people and merchandise: Jewish law required both tithes and grain offerings to be made at the temple. Civil taxes and religious tithes could amount to as much as 40 to 50 percent of one’s income. SOCIETY Jewish society was less rigid than Roman society. At the top were hereditary priests who officiated at t...

In the first century, the majority of the Jews lived in Judea, in the south, Galilee in the north, was heavily Gentile (“Galilee of the Gentiles,” Matt. 4:15). The Sadducees were the ruling hierarchy ; the Pharisees and the Essenes were the “religious” of Israel , to which the scribes were attached or related; and the Zealots were the “freedom fighters. ” The following are some comments about each of these groups. THE SADDUCEES The Sadducees were Israel’s priestly party. They controlled the   temple and the Sanhedrin, the ruling council. The Sadducee comed from Zadok (Greek: Saddouk), a priest during David’s reign whose descendants held office in Israel from the time of Solomon (1 Kings 2:35). The Sadducees gave priority to the Torah over the rest of the Jewish Scriptures and did not believe in bodily resurrection . Their focus was on the temple and maintaining the status quo. it is believed that the Sadducees were responsible for the arrest and death of Jesus , whom they re...