BIRTH OF JESUS

One day that angle Gabriell, the bearer of good news came down to see Mary. At first Mary was afraid but the angel told her there was nothing to fear. He said that she was going to have a child, who was conceived through the Holy Spirit and Mary would named the child Jesus. The angle claimed that this child would save the people of the world from their sins. When Mary heard this she was amazed by the power of God and the gift which he had given her.

When Mary's husband heard the news he presumed that Mary had been unfaithful to him and he knew Mary was a virgin. He decided that he must break the marriage and leave Mary for what she had done. However that night in a dream a angel visited Joseph in his sleep and explained that the child was in fact Gods own son. Joseph had faith in God and married Mary, talking in Jesus as his own.

Not long before Mary was due the emperor Augustus ordered everyone to register. Joseph had to go to Bethlehem, so he loaded his donkey and traveled their with Mary. When they arrive all the inns were full so the couple were forced to rest in a stable. That night Mary gave birth to Jesus She wrapped the newborn baby in swaddling cloth and lay him in a manger of hay.

Three wise men were following a star that would lead them to the long awaited saviour. During their journey they stopped and told of their journey to King Herod, who asked the wise men to bring him back news of the baby boy once they had seen it. The three wise men continued on their travels until the found the stable where Jesus way laying. They gave him gifts of Gold, Frankenstein and Myrrh, to acknowledge him as the one which they had been searching for. Then they continued back home, purposefully avoiding King Herod, for they had been told in a dream not to tell him about the baby Jesus.


In a nearby paddock Shepard were watching their flocks through the night when suddenly angels appeared in the sky. At first the Shepards were afraid but the angels said that there was no need to be. They told the men of a the baby Jesus, and that he could be found lying in a manger. When they heard this the Shepards set off to visit the newborn baby.

Meanwhile King Herod realised that the three wise men had tricked him and ordered all the male babies under the age of two to be killed. Joseph was warned that they were in danger by an angel in a dream and he fled with Mary and Jesus to Egypt. Shortly afterward Herod died, and so they returned back to live in the city of Nazareth.




THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY OF JESUS BEGINS

John the Baptists was a preacher who spread the word of God in the Judean desert. One day Jesus went into the desert and asked John to be baptised. John was amazed that Jesus would ask such a thing of him and protested that Jesus should be doing the baptism, not the other way around. After some persuasion Jesus convinced John to baptise him. Jesus was baptised in the River Jordan by John and this began his ministry.

Once he had been been baptised Jesus went into the desert where he fasted for forty days. While he was there the devil came a tried to tempt Jesus into asking God to do things for him. Jesus said no to all of the devils requests, saying that he would only ever serve God.

This was the beginning to Jesus' journey as a spiritual leader.




HIS LIFE

Throughout his life Jesus preached to many people and performed miracles for the people who he met.

He is renown for helping people who were rejected by society. Some of these people included lepers, who were rejected by the church, the poor, slaves and women. He taught the word of God to the people and encouraged them to tell God that they were sorry for their sins and be baptised.

The lessons which he taught were simple and involved everyday people that the crowds were able to relate. Inside these basic stories however were profound spiritual truths that encouraged peace and equality between all people.

To those in need he said
‘I am the door; by me, if any man enter in he shall be saved.’
John 10:9

It was by doing this that he managed to covet thousands of people.





DEATH OF JESUS

Although Jesus had many followers and people that loved him his teaching opposed what religious leaders of the time preached. Because of this he was disliked in the church and many of the priests felt threatened by Jesus. As a result they decided that they would arrest him and accuse Jesus that he was encouraging revolt among the people.

One evening Jesus and his twelve disciples were in a garden just outside the walls of Jerusalem called Gethsemane. Suddenly out of the dark there appeared a group of soldiers and religious officials. One of the disciples, Judas, who had been bribed to betray Jesus went over to him and kissed his head, this was a sign to the soldiers of who to arrest. At first the disciples tried to fight back but Jesus said

‘Everyone that uses a sword in anger will die in the same way. Don’t you realise that I could appeal to my Father and he would immediately send his angles to protect me? But if I did that t would be impossible to fulfil the words of the prophesy that says things must happen this way.’
(See Sources and References, Book Three)

The disciples backed away from the soldiers and Jesus was lead away.

Jesus was brought up in front of Pilate to be judged, as he was they only man who could pass the death penalty. However despite the religious leader's claims Pilate was not convinced that Jesus was a threat. He decided to leave it up the to people and asked them to choose between letting Jesus, or a murderer free. The crowd chose the murderer and whatever Judas did to try and change their minds would not do so.

Jesus was beaten and killed on the cross alongside thieves and murderers. After many hours up there he took his last breath and died, saying just before he went,

‘Father, in thy hands I command my spirit.’
Mark 15:37