jesus

Aimee Norman
Larry Gunter
10/6/07
Spc:2600
Jesus Christ
We’d all like to believe that our mothers are… well virgins.  I mean, who honestly wants to picture that night of conception?  Unfortunately there is only one lucky man who can proclaim that is mother was a virgin.  Good morning, my name is Aimee Norman, and today I’m going to be telling you about a friend of mine named Jesus of Nazareth, more commonly called Jesus Christ.  In this speech I am going to map out Jesus’ miraculous birth, his compassionate teachings, and his death defying end. 
In order for me to lay out the life and end of Jesus, we’ll have to start at the beginning.  The birth of Jesus was long awaited, and highly anticipated by most of the world.  There was a promise throughout the old testament in the Bible that the Messiah would come and save the world from the sin that originated with Adam and Eve.  His mother, Mary, was betrothed to be married when she found out she was pregnant.  That in itself wasn’t a completely unheard of occurrence, it was the fact that she was certain that she was a virgin that made it miraculous.  Her betrothed, Joseph, was going to break of the engagement silently, when he had a dream.  In Matthew 1:20-21 we find that in his dream an angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”  So, they were married.  Not long before the actual birth of Jesus, Caesar Augustus proclaimed that the first census should be taken, so Joseph took his pregnant wife to the land of David, or Bethlehem, for it was where his ancestry lay.  When they arrived, before they got to the inn, Mary went into labor.  The inn was full, so Mary had to stay in the stable with the animals, and give birth in the hay.  Almost simultaneously an Angel of the Lord appeared to three shepherds in nearby fields and proclaimed the birth of the son of God.  Not long after the birth, the three shepherds, later called ‘wise men’ arrived with gifts for Christ.  And so began the life of Jesus of Nazareth. 
Now, Jesus’ life went primarily undocumented until he was nearing his thirties.  Jesus had a cousin named John the Baptist, who he met in the Jordon River.  Jesus asked for John to baptize him, and after John baptized Jesus, a dove flew from heaven and landed on Jesus, and a voice spoke, saying “You are my dearly-beloved son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:9-11).  After his baptism, Jesus was led into the desert by a spirit, to be tempted by the devil, who repeatedly demanded that Jesus prove God’s strength, when that failed, he demanded that Christ bow down to him for treasures of the earth, to which Jesus aptly replied that in scripture it was said that ‘you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve’.  Thereafter began the teachings of Christ.  His message was one of great peace, and forgiveness.  He believed that you should give everything you have, and be happy with what you receive.  He spoke tolerance, and love, and above all he spoke of the Glory of the Almighty God.  Jesus performed many miracles, a few were turning water into wine, calming a raging storm with two words, feeding five thousand people with nothing, curing leprosy, raising Lazarus from the dead and the ever popular- walking on water.  Jesus called to his disciples together from which he chose twelve apostles, and they weren’t who you might think.  They were fishermen, and tax collectors, and an assortment of other everyday jobs.  These apostles were the most devoted to Christ and his teachings, following him, and supporting him throughout his travels.  Unbeknownst to the apostles, among them was the man who would betray their beloved savior. 
Our story comes to a very sad ending, dripping with betrayal and hate, those things which Jesus preached against.  While Jesus had many followers, the numbers of which are growing daily, he still had many enemies.  The most potent of those turned out to be one of his apostles, Judas Iscariot.  Jesus knew, he was no fool.  He warned the apostles that one would betray him, but it was already too late, as Judas had already collected payment for the deed.  So it was that with a simple kiss, in the worst setup in history, the son of God was set to earthly doom.  Jesus went to trial, and was found innocent of any real crime, but still it was the people who chose his fate.  They yelled ‘crucify him’ loudly, and wouldn’t be swayed from their want of bloodshed.  So Pilate, the governor, let it be known that the blood of Christ shall be on the hands of the people, and not on his own.  Jesus Christ was then flogged and beaten and bruised.  In the course of this, all of his apostles in some way, betrayed him, just  as it was prophesied.  Jesus Christ wasn’t even given the ‘dignity’, for lack of a better term, to have his own crucifixion, no, he was hung with two criminals on the crosses at Mount Calvary.  So was the ‘death’ of Jesus of Nazareth, but most certainly not the end of the story.  After he was killed, Jesus’ body was given to a wealthy man named Joseph, who put it into a stone tomb with a rock in front.  Mary Magdalene and the ‘other Mary’ remembered that he said he would rise after the third day of his death.  When they told Pilates of this prophecy, and of their fear that the disciples would steal the body to make it appear so, and there was a guard placed there in front.  On the third day the Mary’s went to the tomb and there was an earthquake and an Angel of the Lord appeared and told them of the rising of Jesus.  After his resurrection Jesus visited many men, and his apostles.  This was the proof that he was indeed the son of God.
The life of Christ was one of endless love and dedication, to his crucifixion, and even to now.  He was one prisoner who was killed for being good.  He was killed for something that we should all strive to be.  It is, to me, the most heartbreaking execution that there can ever be.  That God can give his son for us, and let him be murdered, just to erase the sin that we partake in voluntarily.  I’ll leave you with the words that Jesus spoke in Matthew 28: 18-20 “All power in Heaven and on earth has been given to me. You, then, are to go and make disciples of all the nations and baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you and, remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”




Bibliography
I. www.jesusstory.org
II. The Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
III. www.biblegateway.com
IV. www.ccel.org/bible
V. Jesus, Anne Neumann, the entire book.
VI. Chuck Lem, Minister.
VII. Kevin Reiver, Minister.
VIII. Art Peterson, pastor.