Story about Jesus. before public service. About the Christian life

Where is our Lord Jesus Christ at present, and what is He doing? Christians know that every sincerely repentant sin is forgiven the believer, because once on Calvary the Son of God atoned for the sins of people by His death. But what is the mission of the Savior after His ascension to Heaven?

In contemplating our salvation, where should we direct our gaze? Many Christians look to where Jesus Christ is no longer there. Icon worshipers look at the baby Jesus Christ in Mary's arms, while He has long grown up. And many look at Golgotha, although Jesus Christ has not been there for a long time. Jesus Christ was resurrected and sat at the right hand of God in heaven.

An ancient proverb says: "Out of everything you need to choose the main thing." What is the most important thing for us right now?

We read from the Apostle Paul: “But the main point of what we are talking about is this: we have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and [is] the priest of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord erected, and not man” (Hebrews 8:1, 2) ). Paul goes on to say: “If he had remained on earth, he would not have been a priest” (Hebrews 8:4).

Should we only remember what the Lord has done for us in the past? Has our salvation already been accomplished?

If we are saved, why do we need a Priest in heaven? How Holy Bible describes what Jesus Christ is doing today? Reading: “He bore the sin of many and became an intercessor for transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). “My children! I am writing this to you so that you do not sin; and if anyone sins, then we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous; He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for [the sins of] the whole world” (1 John 2:1).

It turns out that Jesus Christ is still busy saving us. At present, our Advocate, or Intercessor before God the Father, continues the ministry of propitiation for our sins. The Bible says: “Therefore, He is the mediator of the new covenant, so that, because of [His] death, which was to atone for the crimes committed in the first covenant, those who are called to an eternal inheritance may receive the promise” (Hebrews 9:15).

In the Middle Ages, Catholics, selling indulgences to their parishioners, seemed to “forgive” their sins “on credit”. But the Bible teaches otherwise. Whenever we commit a sin, we must come to God in repentance and, in prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, confess our sin before Him. And then the Resurrected and Living High Priest, Jesus Christ, will appear as an intercessor for us to atone for our sins before the Heavenly Father.

“My children! I am writing this to you so that you do not sin; and if anyone sins, then we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous; He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for [the sins] of the whole world. And that we have come to know Him, we learn from the fact that we keep His commandments. Whoever says, “I have known Him,” but does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and there is no truth in him; but whoever keeps his word, in him the love of God is truly perfected: by this we know that we are in him. Whoever says he abides in Him must walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:1-6).

The main essence of the Christian faith is this. When Adam and Eve, our forefathers, who lived in paradise, and all who had according to the will and love of God, sinned, going against the will of God, at the instigation of the tempting serpent, they lost their immortality and were overthrown by God from paradise. Since then, their descendants have been forced to live and die. Since God loves us, He sent His only begotten Son, who was incarnated from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary (the most worthy, chosen by God for this great purpose), and was born as a man, while retaining his divine essence.

The purpose of this incarnation was to save people from original sin, defeat death, and enable people again (like Adam and Eve) to receive immortality. At the same time, people who will live according to the commandments of God will be able after death to enter the Kingdom of God, created by Jesus Christ, and live forever with him in prosperity and joy. People who were given such an opportunity, but they did not use it, behaved unworthily, did not follow the commandments, will lose this opportunity, and will forever be in hell, away from the Lord. They will forever regret their earthly life, during which they could do everything for their eternal life in paradise, but they neglected such an opportunity.

Many millennia (this is for human life, but for eternity it is just a moment), God prepared mankind for this event, sent prophets to earth who told people about the coming of the Savior of the world.

How it all happened

Having chosen for the birth of the Savior the most pure Virgin Mary, an orphan from the royal family of David, guarded by her elderly distant relative Joseph of Nazareth, the Lord sent the Archangel Michael to inform the girl that she was chosen for such a great goal. Mary was excited, but immediately meekly informed the Archangel of her consent. Mary was a very believing girl, devoted to the Lord with all her soul, and worthily accepted into her bosom a child born by the Holy Spirit. She was given in marriage to Joseph, to whom the Angel revealed in a dream the meaning and essence of Mary's pregnancy, and Joseph was made the guardian of Mary, her virginity, and the baby born from her until the time determined by the Lord.

Jesus grew like a normal baby until he reached the age of 30. However, He showed His Divine essence already at the age of 12. When His Mother was looking for Him and found Him in the temple, where He was sitting with pundits and talking, and they were surprised at His mind and marveled at His answers, the mother reproached Him that they were worried where He had gone. To this the boy replied:

Why then did you seek me, or did you not know that I must be in what belongs to my Father?

At the age of thirty, Jesus came to the Jordan River and was baptized there by the prophet John, thereby consecrating the waters of the river. During the baptism, the heavens opened and a loud voice was heard from there: “Behold, my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” then the heavens opened and John saw the Spirit of God descending from heaven on Jesus in the form of a dove. So God showed people that Jesus is the Son of God, and he is the Savior expected by the nations.

Before public service

Before embarking on his mission, Jesus Christ, being both God and man, went into the wilderness. There he spent 40 days in fasting and prayer, during which Satan tried in every possible way to tempt Him, and after that He set off to fulfill his goal.
The Lord began his ministry from Galilee, where he chose 12 of his disciples, the apostles, who were to accept His teaching, and after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and His ascension to heaven, continue to carry the teaching to people, so that they accept the Christian faith, followed His word and example, and were able to receive eternal life in the kingdom of God. During Jesus' ministry, many miracles were performed (such as turning water into wine, resurrection of the dead, the healing of lepers, the blind, the lame and the dumb, the Transfiguration before His disciples, when they heard a voice from heaven, confirming that He is the Son of God and they should obey Him.

The Purpose of the Savior's Coming

Jesus Christ had to die on the cross in order to resurrect three days later and ascend to heaven, thereby defeating death and giving us immortal life, which happened three years after the start of the public ministry of Jesus Christ. He initiated our immortality and resurrection from the dead. Upon His second coming into the world, this will happen, and each person will answer to the Lord about his life at the Last Judgment, after which a place will be determined for him - whether in heaven for a pious life and following the commandments of the Lord, or in hell for an unworthy life.

A film based on the Gospel of John, shot by a British director, which tells about the life and teachings of Christ from His baptism to the appearance of the apostles.

Discussion: 4 comments

Having happened to be here by chance and seeing what topic is being discussed, I cannot but mention one more interesting book, in which, it seems to me, the historical existence of Jesus is proved - the book "Jesus Party" (available on Ozone and on LitRes).

“God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”(John 3:16).

Jesus Christ– The Son of God, God, who appeared in the flesh, took upon Himself the sin of man, made his salvation possible with His sacrificial death. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is referred to as Christ, or Messiah (χριστός, μεσσίίς), son (ἱόςἱός), the son of God (ἱὸςἱὸς θεῦῦ), the son of human (ἱὸςἱὸς ἀνθρώπου), Lamb (ἀμνός, ἀρνίον), Lord (ύύύιςς), Life's Logue ( παῖς Θεοῦ), Son of David (υἱὸς Δαυίδ), Savior (Σωτήρ), etc.

Testimonies of the Life of Jesus Christ:

canonical gospels ( )
individual sayings of Jesus Christ that were not included in the canonical Gospels, but are preserved in other New Testament books (Acts and Epistles of the Apostles), as well as in the writings of ancient Christian writers.
a number of texts of Gnostic and non-Christian origin.

By the will of God the Father and out of compassion for us, sinful people, Jesus Christ came into the world and became a man. By His word and example, Jesus Christ taught people how to believe and live in order to become righteous and worthy of the title of children of God, participants in His immortal and blessed life. To cleanse our sins and overcome, Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again on the third day. Now, as the God-man, He is in heaven with His Father. Jesus Christ is the head of the Kingdom of God founded by Him, called the Church, in which believers are saved, guided and strengthened by the Holy Spirit. Before the end of the world, Jesus Christ will come to earth again to judge the living and the dead. After that, His Kingdom of Glory will come, a paradise in which the saved will rejoice forever. So it is foretold, and we believe it will be so.

How we waited for the coming of Jesus Christ

IN The greatest event in the life of mankind is the coming to earth of the Son of God. God has been preparing people for it, especially the Jewish people, for many millennia. From among the Jewish people, God put forward prophets who predicted the coming of the Savior of the world - the Messiah, and by this laid the foundation of faith in Him. In addition, God for many generations, starting from Noah, then - Abraham, David and other righteous people, pre-cleansed that bodily vessel from which the Messiah was to take flesh. So, finally, the Virgin Mary was born, Who was worthy to become the Mother of Jesus Christ.

At the same time, God and political events ancient world directed to ensure that the coming of the Messiah was successful and that His grace-filled Kingdom spread widely among people.

So, by the time of the coming of the Messiah, many pagan peoples became part of united state- The Roman Empire. This circumstance made it possible for the disciples of Christ to travel freely throughout all the countries of the vast Roman Empire. The widespread use of one common Greek language helped Christian communities scattered over great distances to maintain contact with each other. On the Greek Gospels and apostolic letters were written. As a result of the rapprochement of cultures various peoples, as well as the spread of science and philosophy of belief in pagan gods were severely undermined. People began to yearn for satisfactory answers to their religious questions. Thinking people of the pagan world understood that society was reaching a hopeless dead end and began to express the hope that the Transformer and Savior of mankind would come.

The earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ

D For the birth of the Messiah, God chose the pure virgin Mary, from the family of King David. Mary was an orphan and she was looked after by her distant relative, the elderly Joseph, who lived in Nazareth, one of the small cities in the northern part of the Holy Land. The Archangel Gabriel, having appeared, announced to the Virgin Mary that She had been chosen by God to become the Mother of His Son. When the Virgin Mary humbly agreed, the Holy Spirit descended on Her, and She conceived the Son of God. The subsequent birth of Jesus Christ took place in the small Jewish town of Bethlehem, in which King David, the ancestor of Christ, had previously been born. (Historians attribute the time of the birth of Jesus Christ to 749-754 years from the foundation of Rome. The accepted chronology “from the Nativity of Christ” begins from 754 years from the foundation of Rome).

The life, miracles and conversations of the Lord Jesus Christ are described in four books called the Gospels. The first three Evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke, describe the events of His life, which took place mainly in Galilee - in the northern part of the Holy Land. The Evangelist John, on the other hand, supplements their narratives by describing the events and conversations of Christ, which took place mainly in Jerusalem.

Film “CHRISTMAS”

Until the age of thirty, Jesus Christ lived with His Mother, the Virgin Mary, in Nazareth, in the house of Joseph. When He was 12 years old, He went with His parents to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover and stayed in the temple for three days, talking with the scribes. Nothing is known about other details of the Savior's life in Nazareth, except that He helped Joseph carpentry. As a man, Jesus Christ grew and developed naturally like all people.

In the 30th year of his life, Jesus Christ received from the prophets. John's baptism in the Jordan River. Before beginning His public ministry, Jesus Christ went into the wilderness and fasted for forty days, being tempted by Satan. Jesus began his public ministry in Galilee by choosing 12 apostles. The miraculous transformation of water into wine, performed by Jesus Christ at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, strengthened the faith of His disciples. After that, after spending some time in Capernaum, Jesus Christ went to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. Here, for the first time, He aroused the enmity of the elders of the Jews, and especially of the Pharisees, by driving the merchants out of the temple. After Easter, Jesus Christ called His apostles together, gave them the necessary instruction, and sent them to preach the approach of the Kingdom of God. Jesus Christ himself also traveled the Holy Land, preaching, gathering disciples and spreading the doctrine of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus Christ revealed His divine mission to many miracles and prophecies. Soulless nature unconditionally obeyed Him. So, for example, at His word the storm stopped; Jesus Christ walked on water as on dry land; having multiplied five loaves and several fishes, He fed a crowd of many thousands; He once turned water into wine. He raised the dead, cast out demons, and healed countless sick people. At the same time, Jesus Christ avoided human glory in every possible way. For His need, Jesus Christ never resorted to His almighty power. All His miracles are imbued with deep compassion to people. The greatest miracle of the Savior was His own Sunday from the dead. This resurrection He defeated the power of death over people and initiated our resurrection from the dead, which will take place at the end of the world.

Evangelists wrote down many predictions Jesus Christ. Some of them were already fulfilled during the life of the Apostles and their successors. Among them: predictions about the denial of Peter and the betrayal of Judas, about the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, about the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, about the miracles that the apostles will perform, about persecution for the faith, about the destruction of Jerusalem, etc. Some prophecies of Christ related to the last times are beginning to be fulfilled, for example: about the spread of the Gospel throughout the world, about the corruption of people and about the cooling of faith, about terrible wars, earthquakes, etc. Finally, some prophecies, such as, for example, about the general resurrection of the dead, about the second coming of Christ, about the end of the world and about the terrible judgment, have yet to be fulfilled.

By His power over nature and His foresight of the future, the Lord Jesus Christ testified to the truth of His teaching and that He really is the Only Begotten Son of God.

The public ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ continued for more than three years. The chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees did not accept His teaching and, envious of His miracles and success, looked for an opportunity to kill Him. Finally such an opportunity presented itself. After the resurrection of the four-day Lazarus by the Savior, six days before Easter, Jesus Christ, surrounded by the people, solemnly, as the son of David and the king of Israel, entered Jerusalem. The people gave Him royal honors. Jesus Christ went straight to the temple, but when he saw that the high priests had turned the house of prayer into a “den of robbers,” he expelled all the merchants and money changers from there. This aroused the wrath of the Pharisees and the chief priests, and at their meeting they decided to destroy Him. Meanwhile, Jesus Christ spent whole days teaching the people in the temple. On Wednesday, one of His twelve disciples, Judas Iscariot, invited the members of the Sanhedrin to secretly betray their Master for thirty pieces of silver. The chief priests happily agreed.

On Thursday, Jesus Christ, desiring to celebrate the Passover with His disciples, left Bethany for Jerusalem, where His disciples Peter and John prepared a large room for Him. Appearing here in the evening, Jesus Christ showed His disciples the greatest example of humility, washing their feet, which the servants of the Jews usually did. Then, lying down with them, He celebrated the Passover of the Old Testament. After the supper, Jesus Christ established the New Testament Pascha - the sacrament of the Eucharist or Communion. Taking the bread, He blessed it, broke it, and, giving it to the disciples, said: Take, eat (eat): this is my body, which is given for you,” then, taking the cup and giving thanks, gave it to them and said: “ Drink from it all, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins."After that, Jesus Christ in last time talked with His disciples about the Kingdom of God. Then He went to the suburban garden of Gethsemane and, accompanied by three disciples - Peter, James and John, went deep into the garden and, falling to the ground, prayed to His Father until bloody sweat that the cup of suffering that was coming to Him would pass.

At this time, a crowd of armed servants of the high priest, led by Judas, burst into the garden. Judas betrayed his Master with a kiss. While the high priest Caiaphas was calling the members of the Sanhedrin, the soldiers took Jesus to the palace of Annas (Ananas); From there He was led to Caiaphas, where His judgment was already held late at night. Although many false witnesses were called, no one could point to such a crime for which Jesus Christ could be sentenced to death. However, the death sentence took place only after Jesus Christ recognized himself as the Son of God and the Messiah. For this, Christ was formally accused of blasphemy, for which, according to the law, the death penalty followed.

On Friday morning, the high priest went with the members of the Sanhedrin to the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, to confirm the verdict. But Pilate at first did not agree to do this, not seeing in Jesus a guilt worthy of death. Then the Jews began to threaten Pilate with a denunciation of him to Rome, and Pilate approved the death sentence. Jesus Christ was given to the Roman soldiers. Around 12 noon, along with two thieves, Jesus was taken to Calvary - a small hill on the western side of the Jerusalem wall - and there he was crucified on the cross. Jesus Christ meekly accepted this execution. It was noon. Suddenly the sun went dark, and darkness spread over the earth for three whole hours. After that, Jesus Christ loudly called out to the Father: “My God, My God, why did You leave Me!” Then, seeing that everything had been fulfilled according to the Old Testament prophecies, He exclaimed: Done! My Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit! and, bowing His head, gave up his spirit. Terrible signs followed: the veil in the temple was torn in two, the earth shook, the stones disintegrated. Seeing this, even a pagan - a Roman centurion - exclaimed: Truly He was the Son of God.“No one doubted the death of Jesus Christ. Two members of the Sanhedrin, Joseph and Nicodemus, secret disciples of Jesus Christ, received permission from Pilate to remove His body from the cross and buried Joseph in the tomb near Golgotha, in the garden. The members of the Sanhedrin ensured that the body of Jesus Christ was not stolen by His disciples, sealed the entrance and set up guards. Everything was done hastily, since the Easter holiday began in the evening of that day.

On Sunday (probably April 8th), the third day after His death on the cross, Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead and left the tomb. After that, an angel descended from heaven rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb. The first witnesses of this event were the soldiers guarding the tomb of Christ. Although the soldiers did not see the resurrected from dead jesus Christ, but they were eyewitnesses to the fact that when the Angel rolled away the stone, the tomb was already empty. Frightened by the Angel, the soldiers fled. Mary Magdalene and other myrrh-bearing women, who went to the tomb of Jesus Christ before dawn to anoint the body of their Lord and Teacher, found the tomb empty and were honored to see the Resurrected Himself and hear from Him a greeting: “ Rejoice!” In addition to Mary Magdalene, Jesus Christ appeared to many of His disciples in different time. Some of them even got to feel His body and make sure that He is not a ghost. For forty days, Jesus Christ talked several times with His disciples, giving them final instructions.

On the fortieth day, Jesus Christ, in view of all His disciples, ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives. As we believe, Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father, that is, he has one authority with Him. Secondly, He will come to earth before the end of the world, so that judge the living and the dead, after which His glorious and eternal Kingdom will begin, in which the righteous will shine like the sun.

About the Appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ

The Saints the apostles, writing about the life and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, did not mention anything about His appearance. For them, the main thing was to capture His spiritual appearance and teaching.

IN eastern church there is a legend about miraculous image " Savior. According to him, the artist sent by the King of Edessa Abgar several times unsuccessfully tried to sketch the face of the Savior. When Christ, having called the artist, applied his canvas to His face, His face was imprinted on the canvas. Having received this image from his artist, King Abgar was healed of leprosy. Since then, this miraculous image of the Savior has been well known in the Eastern Church and copies-icons have been made from it. The ancient Armenian historian Moses of Khorensky, the Greek historian Evargy and St. John of Damascus.

In the Western Church there is a tradition about the image of St. Veronica, who gave the Savior going to Calvary a towel to wipe His face. An imprint of His face was left on the towel, which later fell to the west.

IN Orthodox Church It is customary to depict the Savior on icons and frescoes. These images do not seek to convey exactly His appearance. They are more like reminders symbols, raising our thought to the One Who is depicted on them. Looking at the images of the Savior, we remember His life, His love and compassion, His miracles and teachings; we remember that He, as omnipresent, abides with us, sees our difficulties and helps us. This sets us up to pray to Him: “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on us!”

The face of the Savior and His whole body were also imprinted on the so-called “,” – a long canvas, in which, according to legend, the body of the Savior taken down from the cross was wrapped. The image on the shroud was seen only relatively recently with the help of photography, special filters and a computer. Reproductions of the face of the Savior, made according to the Shroud of Turin, have a striking resemblance to some ancient Byzantine icons (sometimes coinciding at 45 or 60 points, which, according to experts, cannot be accidental). Studying the Shroud of Turin, experts came to the conclusion that a man of about 30 years old was imprinted on it, 5 feet, 11 inches tall (181 cm - much taller than his contemporaries), slender and strong build.

Bishop Alexander Mileant

What Jesus Christ taught

From the book of Protodeacon Andrey Kuraev “Tradition. Dogma. Rite."

Christ did not perceive Himself as merely a Teacher. Such a Teacher who bequeaths to people a certain "Teaching" that can be carried around the world and through the ages. He not so much "teaches" as "saves". And all of His words are related to how exactly this “salvation” event is related to the mystery of His own Life.

Everything that is new in the teaching of Jesus Christ is connected only with the mystery of His Own Being. One God had already been preached by the prophets, and monotheism had long been established. Can it be said about the relationship between God and man in words higher than the prophet Micah did: “Man! told you what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love works of mercy, and to walk humbly before your God” (Micah 6:8)? In the moral preaching of Jesus to almost any of its positions, one can point to “parallel passages” from the books Old Testament. He gives them great aphorism, accompanies them with amazing and surprising examples and parables - but in His moral teaching there is nothing that would not be contained in the Law and the Prophets.

If we carefully read the Gospels, we will see that the main subject of Christ's preaching is not calls for mercy, for love, or for repentance. The main object of Christ's preaching is Himself. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), “Believe in God, and believe in Me” (John 14:1). “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). “No one comes to the Father, only by Me” (John 14:6); “Search the Scriptures; they testify of Me” (John 5:39).

What place in the ancient scriptures does Jesus choose to preach in the synagogue? “Not prophetic calls for love and purity. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for the Lord hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor” (Isaiah 61:1-2).

Here is the most disputed passage in the Gospel: “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37-38). It does not say here - "for the sake of truth" or "for the sake of Eternity" or "for the sake of the Way". "For me".

And this is by no means an ordinary relationship between a teacher and a student. No teacher claimed so completely to power over the souls and destinies of his students: “He who saves his soul will lose it; but he who loses his life for my sake will save it” (Matthew 10:39).

Even at the Last Judgment, the division is made according to people's attitude towards Christ, and not just according to their degree of observance of the Law. “What have they done to me…” - To me, not to God. And the judge is Christ. In relation to Him there is a division. He doesn't say, "You were merciful and therefore blessed," but, "I was hungry and you gave Me food."

Justification at the Judgment will require, in particular, not only an internal, but also an external, public appeal to Jesus. Without the visibility of this connection with Jesus, salvation is impossible: but whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).

Confessing Christ before people can be dangerous. And the danger will not be for preaching love or repentance, but for preaching about Christ Himself. “Blessed are you when they reproach you and persecute you and slander you in every way for me(Matthew 5:11). “And they will lead you to rulers and kings for me” (Mt 10:18). “And you will be hated by all for my name; whoever endures to the end will be saved” (Mt 10:22).

And the reverse: “Whoever receives one such child in my name he receives me” (Mt 18:5). It doesn't say "in the name of the Father" or "for the sake of God." In the same way, Christ promises His presence and help to those who will gather not in the name of the “Great Unknowable”, but in His name: “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20).

Moreover, the Savior clearly indicates that this is precisely the novelty of religious life that he brought: “Until now you have asked nothing in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete” (John 16:24).

And in the last phrase of the Bible there is an appeal: “Hey! come, Lord Jesus!” Not "Come, Truth" and not "Overshadow us, Spirit!", but - "Come, Jesus."

Christ asks the disciples not about what people think about His sermons, but about “Whom do people say I am?” Here it is not a matter of accepting a system, a teaching, but of accepting a Personality. The gospel of Christ reveals itself as the gospel of Christ, it carries the Message of a Person, not a concept. In terms of current philosophy, we can say that the gospel is the word of personalism, not conceptualism. Christ did nothing that could be spoken of, distinguishing and separating it from His Self.

The founders of other religions acted not as an object of faith, but as its intermediaries. Not the person of Buddha, Mohammed or Moses was the real content new faith and their teaching. In each case it was possible to separate their teaching from themselves. But - "Blessed is he who is not tempted about me” (Mt 11:6).

That most important commandment of Christ, which He Himself called “new,” also speaks of Himself: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” How He loved us - we know: to the Cross.

There is another fundamental explanation of this commandment. Turns out, hallmark Christian - love not for those who love him ("for do not even the Gentiles do so?"), but love for enemies. But is it possible to love the enemy? An enemy is a person whom I, by definition, to put it mildly, do not like. Will I be able to love him on someone's orders? If a guru or a preacher says to his flock: tomorrow at eight o'clock in the morning start loving your enemies - is it really the feeling of love that will be found in the hearts of his disciples at ten minutes past eight? Meditation and training of the will and feelings can teach one to treat enemies indifferently, without affect. But to rejoice at their successes as one's own person is unaccommodating. Even the grief of a stranger is easier to share with him. And it is impossible to share the joy of someone else ... If I love someone, any news about him makes me happy, I rejoice at the thought of meeting with my loved one soon ... My wife rejoices at her husband's success at work. Will she be able to meet the news of the promotion of someone she considers her enemy with the same joy? Christ performed the first miracle at the wedding feast. Speaking about the fact that the Savior took our sufferings upon Himself, we often forget that He was in solidarity with people and in our joys...

So what if the commandment to love our enemies is incomprehensible to us - why does Christ give it to us? Or does He not know human nature well? Or does He just want to destroy us all with His rigorism? After all, as the apostle confirms, the violator of one commandment becomes guilty of the destruction of the whole law. If I violated one paragraph of the law (for example, I was engaged in extortion), references to the fact that I have never been involved in horse theft will not help me in court. If I do not fulfill the commandments about loving enemies, what good is it for me to distribute property, move mountains, and even give the body to be burned? I am doomed. And doomed because the Old Testament turned out to be more merciful to me than the New Testament, which proposed such a “new commandment” that subjected to its judgment not only the Jews under the law, but all of humanity.

How can I fulfill it, will I find the strength in myself to obey the Teacher? No. But - "It is impossible for people, but it is possible for God ... Abide in My love ... Abide in Me, and I - in you." Knowing that it is impossible to love enemies with human strength, the Savior unites the faithful with Himself, just as branches are united with a vine, so that His love opens and acts in them. “God is Love… Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden…” “The Law obligated to that which it did not give. Grace gives what it obliges” (B. Pascal)

This means that this commandment of Christ is inconceivable without participation in His Mystery. The morality of the gospel cannot be separated from its mysticism. The teaching of Christ is inseparable from church Christology. Only direct union with Christ, literally communion with Him, makes it possible to fulfill His new commandments.

The ordinary ethical and religious system is the way that people follow to reach a certain goal. Christ begins with this goal. He speaks of life flowing from God to us, not of our efforts to lift us up to God. What others work for, He gives. Other teachers begin with a demand, this one with the Gift: "The kingdom of heaven has come upon you." But that is precisely why the Sermon on the Mount does not proclaim a new morality and new law. She heralds the entry into some completely new horizon life. The Sermon on the Mount not so much expounds a new moral system as it reveals a new state of affairs. People are given a gift. And it says under what conditions they can not drop it. Bliss is not a reward for deeds, the Kingdom of God will not follow spiritual poverty, but will be co-dissolved with it. The link between state and promise is Christ Himself, not human effort or law.

Already in the Old Testament, it was quite clearly proclaimed that only the coming of God into a person’s heart can make him forget all past misfortunes: “Thou hast prepared, by thy goodness, O God, for the needy to have thy coming into his heart” (Ps. 67:11). Actually, God has only two dwelling places: “I live in the heights of heaven, and also with a contrite and humble spirit, to quicken the spirit of the humble and quicken the hearts of the contrite” (Is. 57, 15). And yet it is one thing - the comforting anointing of the Spirit, which is felt in the depths of a contrite heart, and another - the messianic time, when the world is no longer separated from God ... Therefore, “blessed are the poor”: the Kingdom of Heaven is already theirs. Not “will be yours”, but “your is”. Not because you found it or earned it, but because It itself is active, It itself found you and overtook you.

And another gospel verse, which is usually seen as the quintessence of the gospel, also speaks not so much about good relations between people, but about the need to recognize Christ: “By this everyone will know if you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” So what is the first sign of a Christian? – No, not “to have love”, but “to be My disciple”. “Because everyone will know that you are students, that you have a student card.” What is your main attribute here - the possession of a student card or the very fact of being a student? The most important thing for others is to understand that you are Mine! And here is my seal. I chose you. My Spirit is on you. My love abides in you.

So, “the Lord, having bodily appeared to people, first of all demanded from us the knowledge of Himself and taught this, and immediately attracted us to this; even more: for the sake of this feeling He came and for this He did everything: “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37). And since He Himself was the truth, he almost did not say: “Let me show Myself” (St. Nicholas Cabasilas). The main work of Jesus was not His word, but His being: Being-with-people; being-on-the-cross.

And the disciples of Christ - the apostles - in their sermon do not retell the "teachings of Christ." When they go out to preach about Christ, they do not retell the Sermon on the Mount. There are no references to the Sermon on the Mount either in Peter's speech on the day of Pentecost, or in Stephen's sermon on the day of his martyrdom. In general, the apostles do not use the traditional student formula: "As instructed by the Teacher."

Moreover, even about the life of Christ, the apostles speak very sparingly. The light of Easter is so bright for them that their vision does not extend to the decades preceding the procession to Golgotha. And even about the event of Christ's resurrection, the Apostles preach not only as a fact of His life, but as an event in the life of those who accepted the Paschal gospel - because "the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you" (Rom. 8, eleven); “And if we knew Christ according to the flesh, now we know it no more” (2 Corinthians 5:16)

The apostles say one thing: He died for our sins and rose again, and in His resurrection is the hope of our life. Never referring to the teaching of Christ, the apostles speak of the fact of Christ and His Sacrifice and of His influence on man. Christians do not believe in Christianity, but in Christ. The apostles do not preach Christ the Teaching, but Christ the Crucified - a temptation to moralists and madness to Theosophists.

We can imagine that all the evangelists would have been killed along with St. Stefan. Even in our New Testament, more than half of the books were written by one ap. Pavel. Let's put thought experiment. Suppose all 12 apostles are killed. There are no close witnesses to the life and preaching of Christ. But the risen Christ appears to Saul and makes him his only apostle. Paul then writes the entire New Testament. Who would we be then? Christians or peacocks? Could Paul be called the Savior in this case? Paul, as if foreseeing such a situation, answers quite sharply: why “you say: “I am Pavlov”, “I am Apollos”, “I am Cyphus”, “and I am Christ's”? was Paul crucified for you?” (1 Corinthians 1:12-13).

This apostolic focus on the mystery of Christ himself was inherited by the ancient Church. The main theological theme of the 1st millennium is not disputes about the “doctrine of Christ”, but disputes about the phenomenon of Christ: Who came to us?

And at her Liturgies, the ancient Church thanks Christ not at all for what modern textbooks on the history of ethics are ready to render Him reverence for. In ancient prayers, we will not find praise like: “We thank You for the law that You reminded us of”? “We thank You for the sermons and beautiful parables, for wisdom and instructions”? “We thank You for the universal moral and spiritual values preached by You.”

Here, for example, the “Apostolic Ordinances” is a monument dating back to the 2nd century: “We give thanks, our Father, for the life that You revealed to us by Jesus, Your servant, for Your Servant, whom you sent for our salvation as a man, whom you also deigned suffer and die. We also give thanks, Our Father, for the honest blood of Jesus Christ, shed for us and for the honest body, instead of the images of which we offer, as He appointed us to proclaim His death.

Here is the Apostolic Tradition of St. Hippolyta: “We give thanks to Thee, O God, through Thy beloved Servant Jesus Christ, whom in end times You sent us a Savior, Redeemer and Messenger of Your will, Who is Your Word, inseparable from You, Who created everything according to Your desire, Whom You sent from heaven into the womb of the Virgin. Fulfilling Your will, He stretched out His hands to free those who believe in You from suffering… So, remembering His death and resurrection, we bring You bread and a cup, giving thanks to You for deigning us to stand before You and serve You.” …

And in all subsequent Liturgies - up to the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which is still celebrated in our churches, thanksgiving is sent for the Sacrifice of the Cross of the Son of God - and not for the wisdom of preaching.

And in the celebration of another great Sacrament of the Church - Baptism, we receive a similar witness. When the Church entered into her most terrible battle - into a face-to-face confrontation with the spirit of darkness, she called on her Lord for help. But - again - How did she see Him at that moment? The prayers of ancient exorcists have come down to us. Due to their ontological seriousness, they have hardly changed over the millennia. Coming to the sacrament of Baptism, the priest reads a unique prayer - the only church prayer turned not to God, but to Satan. He commands the spirit of opposition to leave the new Christian and from now on not to touch him, who has become a member of the Body of Christ. So what kind of God does the priest of the devil conjure? - “Forbids you, devil, the Lord who came into the world, dwelling in people, may he destroy your torment and crush people, Even on the tree, conquer the opposing forces, Even destroy death by death and abolish the one who has the power of death, that is to say to you, the devil ... ". And for some reason there is no call here: “Fear the Teacher, who commanded us not to resist evil by force” ...

Thus, Christianity is a community of people who have been struck not so much by some parable or Christ's lofty moral demand, but as a collection of people who have sensed the mystery of Golgotha. In particular, this is why the Church is so calm about “biblical criticism,” which finds insertions, typos, or distortions in biblical books. Criticism of the biblical text may seem dangerous to Christianity only if Christianity is perceived in the Islamic manner - as the "religion of the Book." “Biblical criticism” of the 19th century was capable of generating anti-church triumphalism only under the condition that criteria important for Islam and, to some extent, Judaism were transferred to Christianity. But even religion ancient israel was built not so much on some teaching inspired from Above, but on historical event Testament. Christianity, all the more so, is not faith in a book that fell from heaven, but in a Person, in what she said, did, and experienced.

For the Church, it is not so much the authenticity of the retelling of the Founder's words that is important, but rather His life, which cannot be faked. No matter how many insertions, omissions or defects in written sources Christianity - for him it is not fatal, because it is built not on a book, but on the Cross.

So, has the Church changed the “teachings of Jesus”, transferring all its attention and hope from the “commandments of Christ” to the very person of the Savior and the Mystery of His Existence? Protestant liberal theologian A. Harnack believes that - yes, she did. In support of his idea that ethics is more important in the preaching of Christ than the Person of Christ, he cites the logic of Jesus: “If you love Me, keep My commandments”, and from it he concludes: “To make Christology the main content of the Gospel is a perversion, this is clear speaks the sermon of Jesus Christ, which in its main features is very simple and puts everyone directly before God.” But love me, and the commandments are also mine...

The Christocentrism of historical Christianity, so obviously different from the moralistic reading of the Gospel by non-religious people, is not to the liking of many of our contemporaries. But, as in the 1st century, Christianity is now ready to arouse antipathy among the pagans with a clear and unambiguous evidence of their faith in the One Lord, Incarnate, Crucified and Resurrected - “for us for the sake of man and for our sake of salvation”.

Christ is not only a means of revelation through which God speaks to people. Since He is the God-Man, He is also the subject of Revelation. And more than that, He turns out to be the content of Revelation. Christ is the One who enters into communication with man, and the One about whom this communication speaks.

God has not just told us from afar certain truths that He considered necessary for our enlightenment. He Himself became a man. He spoke about His new unheard-of closeness with people with each of His earthly sermons.

If an Angel had flown in from Heaven and announced some message to us, then the consequences of his visit could well have been contained in these words and in their written fixation. The one who accurately remembered the angelic words, understood their meaning and passed them on to his neighbor, would exactly repeat the ministry of this Messenger. The messenger is identical to his commission. But can we say that the commission of Christ was reduced to words, to the announcement of certain truths? Can we say that the Only Begotten Son of God performed the ministry that any of the angels and any of the prophets could have performed with equal success?

- Not. The ministry of Christ is not limited to the words of Christ. The ministry of Christ is not identical with the teaching of Christ. He is not only a prophet. He is also a Priest. The office of a prophet can be wholly recorded in books. The ministry of the Priest is not words, but action.

This is the question of Tradition and Scripture. Scripture is a clear record of the words of Christ. But if the ministry of Christ is not identical to His words, then the fruit of His ministry cannot be identical to the gospel record of His sermons. If His teaching is only one of the fruits of His ministry, then what are the others? And how can people become heirs of these fruits? It is clear how the teaching is transmitted, how it is fixed and stored. But - the rest? That which was super-verbal in Christ's ministry cannot be conveyed in words. This means that there must be another way of participation in the ministry of Christ, in addition to Scripture.

This is Tradition.

1 Let me remind you that according to the interpretation of Clement of Alexandria in this word of Christ we are talking about being ready to refuse to follow social prejudices (of course, even if these prejudices induce parents to raise their son in a spirit of opposition to the gospel).
“The miracles of Christ could be apocryphal or legendary. The only and main miracle, and, moreover, already completely indisputable, is He Himself. To invent such a Person is just as difficult and unbelievable, and it would be wonderful, as to be such a Person” (V. Rozanov. Religion and culture. vol. 1. M., 1990, p. 353).
3 More detailed analysis For Christocentric passages of the Gospel, see the chapter “What Christ Preached” in the second volume of my book “Satanism for the Intelligentsia”.

Christianity is not made by hands, it is the creation of God.

From the book "The Un-American Missionary"

If we affirm that Christ is God, that He is sinless, and human nature is sinful, then how could He be incarnated, was it possible?

Man is not sinful from the very beginning. Man and sin are not synonyms. Yes, God's world has been remade by people into the disaster world we know. But still the world, the flesh, humanity in themselves are not something evil. And the fullness of love lies in coming not to the one who feels good, but to the one who feels bad. To believe that the incarnation will defile God is like saying: “Here is a dirty barrack, there is a disease, an infection, ulcers; how can a doctor risk going there, he can get infected?!”. Christ is the Physician who came into a sick world.

The holy fathers gave another example: when the sun illuminates the earth, it illuminates not only beautiful roses and flowering meadows, but also puddles and sewage. But the sun is not defiled because its beam fell on something dirty and unsightly. So the Lord did not become less pure, less Divine because he touched a person on earth, clothed himself in his flesh.

How could a sinless God die?

The death of God is indeed a contradiction. “The Son of God died - this is unthinkable, and therefore worthy of faith,” Tertullian wrote in the 3rd century, and it was this saying that subsequently served as the basis for the thesis “I believe, because it is absurd.” Christianity is indeed a world of contradictions, but they arise as a trace from the touch of the Divine hand. If Christianity were created by people, it would be quite straightforward, rational, rational. Because when smart and talented people they create something, their product turns out to be quite consistent, logically of high quality.

At the origins of Christianity stood, undoubtedly, very talented and smart people. It is equally undoubted that the Christian faith nevertheless turned out to be full of contradictions (antinomies) and paradoxes. How to combine it? For me, this is a “certificate of quality”, a sign that Christianity is not made by hands, that it is God's creation.

From a theological point of view, Christ as God did not die. The human part of His “composition” passed through death. Death happened “with” God (with what He perceived at the earthly Nativity), but not “in” God, not in His Divine nature.

Many people easily agree with the idea of the existence of a single God, the Most High, the Absolute, the Higher Mind, but categorically reject the worship of Christ as God, considering it a kind of pagan relic, the worship of a semi-pagan anthropomorphic, that is, human-like, deity. Aren't they right?

For me, the word “anthropomorphism” is not a dirty word at all. When I hear an accusation like "your christian god- anthropomorphic”, I ask you to translate the “accusation” into understandable, Russian language. Then everything immediately falls into place. I say: “Excuse me, what are you accusing us of? Is it that our idea of God is human-like, human-like? Can you create for yourself some other idea of God? Which? Giraffe-like, amoeba-like, Martian-like?”

We are people. And therefore, whatever we think about - about a blade of grass, about the cosmos, about an atom or about the Divine - we think about it humanly, based on our own ideas. One way or another, we endow everything with human qualities.

Another thing is that anthropomorphism is different. It can be primitive: when a person simply transfers all his feelings, passions to nature and to God, not understanding this act of his. Then the pagan myth turns out.

But Christian anthropomorphism knows about itself, it is noticed by Christians, thought out and realized. And at the same time, it is experienced not as an inevitability, but as gift. Yes, I, a human being, have no right to think about the Incomprehensible God, I cannot claim to know Him, and even more so to express it in my terrible short language. But the Lord, out of His love, condescends to the point that He clothes Himself in the images of human speech. God speaks in words that are understandable to the nomadic nomads of the 2nd millennium BC (which were the Hebrew forefathers Moses, Abraham...). And in the end, even God Himself becomes a Man.

Christian thought begins with the recognition of the incomprehensibility of God. But if we stop there, then religion, as a union with Him, is simply impossible. She falls into a desperate silence. Religion acquires the right to exist only if the Incomprehensible Himself gives it this right. If He Himself declares His desire to be found nevertheless. Only when the Lord Himself goes beyond the boundaries of His incomprehensibility, when He comes to people, only then can the planet of people acquire a religion with an anthropomorphism inherent in it. Only Love can cross all the boundaries of apophatic decency.

If there is Love, then there is Revelation, an outpouring of this Love. This Revelation is given to the world of people, beings that are rather aggressive and slow-witted. So, it is necessary to protect the rights of God in the world of human willfulness. This is what dogmas are for. Dogma is a wall, but not a prison one, but a fortress one. She keeps gift from barbarian raids. Over time, the barbarians will become the guardians of this gift. But for starters gift have to be protected from them.

And that means that all the dogmas of Christianity are possible only because God is Love.

Christianity claims that the head of the Church is Christ Himself. He is present in the Church and leads it. Where does such confidence come from and can the Church prove it?

The best proof is that the Church is still alive. Boccaccio's Decameron contains this evidence (it was planted on Russian cultural soil in Nikolai Berdyaev's well-known work On the Dignity of Christianity and the Unworthiness of Christians). The plot, let me remind you, is the following.

A French Christian was friends with a Jew. They had a good human relationship, but at the same time the Christian could not come to terms with the fact that his friend did not accept the Gospel, and he spent many evenings with him in discussions on religious topics. In the end, the Jew succumbed to his preaching and expressed a desire to be baptized, but before Baptism he wished to visit Rome in order to look at the pope.

The Frenchman perfectly imagined what Renaissance Rome was, and in every possible way opposed the departure of his friend there, but he nonetheless went. The Frenchman met him without any hope, realizing that no one sane person, seeing the papal court, does not wish to become a Christian.

But, having met with his friend, the Jew himself suddenly started a conversation that he needed to be baptized as soon as possible. The Frenchman could not believe his ears and asked him:

Have you been to Rome?

Yes, he was, - the Jew answers.

Did you see dad?

Have you seen how the pope and the cardinals live?

Of course I saw it.

And then you want to be baptized? - asks even more surprised Frenchman.

Yes, - replies the Jew, - just after everything I have seen, I want to be baptized. After all, these people are doing everything in their power to destroy the Church, but if, nevertheless, she lives, it turns out that the Church is still not from people, she is from God.

In general, you know, every Christian can tell how the Lord controls his life. Each of us can give a lot of examples of how invisibly God leads him through this life, and even more so it is obvious in the management of the life of the Church. However, here we come to the problem of Divine Providence. There is a good one on this subject. work of fiction It's called "The Lord of the Rings". This work tells how the invisible Lord (of course, He is outside the plot) builds the whole course of events so that they turn to the triumph of good and the defeat of Sauron, who personifies evil. Tolkien himself clearly stated this in the comments to the book.

The identity of Jesus Christ has been the subject of centuries of searching for confirmation of the existence of this Christian messiah, or vice versa, the refutation of his life as a real historical character. Be that as it may, but the dogma of faith captured Jesus Christ in the books of the Old Testament, where he is mentioned as a messiah, a prophet who will come to the salvation of the believing people. Also, references to the life and work of Jesus Christ are available from such a historian as Cornelius Tacitus, who in his work “Annals” describes what appeared around 115 BC. evidence of the preaching of Christ and his community, as well as his clash with the ruler Nero, but these data are uncertain and the birth of Christ falls on this approximate period.

There are also approximate biographical data that have been compiled thanks to numerous historical works, biographies and biographers, as well as on the basis of holy books christian church, in which it is noted that Jesus Christ, thanks to immaculate conception Mary during the reign of Emperor Augustus, which is 30-14 BC. The birth of Jesus was foretold by an angel to Mary and her husband Joseph the Carpenter, who was a distant descendant of King David. Now this event is called the feast of the Annunciation, that is, the receipt of the good news by Mary from an angel. Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem, which was also called the city of David, because of which the events coincided with earlier predictions about the son of God, who is a descendant of the family of David in the city of David.

On the day Jesus was born, three wise men came to him, who followed the Star of Bethlehem to bow to the great Son of God and bring gifts. At this time, by order of King Herod, all newborn boys were exterminated in order to be able to escape from the prediction, so Jesus' parents take him to Egypt, and after the king's death they return to Nazareth.

Until the age of thirty, Jesus was a carpenter, like his father, but feeling his divine origin, always strived to help and be kind to people. At the age of thirty, he was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, who was the cousin of Jesus Christ. The moment of baptism is described in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 3:23). Allegedly, at the moment of baptism, the people saw how the holy spirit in the guise of a dove descended from heaven and illuminated the future. social activities Christ.

The Gospel of John makes us understand that Jesus was in Jerusalem around four Easters, constantly preaching, showing miracles and doing good deeds. At the same time, his teaching spread, more and more disciples followed him, who followed Christ from city to city, studied with him, observed the power of Christ with their own eyes and preached his teaching.

At the Sanhedrin, on a denunciation, Jesus Christ was accused as a crowd breaker, a deceiver and an opponent of the faith of the Jews, and sentenced to be crucified. Last days Christ were painful - they are called the Articles of Christ. Jesus was crucified on Mount Calvary along with two more condemned, one of whom accepted repentance from the mouth of Christ there and was forgiven before the face of the Lord.

The resurrection and ascension of Christ was observed by his disciples, according to some sources, it was Mary Magdalene who first saw him and believed that Jesus was resurrected, just as he promised his disciples earlier. Christianity interprets this as the ascension of the spirit over the body, that the flesh is mortal, but the spirit is not, and also that there will be a second coming of the messiah, and that it will be marked doomsday or the Day of Judgment, when sinners will be punished, and the righteous will receive a place in paradise, and this will be the end of the world or the apocalypse.

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I was never known to be very devout, but I was interested in religion nonetheless. In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the birth of Jesus Christ is described in great detail. By reading the Scriptures, we can determine his birthplace.

Where was Jesus Christ born

Bethlehem is the city where Jesus Christ was born. It is located near Jerusalem. Its area is 6 square kilometers, the population is about 25 thousand people.

This is very ancient city. unknown exact date its foundation, but it can be approximately argued that it was founded in the XVII-XVI BC. e.

Facts about the city

The fact that Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus Christ already arouses interest in this city, but you can pay attention to other facts:

The correct pronunciation of the name of the city is "Beth-Leham", which means "House of Bread".
The mayor of the city must be a Christian.
The Palestinian National Authority controls Bethlehem, and it is separated from Israel by a wall.
King David was born in this city.
About ten in the US settlements were named after Bethlehem.
The city was founded by the Canaanites, who were later forced out by the Jews.

All Christian pilgrims and tourists traveling through Israel flock to Bethlehem, which is not surprising given the city's history.

Cultural values of the city

One of the city's greatest attractions is the Cave of the Nativity. Inside this cave you can see a silver star. In the place where this star is located, according to legend, Jesus Christ was born. She has 14 rays, with herself she symbolizes the Star of Bethlehem.

Above the cave you can see the Basilica of the Nativity of Christ. It is a massive building, similar to a fortress.

You can also see the Milk Cave. According to legend, it was in it that the Holy Family tried to escape from the soldiers of King Herod. When the Mother of God was about to feed the baby, she accidentally splashed drops of milk, after which the dark stone turned white.

Bethlehem really interesting city. It beckons with its history, its mystery, its religiosity.