• Jesus is at the centre of the Christian faith

• The bible is the best source of information about Jesus – remember he was brought up as a Jew, and was never a ‘Christian’. This term is first used in Corinth for people who believed in Jesus ‘Christ’

• Jesus life in the 4 gospels – Matthew Mark and Luke (synoptic gospels), and John

• The OT however tells us about the history and context of the birth of Jesus (Messiah) and St. Paul’s letters in the NT give us the first glimpse of the new ‘Way’ people grappling with a faith that proclaims Jesus as Lord. The first of these ‘converts’ were OT people, ie Jews, both in Palestine and in the diaspora (the Jews spread around other locations). Paul was Jew, he was trained in the Pharisaical traditions by Gamaliel

• We turn to the OT for the background – with the formation of the people of Israel under the ‘giants’ such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), Moses, different forms of government emerged – Patriarchs, Judges, Kings (David is especially important – his home town was Ephratha, also known as Bethlehem). David’s Father was called Jesse.

• From about the 8th Century onwards there was an increasing yearning to see God’s kingdom established, and an expectation that someone would come to bring that Kingdom into being.

• From about this time the prophets began to speak of that coming day. The prophets role was to call the faithless Israel back to faith

• Some of the great passages of the prophets we read at the Sunday Eucharist in the season of Advent ie. the 4 weeks leading up to the birth of Jesus (Christmas)

• Sample of Important passages   (remember these look forward but we also look back!)

1. Isaiah 11, 1-9

2. Isaiah 40, 1-11

3. Isaiah 53, -11 (Suffering Servant)

4. Micah 5, 2

5. Zechariah 9, 9-10                 :all these give a hint of what we know about Jesus

• Great prophet of the OT is John the Baptist. He is 6 months older that Jesus. See Luke 1,26-45

• As an adult it is John who first makes the public acknowledgement that Jesus is the ‘one who was to come – the Messiah, The Christ – he calls him also the Lamb of God.

• The 4 gospels tell us about Jesus, but four different artistic portraits – you can see the identity of the ‘sitter’ but the impressionistic tendencies are unique to the ‘word artist’ cf. this with various portraits of the Queen

• Luke and Matthew tell us about the beginnings of the life of Jesus (look at Matthew 1 to see how important the direct continuity is with the ‘giants’ of the OT period, especially note Jesse, and David). Important point therefore that the Messiah should be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5, 2). John tells of the Word becoming flesh (not a baby wrapped in cloths!) and Mark says nothing. He begins with the Baptism of Jesus by J the B and this is where the three synoptic gospels take up a common story about Jesus with variations.

• The synoptics tell us that Jesus; preached see Mt 5; healed see Mark 5; told stories (parables) about the Kingdom of God see Luke 8; performed miracles see John 2; clashed with the religious authorities see Mark 7; taught people to pray see Matthew 6,9;he also foretold his own death  Matthew 20, 17.

• In its own unique tradition John ‘records’ many private conversations and teachings of Jesus – called discourses see John 13-17.

• All 4 gospels record the events of the last few days of Jesus (each with their own variations), and the crucifixion. They then narrate different resurrection stories, though Mark says the least of all. All four proclaim that Jesus is alive!

• The Acts of the Apostles (same author as St. Luke’s Gospel) then picks us the story of the Christian activity in the light of the resurrection, and narrates the work of the disciples (Acts 2,37) and of St. Paul who is converted from Judaism to the new ‘Way’ (Acts 9)

• Gospels and Acts don’t begin to be written until about 35 years after the death of Jesus eg Mark in about 70 AD. However Paul’s earliest letter is 49AD, so Paul is the first ‘Christian’ writer. He has to grapple with a new faith and experience, and he travels round communities of the ‘Way’ encouraging them, and correcting them. Remember they have no Gospels!

• The Letters give us lovely insights into the nature of faith in Jesus

• Ephesians 1,3  Christ at the centre of Creation

• Philippians, 2, 6   Christ who came to serve

• Colossians 1,15    Christ as the image of God

• 1 Cor 15   Christ raised from the dead

• 1 Cor 11   the first written record of the Last Supper

Paul’s principal conviction is that in Jesus, the Christ of God has been born, was crucified, died and raised again by God; and that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour. This Jesus supercedes the old Jewish Law. Law came through Moses, but the grace of God has come through Jesus. Jewish converts would already have been circumcised according to the Law, but from now on circumcision of the heart is what matters, for in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or freeman. Romans 12 pleads that the believers present their bodies as a living sacrifice to God, to contrast with the sacrifices that used to take place at the Temple under the Old Covenant.

Paul’s conversion at Damascus was a profound turning point for him, the penny drops, just like the scales falling form his eyes to renew his sight.  He now sees clearly that Jesus is Lord.