Meet JESUS the CHRIST

One day Jesus went back to Nazareth and to the synagogue there.  He read from their Isaiah scroll (amazing example to be seen today). The synagogue time ended with a local Nazareth crowd wanting to eliminate him.

Angry, incoherent crowds seem to be sadly common in our times. In New Testament days Paul often faced such. He was a, or the, most prominent known Jewish follower of Jesus in the period before 70 AD (CE). Paul was the author of a body of letters and was very influential throughout the area from Jerusalem to Athens, and possibly beyond. Paul was tried several times and had to account for himself, as he did to a violent riot....

 There are some gaps in knowledge of Jesus' inner band after his resurrection. In the telling after the crucifixion its description was changed. When is twelve not twelve? Does it matter? These rock stacks, strangely, are called "The Twelve Apostles". They are a tourist attraction off the coast of Victoria, Australia. (They have their own Marine National Park.). I suppose once there were 12. The ocean has been working on their removal! Itinerant Jesus had a specific band of 12 men.

A despairing man - Judas, who slipped away from Jesus. I think that Judas’ sad end of life at a rope's end is fairly well known.. was it necessary? why did he?

In Jesus' final week he was often in the Temple. By day (only) he frequented Jerusalem, openly, except for the last night.. What about the other Jerusalem Temple mentions - was there a pattern? Did Jesus visit Jerusalem and its Temple regardless of danger? He would not put God to the test, would he?

On Hot Cross Buns Buns, cross, hot on the heels of Christmas fruit pies. January 2026 arrived local supermarket

The light keeps shining in the dark, and darkness has never put it out (John 1:5 CEV). In a long ago winter, during one Hanukkah*, Jesus was again recorded in the Temple. (He may well have been to many Jerusalem Hanukkah celebrations, as to the other recurring events in his culture.) John here gives us a note of the chronology of Jesus' life. In chapter 7 we see Jesus in Jerusalem even when the climate had become very threatening. He had been there (approximately in October) for the celebration called Booths (Tabernacles). Enmity against Jesus reached a peak with official action being by taken primarily by the elite, "the Jews", and their followers.

Break off quietly ….?  Really? Divorce? What? Why? Joseph the Carpenter seems to have been a decent man and a kindly one. He faced these troubling questions. But, of course, that is not the beginning... Below is the core story, as we have it.

I have not used intentionally AI anywhere in this blog.  If ever I do use it (eg for image creation), I will say so. I suppose it is possible images I use from Unsplash or Pixabay may include AI, but I have not noted any acknowledgement in the ones I have used.

(Edited. Originally published as part of "Jesus & the Jews" but revised here) The man from Tarsus may well have walked (?) that road Apart from Jesus himself, the most prominent person we know about in the spreading of the message of Jesus was Paul. (He was originally introduced as the Jew, “Saul of Tarsus”). He presents as formerly furiously antagonistic, miraculously changed into a representative of Jesus. (Below I am thinking about Paul’s “CV” - I do not plan to make this exhaustive.) Saul first enters the Acts record here, as a participant in the Jerusalem death of Stephen, a Jesus-follower:

Yep; he sure did. if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one he said (see below)   HOWEVER, please see the whole, not just the shocking bit!

Would a drowning person accept help?  We find it quite plainly said that Jesus saves sinners.

Jesus recognised as The Christ? Who? How? When? Where? They met him! How do you learn new stuff? Various senses may be involved, for example, touch ("Ow, that is really hot!"). I have posted previously on Jesus being The Christ (ie, The Messiah). I have included information from disciples who show differing levels of understanding and conviction. But, how did it come about in the first place that they had become disciples of Jesus as being The Christ?

From very early Jesus was seen as king. Jesus claimed a kingdom, not of this world.  He is king of his kingdom. He has and welcomes servants (followers) but his retinue is unique.  "The Kingdom of God/Heaven" was a major topic for Jesus. At the time many wrong (human) ideas about God's kingdom were prevalent. Jesus rejected use of force or compulsion.

Christ Matthew has this account of a week of special significance to the Biblical understanding of Jesus: Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

Hello! This Blog is a work under construction. The central purpose is to assist you to explore about Jesus for yourself , with 'no strings attached' by me.

Welcome! You have found your way to my very new "in progress" supplementary blog. "Meet Jesus the Christ" is actually my new posting location. Since 2014 I have been writing a blog, using "Blogger". My initial blog is called Jesus Saviour 4 UnMe (Jesussaviour4unme.blogspot.com). However, some of my posts there diverge from the primary intention. This blog will contain a carefully curated collection of my existing posts. Some of them I may need to rework - that remains to be seen. (My formatting has developed over time.) I consider that the most important thing you (or anyone) can do is to meet Jesus. He welcomes new people into his circle of friends. Always. May you be blessed by God Allen Hampton  Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Scripture quotations are extensive in this blog. This is intentional, because