The Life of Jesus

What makes you a Christian? What do you have to do? Get to know Jesus by reading and watching his biography. Step by step you will know him more. What makes you a Christian? What do you have to do?  Is there a checklist? Can you be sure of being a child of God?  I have been a christian all my life. But over the years I have developed my relationship with Jesus to a deeper level. I am getting to know Jesus better and my love for Jesus is growing. The biographies of Jesus help me in this process. The video of today is a summary of the life of Jesus. It does not cover all aspects and events. But it reveals an important red thread in the Bible: God created the world for good. He gave people a choice to love him. We are not meant to be robots. We are creations with a free will.  ...

After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Take care of my lambs.” A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.” A third time Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was sad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” so he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!” Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep. I am telling you the truth: when you were young, you used to get ready and go anywhere you wanted to; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone els...

Do you have doubts about Jesus? Do you find it all hard to wrap your head around? I can imagine. You are not the only one. Do you know the Mission Impossible films? I love watching these kind of adventure movies with my sons. People get an impossible job to do. By the end of the movie, I still have no idea how they made it happen. All the special effects and turns of events. Truly fiction. No way this could happen in real life. Thomas, one of Jesus followers, hears from other disciples that Jesus is alive. They share in all kinds of ways with him, that they saw Jesus. In real life. Not fiction. But Thomas just couldn’t believe this possibility. He says: “Only if I see Jesus myself. Touch his wounds. Only then I will believe.” I can totally relate to his reaction. What happened to Jesus is ...

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the entrance. She went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” Then Peter and the other disciple went to the tomb. The two of them were running, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and saw the linen wrappings, but he did not go in. Behind him came Simon Peter, and he went straight into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there and the cloth which had been round Jesus’ head. It was not lying with the linen wrappings but was rolled up by itself. Then the other disciple, who...

They took charge of Jesus. He went out, carrying his cross, and came to “The Place of the Skull”, as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called “Golgotha”.) There they crucified him; and they also crucified two other men, one on each side, with Jesus between them. Pilate wrote a notice and had it put on the cross. “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”, is what he wrote. Many people read it, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city. The notice was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. The chief priests said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews’, but rather, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews.’ ” Pilate answered, “What I have written stays written.” After the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one ...

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped.The soldiers made a crown out of thorny branches and put it on his head; then they put a purple robe on him and came to him and said, “Long live the King of the Jews!” And they went up and slapped him. Pilate went out once more and said to the crowd, “Look, I will bring him out here to you to let you see that I cannot find any reason to condemn him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Look! Here is the man!” When the chief priests and the temple guards saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “You take him, then, and crucify him. I find no reason to condemn him.” The crowd answered back, “We have a law that says he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son o...

Sometimes it is hard to determine what is the truth? Life isn’t always black and white. In his final days Jesus claims to be THE truth. What does that mean? When I was young I thought the world was easy. Things were right or wrong. True or false. Black or white. Almost like science: you can prove if something is good or bad. But the reality isn’t always that clear. When you promise something to a person, you can have a debate about the interpretation later. I thought I said one thing, people heard another. I get that a lot in my marriage and my family. Or discussions on the soccer field. Was it a penalty or not? Even a video referee does not always bring clarity. And do we deal with climate change or not? Even that causes many debates. What is the truth? In the final moments of Jesus life,...

After Jesus had said this prayer, he left with his disciples and went across the brook called Kidron. There was a garden in that place, and Jesus and his disciples went in. Judas, the traitor, knew where it was, because many times Jesus had met there with his disciples. So Judas went to the garden, taking with him a group of Roman soldiers, and some temple guards sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees; they were armed and carried lanterns and torches. Jesus knew everything that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward and asked them, “Who is it you are looking for?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “I am he,” he said. Judas, the traitor, was standing there with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they moved back and fell to the ground. Again Jesus asked them, “Who is...

After Jesus finished saying this, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your Son, so that the Son may give glory to you. For you gave him authority over all humanity, so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him. And eternal life means knowing you, the only true God, and knowing Jesus Christ, whom you sent. I have shown your glory on earth; I have finished the work you gave me to do. Father! Give me glory in your presence now, the same glory I had with you before the world was made. “I have made you known to those you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me. They have obeyed your word,and now they know that everything you gave me comes from you. 8I gave them the message that you gave me, and they received ...

“If you love me, you will obey my commandments. I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will stay with you for ever. He is the Spirit who reveals the truth about God. The world cannot receive him, because it cannot see him or know him. But you know him, because he remains with you and is in you. “When I go, you will not be left all alone; I will come back to you. In a little while the world will see me no more, but you will see me; and because I live, you also will live. When that day comes, you will know that I am in my Father and that you are in me, just as I am in you. “Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. My Father will love those who love me; I too will love them and reveal myself to them.” Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “L...

Do not be worried and upset,” Jesus told them. “Believe in God and believe also in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house, and I am going to prepare a place for you. I would not tell you this if it were not so. And after I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to myself, so that you will be where I am. You know the way that leads to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; so how can we know the way to get there?” Jesus answered him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me. Now that you have known me,” he said to them, “you will know my Father also, and from now on you do know him and you have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father; that is all we...

After Jesus said this, he went off and hid himself from them. Even though he had performed all these miracles in their presence, they did not believe in him, so that what the prophet Isaiah had said might come true: “Lord, who believed the message we told? To whom did the Lord reveal his power?” And so they were not able to believe, because Isaiah also said: “God has blinded their eyes and closed their minds, so that their eyes would not see, and their minds would not understand, and they would not turn to me, says God, for me to heal them.” Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him. Even then, many of the Jewish authorities believed in Jesus; but because of the Pharisees they did not talk about it openly, so as not to be expelled from the synagogue. They loved...