Life of Jesus

The Maestà by Duccio (1310), depicting the life of Christ, with 26 central scenes devoted to the Passion and Resurrection[1]

The life of Jesus is primarily outlined in the four canonical gospels, which includes his genealogy and nativity, public ministry, passion, prophecy, resurrection and ascension.[2][3] Other parts of the New Testament – such as the Pauline epistles which were likely written within 20 to 30 years of each other,[4] and which include references to key episodes in the life of Jesus, such as the Last Supper,[2][3][5] and the Acts of the Apostles (1:1–11), which includes more references to the Ascension episode than the canonical gospels[6][7] also expound upon the life of Jesus. In addition to these biblical texts, there are extra-biblical texts that make reference to certain events in the life of Jesus, such as Josephus on Jesus and Tacitus on Christ.

In the gospels, the ministry of Jesus starts with his Baptism by John the Baptist. Jesus came to the Jordan River where he was baptized by John the Baptist, after which he fasted for forty days and nights in the Judaean Desert. This early period also includes the first miracle of Jesus in the Marriage at Cana.

The principal locations for the ministry of Jesus were Galilee and Judea, with some activities also taking place in nearby areas such as Perea and Samaria. Jesus' activities in Galilee include a number of miracles and teachings.

  1. ^ Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia by Christopher Kleinhenz (Nov 2003) Routledge, ISBN 0415939305 p. 310
  2. ^ a b Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey by Craig L. Blomberg 2009 ISBN 0-8054-4482-3 pp. 441–442
  3. ^ a b The encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 4 by Erwin Fahlbusch, 2005 ISBN 978-0-8028-2416-5 pp. 52–56
  4. ^ "When were the Bible books written?". www.gty.org. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
  5. ^ The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary by Craig A. Evans 2003 ISBN 0-7814-3868-3 pp. 465–477
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Evans521 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Zuck91 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).