The Life of Jesus Christ

The verse anchor

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

Luke 2:11 · King James Bible

The story

An angel came to a young woman in Nazareth named Mary. Gabriel greeted her softly and said the Lord was with her. Mary listened, and Gabriel told her that she would carry a Son, and His name would be Jesus, and He would be called the Son of the Most High. Mary answered, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.'

Joseph and Mary travelled to Bethlehem for a census. There was no room in the inn, so they stayed where the animals were kept. That night the child was born, and Mary laid Him in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. Out on the hills, shepherds watched their flocks by night, and an angel appeared with the good news of great joy. A multitude of the heavenly host sang, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'

Wise men from the east saw a great star and followed it, bringing gold and frankincense and myrrh to worship the newborn King. Time passed. When Jesus was twelve, He stayed in the temple, listening and asking questions of the teachers. He grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

When Jesus was about thirty, John the Baptist baptized Him in the river Jordan. The heavens opened, the Spirit descended like a dove, and a voice from heaven said, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' Then Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days and was tempted, and He answered the tempter with the words of Scripture.

Jesus began to teach. He called fishermen — Peter, Andrew, James and John — and said, 'Follow me.' He gathered twelve disciples and travelled Galilee, healing the sick, opening blind eyes, cleansing lepers, feeding thousands with a few loaves and fishes, walking on the sea, calming the storm with a word.

He told stories: the sower, the lost sheep, the prodigal son, the good Samaritan, the pearl of great price, the mustard seed. He taught the Sermon on the Mount and gave the Lord's Prayer: 'Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.'

He blessed the little children. He raised Jairus' daughter and the widow's son and His friend Lazarus. He was transfigured on the mountain, and Moses and Elijah appeared with Him, and a bright cloud overshadowed the disciples.

He rode into Jerusalem on a young donkey while the crowds waved palm branches and cried, 'Hosanna to the Son of David.' On the night before He suffered, He kept the Passover with His disciples in an upper room. He took the bread and blessed it: 'This is my body, which is given for you.' He took the cup: 'This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.'

He went to a garden called Gethsemane and prayed until sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground. He was arrested, tried, condemned, and crucified on a hill called Calvary. Above His head they wrote, 'Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.' There He forgave them. There He remembered His mother. There He said, 'It is finished,' and gave up the ghost. The earth shook, the veil of the temple was torn in two, and even a Roman centurion said, 'Truly this was the Son of God.'

Joseph of Arimathaea laid Him in a new tomb, and a great stone was rolled to the door. But on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came with spices and found the stone rolled away. An angel said, 'He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.' Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene in the garden, and to the disciples in the upper room, and to two on the road to Emmaus, and to more than five hundred brethren at once, and to Thomas who touched His wounds, and to Peter by the sea of Galilee.

For forty days He taught the disciples about the kingdom of God. Then He led them out as far as Bethany, lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. Two men in white apparel stood by and said, 'This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.' And the disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

Memory verse

Say it three times before bed. In seven days you will know it forever.

A prayer