A story Jesus told

Answer 1

Jesus told his followers many stories. One of the is that of the tax collector and the Pharisee. The Pharisee was proud and looked down upon the tax collector as a sinner and the tax collector thought he was not worthy before God. At the end God was more pleased with the humbleness of the tax collector. The moral of the story is, if you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored by God.

Answer 2

The story of Jesus is the greatest love story ever told. It is about a love so great that nothing, not even death, could stop it from having an affect on us 2,000 years later. It is about God sending His only begotten Son down to earth as a sacrifice for our sins. It is about the opportunity for complete forgiveness that we can only find in Him.

Story of Jesus is about many things but the main reason is because we were all sinners. Man were too sinful and deserved to die for in God's kingdom the only way to go there is to be sinless. Sin separates us from God so to make a bridge, to connect us to Him. So he sent his only son to die for us because the toll was death. Jesus was his only son and he was sinless, the ultimate sacrifice. After dying on the cross, he made it available for us to communicate to God. Before God's spirit was only given to the ones needed. But now everyone can come before God as long as they accept that Jesus Christ has died for their Sins. After the third day Jesus rose again, not as a human, but a new body that we will have after we die as well. And so Jesus' purpose for living was to die for us and our sins so that we may have a chance to live.

Answer 3

Scholars wish they knew the entire story of Jesus! We have four accounts of the mission of Jesus, but these are not independent accounts, because scholars have established that the Gospel of Mark was the main source for the other three accounts, either directly (Matthew and Luke) or indirectly (John). We also have the nativity accounts, but most scholars say these are not historically true. Finally, we have four very different stories of the risen Jesus. The reason for these irreconcilable differences is that Mark originally ended at verse 16:8 with the young man telling the women that Jesus was risen and they fled in terror, telling no one. As a result, the authors of Matthew and Luke had no guidance on what to write, and simply wrote what could have happened; the 'Long Ending' (verses 16:9-20) was added to Mark's Gospel much later.

So, the most reliable story about Jesus is to be found in Mark's Gospel, and if we strip away material less likely to be true, then this is the entire story ( with the possible addition of sayings attributed to Jesus, in the hypothetical 'Q' document). Fortunately, there is a good way to list all the important events in the story of Jesus in Mark's Gospel. This gospel is based on a parallel framework structure, which links, by association, the two events of each pair in the minds of the readers, in order to create emphasis or develop a theme that would otherwise not be apparent. This therefore provides a ready way to visualise the mission of Jesus:

A . John explains the coming of Jesus (Mark 1:1-8)

B .The baptism of Jesus (1:9)

C . The voice of God from heaven, "Thou art my beloved son" (1:11)

D . The forty days in the wilderness as an allusion to Elijah and Moses (1:13)

E . The people were astonished at what Jesus taught (1:22)

F . Jesus casts out an unclean spirit (1:23-26)

G . Pharisees took counsel with the Herodians how they might destroy Jesus (3:6)

H . Demons, whenever they see Jesus, fall down and say that he is the Son of God.

-- Jesus commands that they tell no one of this (3:11-12)

I .. Jesus calls the 12 disciples (3:13-19)

J .. Jesus rejects his own family: he has a new family, his followers (3:31-35)

K . Jesus rebukes the wind (4:36-41)

L . The demoniac, wearing no clothes (5:15), cries out that Jesus not torment him and Jesus sends out the demons (5:1-20)

M . Jesus comes into his own country (6:1)
-- Where he was brought up

N . The people misunderstand Jesus and he can do no mighty work (6:2-6)

O . Jesus sends out the disciples and curses those who will not receive them (6:7-11)
-- in sending the disciples with authority and expecting all to receive them, Jesus is asserting his own authority

P . Herod thinks that Jesus is John the Baptist risen from the dead (6:14)

Q . Herodias and her daughter conspire to kill John the Baptist (6:16-29)

R . Feeding the thousands, and related miracles and discourses (6:33-8:21)

S . Who do people say that I am (8:27)

T . Peter affirms faith in Jesus as the Christ (8:29)

U . Whosoever shall be ashamed of me: of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed (8:38)

V . The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes (8:31a)

W . Be killed and after three days rise again (8:31b)

X . Prophecy of second coming (9:1)- Jesus tells the disciples that some of them would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God coming with power.

B' .The Transfiguration of Jesus (9:2-3)

C' .The voice of God from heaven, "This is my beloved son" (9:7)

D' . Jesus talks to Elijah and Moses then to the disciples about Elijah (9:4-13)

E' .A great multitude was amazed at Jesus (9:15)

F' .Jesus cast out a dumb spirit (9:17-27)

G' .They shall kill the Son of man and he shall rise on the third day (9:31)

H' .Jesus clarifies his divine status, saying that he is not God: "Why call me good? There is none good but God" (10:18)

I' . Peter says the disciples have left all and followed Jesus (10:28)

J' . Those who have left their family for Jesus have a new family: all Jesus' followers (10:29-30)

K'. Jesus rebukes the 'sons of thunder', James and John (10:35-45 - cf 3:17)

L' .Blind Bartimaeus cries out for mercy and casts off his clothes, then Jesus heals him (10:46-52)

M' .Jesus comes into Jerusalem (11:1-10)
-- Where he will die

N' .Jesus misunderstands the fig tree that can provide no fruit (11:13-14)

O' .Jesus casts out them that sold and bought in the Temple and curses them for making the Temple a den of thieves (11:15-17)
-- Jesus is asserting his authority

P' .Jesus asks whether the baptism of John is from heaven or of men, and the priests, scribes and elders can not answer (11:30-33)

Q' .Parable of husbandmen who conspire to kill the vineyard owner's son (12:1-9)

X' .Prophecy of second coming (chapter 13)

-- on clouds of glory, within the lifetimes of some of those to whom he was speaking

R' .The Last Supper (14:17-25)

S' .Art thou the Christ, Son of God (14:61)

T' .Peter denies Jesus three times (14:66-72a)

U' .And when he thought thereon, Peter wept (14:72b)

V' .The chief priests, elders and scribes delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate (15:1)

-- Delivering Jesus is a similar concept to rejecting him.
-- Both parts of the pair involve chief priests, elders and scribes

W' .Jesus dies and on the third day rises again (15:37, 16:6)

A' .The young man explains the departure of Jesus(16:6-8)

We can also look in much more detail at the last twenty four hours in the life of Jesus by looking at the following chiastic structure in Mark's Gospel:

A The celebration of the Passover Feast, which becomes the Last Supper, beginning "when it was evening" (Mark 14:17), or when the sun went down: approximately 6 pm and the beginning of the day of the Passover by Jewish reckoning. Jesus says, "This is my body," a metaphor that will be reflected in his burial. Mark knew that the duration of the Passover meal was three hours and that it concluded with the singing of a hymn.
B When was about 9 p.m. Mark then has Jesus and the disciples go to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus went to pray. He suffered alone and in agony, asking God that, if possible, he take this cup (his destiny to be crucified) away from Jesus. Meanwhile his disciples, Peter, James and John, were not able to remain awake. "Could you not watch one hour?" Jesus asked. The process was repeated two more times. The disciples could not watch one, two or three hours. It was now midnight.
C The betrayal of Jesus, the darkest deed in human history, came next, occurring at the stroke of midnight. This will be reflected by the darkness at midday.

D At 3:00 a.m., Jesus was led away for a trial before the high priest and other senior priests and elders. We know the time of the first trial because Peter's threefold denial of Jesus followed, once each hour until the cock crowed, marking the watch between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., known as cockcrow.

E When it was 6 o'clock, "As soon as it was morning", Jesus was led by the chief priests, scribes and elders for trial by Pontius Pilate. At the trial, Pontius Pilate sentences Jesus to be crucified.

D' At 9 o'clock: "It was the third hour when they crucified him."

C' When "the sixth hour had come" (12 noon), darkness covered the whole earth, reflecting the betrayal at 12 midnight.

B' The three hours of darkness, until 3 p.m. mirror the agony in the Garden of Gethsemene. Jesus last words, "My God. My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" reflect the recognition that his prayer in the Garden has not been answered. At 3 o'clock Jesus cried out and gave up the ghost.

A' Joseph of Arimathea then asked Pilate for the body of Jesus, so that he could be buried before the Sabbath began at 6 p.m., when the sun went down.

Answer 4

Jesus told parables.