What Does the Bible Teach about Jesus?
The Bible teaches us of Jesus’s parables, miracles, and most importantly His life. He is a perfect example for us. Through the Bible, we can come to know and love Jesus.
The four Gospels
Contents
The life of Jesus Christ is detailed in the first four books of the New Testament, which are known as the four Gospels. Each gospel is attributed to a different author—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew and John were Apostles of Jesus who witnessed these events firsthand. Instead of each gospel picking up where the last one left off, each author offers a start-to-finish account of Jesus’s ministry in ancient Judea. This means that we have four different perspectives on the life of Jesus Christ, each with their own unique insights and points of view. Together, they provide an unforgettable testimony of Jesus’s teachings, His example, and His sacrifice.
The teachings of Jesus
During His life, the teachings of Jesus Christ took many different forms. Sometimes they were responses to questions He was asked. Other times, they were sermons He gave to His assembled followers, such as the Sermon on the Mount. Often His teachings took the form of parables—simple stories He told to illustrate important gospel principles in a way that would be understood by sincere seekers of the truth.
But no matter the way He chose to deliver His message, common themes emerged. Jesus taught the importance of making sure we’re righteous not just in our actions, but also in our thoughts, feelings, and motivations. He expressed the need to care for the most vulnerable among us while condemning hypocrisy and pride. He continually glorified His Heavenly Father and encouraged His followers to strengthen their relationship with God through prayer.
The example of Jesus
Jesus showed us the way to live not just through His words but through His actions. As you read the four Gospels, you’ll see examples of Jesus using His time to heal the sick, feed the hungry, and comfort the grieving. He expressed love to others and was willing to take a stand for what He knew was right. Unlike Jesus, we can’t live a life without sin, but we can do our best to follow the example He’s given us.
The sacrifice of Jesus
No matter how hard we try to learn the teachings of Jesus Christ and follow His example, we’ll make mistakes. That is when the true power of Jesus Christ as taught in the four Gospels comes into effect. John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The four Gospels teach us that, during the final week of His life, Jesus Christ suffered and died to pay the price for our sins. This sacrifice is called the Atonement. Because of Jesus’s atoning sacrifice, we can repent and be forgiven so that we can one day return to the presence of God.
After Jesus Christ died, He was miraculously resurrected. Because Jesus Christ overcame death, all of us can look forward to life after death. Of all that we can learn of Jesus in the Bible, the reality of His sacrifice is the most powerful principle we can come to understand.
The Epistles of the New Testament
After Jesus Christ’s Resurrection, He organized His disciples to ensure that the work of His gospel would continue. An account of their travels and experiences can be found in the Book of Acts, which immediately follows the four Gospels in the New Testament. The rest of the New Testament is largely made up of a series of writings from the early Apostles. These are often called the Epistles, but it can help us to think of them as letters. In these epistles, we can find many wonderful teachings about Jesus Christ from the early Apostles as they wrote to bolster the faith of Christianity’s earliest converts.
The Book of Revelation
In the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John details his vision of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, when He will return in glory and establish His kingdom on earth. This is the moment when all the world will know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. In Revelation 5:13 it says, “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.”
The Old Testament
Even though the Old Testament never refers to the Savior as “Jesus Christ,” we see many of His other names throughout its pages. Messiah, Jehovah, Emmanuel, Redeemer, Holy One of Israel, Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace are just a few of the names by which He is identified. Old Testament prophets foretold His birth, His ministry, and His saving sacrifice. For example, in the book of Isaiah, we receive a beautiful, multifaceted description of the Messiah who would come to redeem God’s people. Jesus’s birth is detailed in Isaiah 7:14, which says:
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Isaiah 6:1 fortells the ministry of Jesus Christ:
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”
We receive a moving testimony of Jesus’s forthcoming sacrifice in Isaiah 53:4–5, which says:
“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
These verses are just some of the ways the Old Testament points us to Jesus Christ. In fact, during His mortal ministry as detailed in the New Testament, Jesus often pointed out the very scriptures in the Old Testament that He was fulfilling. His words provide a bridge between the two halves of the Holy Bible, bringing them together into one unified voice declaring that He is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Redeemer of Israel, and the Savior of all mankind.
