• John 3:16; 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. That man, God`s only begotten son, is Jesus Christ.





    Jesus was born in a small town called Bethelehem. His parents were named Mary and Joseph. Even before he was born, they knew he was going to be … different … than other babies. An angel of the Lord came to Mary and Joseph, telling them that God was blessing them with a baby boy, and to name him Jesus for he is the Son of God.





    When Jesus got older, he traveled down to the Jordan River in Galilee. That`s where the infamous John the Baptist, Jesus` cousin, was baptizing the people who wished to be cleansed. John wasn’t like other people. He often lived in the wild and wore animal furs instead of clothes. He ate out of the trash and rarely bathed. He preached against most of the king’s ways, and for those reasons, many people hated John, or said he was crazy! Jesus asked John to baptize him, and John graciously accepted. Right after, Jesus saw a spirit in the sky, a spirit of the Lord, which Jesus followed into the desert. Following Jesus, the Devil tried him, trying to make him lose faith in his heavenly father. But Jesus was a rock and stayed right in his beliefs, and hard against the Devil`s petulant temptations. He did not give in. He remained in the desert for forty days and forty nights. What if you had that kind of restraint? You wouldn’t give in to anything, or be pushed around. After his trials were over, Jesus returned to Galilee.





    Jesus needed people like John, who would be religious teachers, and to share his love of God. He chose twelve men to help him spread the news of God. Upon entering the city with his men, he received news of John being in prison, and later of John being decapitated by the king`s soldiers.



    Jesus performed many miracles, with his chosen people, or rather his disciples, on their travels, ranging from turning water into wine to healing the lame and blind. He healed the people with his hands, for the Lord had provided him with the power to relieve pain and suffering. One example of his miracles was when he was giving a sermon on the water’s edge; it was brought to his attention that his people had nothing to eat. He took a five fish and two loaves bread and was able to feed five thousand people. Another example was a man named Lazarus, who was very sick; Jesus decided to go visit him but four days before Jesus arrived Lazarus died. When Jesus and Lazarus` sister`s arrived at his tomb Jesus cried, “Lazarus, come out “! Lazarus came out alive and well. The rabbi`s at the time heard about Jesus and his “miracles”, and didn’t like some man claiming to be the “Son of God”! They complained to king about it, and he didn`t like it one bit. As a result, Jesus was sentenced to the “Death Penalty”!




    He was beaten and whipped and the soldiers stuck a crown of thorns upon his head. They made him carry a big, heavy, wooden cross, all the way up a hill, and then nailed his hands and feet to it. His cross was in between the crosses of two criminals. Imagine if you had done nothing wrong, but were being punished the same as a robber, or a murderer! Wouldn’t you be really mad, angry, and even scared?





    While Jesus was on his cross, he wasn’t concerned about his own fate, but talked to the criminals, heard their stories, and even prayed with them. Jesus eventually died on his cross. A soldier pierced Jesus’ side just to make sure he had breathed his last breath. They removed his body from the blood splattered cross. They placed his body inside a cave and sealed it with a boulder. After three days, Mary, Jesus’ mother, and Mary Magdalene came to put flowers near the tomb, they saw that the boulder had been rolled away and the tomb was empty. Jesus has risen!!! The Son of God was alive again. This Son of God had a very remarkable life, filled with hopes, love, and even cruelty. Kind of like your life!





    When he died on his old rugged cross, his life paid the price for our sins. The price for the whole world’s sins was paid by the world’s only perfect man ever to walk the earth’s surface. Jesus has touched many lives, including mine. Without him, I wouldn’t be able know of God’s love. Without him, my family wouldn’t be able to praise the Lord in an organized location and at the same time each week. Without him, and his teachings to lear how to praise God, our world would not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven. Instead you would have to sacrifice something or someone you love, at least once a year, to pay for every little thing you did wrong. The blood of your sacrifice paid for your sins, just like Jesus’ blood paid for our sins, and even the people of tomorrow’s sins. Perfect blood from a perfect person. Jesus died so that we could live. Jesus saved the world!