One of the profiles in People of the Bible, with every point tied to a chapter and verse you can check.
What Jesus is known for
- Teaching in parables and in the Sermon on the Mount
- Healings and other miracles reported in all four Gospels
- Gathering twelve close disciples
- His crucifixion in Jerusalem under Pontius Pilate
- The resurrection his followers proclaimed after his death
Jesus’s life in order
Birth in Bethlehem
Luke 2:1–20
Luke reports that Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem for a census, and Jesus is born there and laid in a manger. Shepherds come to see him. Matthew 1–2 tells the birth from Joseph's side, with the visit of the magi.
A boy in the temple
Luke 2:41–52
At twelve, Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem after the Passover festival. His parents find him three days later in the temple, listening to the teachers and asking questions. This is the only Gospel story from his childhood after infancy.
Baptism and testing
Matthew 3:13–4:11
As an adult, Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan River. The Gospels report a voice from heaven and the Spirit coming down like a dove. He then spends forty days in the wilderness, where he is tempted by the devil.
Teaching in Galilee
Matthew 5–7
Jesus calls fishermen and others to follow him and travels through Galilee teaching and healing. Matthew gathers much of his teaching into the Sermon on the Mount. It covers the Beatitudes, prayer, worry and loving enemies.
Peter's confession
Matthew 16:13–20
Near Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks his disciples who they think he is. Peter answers that he is the Messiah. From then on, the Gospels say, Jesus begins telling them that he must suffer and die.
Entry into Jerusalem
Mark 11:1–11
Before the Passover, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a colt, which Matthew and John identify as a young donkey. Crowds spread cloaks and branches on the road and shout praises. Christians remember this day as Palm Sunday.
Last Supper, trial and crucifixion
Mark 14:12–15:47
Jesus shares a final meal with his disciples and is arrested that night. He is questioned by the high priest's council and handed to Pilate, the Roman governor. He is crucified, dies and is buried in a tomb.
The empty tomb
Luke 24
The Gospels report that women find the tomb empty on the first day of the week. They then describe Jesus appearing to his followers, including two on the road to Emmaus. Luke ends with Jesus being taken up into heaven, told again in Acts 1.
What does the name Jesus mean?
Jesus is the English form of the Greek Iēsous, which renders the Hebrew and Aramaic name Yeshua. Yeshua is a shorter form of Yehoshua, the name of Joshua in the Old Testament, and is usually explained as “the LORD saves.” Matthew 1:21 links the name to saving.
The name was common among Jews at the time. “Christ” is not a surname but a title, from the Greek Christos, which translates the Hebrew Mashiach, “anointed one” or Messiah.
Key verses
““The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!””
“Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.””
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.”
Verse text: Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain.
What Jesus’s story shows
Time with outsiders
The Gospels often show Jesus eating with tax collectors and talking with people others avoided, such as Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10) and the Samaritan woman (John 4). Critics objected to the company he kept.
Teaching through stories
Much of his teaching comes as parables, short stories drawn from farming, family and work (Luke 15, Matthew 13). They invite listeners to think rather than simply giving rules.
Love as the summary
Asked which commandment is greatest, Jesus joins love for God (Deuteronomy 6:5) with love for one's neighbor (Leviticus 19:18), according to Matthew 22:37–40. Many readers treat this as the center of his ethics.
Serving rather than ruling
Mark 10:45 presents Jesus as one who came to serve, and John 13 shows him washing his disciples' feet. The Gospels contrast this with the way rulers usually use power.
How Christians, historians and other faiths view Jesus
Christians across Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions believe Jesus is the Son of God and the promised Messiah, and that his death and resurrection bring salvation. The Nicene Creed, from the 4th century, summarizes this belief and is still used by many churches.
Historians work differently. Most scholars of the ancient world, whatever their own beliefs, agree that Jesus was a real Jewish teacher from Galilee who was baptized by John and crucified in Jerusalem under Pontius Pilate, Roman governor of Judea from about AD 26 to 36. Brief references by the Jewish historian Josephus and the Roman historian Tacitus support this. Questions such as miracles and the resurrection are usually treated as matters of faith rather than something historical method can settle.
Judaism regards Jesus as a Jewish figure of his time but not as the Messiah. Islam honors him as Isa, a prophet born of Mary, but does not regard him as divine, and most Muslims believe he was not crucified.
Four Gospels, four portraits
Matthew, Mark and Luke share many of the same stories and are called the Synoptic Gospels. Mark is usually considered the earliest. Matthew stresses Jesus as a teacher and fulfiller of Israel's scriptures, and Luke highlights his care for the poor and for outsiders.
John is different in structure and style. It has long speeches, fewer parables and several miracles called “signs.” Reading all four side by side shows both shared memories and distinct emphases.