| “ | But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me. | „ |
| ~ Matthew 5:43-48. |
Jesus, also known as Jesus Christ and Jesus of Nazareth, was an Abrahamic preacher and religious leader who has become the central figure of Christianity. Christians believe him to be the Son of God and the awaited Messiah (Christ, the Anointed One) prophesied in the Old Testament.
Overview[]
Jesus debated with fellow Jews on how to best follow God's will, performed some healing, taught in parables and gathered followers. Often referred to as "rabbi", Jesus preached his message orally, was baptized by John the Baptist.
Christians believe that Jesus has a "unique significance" in the world. Christian doctrines include the beliefs that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of a virgin named Mary, performed miracles, founded the Church, died by crucifixion as a sacrifice to achieve atonement, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, whence he will return. Most Christians believe Jesus enables humans to be reconciled to God. The Nicene Creed asserts that Jesus will judge the dead either before or after their bodily resurrection, an event tied to the Second Coming of Jesus in Christian eschatology.
History[]
Background[]
It is said that Jesus was created through an amalgamation of the material and divine immaterial. In this case, the Holy Spirit and the soil of the Earth. Lailah, the angel of night and childbirth, took a seed from one of the flowers of the Tree of Life and infused the Holy Spirit within the seed. Next, Azrael, the angel of death, cupped a handful of the soil from the Earth whereby Lailah planted the seed into the soil so as the child would be given a physical form to the Earth and thus be vulnerable to its concepts of mortality but all while having the divine essence of the Heavens from within so when his physical body perishes, his essence will remain and resurrect into a divine being. Gabriel then had this amalgamation of divinity and mortality placed within the womb of the Virgin Mary after his annunciation to the latter regarding a virgin birth.
When Jesus was born, Hell shook in terror and awe of the Messiah's birth as the demons screamed in profanity against the creator and the heavens. This also meant that his life was in mortal danger as the powers of Hell opted to destroy him at his most vulnerable. Lilith, alongside her steed Tanin'iver, set course to kill the infant Christ, striking on the night of his birth and accompanied by several Lilim. As the infant messiah lay sleeping in his crib, Lilith had Tanin'iver shroud the barn of where he laid in darkness, with the only known light source being Jesus himself whose radiance disturbed the beast and Lilith. Tanin'iver would compress the light of Jesus enough to have the Lilim get close and dismember his body before feeding it to Lilith. However, the Lilim were intercepted by the three angels, Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof, quickly slaying them. Lilith began battling Lailah over Jesus and Maera with Tanin'iver. While the blind serpent fights the hound fiercely, he could not defeat him. In the end, Lilith and her pet were defeated, Lailah conjured a new star that appeared in the sky above where Jesus was kept in victory.
Ministry of Jesus[]
In the gospels, the ministry of Jesus starts with his Baptism by John the Baptist, when he is about thirty years old. He was also joined by Sophia, an Aeon who was banished from the Pleroma for her role in creating the Demiurge without a consort and against the will of creation. Jesus understood Sophia's true nature and also opted to make sure that she would be redeemed for her misdeeds in the hopes of returning to the Pleroma.
Jesus' early Galilean ministry begins when after his Baptism he goes back to Galilee from his time in the Judean desert. In this early period he preaches around Galilee and recruits his first disciples who begin to travel with him and eventually form the core of the early Church as it is believed that the Apostles dispersed from Jerusalem to found the Apostolic Sees. His teachings would come to inspire Sophia and she would spread wisdom far and wide, becoming revered as Lady Wisdom. The Major Galilean ministry which begins in Matthew 8 includes the commissioning of the Twelve Apostles, and covers most of the ministry of Jesus in Galilee. The Final Galilean ministry begins after the death of John the Baptist as Jesus prepares to go to Jerusalem.
In his later Judean ministry Jesus starts his final journey to Jerusalem through Judea. As Jesus travels towards Jerusalem, in the later Perean ministry, about one third the way down from the Sea of Galilee (actually a fresh water lake) along the River Jordan, he returns to the area where he was baptized. At some point in time, he and Mary Magdalene, a woman whom he rescued by exorcising demons out of her, fell in love and consorted. The final ministry in Jerusalem is sometimes called the Passion Week and begins with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Temptation of Christ[]
After being baptized, Jesus would come to fast for 40 days in the desert. However, during his struggles, he was met with none other than Satan himself. An adult Jesus strolls through the desert during his forty days of fasting, which is quite risky given that the desert was seen as outside the bounds of society and as the home of demons such as Azazel. When Jesus sat down to rest, he was approached by Satan himself, outwardly displaying his disdain and is unimpressed by Jesus's showings of miracles and the promises of paradise. To the Devil, Jesus is no different than the mortals that roam the Earth. Satan proclaims that if he truly is the son of God bound in human flesh then he will test Jesus' integrity, purity, and morale by putting him through three trials. Should he fail any of them, this will be seen as definitive proof that even "Son of God" is not infallible and perfect.
Jesus casts Satan down to his face
He first shows Jesus a stone and tells him to turn it into bread. Jesus' struggle against hunger in the face of Satan points to his representative role of the Israelites, but he does not fail God in his urge for hunger. He then takes him to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem and tells Jesus that if he really is the "Son of God" then he must prove it by throwing himself down so that the angels will catch him, but Jesus again rebukes him, maintaining his integrity, by saying that one should not put God to the test. And lastly upon the third temptation, the devil takes Jesus to a high place, which is explicitly identified as a very high mountain, where all the kingdoms of the world can be seen. The spot pointed out by tradition as the summit from which Satan offered to Jesus dominion over all earthly kingdoms is the "Quarantania", a limestone peak on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. This temptation is seen as a form of acceptance towards the adulation of the crowds, assume leadership of the nation to overthrow Roman rule, take the crown of his own nation, and from there initiate the kingdom of God on earth. The kingdoms Jesus would inherit through Satan are obtained through love of power and political oppression.
Showing all these powerful and mighty kingdoms to Jesus, Satan promises to give them all to him but only if he will bow down and worship him. Jesus, once again, angrily rebukes Satan and casts him down to his face. Enraged, Satan threatens to destroy him as he possesses the body of a mere man, but Jesus again repels him with his words, and were words that held the Speech of God, which prevents Satan from even touching Jesus. Jesus takes the "iron crown" of Satan and tosses it down to his feet, declaring that he is nothing more than a false king proclaiming himself a god in front of the true Lord of Lords. Satan retreats with extreme scorn and contempt and, after the third temptation, Jesus is administered by the angels as the speech of God was incredibly taxing for his mortal body. While spiritually, Jesus was the victor, Satan's influence over the Roman Empire, before its sacking and stretched resources, led to Christians being persecuted by being fed to lions in the Roman colosseum or crucified alongside Jesus himself.
Harrowing of Hell[]
In the gospel accounts, towards the end of the final week in Jerusalem, Jesus has the Last Supper with his disciples, and the next day is betrayed, arrested and tried. This betrayal was by none other than Judas Iscariot, one of his own disciples, of whom he predicted would be the one that would "house the Adversary" within him. Judas betrayed Jesus for a mere thirty pieces of silver to Pontius Pilate. The trial ends in his crucifixion and death, during which Mary Magdalene was pregnant with his child and fled for safety where she secretly gave birth to their daughter. After his death, darkness enveloped the daytime sky and the "earth shook".
It is revealed that during the three hours of his death on the cross, Christ's soul actually descended into Hell and was subjected to torments there from the wrath of God, the fear of eternal damnation, and the devil’s power. Confused, and horrified, Jesus was once again met by Satan who taunted the messiah and told him that this was how it was going to play out from the beginning for despite having the essence of the Holy Spirit, the weakness and tainted flesh of man is what will draw him and all his flock down here. Jesus attempted to rebuke Satan only to experience the sins of the world overcoming and tearing into him. Satan tells him that what he is feeling is not of the Devil's will but by the free actions of man, and to die for their sins is to be dragged down where the sinful go. It was all set by God from the beginning and Jesus was a but mere pawn in His game.
Satan shows Jesus the destruction of his children
As he was dragged into the pit by the damned, Satan took Jesus and bound him to a makeshift cross (some say a chair or a 'throne' to mock Jesus' proclamation as a king) fashioned out of flesh and bone where he made him witness the people he was meant to save fall into darkness and despair despite taking all their sins into him. The more they fall into darkness, the more it consumes Christ. Jesus was told by Satan that despite the efforts, even one who is the "Son of God", mankind will never change no matter what is preached to them or what is taught to them. They will learn how to take what is taught to them and warp it using their own idealistic views to benefit their own leisure. Satan continues to curse Jesus, saying that he is but a mere man in the domain of a god who rules over the damned and the Earth and all its elements. He will feel his hatred towards man, he will hear and see their blasphemies towards God, and "nothing will be hidden from him", all while the Keres descend to devour his body.
Afterward, he was met by Judas who confronted him over knowing that this was always how it was going to end and he did not stop him to which Jesus confirmed as the truth. Judas, knowing he was but another villain in the tale of God, declared that he did not betray Jesus, but Jesus betrayed him. Despite this declaration, Jesus held no anger or contempt towards Judas, admitting to him that he was blindly following the will of his Father to where he had forgotten to follow the words of his own mortal heart and spirit. As such, this blindness led him to damning millions, including Judas himself. He has to come to terms with the flaws of his mortal self, and his flaws are what makes him human among the mortals and his will to persist against the harshness of the world was by his own will and not that of God's. The revelation would free Jesus from the clutches of Hell, overcoming death, the world, but more importantly himself, as breaks the gates of Hell from his ascension. Before he ascends, he tells Judas that no matter what happens, he will forgive him, and hopes that one day Judas forgives him in turn. Before he could fully resurrect, Jesus was able to liberate the souls of the earliest humans that were damned in Limbo.
Resurrection[]
Three days after his burial, he is resurrected and appears to his disciples and a multitude of his followers (numbering around 500 in total) over a 40-day period, after which he ascends to Heaven. It is said that his mortal body perished allowing his divine essence to take form as his mortal flesh was what kept his divinity from within and could only be released as a self-sacrifice based on an act of love and faith. In Heaven, his mortal self reunited with Mary Magdalene and his divine self joined with Sophia as her consort within the Pleroma.
