Who Is Jesus?

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke describe Jesus as born in Bethlehem to Mary, a virgin betrothed to Joseph, during the reign of Roman-appointed King Herod. Both Gospels present his birth as directly announced by an angel and tied to Old Testament prophecy about a coming Messiah — someone anointed to rescue and rule God's people.

Around age 30, Jesus begins a public ministry in Galilee that lasts roughly three years. He teaches in parables, gathers twelve core followers (the apostles), and the Gospels describe him healing the sick, casting out what they call demons, and performing other miracles — while teaching a message centered on the “kingdom of God” and love of God and neighbor.

After entering Jerusalem to public acclaim, Jesus is betrayed by one of his own apostles, Judas Iscariot, arrested, tried by Jewish religious leaders and the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, and executed by crucifixion — a Roman method of execution reserved largely for slaves and rebels.

All four Gospels report that Jesus's tomb was found empty on the third day, and that he appeared alive to his followers multiple times over the following weeks. This event, the resurrection, becomes the central claim of the Christian faith — that Jesus defeated death itself.

The New Testament consistently presents Jesus as more than a teacher: John 1 calls him the eternal “Word” who “was God,” and early Christian creeds describe him as fully God and fully human, the promised Messiah of Jewish scripture, and the means by which people are reconciled to God. Non-Christian historians of the period, like the Jewish historian Josephus and Roman writer Tacitus, also mention Jesus as a real historical figure executed under Pontius Pilate.