2. Yeshua/Yeshu (God Saves) is the only proper name for Jesus of History in the New Testament. Jesus is the Latinised translation of the Hebrew Yeshua. All other titles either given to him by others or which the gospel writers have him attribute to himself, are roles or theological understandings.

3. Jesus/and or Christ?
When we use these terms, we are speaking of two different aspects of the second person of the Trinity: Jesus God and Jesus human.
Some theologians argue that the Jesus of history is lost to us, and so we can only focus on the Christ of Faith- as the Church has done for most of the past two thousand years. They argue that Christianity is based on the Christ of faith, not the Jesus of history and all teaching about Jesus must occur through that lens.
Others argue that while the earthly Jesus is lost to us, even today we can discover much about the Jesus of History from texts and from archaeology, sociology, anthropology and psychology and this will help us to interpret his teaching and actions and so remain faithful to his original message.

4. The Jesus of History is the Jesus sought by the Historical Jesus Quests (right now we are on the 3rd or maybe 4th Historical Jesus Quest). The Christ of Faith is the Christ of Christian belief, either historically (e.g. Cosmic Ruler-King Christ of the Later Roman Empire) or through the Church currently.
Historical Jesus scholar John Meier described the difference between the Jesus of History and the Historical Jesus. The former being the “actual” man Jesus and the latter the reconstructed (our version of Jesus) image.
Jesus of History- the actual or real or earthly Jesus is gone from us and we can never recover him.
The Historical Jesus can be reconstructed using many modern disciplines and data: but he will always be a reconstruction, open to reinterpretation in every age.

6. The earliest surviving non-Christian writing to mention Jesus is a vast history of the Jewish people by Josephus, a Jewish writer in the court of the Roman Emperor. He was born in Jerusalem around the time Jesus was killed, and published his great work in 93CE.
In his book, Josephus refers to the stoning of the apostle James, "the brother of Jesus who was called the Messiah".

7. Over-zealous Christians have tampered with the text across history, but a recent discovery in an Arabic text omits the Christian additions. Here is the famous passage: “At this time, there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them after his crucifixion and that he was alive; accordingly, he was perhaps the Messiah concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders.”

8. The Gospel writers (we know of at least 16 Gospels
The Gospel writers (we know of at least 16 Gospels!) all reconstructed Jesus for their communities and readers. The Gospels are not biographies of Jesus: the very fact there are at least 16 gives us a clue.
The early Church reconstructed these memories and accounts of the Jesus of history into the theological Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is not an historical figure. Jesus of Nazareth (Yeshua) is historical, Jesus the Messiah (Christ) is theological.

9. The primary information regarding Yeshua of Nazareth (the Jesus of history) is derived from five independent key sources:
Sayings Gospel (Q)
Gospel of Mark
Special Matthew(M)
Special Luke (L)
Gospel of Thomas
Because these texts do not rely on each other for information about Jesus, when they provide the same information about him, these details are regarded as being more likely to be historical. This is known as multiple attestation.

10. The following presumptions are made by gospel scholars:
Only sayings and parables that can be traced back to the oral period, CE, can possibly have originated with Jesus
The first written gospels were Sayings Gospel Q and an early version of the Gospel of Thomas (Thomas is also a sayings gospel)
Jesus taught his followers orally. He wrote nothing, as far as we know. We do not know for certain that Jesus could write; we are not even positive he could read. His first followers were technically illiterate, so writing did not become part of the Christian tradition until people like Paul were involved.

11. Jesus’ disciples also responded to his teaching orally: they repeated his most memorable words to one another and to outsiders.
They also adapted Jesus’ words to new situations, improvising and inventing as the occasion demanded.
Transmitters of oral tradition do not ordinarily remember the exact wording or the saying or parable they are attempting to quote. Passing oral lore is much like telling and retelling a joke: we can perhaps recall the organisation of the joke along with most or all of the punch-line, but we rarely remember or retell it precisely each time – that is, the gist is retained. That was the same for Jesus.
Jesus’ native tongue was Aramaic. We do not know if he could speak Hebrew as well. His words have only been preserved in Greek. If he could not speak Greek, we must conclude his exact words have been lost forever.

12. From attestations given in the gospels and other records, it is now believed he was born around
4-6 BCE: that is, when Herod was Governor of Judea.
He was born either in Bethlehem in Judea, or Bethlehem in Galilee; Nazareth in Galilee, or Qumran; or we don’t know.
His parents were Miriam (Maryam)and Joseph.
He appeared to have four brothers and two sisters, as recorded in NT documents.
Those brothers are called James, Joses, Simeon/Simon and Jude/Judas in New Testament texts. His sisters are possibly Miriam and Salome.

13. He was a wandering preacher and healer in Judea and Galilee for between one and three years when he was about 30.
He was involved with John the Baptist’s movement and practised John’s baptism of repentance.
He was crucified during the Governorship of Pontius Pilate between (33) CE.
A movement grew up around him during and after his death.
This new movement, a part of Judaism, claimed he had risen from the dead.

14. Historical Jesus Scholars believe we can legitimately claim Jesus was a:
Jewish Mystic / Spirit Person - One of those figures in human history who had frequent and vivid experiences of the sacred. He heard God calling him in the words of the prophets.
Jewish Healer - The historical evidence that Jesus performed paranormal healings is very strong; he must have been a remarkable healer.
Jewish Wisdom Teacher - He taught a subversive and alternative wisdom.
Jewish Social Prophet - Jesus stands in the tradition of the great social prophets of ancient Israel who challenged social systems.
Jewish Movement Founder / Initiator - A movement came into existence around him which embodied his alternative wisdom.

15. The cumulative impression created by the stories in Matthew, Mark, and Luke is that Jesus stands in the Jewish tradition of Spirit persons.
Jesus is portrayed as a person through whom the power of the Spirit flowed.
For Jesus, God was an experiential reality, not simply an element of belief.

16. Where is Jesus in the Curriculum for your year level?
What concepts about Jesus will you need to teach?
Dot point these in your journal. Share with a table companion.

17. Post-Easter Jesus: Pre-Easter Jesus: Spiritual, non-material reality
(30 CE-Present)
Spiritual, non-material reality
Infinite, eternal
Divine
King of Kings and Lord of Lords
Figure of the present
Jesus Christ
Second person of the Trinity
The human face of God
Pre-Easter Jesus:
(4-6 BCE CE)
Corporeal human being
Finite and Mortal
Human
A pan-Mediterranean Jewish peasant
Figure of past
Monotheistic Jew
Galilean Jew of the First Century

18. Jesus' wisdom teaching takes two forms.
Aphorisms:
Great one-liners
Short, pithy, memorable sayings
Crystallizations of insight that provoke and invite further insight
Examples:
"if a blind person leads another blind person, they will both fall into a ditch."
"Leave the dead to bury the dead."
Parables:
Short stories
Invite the hearer to enter the world of the story and to see differently in light of the story
Example: story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

19. Most importantly they are invitational forms of speech
Both aphorisms and parables are evocative and provocative forms of speech.
Most importantly they are invitational forms of speech
Invitations to see something you might not have otherwise seen
Invitations to see differently
Jesus spoke his aphorisms and told his parables many, many times.
No great speaker of one-liners tells a great one-liner only once, no great teller of great stories tells a great story only once.
The Gospel writers collected these aphorisms and parables and used them differently in their accounts in order to respond to the needs of their faith communities.

20. Jesus' alternative wisdom
Conventional wisdom
Jesus' alternative wisdom
God is punitive lawgiver and judge
God is gracious
A person's worth is determined by measuring up to social standards
All persons have infinite worth as a children of God
Sinners and outcasts are to be avoided and rejected
Everyone is welcome around the table and in the kingdom of God
Identity comes from social tradition
Identity comes from centering in the sacred, from relationship with God
Strive to be first
The first shall be last...; those who exalt themselves will be emptied...
Preserve one's own life above all
The path of dying to self and being reborn leads to life abundant

21. Jesus and Christ are not exactly the same
Jesus and Christ are not exactly the same. In the early Christian era, only a few Eastern Fathers (such as Origen of Alexandria and Maximus the Confessor) noticed that the Christ was clearly historically older, larger, and different from Jesus himself. They mystically saw that Jesus is the union of human and divine in space and time; Christ is the eternal union of matter and Spirit from the beginning of time. (See John 1;1)
Richard Rohr Who Is Christ? Sunday, December 2, Center for Action and Contemplation

22. How many titles/roles for Jesus can you list?

23. Scripture Titles
Son of God
King of the Jews
Son of Man
Prophet
Messiah (Christ)
Saviour
Lamb of God
Suffering Servant
Master/Teacher
Emmanuel
Rabbi/Rabbouni/
Logos
Lord
Great High Priest
Holy One of God
Alpha & Omega
I Am (54 times)
Advocate
Son of Mary
Shepherd
Son of David
Others
Church Titles
Second person of the Trinity
Word of God
Jesus Christ
Sacred Heart
Pantocrator
Father of the Poor
King of Kings
Eternal Wisdom
Lord of Lords
The Homeless Jesus
God the Son
Tortured Christ
Prince of Peace
Light from Light
Christ the King
True God from true God
God Incarnate
God from God