For many years before the birth of Jesus, the Jewish nation was under the vicious rule of the Romans. The people were longing for, waiting for, expecting a Saviour, the Messiah, who would restore the Kingdom to Israel. They would, once again, be masters in their own lands. Many of Jesus’s followers saw, in him, this Messiah come to life. After the death of Jesus, the Apostle, Paul, took his story out into many other parts of the Roman world, where Greek was widely spoken. Messiah translates into Greek as Christos, so his followers became known as Christians, because they called Jesus ‘the Christ’.
The main influences on the growth of the early church were that of Paul and John. Between these two men, the itinerant preacher in the backwater of a subject nation became the inspiration of a movement whose values dominated, and still dominate, most of the western world.
Paul was a Roman citizen, but also a circumcised Jew. At first he persecuted the Christians, but, after a mystical meeting with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he became an apostle and travelled widely in the near east and Asia Minor, teaching about Jesus. Paul was an excellent organiser, and seems to be largely responsible for the organised structure of the early church; a structure which has carried on into much of the church family today. His letters to the various churches that he founded form a large part of the New Testament. His writing is powerful, poetic, and inspirational, though sometimes deeply challenging and controversial.
John gives his name to the fourth gospel. There is no clear consensus on who he was. Some say he was the “beloved disciple” of the gospel; others say that he took that name as a guiding light; still others say that it was some other unknown “John”.
Who? is not as important as what he says. John views Jesus as the Word of God made flesh. Jesus was with God as he created the universe. He came to earth to save mankind from the debilitating and destructive effects of sin. By his death Jesus paid all mankind’s debts, and gave them a new start. John’s writing is deeply spiritual, almost mystical. There may be a large amount of factual information in the gospel of John, but if we read it looking for facts, we miss the whole point. John is not talking about a man in Palestine, but about God come to earth. His perspective is entirely heavenly.
Today the Christian Church consists of a large family of different churches, each of which has its own particular style of worship and doctrinal ‘truths’, all of which look for their inspiration to the itinerant preacher, Jesus. The churches in our benefice are all part of the Church of England, which is one member of the Christian ‘family’. If you would like to know more about their beliefs and worship visit the Church of England website, or visit a church near you, and meet some of the people there. Most churches are very happy to welcome everybody, and many have courses to help people get to know about Christianity.