March 9th - Age Five From the Birth of Jesus to His Crucifixtion and Resurrection

"The scroll of the lineage of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham...from the Babylonian exile till the Christ are fourteen generations..." (Matthew 1:1-17)

Anno Domini (AD) means "in the year of the incarnation of our Lord" according to its inventor. So, AD begins in the year that Jesus, the Son of God, was born to save Israel and the whole world from its sin.  To do so, the Son of God became a Man.  

"The Father has dispatched His Son, the Savior of the world." (1 John 4:14-15)

He was born of a young virgin of Israel who had been miraculously impregnated by the power of God. 

"Lo! the virgin shall be pregnant and shall be bringing forth a Son, and they shall be calling His name Emmanuel, which is, being construed, God with us" (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23) 

"At the espousal of His mother, Mary, to Joseph, ere their coming together, she was found pregnant by holy spirit." (Matthew 1:18)

An angel appeared to her fiancee Joseph and instructed him to name the child Jesus which means "Yahweh our salvation".

"...that which is being generated in her is of holy spirit. Now she shall be bringing forth a Son, and you shall be calling his name Jesus, for He shall be saving His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)

Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the whole world. He was born in Bethlehem but grew up in Nazareth, both small towns in the land of Israel. After reaching the age of thirty He begin His ministry to announce the restoration of the kingdom of Israel on Earth which was and still is held in the heavens for them. His message to Israel was one of repentance and preparation.

"Thenceforth begins Jesus to be heralding and saying, Repent! for near is the kingdom of the heavens."  (Matthew 4:17)

He chose twelve Jewish men to follow him and for several years they traveled around the land of Israel, confirming that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah by performing many miracles among the people of Israel. In spite of that, the Jewish religious leaders - called the Sanhedrin - rejected Him, arrested him, and sentenced Him to death for the blasphemy of claiming to be the Son of God.

"...the chief priest said to Him, I exorcise you by the living God that you may tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.  Saying to him is Jesus, You say it! Moreover I am saying to you, Henceforth you shall be seeing the Son of Humanity sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the chief priest tears his garments, saying that He blasphemes!" (Matthew 26:63-65)

The Sanhedrin handed Him over to the Romans to be crucified. This occurred on the preparation day for the annual Jewish Passover festival which was on Wednesday, April 11, 35 AD. He died on the cross around 3:00 PM as the final sacrifice for the sins of Israel and the "whole world".

"...yet now, once, at the conclusion of the eons, for the repudiation of sin through His sacrifice, is He manifest." (Hebrews 9:26)

"Lo! I am arriving to do Thy will, O God!...This One, when offering one sacrifice for sins, is seated to a finality at the right hand of God, waiting furthermore until His enemies may be placed as a footstool for His feet. For by one approach present He has perfected to a finality those who are hallowed." (Hebrews 10:9, 12-14)

"And He is the propitiatory shelter concerned with our sins, yet not concerned with ours only, but concerned with the whole world also." (1 John 2:2)

On Saturday at sunset, the third day after Jesus died, having been in the tomb three days and three nights, God brought Him back to life.

"Now, answering, the messenger said to the women, "Fear you not! For I am aware that you are seeking Jesus, the Crucified. He is not here, for He was roused, according as He said. Hither! Perceive the place where the Lord lay. And, swiftly going, say to His disciples that He was roused from the dead." (Matthew 28:5-7)

He spent another 40 days among the Jewish believers speaking to them about the Kingdom of God. 

"He presents Himself alive after His suffering, with many tokens, during forty days, being visualized to them and telling them that which concerns the kingdom of God." (Acts 1:3)