The Evangelium #5

1. The Life
of Christ

2. What is the Life of Christ?
Triumphal Entry by Giotto di Bondone

3. What is the Life of Christ?
The life of Christ
is the life that the
incarnate Son of
God lived upon
earth from the
time of his
conception until
his Ascension.
KEY DEFINITION

4. What is the Life of Christ?

5. What is the Life of Christ?
The dramatic
entry of Jesus
into Jerusalem at
the end of his
public ministry
reveals who Jesus
is and why he
came.
Garments of the crowd
are laid down before Jesus. Yet in a
few days this same crowd will call for
his crucifixion and death.
Jesus
Apostles
The crowd
recognise Jesus and hail him as the
Messiah with the words,
“Hosanna to the Son of David.”

6. The principal events of the life of Christ
The Ascension of Christ
by Garofalo
The Annunciation
by Fra Angelico
Christ on the Cross
by Velazquez

7. The principal events of the life of Christ
c. 6 BC Conception and birth
His miraculous conception in Nazareth
and his birth in Bethlehem
to
c. 24 AD
Hidden life
His thirty years living in Nazareth,
known as the carpenter’s son
to
c. 27 AD
Public ministry
His three year mission preaching the
Kingdom of God, working signs and
miracles and establishing his Church
c. 27 AD Death, Resurrection, Ascension
His submission to a cruel execution on a
cross as a sacrifice for sin; his
Resurrection and Ascension into glory

8. The principal events of the life of Christ
The common timescale of all
human history is now measured
by the coming of Christ.
The words ‘before Christ’ (BC)
refer to the years prior to his birth.
The words ‘anno Domini’ (AD),
‘in the year of the Lord’,
acknowledge his continuing reign.

9. Jesus’ ministry: identity and mission
The Baptism of Christ by Piero della Francesca

10. Jesus’ ministry: identity and mission
JESUS REVEALED HIS IDENTITY
Jesus witnessed to his unique relationship
and oneness with ‘the Father’, referring
to himself as the ‘beloved Son’
(Mt 11:27; Mk 12:6; Lk 20:13).
He clearly asserted his eternal existence
and divinity by applying to himself the
name of God revealed to Moses, “Before
Abraham was, I AM” (Jn 8:58, c.f. Exod 3:14). He
witnessed to his divine power by great
nature miracles, “he rose and rebuked the
winds and the sea” (Mt 8:26), and by forgiving
sins, “My son, your sins are forgiven” (Mk 2:5).

11. Jesus’ ministry: identity and mission
JESUS EXPLAINED HIS MISSION
Jesus explained that he was to die for the
salvation of the world (Luke 12:32) and to
share with us the divine life of the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, “This is my
body which is given for you” (Luke 22:19).
His inaugurating of the Kingdom of God
was shown by his victory over evil in
forgiving sins, in casting out demons and
by healing the sick, “I came that they may
have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10).

12. Jesus’ ministry: doctrine and Church
Christ Teaches his Disciples by Duccio di Buoninsegna

13. Jesus’ ministry: doctrine and Church
JESUS TAUGHT HIS NEW DOCTRINE
Jesus taught about the new life of grace
through parables and especially the
Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5). He showed
that the greatest commandment of the
law was love of God and neighbour
(Mt 22:36-39).
Before his death he gave his disciples a
new commandment to “love one another;
even as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34),
a love made possible only by sharing
in his own divine love.

14. Jesus’ ministry: doctrine and Church
JESUS FOUNDED HIS CHURCH
In choosing twelve apostles, Jesus
established a visible Church, a new Israel
(Mt 10:2; 19:28). He gave authority to Peter
and the other apostles to govern and to
teach, “Whatever you bind on earth will be
bound in heaven” (Mt 16:19). He also gave
them sacramental rites, “Do this in
remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19).
These superseded the ancient Jewish rites
empowering us to be born again in
Baptism and to live the new life of grace.

15. Summary
Questions
to reinforce
key points
Discussion
questions
Practical
activities
Presentation Part II
Summary Activities I
Please select an activity or go immediately
to part II of the presentation

16. Summary
Activities Menu Presentation Part II
• The life of Christ is the life that the
incarnate Son of God lived upon earth from
the time of his conception until his
Ascension.
• The principal events of the life of Christ are
his: conception and birth; hidden life; public
ministry; death, Resurrection and Ascension.
• In his public ministry, Jesus revealed his
identity, explained his mission, taught his
new doctrine and founded his Church.
• The common timescale of all human history
is now measured by the coming of Christ.

17. Questions to reinforce key points
Conception and birth
Hidden life
Public ministry
Death, Resurrection and Ascension
What are the principal stages of the life of Christ?
Activities Menu Presentation Part II
1
2
Click on a box to reveal one
of the answers
3
4

18. Discussion questions
Activities Menu Presentation Part II
• Read Mark 2:1-12 or John 8:51-
59. Discuss what these passages
tells us about Jesus’ identity and
mission.
• Discuss the importance of each
of the stages of the life of Christ.
Select one or more of the following:

19. Practical activities
Activities Menu Presentation Part II
• Read one of the parables of Jesus
Christ or the account of one or
more of his miracles in the gospels.
• Read the Compendium of the Catechism
questions 103-111.
• Select one image of Jesus Christ in
this course and note down how it
expresses his identity and mission.
Select one or more of the following:

20. Knowing Jesus Christ
The Calling of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio

21. Knowing Jesus Christ
The three senses
in which we know
Jesus Christ are
through reason,
faith and
personally.
KEY DEFINITION

22. Knowing Jesus Christ

23. Knowing Jesus Christ
Matthew at his tax counting desk
A light illuminates his face as Christ enters.
He points to himself in disbelief.
Jesus
Peter
The Hand of Christ
the same shape as the hand of God in
Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam.
The picture emphasises the individual nature of conversion and
how each one of us is called to know and follow Christ personally.

24. Knowing Jesus Christ through reason
Saint Jerome in his Study by Antonello da Messina

25. Knowing Jesus Christ through reason
We know Jesus Christ though reason,
that is, we know of his existence, the
world in which he lived, the events of
his life and his teaching.
We know these things principally by
means of the twenty-seven documents
known as the New Testament. These
constitute the largest volume of written
evidence in the ancient world about
any one person. Non-Christian
historians of that period also refer to
him, in particular Josephus and Tacitus.

26. Knowing Jesus Christ through reason
The New Testament documents were all written
some twenty to seventy years after the public
ministry of Jesus Christ. They were commonly
accepted in the early Church as having been
written under the authority of the apostles.
The four gospels provide mutual corroboration
of the events of Jesus’ life. While they use a
variety of styles, details and arrangements, a
single clear personality emerges from the texts.
He who saw it has borne witness,
his testimony is true,
and he knows that he tells the truth,
that you also may believe.
Jn 19:35

27. Knowing Jesus Christ through faith
Saint Matthew writing his Gospel by Caravaggio

28. Knowing Jesus Christ through faith
We also know Jesus Christ
through the gift of faith.
This gift is like an illumination of
the mind that God gives us.
This gift enables us to recognise
and trust in Christ and to accept
everything he has revealed.
No one can say “Jesus is Lord”
except by the Holy Spirit.
1 Cor 12:3

29. Knowing Jesus Christ through faith
Faith enables us to know that
Jesus Christ is truly:
• God, the second person of the
Trinity, “You are the Christ, the Son
of the living God” (Mt 16:16).
• The ‘Lamb of God’ (Jn 1:36), the
sacrifice that takes away the sins
of the world.
• The only way to our salvation, “I
am the way, the truth and
the life” (Jn 14:6).

30. Knowing Jesus Christ through faith
We can give a human assent to these
teachings if we judge Jesus Christ to be
trustworthy. Indeed, given the
perfection of Jesus’ moral character,
the depth of his teaching and the
evidence of his miracles, his claims
have a strong rational credibility.
It is only with the supernatural gift and
assent of faith, however, that we can
know Jesus and all that he has revealed
with a kind of inner illumination of
mind and heart.

31. Knowing Jesus Christ personally
The Light of the World by Holman Hunt
Christ knocks personally at the door of the soul.

32. Knowing Jesus Christ personally
By personal knowledge, we are enabled to
encounter Jesus, not merely as an historical
figure to be studied or agreed with, but
rather as the living Lord who said “I am
with you always” (Mt 28:20).
This encounter is made possible through
prayer, the sacraments and by conforming
our lives to the pattern of his life.

33. Knowing Jesus Christ personally
The Christian is part of Christ’s own mystical
body through grace, which means being
united spiritually to Christ.
In all the sacraments we come to know Jesus
intimately. Through the Eucharist, in
particular, we receive him, body, blood, soul
and divinity. In reading the Scriptures we
meet the character of Jesus and are led into
conversation with him.
In prayer we speak directly to Jesus as a friend
and come to an awareness of his presence.

34. Knowing Jesus Christ personally
“No longer do I call you servants, for
the servant does not know what his
master is doing; but I have called you
friends, for all that I have heard from
my Father I have made known to you.”
Jn 15:15

35. Summary
Questions
to reinforce
key points
Discussion
questions
Practical
activities
Summary Activities II
Please select an activity or go immediately
to the concluding prayer
Concluding Prayer

36. Summary
Activities Menu
• The three senses in which we know Jesus Christ
are through reason, faith and personally.
• We know Jesus Christ though reason, in that we
know of his existence, the world in which he
lived, the events of his life and his teaching.
• We know Jesus Christ though faith, in that, by
means of this gift, we recognise and trust in him
and accept everything he has revealed.
• We also know Jesus Christ personally through
prayer, the sacraments and by conforming our
lives to the pattern of his life.
Concluding Prayer

37. Questions to reinforce key points
Through reason
Through faith
Personally
What are the three ways in which
we can know Jesus Christ?
Activities Menu Concluding Prayer
1
2
Click on a box to reveal one
of the answers
3

38. Discussion questions
Activities Menu
• Discuss how we can grow in
our knowledge of Jesus Christ
in each of the three ways:
reason, faith and personally.
• Discuss some personal
experiences of knowing Jesus
Christ in one’s own life.
Select one or more of the following:
Concluding Prayer

39. Practical activities
Activities Menu Concluding Prayer
• Choose one chapter from one of the
gospels about the public ministry of Jesus
Christ. Read out the passage and think
prayerfully about how it reveals Jesus to us.
• Pray one decade from the ‘Mysteries of
Light’ of the Rosary, which cover the
public ministry of Jesus Christ.
• Pray to Jesus personally by visiting the
Blessed Sacrament in a church.
Select one or more of the following:

40. Final Prayer
From ‘St Patrick’s Breastplate’
Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ
before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort
and restore me. Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in
quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity, by
invocation of the same, the Three in One and One in Three. By
whom all nature hath creation, Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
praise to the Lord of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord.
Amen.