Our Daily Bread Jesus Sourcebook

The A-to-Z Guide to the People, Places, and Teachings of Jesus's Life

George W. Knight

• Publisher: Our Daily Bread Publishing
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781627077774
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Reference

Want to know more about Jesus? Learn about every aspect of His life with the Our Daily Bread Jesus Sourcebook. This user-friendly guide breaks down the life and ministry of Jesus in a simple format that's easy to understand.
 
Here's what you'll find inside:

• Everything listed in alphabetical order
• Answers to questions many people have asked about Jesus
• Simple, down-to-earth language
• Definitions of Bible words and phrases
• Explanations about the stories Jesus told and the miracles He performed
• Brief articles about the people He interacted with, places He went, and things He said

The Our Daily Bread Jesus Sourcebook is a great way for you to know who Jesus is and all He did.
 
George W. Knight is author of several successful Bible reference titles, including the Layman's Bible Dictionary, the Layman's Bible Handbook, and the Layman's Bible Concordance. George's books have sold more than 700,000 copies.

Table of contents

• Thousands of books have been written about Jesus Christ. So why do we need another?
• ABBA. An Aramaic word, meaning “father,” used by Jesus in His agonizing prayer in the garden of Gethsemane the night before His death (Mark 14:36).
• ASCENDS INTO HEAVEN. After His earthly ministry came to a close, Jesus returned to God the Father. The event was witnessed by the eleven disciples who remained with Jesus after the suicide of the betrayer, Judas.
• BETHANY. A village near Jerusalem where Jesus raised His friend Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1–44). During His trips to Jerusalem, Jesus often visited in the home of Lazarus and his two sisters at Bethany.
• CAESAR AUGUSTUS. Emperor of the Roman Empire at the time Jesus was born. This political leader issued a decree for a taxation census that resulted in Joseph traveling with Mary to Bethlehem (Luke 2:1–4). Here Jesus was born in fulfillment of an ancient prophecy (Micah 5:2). This is a perfect example of how God uses human circumstances—even pagan rulers—to work out His purpose.
• COMPASSION OF JESUS. The emotional response of Jesus to people who were suffering pain and loss. This trait of His character is evident throughout His public ministry. A careful study of the Gospels reveals that He was deeply moved by several different circumstances that He encountered among people.
• DECAPOLIS. A district with a large Gentile population where Jesus healed a demon-possessed man who lived among the tombs. People throughout this territory were amazed when the man told them about his miraculous healing (Mark 5:1–20). In this area Jesus also performed the miracle of feeding a crowd of four thousand Gentiles (Matthew 15:29–38).
• ELIZABETH. A relative of the virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. After Mary discovered she would give birth to the Messiah, she paid a visit to Elizabeth, who was also pregnant. Elizabeth was carrying the baby who would grow up to become John the Baptist, forerunner of Jesus.
• FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. The escape of Joseph and Mary with the child Jesus to avoid the death order of Herod the Great. Joseph was warned in a dream about Herod’s plan to kill all male infants in the vicinity of Bethlehem.
• GENTILES. Non-Jews, or people of any nationality other than the Jewish race. Jews considered Gentiles as unworthy of God’s love. Jesus rejected this notion and made several trips into Gentile territory to teach and heal (Matthew 15:21; Mark 7:31).
• HEAD OF THE CHURCH. A title of Jesus that underscores His role as founder and sustainer of the community of believers who are devoted to Him and His teachings. This title comes from the teachings of the apostle Paul (Ephesians 5:23).
• ISAIAH. A famous Old Testament prophet who foretold the coming of the Messiah (Isaiah 7:14). Jesus identified himself as the Suffering Servant whom Isaiah had written about. This divine agent of the Lord was rejected by His own people, but became the agent of redemption for all people (Isaiah 61:1–3; Luke 4:16–21; Esaias: KJV).
• KINGDOM OF GOD. God’s rule of grace in human affairs, and the new world order that Jesus came to establish (Mark 1:15). Through His teaching and healing ministry, Jesus made it clear that He was the full expression of this kingdom (Matthew 12:28). This spiritual realm is also referred to as the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:19).
• LAZARUS RAISED FROM THE DEAD. Once, when Jesus was ministering some distance from Bethany, the village where His friend Lazarus lived, the man’s sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word that their brother was desperately ill. Jesus seemed unconcerned; He waited two days before setting out for the town (John 11:1–44).
• LORD’S SUPPER. Jesus’s final meal with His disciples on the night before He was arrested and crucified. This meal is also referred to as the Last Supper and the Memorial Supper.
• MARK, GOSPEL OF. The shortest of the four gospels and probably the first to be written. Mark established the pattern used by the gospels of Matthew and Luke. They followed Mark’s lead at many points, often adding more details to his concise accounts.
• MOUNT OF OLIVES. A high hill just outside Jerusalem that offers a panoramic view of the Holy City. This elevated site is where Jesus was betrayed by Judas into the hands of His enemies (Matthew 26:30–47). It was named for the numerous olive trees that grew here in New Testament times.
• OLIVET DISCOURSE. Jesus’s long monologue about future events in Matthew 24–25. The name comes from the place—the Mount of Olives—where Jesus discussed these happenings with His disciples. This passage is also referred to as Jesus’s eschatological discourse.
• PAUL THE APOSTLE. A persecutor of the early church who was converted to Christianity after a dramatic encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1–6). Paul went on to become the tireless “apostle to the Gentiles” throughout the Mediterranean world.
• PREEXISTENCE OF JESUS. The doctrine that Jesus existed with God the Father long before He was born in human form into the world. This truth was best expressed by the apostle John in the very beginning of his gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:1–2).
• PROUD PHARISEE PARABLE. Jesus told this parable to correct the attitude of those who boasted about their own righteousness while condemning the shortcomings of others. He deliberately chose a Pharisee and a tax collector—two men who represented the extremes of Jewish life—to drive home His point (Luke 18:9–14).
• RICH MAN AND LAZARUS PARABLE. This parable exemplifies one of Jesus’s favorite teaching techniques—turning things around to show that the truth may be the exact opposite of what people think.
• SEA OF GALILEE. A body of water fed by the Jordan River. On this beautiful little lake, several of Jesus’s disciples fished for a living. He called two sets of brothers—Peter and Andrew and James and John—away from their fishing nets on these waters to follow Him and become “fishers of men” (Mark 1:17 KJV). These seasoned commercial fishermen were particularly impressed with Jesus when He produced a huge catch of fish in broad daylight, after they had fished all night and caught nothing (Luke 5:1–11).
• SON OF ABRAHAM. A name of Jesus that shows He was the fulfillment of the covenant God made with Abraham in Old Testament times. The name appears in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel (1:1).
• TEMPLE. The central place of worship in Jerusalem that symbolized God’s presence for the Jewish people. In Jesus’s time, this building was being expanded and remodeled into a more ornate structure. Herod the Great, Roman ruler over Palestine, had begun the project years before to curry favor with his Jewish subjects.
• WALKS ON THE WATER. Soon after Jesus’s miraculous feeding of the five thousand, His disciples got into a small fishing boat and headed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus stayed behind on a mountainside to meditate and pray (Matthew 14:22–33).
• WASHES THE DISCIPLES’ FEET. Washing a guest’s feet was a gesture of hospitality in New Testament times. This task was usually performed by a household servant. But Jesus took the role for himself when He washed the disciples’ feet on the night they ate the Passover meal together (John 13:1–17).