"Jesus Walks" is a hip hop song by American rap artist Kanye West. It was released on May 25, 2004 as the third single from his debut album, The College Dropout. The song is built around a sample of "Walk with Me" as performed by the ARC Choir. "Jesus Walks" was well-received by music critics, who praised its compelling sonic atmosphere and boldness in its open embrace of faith. It was met by widespread commercial recognition, peaking at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming West's fourth consecutive top twenty hit in the United States.

The single was accompanied by three separate music videos, each of which visually interpreted a portion of its multifaceted context in different ways. "Jesus Walks" continues to be a crowd favorite and stands as one of the most-performed songs by West, who has included it within all of his headlining tours. At the 47th Grammy Awards, "Jesus Walks" was awarded the Grammy for Best Rap Song. Rolling Stone named the song #19 on their list of 100 Best Songs of the 2000s decade. The song was named the 6th best song of 2004 on Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll.^[1] In October 2011, NME placed it at number 69 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".^[2] The song was listed at #123 on Pitchfork Media's 500 songs of the 2000s. It was placed at #273 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Background[link]

The song is essentially a spiritual exultation, wherein West discusses how Jesus "walks" with all manner of people, from the sinner to the saint. Towards this end, the first conceptual verse of the song is told through the eyes of a drug dealer contemplating his relationship with God. It reportedly took over six months for West to draw inspiration for the second verse.^[3][4] West also uses the song to express his critical views on how the media seem to shy away from songs that address matters of faith, while embracing songs discussing violence, sex, and illegal drugs. He rhymes, "So here go my single, dog, radio needs this/They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus/That means guns, sex, lies, video tapes/But if I talk about God my record won't get played, huh?" This is directly taken from West's experiences when he was struggling to get signed onto a record label; many executives turned him down after he played a "Jesus Walks" demo for them.^[5] They reasoned that he did not conform to the stereotypes associated with mainstream hip-hop and therefore was not easily marketable. Many of his friends in the music industry also warned him that while the song was outstanding, it would never make it to radio.^[6]

Composition[link]

	"Jesus Walks" noicon A 29 second sample of "Jesus Walks" showcasing West's rapping and the song's production.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

"Jesus Walks" is a mid-tempo hip-hop song. It is set in common time with a moderate tempo of 87 beats per minute and composed in the key of E-flat minor. The song expresses a potent, pulsing rhythm reminiscent of a marching band, accompanied by baritone background vocal samples from the ARC Choir's arrangement of the traditional gospel song "Walk With Me, which emit a chant in cadence to the beat.^[7] Because of these elements, the composition has been widely described as evoking a militaristic atmosphere.^[8] The song begins with a medium tempo followed by its backing vocals and choral arrangement. After West's brief opening dialog, a drumroll sounds and the song's titular hook (an arrangement by Curtis Lundy of the traditional gospel song "Walk With Me")is belted by the ARC (Addicts Rehabilitation Center) choir coupled with the chorus while its melody is laced with auto-tune-processed gospel wails.^[9] Over time the song amasses itself, exhibiting multi-tracked violin flourishes and momentary vocal solos, gradually growing in intensity before peaking and immediately dissipating.^[10] The song repeats this process several times until it fades away completely at its conclusion.^[11]

The militant soundscape of "Jesus Walks" is complemented by its lyrical nuances. In the intro, the voice of a drill sergeant initiates the song with a "Order Arms" and is answered by a squad of soldiers who shout "1-2-3-4!" This exchange is followed by West's opening lines, where he declares, "we are at war with ourselves."^[8] West retains a considerable amount of dynamics in his rap delivery, as his flow features constant shifts in cadence, pitch, and volume over the simplistic rhythm. During the chorus, his voice builds in intensity in conjunction with the similarly swelling track, and peaks and fades away just before it follows suit. He also employs various rhyme schemes and phrasal techniques, at one point even using a call-and-response pattern.^[11]

For the official remix of "Jesus Walks," West had the opportunity to work with Mase, who had then recently come out of retirement from being a minister to deliver a new verse.^[12] Mase spoke positively following the collaboration, saying, "I appreciate people like [him], people that dare to be different. Hip-hop is supposed to be an avenue of expression, and people are supposed to be able to express what they feel, what they believe."^[13] The remix was later released on a bonus disc within his The College Dropout Video Anthology compilation DVD with an additional verse provided by Common.

Critical reception[link]

The single received immense praise from critics for its open embracement of faith in the face of the oft-secular music industry, with many expressing their astonishment that such an overtly religious song was embraced by radio. In a review of The College Dropout, Village Voice synopsized the song as a "desperate masterpiece."^[14] Stylus Magazine music reviewer Josh Love cited "Jesus Walks" as the best song on the entire album, saying "Kanye makes his spiritual toil sound like triumph thanks to martial drums and a little gospel choir fervor, sounding a clarion call of salvation to all would-be doubters and haters. He swears that he's not trying to 'convert atheists into believers,' but listening to The College Dropout might just convince you that Kanye West is the Second City's Second Coming."^[15] The Los Angeles Times similarly considered "Jesus Walks" to be the highlight of the album, stating, "Its pulsating drums serve as the perfect backing for West's reflections on his own mistakes as well as hip-hop's tendency to focus on negative subject matter."^[16] PopMatters, which hailed "Jesus Walks" as the year's best single, listed the song as one of the primary tracks which exemplified the thoughtfulness and scholastic complexity inherent of The College Dropout as a whole, commenting that, "On 'Jesus Walks' Kanye proclaims his devotion to Jesus as seriously as the most devotional hymn singer would, while illustrating the way he falls in and out of what he perceives as the good path to follow. 'I wanna talk to God but I'm afraid cause we ain't spoke in so long,' he confesses, but then he goes ahead and asks us all to join him in that conversation, to push the song onto radio and push the divine into the heart of public dialogue. Extra dimensions are added to the song by the intense, cinematic presence it has, with all of the drama of a gangster film's climactic scenes, and by a Curtis Mayfield drop that makes the song ripe for a study of intertextuality."^[17][18]

Alongside its subject matter, the production quality of the track received equal acclaim, with Garry Mulholland of The Observer chronicling it as "[a] towering inferno of martial beats, fathoms-deep chain gang backing chants, a defiant children's choir, gospel wails, and sizzling orchestral breaks."^[9] Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times, who classified "Jesus Walks" as a gospel song, concurred with this sentiment, describing the song's choral arrangement as "clever".^[19] Blender likened the beat of the song to a "phantom marching army", and Entertainment Weekly testified that the "lush, intricate" production of the track gave off an "uplifting" presence.^[20][21] Time magazine critic Josh Tyrangiel declared "Jesus Walks" as "one of those miraculous songs that you hear for the first time and immediately look forward to hearing on a semiregular basis for the next 30 or 40 years."^[22] Sasha Frere-Jones of The New Yorker asserted that the song, "sounds simultaneously like V-Day and like a funeral” and concluded his review stating, "In a different year, 'Jesus Walks' might register as an eccentric's conflation of faith, commerce, and war. In 2004, it's a popular state of consciousness."^[8]

Success and Legacy[link]

On the issue date of January 31, 2004, "Jesus Walks" debuted at number sixteen on the Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart, which is equivalent to one-hundred and sixteen on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^[23] The following week, it reached its peak on the chart at number twelve.^[24] Two weeks later, "Jesus Walks" appeared on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number seventy-four on the issue dated February 21.^[25] After sixth months had passed, the track finally reached its peak at number two for the issue dated August 14 and maintained the position for two whole weeks.^[26][27] "Jesus Walks" first came in at number twenty-five on Hot Rap Tracks for the issue dated April 17.^[28] On the issue date of August 7, the song peaked at number three.^[29]

Despite all prior disapproval, "Jesus Walks" came to be one of West's biggest hits. The single was the highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of its first appearance, entering the chart at number sixty-eight on April 29, 2004.^[30] Over the next eight weeks, the song climbed up the chart until it eventually reached a peak of sixteen for the issue dated July 3, where it remained for four weeks.^[31] On the issue dated July 24, the song climbed up two places to reach the fourteenth position.^[32] "Jesus Walks" reached its overall peak at number eleven on the issue date of July 31, where it stayed for two weeks in a row.^[33] "Jesus Walks" has since sold over half a million copies in the United States alone, earning a Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[34]

"Jesus Walks" attained a certain extent of international success as well. In Ireland, the song peaked at number eighteen on of September 2, 2004, where it remained for two weeks.^[35] The song's highest debut occurred in the United Kingdom, where it entered at its peak position of sixteen on September 5, becoming West's third top-twenty hit.^[36] On March 14, 2005, the song debuted in the Australian Singles Chart at number thirty-seven.^[37]

Awards[link]

"Jesus Walks" was praised as one of the best songs of the year by numerous publications, including Blender, Rolling Stone, and Village Voice.^[38][39] The song received a nomination for Outstanding Song as well as Outstanding Music Video at the 36th NAACP Image Awards.^[40] At the Grammy Awards of 2005, "Jesus Walks" was nominated for Song of the Year, one of ten total nominations West received for that year alone.^[41] West, Rhymefest and Miri Ben-Ari won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Song for co-writing the song's lyrics and violin arrangements respectively.^[7][42] West received a nomination for Best Gospel Artist for "Jesus Walks" at the 2005 BET Awards, although he was not an actual gospel musician.^[43] Rolling Stone placed Jesus Walks as the 19th best song of the 2000s decade.^[44]

As a result of the significance and impact of "Jesus Walks", in August, The College Dropout was nominated for several gospel Stellar Awards, including Best Gospel Rap Album.^[45] However, the awards committees determined that the secular album was ineligible and subsequently withdrew the ballot.^[46] West surmised that the fact that they recognized the song in the first place demonstrated its impact, and said the song and its message was not meant for the evangelical audience, but for "... the people that I think God is really trying to reach."^[6] He also clarified that he does not view himself as a religious person, saying, "Religion just means that you do something over and over. I will say that I'm spiritual. I have accepted Jesus as my Savior. And I will say that I fall short every day."^[47] Kanye later claimed that when his father heard the song, he said, "Maybe you missed your calling." To which West replied, "No, maybe this is my calling. I reach more people than any one pastor can."^[48] In retrospect, West maintained that while he was surprised by the accolades the song received, he had long predicted the radio success of "Jesus Walks". For him, it was all just a matter of attaining airplay, saying, "It was never a problem once it came out. All I did was use reverse psychology. It was a way of calling out people who didn't want to play it without pointing fingers at anybody."^[5]

Impact[link]

"Jesus Walks" has been credited with helping to abate the antagonistic gap that once separated mainstream rap music and the religious church.^[49] Since then, countless ministries began to embrace hip hop and incorporate the musical genre into their gospel services.^[48] In her biographical book, Kanye's mother Donda West recalled an instance where over three hundred adolescents gave their lives to Christ the night her son performed the song at a youth revival center.^[50] Darryl McDaniels of the groundbreaking hip hop group Run-DMC told Time magazine that he had grown indifferent towards contemporary rap music and ceased listening to it until he heard "Jesus Walks".^[51]

Accolades[link]

The song was ranked #273 Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", Rolling Stone also named the song #19 on their list of 100 Best Songs of the 2000s decade. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 69 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". The song was named the 6th best song of 2004 on Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll.

Music videos[link]

In total, three separate music videos were made for "Jesus Walks," with the second and third financed by West himself out-of-pocket.^[47] All three were premiered on June 21, 2004 at TriBeCa Cinemas, where West explained, "That song evokes so much emotion, and four minutes of imagery limits the ideas that you're supposed to give for the songs, so I had to do three."^[52] Kanye had originally wanted Hype Williams to direct the first version of "Jesus Walks" but decided not to because he had heard that Jay-Z was thinking about enlisting Williams for "99 Problems."^[52] Instead, West went with Michael Haussman for the music video, which was filmed in California and budgeted at $650,000.^[47][53] In the video, West is portrayed as a preacher rapping before a congregation from a pulpit while angels guide a prostitute, an alcoholic, and a drug dealer to his Baptist church.^[52]

West was not satisfied with the music video and convinced then-label head Dame Dash to commission another, this time for $500,000.^[47] The second version was directed by Chris Milk and takes place in the deep South. The core concept behind the video, which Milk described as his most complex narrative, was to take various deplorable characters and merge them with biblical iconography in order convey the message that God is with them. The secondary objective was to display the duality of man.^[55] The video stands as the most metaphorical of the three, as it features West rapping in a hallway which is filled alternately with hellish flames and angelic light, in conjunction with footage of drug traffickers being pursued through a barren desert by police, prison camp inmates battling with guards, and a Ku Klux Klansman setting himself on fire while carrying a burning cross up a mountain.^[53] The music video was nominated for Video of the Year at the 2005 Video Music Awards where it received the award for Best Male Video. It also won Video of the Year at the 2005 BET Awards. PopMatters listed this version of "Jesus Walks" as the sixth best music video of 2004.^[56]

The final version of "Jesus Walks" was filmed in West's hometown of Chicago and co-directed by himself with Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah of Channel Zero. Filmed guerrilla-style within the course of one day at a budget of $40,000, the third version was the least expensive of the three. It depicts Jesus in the modern day, literally walking beside the protagonist as he travels from his home to church, performing miracles along the way.^[47] The video premiered on MTV.com on June 23, 2004.^[52]

Live performances[link]

Thanks to its fervid sound and widespread popularity, "Jesus Walks" has since become a crowd favorite and Kanye West has performed it on numerous occasions around the globe. West included the song within the set list of his School Spirit Tour that took place in early 2004.^[57] An early live performance of the song occurred in his hometown of Chicago at a concert with Dilated Peoples held in the House of Blues on May 5, 2004.^[58] West provided a performance of "Jesus Walks" for the opening of the 2004 BET Awards, in which he stood behind a pulpit and was accompanied by a choir, drumline and gospel singer Yolanda Adams.^[59] While serving as the opening act for Usher's The Truth Tour, West performed "Jesus Walks" as his finale.^[60] West opened the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards with a theatrical performance of "Jesus Walks."^[61] He led a 32-member choir around an arena filled with audience members holding artificial candles and had stained glass windows descend from the ceiling as he joined John Legend, Chaka Khan, and Syleena Johnson onstage.^[62] During his appearance at Dave Chapelle's Block Party in September, West performed "Jesus Walks" accompanied by a Central State University marching band.^[63] He provided a performance of "Jesus Walks" during his brief appearance at Brixton Academy in London on November 24.^[64]

West performed "Jesus Walks" at the 47th Grammy Awards ceremony just prior to his receival of the award for Best Rap Album.^[65] This performance, which featured West's mother Donda West, was joined in a sequence with Mavis Staples and John Legend's rendition of "I'll Take You There" and a performance of "I'll Fly Away" by the Blind Boys of Alabama. At the conclusion, the performers encircled and covered West, who eventually emerged donning an all-white suit with large angelic wings.^[66][67] That July, West played the song during his set at a Live 8 show held in Philadelphia's Museum of Art, where he was backed by an eleven-piece female string orchestra decked out in black masks and garments.^[68] As he played, Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff danced to the song backstage.^[69] Accompanied by a seventeen-piece, all-female string orchestra, West performed "Jesus Walks" live for an exclusive concert held at Abbey Road Studios in London, England on September 21.^[70] The performance was recorded and later released on a live album entitled Late Orchestration.^[71] He included "Jesus Walks" within the setlist of his Touch the Sky Tour that took place in late 2005.^[72]

Wearing a Detroit Pistons jacket, West performed the song for a pre-game concert held during VH1's Pepsi Smash Super Bowl Bash on February 2, 2006.^[73] He played "Jesus Walks" near the end of his concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on February 12.^[74] The following week, West performed the song once again at the Manchester MEN Arena with DJ A-Trak, two backing vocalists, a nine-piece female string orchestra and a harpist. The performance concluded by displaying an image of the Cristo de la Concordia on a gigantic monitor.^[75] West played "Jesus Walks" during his appearance at the first day of Coachella 2006 in Indio, California, where he later on had A-Trak spin A-Ha's "Take on Me" while he danced onstage to the delight of the audience.^[76] On June 22, West performed the song while attending a benefit held in New York staged for the non-profit Foundation for AIDS Research.^[77]

Kanye provided a performance of the song during his set at Live Earth 2007, before joining The Police and John Mayer onstage to perform "Message in a Bottle" for the concert's finale.^[78] West performed "Jesus Walks" live for the Concert for Diana held at Wembley Stadium on July 1, 2007 to a crowd of over 63,000 people.^[79] An estimated 500 million people watched the event in over 140 countries worldwide.^[80] The very next day, West performed the song as the finale of his gig at the Manchester Apollo for the Manchester International Festival.^[81] "Jesus Walks" was included within the setlist of West's conceptual Glow in the Dark Tour that first took off in late 2007. During the concert, an LCD screen seated behind him displayed a skyline filled with lightning bolts while fumes billowed from the stage on the hook.^[82] That August, West played "Jesus Walks" at the Exdo Event Center in Denver for a private show at held for Bono's humanitarian organization ONE.^[83] West gave a performance of "Jesus Walks" before an audience of 3,000 students during his free Stay In School benefit concert at Chicago Theatre on July 11, 2009.^[84] He performed the song in Hyde Park, London while headlining the second and final day of the 2009 Wireless Festival.^[85]

Track listings[link]

Charts[link]

Release history[link]

Personnel[link]

Information taken from The College Dropout liner notes.^[7]

• Songwriters: Kanye West, Che Smith
• Record producer: Kanye West
• Recorder: Tasuya Sato, Andrew Dawson, Eugene A. Toale
• Mix engineer: Manny Marroquin
• Additional vocals: John Legend
• Violin: Miri Ben-Ari
• Choir arranger: Curtis Lundy

References[link]

• Hanson, Matt (2006). Reinventing Music Video: Next-Generation Directors, Their Inspiration and Work. Focal Press. ISBN 0-240-80834-7. 
• West, Donda; Hunter, Karen (2007). Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 1-4165-4470-4. 

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• "Jesus Walks" Music video (Version 1) on YouTube
• "Jesus Walks" Music video (Version 2) on YouTube
• "Jesus Walks" Music video (Version 3) on YouTube

Jesus
Jesus as Good Shepherd (stained glass at St John's Ashfield)
Born	7–2 BC/BCE[1] Judaea[2]
Died	30–36 AD/CE[3][4][5][6][7] Judaea
Cause of death	Crucifixion[8]
Ethnicity	Jewish[9]
Home town	Nazareth, Galilee[10]

Jesus ( /ˈdʒiːzəs/; Greek: Ἰησοῦς; 7–2 BC/BCE to 30–36 AD/CE), also referred to as Jesus Christ or simply Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and most Christian denominations venerate him as God the Son incarnated. In Islam, Jesus (in Arabic: عيسى‎ in Islamic usage, commonly transliterated as Isa) is considered one of God's important prophets.^[11][12]

Most modern historians agree that Jesus existed and was a Jewish teacher from Galilee in Roman Judaea, who was baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified in Jerusalem on the orders of the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilate.^{[13][14][15][16][8]} Scholars have offered competing descriptions and portraits of Jesus, which at times share a number of overlapping attributes, such as a rabbi, a charismatic healer, the leader of an apocalyptic movement, a self-described Messiah, a sage and philosopher, or a social reformer who preached of the "Kingdom of God" as a means for personal and egalitarian social transformation.^{[17][18][19][20]} Scholars have correlated the New Testament accounts with non-Christian historical records to arrive at an estimated chronology of Jesus' life.^{[3][5][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]}

Christians traditionally believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, performed miracles, founded the Church, died sacrificially by crucifixion to achieve atonement, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, from which he will return.^[28] The majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, and the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.^[29] A few Christian groups, however, reject Trinitarianism, wholly or partly, believing it to be non-scriptural.^[29][30] Most Christian scholars today present Jesus as the awaited Messiah promised in the Old Testament and as God,^[31] arguing that he fulfilled many Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.^[32]

In Islam, Jesus is a bringer of scripture, and the product of a virgin birth, but not the victim of crucifixion.^[33] Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh.^[34] Islam and the Bahá'í Faith use the title "Messiah" for Jesus,^[35][36] but do not teach that he was God incarnate.

Etymology of name[link]

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"Jesus" is a transliteration, occurring in a number of languages and based on the Latin Iesus, of the Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs), itself a hellenization of the Hebrew יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yĕhōšuă‘, Joshua) or Hebrew-Aramaic יֵשׁוּעַ (Yēšûă‘), both meaning "Yahweh delivers" or "Yahweh rescues". In Arabic, it is عيسى‎.^[37][38]

The etymology of the name Jesus in the context of the New Testament is generally expressed as "Yahweh saves",^[39][40][41] "Yahweh is salvation"^[42][43] and at times as "Jehovah is salvation".^[44] The name Jesus appears to have been in use in Judaea at the time of the birth of Jesus.^[44][45] Philo's reference (Mutatione Nominum item 121) indicates that the etymology of Joshua was known outside Judaea at the time.^[46]

In the New Testament, in Luke 1:26-33, the angel Gabriel tells Mary to name her child "Jesus", and in Matthew 1:21 an angel tells Joseph to name the child "Jesus". The statement in Matthew 1:21 "you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins" associates salvific attributes to the name Jesus in Christian theology.^[47][48]

"Christ" ( /ˈkraɪst/) is derived from the Greek Χριστός (Khrīstos), meaning "the anointed" or "the anointed one", a translation of the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (Māšîaḥ), usually transliterated into English as "Messiah" ( /mɨˈsaɪ.ə/).^[49][50] In the Septuagint version of the Hebrew Bible (written well over a century before the time of Jesus), the word "Christ" (Χριστός) was used to translate the Hebrew word "Messiah" (מָשִׁיחַ) into Greek.^[51] In Matthew 16:16, the apostle Peter's profession "You are the Christ" identifies Jesus as the Messiah.^[52] In postbiblical usage, "Christ" became viewed as a name, one part of "Jesus Christ", but originally it was a title ("Jesus the Anointed").^[53][54][55]

Chronology[link]

Judaea and Galilee at the time of Jesus.

Although a few scholars have questioned the existence of Jesus as an actual historical figure,^[56], and some early Christian sects denied that Jesus existed as a physical being (see below), most scholars involved with historical Jesus research believe his existence, but that the supernatural claims associated with him cannot be established using documentary and other evidence.^{[57][58][59][16][60][61]} As discussed in the sections immediately below, the estimation of the year of death of Jesus places his lifespan around the beginning of the 1st century AD/CE, in the geographic region of Roman Judaea.^{[62][63][64][65][66]}

Roman involvement in Judaea began around 63 BC/BCE and by 6 AD/CE Judaea had become a Roman province.^[67] From 26-37 AD/CE Pontius Pilate was the governor of Roman Judaea.^[68] In this time period, although Roman Judaea was strategically positioned in the Near East, close to Arabia and North Africa, it was not viewed as a critically important province by the Romans.^[69][70] At the time the Romans were highly tolerant of other religions and allowed the local populations such as the Jews to practice their own faiths.^[67]

Year of birth[link]

Two independent approaches have been used to estimate the year of the birth of Jesus, one by analyzing the Nativity accounts in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew along with other historical data, the other by working backwards from the estimation of the start of the ministry of Jesus, as also discussed in the next section.^[5][22]

In its Nativity account, the Gospel of Matthew associates the birth of Jesus with the reign of Herod the Great, who is generally believed to have died around 4 BC/BCE.^[22][71] Matthew 2:1 states that: "Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king" and Luke 1:5 mentions the reign of Herod shortly before the birth of Jesus.^[22] Matthew also suggests that Jesus may have been as much as two years old at the time of the visit of the Magi and hence even older at the time of Herod's death.^[72] But the author of Luke also describes the birth as taking place during the first census of the Roman provinces of Syria and Iudaea, which is generally believed to have occurred in 6 AD/CE.^[73] Most scholars generally assume a date of birth between 6 and 4 BC/BCE.^[74] Other scholars assume that Jesus was born sometime between 7–2 BC/BCE.^[75]

The year of birth of Jesus has also been estimated in a manner that is independent of the Nativity accounts, by using information in the Gospel of John to work backwards from the statement in Luke 3:23 that Jesus was "about 30 years of age" at the start of his ministry.^[3][5] As discussed in the section below, by combining information from John 2:13 and John 2:20 with the writings of Flavius Josephus, it has been estimated that around 27-29 AD/CE, Jesus was "about thirty years of age".^[76][77] Some scholars thus estimate the year 28 AD/CE to be roughly the 32nd birthday of Jesus and the birth year of Jesus to be around 6-4 BC/BCE.^[3][5][78]

However, the common Gregorian calendar method for numbering years, in which the current year is 2012, is based on the decision of a monk Dionysius in the sixth century, to count the years from a point of reference (namely, Jesus’ birth) which he placed sometime between 2 BC and 1 AD.^[79] Although Christian feasts related to the Nativity have had specific dates (e.g. December 25 for Christmas) there is no historical evidence for the exact day or month of the birth of Jesus.^[80][81][82]

Years of ministry[link]

Israel Museum model of Herod's Temple, referred to in John 2:13.

There have been different approaches to estimating the date of the start of the ministry of Jesus.^{[3][76][77][83]} One approach, based on combining information from the Gospel of Luke with historical data about Emperor Tiberius yields a date around 28-29 AD/CE, while a second independent approach based on statements in the Gospel of John along with historical information from Josephus about the Temple in Jerusalem leads to a date around 27-29 AD/CE.^{[5][76][77][84][85][86]} A third method uses the date of the death of John the Baptist and the marriage of Herod Antipas to Herodias based on the writings of Josephus, and correlates it to Matthew 14:4.^[87][88][89]

The estimation of the date based on the Gospel of Luke relies on the statement in Luke 3:1-2 that the ministry of John the Baptist which preceded that of Jesus began "in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar".^[76] Given that Tiberius began his reign in 14 AD/CE, this yields a date about 28-29 AD/CE.^{[3][76][78][90][91]}

The estimation of the date based on the Gospel of John uses the statements in John 2:13 that Jesus went to the Temple in Jerusalem around the start of his ministry and in John 2:20 that "Forty and six years was this temple in building" at that time.^[5][76] According to Josephus (Ant 15.380) the temple reconstruction was started by Herod the Great in the 15th-18th year of his reign at about the time that Augustus arrived in Syria (Ant 15.354).^{[3][76][92][93]} Temple expansion and reconstruction was ongoing, and it was in constant reconstruction until it was destroyed in 70 AD/CE by the Romans.^[94] Given that it took 46 years of construction, the Temple visit in the Gospel of John has been estimated at around 27-29 AD/CE.^{[5][76][84][85][86][95]}

Although both the gospels and Josephus refer to Herod Antipas killing John the Baptist, they differ on the details, e.g. whether this act was a consequence of the marriage of Herod Antipas and Herodias, as indicated in Matthew 14:4, or a pre-emptive measure by Herod which possibly took place before the marriage, as Josephus suggests in Ant 18.5.2.^{[96][97][98][99]} The exact year of the marriage of Herod Antipas and Herodias is subject to debate among scholars.^[88] In his analysis of Herod's life, Harold Hoehner estimates that John the Baptist's imprisonment probably occurred around AD 30-31.^[100] The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia estimates the death of the Baptist to have occurred about AD 31-32.^[89] The death of John the Baptist relates to the end of the major Galilean ministry of Jesus, just before the half way point in the gospel narratives, before the start of Jesus' final journey to Jerusalem through Judea.^{[101][102][102][103]}

Luke 3:23 states that at the start of his ministry Jesus was "about 30 years of age", but the other gospels do not mention a specific age. However, in John 8:57 the Jews exclaimed to Jesus: "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?" suggesting that he was much less than 50 years old during his ministry.^[5] The length of the ministry is subject to debate, based on the fact that the synoptic gospels mention only one passover during Jesus' ministry, often interpreted as implying that the ministry lasted approximately one year, whereas the Gospel of John records multiple passovers, implying that his ministry may have lasted at least three years.^{[3][5][104][105]}

Year of death[link]

A 1466 copy of Antiquities of the Jews.

A number of approaches have been used to estimate the year of the death of Jesus, including information from the canonical gospels, the chronology of the life of Paul the Apostle in the New Testament correlated with historical events, as well as different astronomical models, as discussed below.

All four canonical gospels report that Jesus was crucified at Calvary during the prefecture of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect who governed Judaea from 26 to 36 AD/CE. The late 1st century Jewish historian Josephus,^[62] writing in Antiquities of the Jews (c. 93 AD/CE), and the early 2nd century Roman historian Tacitus,^[63] writing in The Annals (c. 116 AD/CE), also state that Pilate ordered the execution of Jesus, though both writers use the title "procurator" instead of "prefect".^[64]

The estimation of the date of the conversion of Paul places the death of Jesus before this conversion, which is estimated at around 33-36 AD/CE.^{[4][106][107]} (Also see the estimation of the start of Jesus' ministry as a few years before this date above). The estimation of the year of Paul's conversion relies on a series of calculations working backwards from the well established date of his trial before Gallio in Achaea Greece (Acts 18:12-17) around 51-52 AD/CE, the meeting of Priscilla and Aquila which were expelled from Rome about 49 AD/CE and the 14-year period before returning to Jerusalem in Galatians 2:1.^{[4][106][107]} The remaining period is generally accounted for by Paul's missions (at times with Barnabas) such as those in Acts 11:25-26 and 2 Corinthians 11:23-33, resulting in the 33-36 AD/CE estimate.^{[4][106][107]}

For centuries, astronomers and scientists have used diverse computational methods to estimate the date of crucifixion, Isaac Newton being one of the first cases.^[65] Newton's method relied on the relative visibility of the crescent of the new moon and he suggested the date as Friday, April 23, 34 AD/CE.^[108] In 1990 astronomer Bradley E. Schaefer computed the date as Friday, April 3, 33 AD/CE.^[109] In 1991, John Pratt stated that Newton's method was sound, but included a minor error at the end. Pratt suggested the year 33 AD/CE as the answer.^[65] Using the completely different approach of a lunar eclipse model, Humphreys and Waddington arrived at the conclusion that Friday, April 3, 33 AD/CE was the date of the crucifixion.^{[66][110][111]}

Life and teachings in the New Testament[link]

Although the four canonical gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are the main sources for the biography of Jesus’ life, other parts of the New Testament, such as the Pauline epistles which were likely written decades before them, also include references to key episodes in his life such as the Last Supper, as in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.^{[112][113][114]} The Acts of the Apostles (10:37-38 and 19:4) refers to the early ministry of Jesus and its anticipation by John the Baptist.^[115][116] And Acts 1:1-11 says more about the Ascension episode (also mentioned in 1 Timothy 3:16) than the canonical gospels.^[117][118]

According to the majority viewpoint, the Synoptic Gospels are the primary sources of historical information about Jesus.^[6][7][119] and of the religious movement he founded, but not everything contained in the gospels is considered to be historically reliable.^{[120][121][122][123][124]} Elements whose historical authenticity are disputed include the two accounts of the Nativity of Jesus, as well as the resurrection and certain details about the crucifixion.^{[125][126][127][128][129][130]} On one extreme, some Christian scholars maintain that the gospels are inerrant descriptions of the life of Jesus.^[131] On the other extreme, some scholars have concluded that the gospels provide no historical information about Jesus' life.^[132]

Canonical gospel accounts[link]

A 3rd century Greek papyrus of Luke.

Three of the four canonical gospels, namely Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are known as the synoptic Gospels, from the Greek σύν (syn "together") and ὄψις (opsis "view"), given that they display a high degree of similarity in content, narrative arrangement, language and paragraph structure.^{[133][134][135]} The presentation in the fourth canonical gospel, i.e. John, differs from these three in that it has more of a thematic nature rather than a narrative format.^[136][137] Scholars generally agree that it is impossible to find any direct literary relationship between the synoptic gospels and the Gospel of John.^[136]

However, in general, the authors of the New Testament showed little interest in an absolute chronology of Jesus or in synchronizing the episodes of his life with the secular history of the age.^[138] The gospels were primarily written as theological documents in the context of early Christianity with the chronological timelines as a secondary consideration.^[139] One manifestation of the gospels being theological documents rather than historical chronicles is that they devote about one third of their text to just seven days, namely the last week of the life of Jesus in Jerusalem.^[140]

Although the gospels do not provide enough details to satisfy the demands of modern historians regarding exact dates, it is possible to draw from them a general picture of the life story of Jesus.^{[138][139][141]} However, as stated in John 21:25 the gospels do not claim to provide an exhaustive list of the events in the life of Jesus.^[142]

Gospel sources, similarities and differences[link]

Scholars have debated the sources for the gospels for millennia, and have proposed various hypotheses of how the synoptic gospels were written and how they influenced each other, going back to the Augustinian hypothesis in the 5th century.^[143] In the 20th and 21st centuries hypotheses such as the two-source, four-source, Farrer or the Markan priority hypothesis have been debated.^{[143][144][145]} Each hypothesis assumes a specific order in which the gospels were written, or that other as yet unknown and hypothetical documents such as the Q source or the M source influenced various gospels in various ways. Each hypotheses has had support among some scholars, while problems with and weaknesses in it have been pointed out by opponents.^{[143][144][145][146]}

Since the 2nd century attempts have been made to harmonize the gospel accounts into a single narrative; Tatian's Diatesseron perhaps being the first harmony and other works such as Augustine' book Harmony of the Gospels followed.^[147][148] A number of different approaches to gospel harmony have been proposed in the 20th century, but no single and unique harmony can be constructed.^[149] While some scholars argue that combining the four gospel stories into one story is tantamount to creating a fifth story different from each original, others see the gospels as blending together to give an overall and comprehensive picture of Jesus' teaching and ministry.^{[148][150][151][152]} Although there are differences in specific temporal sequences, and in the parables and miracles listed in each gospel, the flow of the key events such as Baptism, Transfiguration and Crucifixion and interactions with people such as the Apostles are shared among the gospel narratives.^{[138][139][153][154]}

Key elements and the five major milestones[link]

The five major milestones in the gospel narrative of the life of Jesus are his Baptism, Transfiguration, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension.^{[155][156][157]} These are usually bracketed by two other episodes: his Nativity at the beginning and the sending of the Holy Spirit at the end.^[155][157] The gospel accounts of the teachings of Jesus are often presented in terms of specific categories involving his "works and words", e.g. his ministry, parables and miracles.^[158][159]

The gospels include a number discourses by Jesus on specific occasions, e.g. the Sermon on the Mount or the Farewell Discourse, and also include over 30 parables, spread throughout the narrative, often with themes that relate to the sermons.^[160] Parables represent a major component of the teachings of Jesus in the gospels, forming approximately one third of his recorded teachings, and John 14:10 positions them as the revelations of God the Father.^[161][162] The gospel episodes that include descriptions of the miracle of Jesus also often include teachings, providing an intertwining of his "words and works" in the gospels.^[159][163]

• 

  Nativity

• 

  Baptism

• 

  Temptation

• 

  Disciples and Apostles

• 

  Ministry

• 

  Teachings and Sermons

• 

  Parables

• 

  Miracles

• 

  Last Supper and Betrayal

• Decani.jpg

  Passion and Crucifixion

• 

  Resurrection and Appearances

• 

  Ascension

Genealogy and Nativity[link]

The accounts of the genealogy and Nativity of Jesus in the New Testament appear only in the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew. While there are documents outside of the New Testament which are more or less contemporary with Jesus and the gospels, many shed no light on the more biographical aspects of his life and these two gospel accounts remain the main sources of information on the genealogy and Nativity.^[141]

Genealogy[link]

Matthew begins his gospel in 1:1 with the genealogy of Jesus, and presents it before the account of the birth of Jesus, while Luke discusses the genealogy in chapter 3, after the Baptism of Jesus in Luke 3:22 when the voice from Heaven addresses Jesus and identifies him as the Son of God.^[164] At that point Luke traces Jesus' ancestry through Adam to God.^[164]

While Luke traces the genealogy upwards towards Adam and God, Matthew traces it downwards towards Jesus.^[165] Both gospels state that Jesus was begotten not by Joseph, but by God.^[166] Both accounts trace Joseph back to King David and from there to Abraham. These lists are identical between Abraham and David (except for one), but they differ almost completely between David and Joseph.^[167][168] Matthew gives Jacob as Joseph’s father and Luke says Joseph was the son of Heli. Attempts at explaining the differences between the genealogies have varied in nature, e.g. that Luke traces the genealogy through Mary while Matthew traces it through Joseph; or that Jacob and Heli were both fathers of Joseph, one being the legal father, after the death of Joseph's actual father—but there is no scholarly agreement on a resolution for the differences.^{[169][170][171]}

Nativity[link]

The Nativity is a prominent element in the Gospel of Luke, comprises over 10% of the text, and is three times the length of the nativity text in Matthew.^[172] Luke's account takes place mostly before the birth of Jesus and centers on Mary, while Matthew's takes place mostly after the birth of Jesus and centers on Joseph.^{[173][174][175]} According to Luke and Matthew, Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, his betrothed, in Bethlehem. Both support the doctrine of the Virgin Birth in which Jesus was miraculously conceived in his mother's womb by the Holy Spirit, when his mother was still a virgin.^{[176][177][178][179]}

Luke is the only gospel to provide an account of the birth of John the Baptist, and uses it to draw parallels between the births of John and Jesus.^[180] Luke relates the two births in the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth^[172] and further connects the two births by stating that Mary and Elizabeth are cousins.^[181] In Luke 1:31-38 Mary learns from the angel Gabriel that she will conceive and bear a child called Jesus through the action of the Holy Spirit. When Mary is due to give birth, she and Joseph travel from Nazareth to Joseph's ancestral home in Bethlehem to register in the census of Quirinius. In Luke 2:1-7. Mary gives birth to Jesus and, having found no place in the inn, places the newborn in a manger. An angel visits the shepherds and sends them to adore the child in Luke 2:22. After presenting Jesus at the Temple, Joseph and Mary return home to Nazareth.^[174][182]

The nativity account in chapters 1 and 2 of the Gospel of Matthew appears to differ from Luke in implying that Jesus and his family are already living in Bethlehem.^[183] However, Matthew does not state that Joseph lived in Bethlehem prior to the birth of Jesus.^[184] Following his betrothal to Mary, Joseph is troubled in Matthew 1:19-20 because Mary is pregnant, but in the first of Joseph's three dreams an angel assures him not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because her child was conceived by the Holy Spirit.^[185] In Matthew 1:1-12, the Wise Men or Magi bring gifts to the young Jesus after following a star which they believe was a sign that the King of the Jews had been born. King Herod hears of Jesus' birth from the Wise Men and tries to kill him by massacring all the male children in Bethlehem under the age of two (the Massacre of the Innocents).^[186] Before the massacre, Joseph is warned by an angel in his dream and the family flees to Egypt and remains there until Herod's death, after which they leave Egypt and settle in Nazareth to avoid living under the authority of Herod's son and successor Archelaus.^[185][187]

Early life and profession[link]

In the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, Jesus’ childhood home is identified as the town of Nazareth in Galilee. Joseph, husband of Mary, appears in descriptions of Jesus’ childhood and no mention is made of him thereafter.^[188] The New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, and Galatians mention Jesus’ brothers and sisters, but the Greek word adelphos in these verses, has also been translated as brother or kinsman.^[189]

Luke 2:41–52 includes an incident in the childhood of Jesus, where he was found teaching in the temple by his parents after being lost. The Finding in the Temple is the sole event between Jesus’ infancy and baptism mentioned in any of the canonical gospels.

In Mark 6:3 Jesus is called a tekton (τέκτων in Greek), usually understood to mean carpenter. Matthew 13:55 says he was the son of a tekton.^[50]:170 Tekton has been traditionally translated into English as "carpenter", but it is a rather general word (from the same root that leads to "technical" and "technology") that could cover makers of objects in various materials, even builders.^[190][191]

Beyond the New Testament accounts, the specific association of the profession of Jesus with woodworking is a constant in the traditions of the 1st and 2nd centuries and Justin Martyr (d. ca. 165) wrote that Jesus made yokes and ploughs.^[192]

Baptism and temptation[link]

Trevisani's depiction of the typical baptismal scene with the sky opening and the Holy Spirit descending as a dove, 1723.^[193]

In the gospels, the accounts of the Baptism of Jesus are always preceded by information about John the Baptist and his ministry.^{[153][194][195]} In these accounts, John was preaching for penance and repentance for the remission of sins and encouraged the giving of alms to the poor (as in Luke 3:11) as he baptized people in the area of the River Jordan around Perea about the time of the commencement of the ministry of Jesus. The Gospel of John (1:28) specifies "Bethany beyond the Jordan", i.e. Bethabara in Perea, when it initially refers to it and later John 3:23 refers to further baptisms in Ænon "because there was much water there".^[196][197]

The four gospels are not the only references to John's ministry around the River Jordan. In Acts 10:37-38, Peter refers to how the ministry of Jesus followed "the baptism which John preached".^[116] In the Antiquities of the Jews (18.5.2) 1st century historian Josephus also wrote about John the Baptist and his eventual death in Perea.^[198][199]

In the gospels, John had been foretelling (as in Luke 3:16) of the arrival of a someone "mightier than I".^[200][201] Apostle Paul also refers to this anticipation by John in Acts 19:4.^[115] In Matthew 3:14, upon meeting Jesus, the Baptist states: "I need to be baptized by you." However, Jesus persuades John to baptize him nonetheless.^[202] In the baptismal scene, after Jesus emerges from the water, the sky opens and a voice from Heaven states: "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased". The Holy Spirit then descends upon Jesus as a dove in Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-23.^{[200][201][202]} In John 1:29-33 rather than a direct narrative, the Baptist bears witness to the episode.^[201][203] This is one of two cases in the gospels where a voice from Heaven calls Jesus "Son", the other being in the Transfiguration of Jesus episode.^[204][205]

After the baptism, the synoptic gospels proceed to describe the Temptation of Jesus, but John 1:35-37 narrates the first encounter between Jesus and two of his future disciples, who were then disciples of John the Baptist.^[206][207] In this narrative, the next day the Baptist sees Jesus again and calls him the Lamb of God and the "two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus".^{[208][209][210]} One of the disciples is named Andrew, but the other remains unnamed, and Raymond E. Brown raises the question of his being the author of the Gospel of John himself.^[203][211] In the Gospel of John, the disciples follow Jesus thereafter, and bring other disciples to him, and Acts 18:24-19:6 portrays the disciples of John as eventually merging with the followers of Jesus.^[203][206]

The Temptation of Jesus is narrated in the three synoptic gospels after his baptism.^[207][212] In these accounts, as in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13, Jesus goes to the desert for forty days to fast. While there, Satan appears to him and tempts him in various ways, e.g. asking Jesus to show signs that he is the Son of God by turning stone to bread, or offering Jesus worldly rewards in exchange for worship.^[207][213] Jesus rejects every temptation and when Satan leaves, angels appear and minister to Jesus.^{[207][212][213]}

Ministry[link]

Luke 3:23 states that Jesus was "about 30 years of age" at the start of his ministry.^[3][5] The date of the start of his ministry has been estimated at around 27-29 AD/CE, based on independent approaches which combine separate gospel accounts with other historical data.^{[3][5][76][77][84][85][86]} The end of his ministry is estimated to be in the range 30-36 AD/CE.^[3][4][5][6]

The three synoptic gospels refer to just one passover during his ministry, while the Gospel of John refers to three passovers, suggesting a period of about three years.^[194][214] However, the synoptic gospels do not require a ministry that lasted only one year, and scholars such as Köstenberger state that the Gospel of John simply provides a more detailed account.^{[153][194][215]}

The gospel accounts place the beginning of Jesus' ministry in the countryside of Judaea, near the River Jordan.^[195] Jesus' ministry begins with his Baptism by John the Baptist (Matthew 3, Luke 3), and ends with the Last Supper with his disciples (Matthew 26, Luke 22) in Jerusalem.^[194][195] The gospels present John the Baptist's ministry as the precursor to that of Jesus and the Baptism as marking the beginning of Jesus' ministry, after which Jesus travels, preaches and performs miracles.^{[153][194][195]}

A 1923 map of Galilee around 50 AD/CE. Nazareth is towards the center.

The Early Galilean ministry begins when Jesus goes back to Galilee from the Judaean desert after rebuffing the temptation of Satan.^[216] In this early period Jesus preaches around Galilee and in Matthew 4:18-20 his first disciples encounter him, begin to travel with him and eventually form the core of the early Church.^[195][217] This period includes the Sermon on the Mount, one of the major discourses of Jesus.^[217][218]

The Major Galilean ministry which begins in Matthew 8 refers to activities up to the death of John the Baptist. It includes the Calming the storm and a number of other miracles and parables, as well as the Mission Discourse in which Jesus instructs the twelve apostles who are named in Matthew 10:2-3 to carry no belongings as they travel from city to city and preach.^[219][220]

The Final Galilean ministry includes the Feeding the 5000 and Walking on water episodes, both in Matthew 14.^[221][222] The end of this period (as Matthew 16 and Mark 8 end) marks a turning point is the ministry of Jesus with the dual episodes of Confession of Peter and the Transfiguration - which begins his Later Judaean ministry as he starts his final journey to Jerusalem through Judaea.^{[223][224][225][226]}

As Jesus travels towards Jerusalem, in the Later Perean ministry, about one third the way down from the Sea of Galilee along the Jordan, he returns to the area where he was baptized, and in John 10:40-42 "many people believed in him beyond the Jordan", saying "all things whatsoever John spake of this man were true".^{[227][228][229]} This period of ministry includes the Discourse on the Church in which Jesus anticipates a future community of followers, and explains the role of his apostles in leading it.^[230][231] At the end of this period, the Gospel of John includes the Raising of Lazarus episode.^[232]

The Final ministry in Jerusalem is sometimes called the Passion Week and begins with the Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.^[232] In that week Jesus drives the money changers from the Temple, and Judas bargains to betray him. This period includes the Olivet Discourse and the Second Coming Prophecy and culminates in the Last Supper, at the end of which Jesus prepares his disciples for his departure in the Farewell discourse. The accounts of the ministry of Jesus generally end with the Last Supper.^{[153][232][233]} However, some authors also consider the period between the Resurrection and the Ascension part of the ministry of Jesus.^[234]

Teachings and preachings[link]

Jesus Christ Pantocrator - ancient mosaic from Hagia Sophia.

In the New Testament the teachings of Jesus are presented in terms of his "words and works".^[158][159] The words of Jesus include a number of sermons, as well as parables that appear throughout the narrative of the synoptic gospels (the Gospel of John includes no parables). The works include the miracles and other acts performed during his ministry.^[159] Although the canonical gospels are the major source of the teachings of Jesus, the Pauline epistles, which were likely written decades before the gospels, provide some of the earliest written accounts of the teachings of Jesus.^[112]

The New Testament does not present the teachings of Jesus as merely his own preachings, but equates the words of Jesus with divine revelation, with John the Baptist stating in John 3:34: "he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God" and Jesus stating in John 7:16: "My teaching is not mine, but his that sent me" and again re-asserting that in John 14:10: "the words that I say unto you I speak not from myself: but the Father abiding in me doeth his works."^[162][235] In Matthew 11:27 Jesus claims divine knowledge, stating: "No one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son", asserting the mutual knowledge he has with the Father.^[236][237]

The gospels include a number of discourses by Jesus on specific occasions, such as the Farewell discourse delivered after the Last Supper, the night before his crucifixion.^[238] Although some of the teachings of Jesus are reported as taking place within the formal atmosphere of a synagogue (e.g. in Matthew 4:23) many of the discourses are more like conversations than formal lectures.^[239]

The Gospel of Matthew has a structured set of sermons, often grouped as the Five Discourses of Matthew, which present many of the key teachings of Jesus.^[240][241] Each of the five discourses has some parallel passages in the Gospel of Mark or the Gospel of Luke.^[242] The five discourses in Matthew begin with the Sermon on the Mount, which encapsulates many of the moral teaching of Jesus and which is one of the best known and most quoted elements of the New Testament.^[218][239] The Sermon on the Mount includes the Beatitudes which describe the character of the people of the Kingdom of God, expressed as "blessings".^[243] The Beatitudes focus on love and humility rather than force and exaction and echo the key ideals of Jesus' teachings on spirituality and compassion.^{[244][245][246]} The other discourses in Matthew include the Missionary Discourse in Matthew 10 and the Discourse on the Church in Matthew 18, providing instructions to the disciples and laying the foundation of the codes of conduct for the anticipated community of followers.^{[231][247][248]}

Parables represent a major component of the teachings of Jesus in the gospels, the approximately thirty parables forming about one third of his recorded teachings.^[160][161] The parables may appear within longer sermons, as well as other places within the narrative.^[239] Jesus' parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, and each conveys a teaching which usually relates the physical world to the spiritual world.^[249][250]

The gospel episodes that include descriptions of the miracle of Jesus also often include teachings, providing an intertwining of his "words and works" in the gospels.^[159][163] Many of the miracles in the gospels teach the importance of faith, for instance in Cleansing ten lepers and Daughter of Jairus the beneficiaries are told that they were healed due to their faith.^[251][252]