Blog Post #2: Who is Jesus to Me?

What did you already know about Jesus and where did this information come from? What new insights did you gain about Jesus from this unit and how does this change or confirm what you already thought? Do you feel that you see Jesus as more of a spiritual figure, a historical figure, and/or both? How would you describe your relationship with Jesus?

Before this class, I knew some things about Jesus but not a whole lot. I am not religious nor definitely atheist but I believe that I am agnostic. Growing up, my family was Catholic but we only went to church sometimes because my mom forced us, including my dad, to go. I had my first communion and in order to have it, I had to take classes at a church for a while, maybe once a week. I learned things about Jesus but forgot almost all of it so, I cannot really remember where this information came from but I believe that it was from my mom telling me these things. She or someone had told me that Jesus was the son of God, He was crucified, and that He died on the cross for our sins. The Virgin Mary was His mother and Jesus was born in a barn where three wise men brought them gifts. I also know that he turned water into wine. When Jesus died, He was brought somewhere and then He was resurrected. I don't know why but all of the new things I learn about Jesus I forget.

From this unit, I gained insight into what it was like for Jesus to go through all He went through and His characteristics. First, I learned that He had many different names, some of which I didn't even know. People called him Lord and savior, our hope, light of the world, the son of the most high God, worker of wonderful deeds, and even more names. This showed me that Jesus was a respected and kind person just by looking at what people called him. This adds on some new information to what I already knew. After creating my own and watching other presentations, I know that Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea, Herod killed innocent babies in order to try and kill Jesus. He was crucified at the site of Calvary and was wrapped in the shroud of Turin after He died. This confirms that Jesus was crucified but I did not know where as well as that I remember babies being slaughtered but I only knew that from learning about Moses and not about Jesus. All of this was entirely new information to me and added much more information to what I already know. This picture shows Jesus helping a man which visually shows His characteristics.

I know that Jesus is a spiritual figure in Catholicism and even though I grew up learning about Him in that way, I always believed that he was just a historical figure. At first I believed in God as a spiritual figure but for some reason I still saw Jesus as only a historical figure. As I started to develop my own thoughts about Catholicism I started to question many things that I learned about God but I never questioned what I thought about Jesus. I don't really know why I only thought about Him that way. Maybe it's because I learned that Jesus was a real person so I only thought about the historical facts of Jesus. Maybe, at first, I only thought of God as the only spiritual figure and as soon as I started questioning whether He was real or not, it confirmed that Jesus was only a historical figure. Now that I am agnostic, I believe that there may be a God but that He is definitely not the same one from the bible and that he didn't have a son.

I feel that I don't have a relationship with Jesus because I don't see him as a spiritual figure. However, after all the stories I've heard about Him and all the information I learned, I think Jesus was a good man. He did so much for so many people and didn't even care if they thanked him or if they knew he was the one that helped them. He wished for those that wronged Him to find help or to see the errors of their ways. Jesus never wished hate or torture or pain on anyone ever. He died for everyone when He didn't have to. Everything He did and said were things that He never had to do or say but He chose to do them because he wanted to. Although I may not have a relationship with Jesus, from what I've learned He was a good person. The image above is an example of how Jesus wished for those that wronged him to be forgiven and not punished.

Works Cited

“Jesus Heals a Possessed Man.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/jesus-heals-a-possessed-man?lang=eng.

melwild.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/father_forgive_them.jpg.

The Shroud of Turin. docs.google.com/document/d/1f0koIKBYWzxMv75R-voJgZTY208b8URmZRfpQj9Uxr4/edit.

The Site of Calvary. docs.google.com/document/d/14b7vLAhtedC5XCI-MrmNlpf3bCUw6X2GP7mhbmcKywA/edit.


Joseph of Arimathea. docs.google.com/presentation/d/1e0l5sY8TJbGDBi7DVNmsmDYD6kvkfCM1qoCKmzjbCIo/edit#slide=id.p.

Reign of Herod and the Slaughter of the Innocents
docs.google.com/presentation/d/170vHGkkTOe3OMG4h2dLvxO-7cQFlpqih-FcYLWmwmpk/edit#slide=id.p.