Jesus' Life According To The Bible - Do The Details Matter?

The Bible is the book that we go to to read about the life of Jesus Christ here on earth. There are other books that speak about Jesus' life as well. Some of them add information that the Bible does not state about His life and others dispute and contradict what the Bible says. Some people believe the other books, some believe both the Bible and the other books, and others strictly believe the Bible.

It is fair to say that Jesus' life on earth is looked at with fascination. His life is discussed regularly and the question 'What would Jesus do?' has been asked by many both in the past and in the present.

I am sure that you may have heard some of the disputes concerning the life of Jesus. There is the dispute about Jesus being a single man. Some insist that He was married and even had children even though the Bible does not say that. There is the dispute about whether He was rich or poor, and there is the dispute about whether He resurrected or even died on Calvary.

In talking to someone this week, one of these disputable topics came up. In fact, it really was the first time I had had a conversation about this particular dispute. The conversation ended with the person telling me that the details about Jesus' life did not really matter anyway. All that matters is the truth of what He did to save us.

So I got to thinking.....do the details matter or not?

Some of the things we find out about Jesus through the reading of the Scripture are:

• He was born of a virgin
• He did not sin
• He had brothers and sisters
• He received gifts at His birth
• He was baptized by His cousin, John the Baptist
• He was born in Bethlehem
• He lived in Egypt
• He lived in Nazareth
• He had many disciples
• He healed the sick, raised the dead, and fed the hungry
• He knew the Scriptures and taught as one who had authority
• He rebuked the devil and refused to be tempted by him
• He cast out evil spirits
• He walked on water and calmed violent storms
• He paid His taxes
• He celebrated the festival of Passover
• He was loved by many
• He was hated by many
• He taught in parables
• He preached for three years of His adult life
• He was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, His disciple
• His death in detail
• He died, was buried, and rose again

Why were these things mentioned? And were they important? What does it matter where Jesus was born and who betrayed Him? Is it really important to know that He did not sin?

As usual, I searched the Bible for answers. I found them in the Old Testament.

The details of Jesus' life, who He was, where He was born, how He died, are all there as well. They are the prophesies that were made about the coming Messiah. Jesus fulfilled each one and every detail that is there in the Bible is there to prove that all prophesy concerning the Messiah was fulfilled by Him.

Consider a short list containing a few of the passages concerning the details of His life:

His virgin birth - Isaiah 7:14

His time living in Egypt - Hosea 11:1

Where He would be born - Micah 5:2

How He came to live in Egypt - Jeremiah 31:15

His baptism of the Holy Spirit - Isaiah 11:2

His teaching in parables - Psalm 78:2

The betrayal that would lead to His death - Zechariah 11

His forerunner, John the Baptist - Isaiah 40:3

The details of His death - Psalm 22

His resurrection - Psalm 49:15

It is my conclusion that the details of Jesus' life do matter. They were added to the Gospels so that the evidence of His Kingship would be there for all to see. However, other details of His life that were not mentioned in the Gospel and are not proven to be true, can and often do take away from the glory of God. Many of these details of Christ's life outside of the Bible completely contradict the prophecies concerning Him and so discredit who He is.Since as Christians, we need to know who Christ is in order to follow Him, the best place to know about Him is the Bible. Though outside stories and rumors may be enticing, they cannot be counted on as real details and can take away from the details that are true and testify of His holiness.

As said in the book, 'In His Steps' by Charles Sheldon, 'We must first know Jesus before we can imitate Him.'

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