page_title: Jesus
section_title: "The Holy Saviour"
hierarchical_section_title: Jesus / Christian beliefs about Jesus and his teaching / "The Holy Saviour"
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Georgskruzifixus, Köln, Museum Schnütgen (Inv.-Nr. A 9). English: Torso of the Saint Georg Crucifix, Cologne, Germany, Museum Schnütgen
context_page_description: Jesus of Nazareth, also known as Jesus Christ, was a Jewish teacher and reformer of religion who has become the main and central figure of Christianity. Christians follow the example of Jesus, accept his words to be true, and worship him as the Jewish messiah and incarnation of God. He is one of the most famous, most recognized, and most influential persons in the world's history.
  Most historians agree that he was a Jew from a place called Judea, in a town called Nazareth, in what is now Israel. They also agree that he was thought of as a teacher and a healer, and that he was baptized by John the Baptist. He was crucified in Jerusalem on the orders of Pontius Pilate, and Christians believe that he came back to life - "rose again" - three days later.
  Jesus taught mostly love and forgiveness for others, as well as being humble about one's religion. He talked many times about the kingdom of God, and told others, "The kingdom of God has come near." He said that one must be mild, like a child, and never boast. He taught that people who ignore God and other people do not deserve his blessing, but God would still forgive them if they repented.
context_section_description: In Judaism, from ancient times, people are seen as  sinful or bad. They need to be forgiven by God. They believed that there were two ways to get God's forgiveness, by prayer and by sacrifice. Prayer could be done anywhere, but sacrifices were done at the temple. A person would bring an animal, often a lamb, or if they were poor, a dove. They would put their hands on the animal to lay their sins on it. Then the animal would be killed, as a punishment for the sin. This type of sacrifice continued until the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 71 AD. Paying money to the temple was also a sort of sacrifice. When Jesus drove the traders out of the temple, they were the people who sold lambs and doves, and the people who exchanged Roman money into special temple money. 
  Part of Christian belief is that Jesus Christ did not just come as a human person so that he could teach a better way of life. Christians also believe that Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for the sin of humankind, that Jesus is the "Saviour": the one who is here to save. Christians believe that, unlike ordinary people, Jesus was completely pure and free from sin, but that when he died on the cross, he took on himself all the sins of every person who would believe in him, like the lamb sacrificed in the temple.
  Based on John's Gospel, Christian teaching is that the death and resurrection of Jesus are the sign of his power to forgive the sins of any person who turns to him and truly asks for forgiveness. The Bible says that sinners who are forgiven should try to live a new life and not go back to their sinful behaviour. Christians believe that knowing about God's love helps people to live a new and better life.
  These are three verses from the Bible that are important in this Christian belief:-
  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John's Gospel, 3:16.
  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John's Gospel, 14:6.
  "If we say we have no sins, we are fooling ourselves and not telling the truth. But if we tell our sins humbly to God, then He has promised to listen and to forgive our sins and make us clean from all our badness." from the First Letter of John.
caption: A broken statue of Jesus crucified, from Germany about 1000 AD.
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