Religion and Theology

There is no known historical portrait of Jesus as a work of art, no photograph, not even a physical description, although from about the 6th century onwards religious artists were working from a common source, as stated on the web page  Physical descriptions of Jesus, although this page does contain some  non-Christian  sources, which perhaps makes them objective,  such as the letter of Publius Lentellus and that of Pontius Pilate to the Emperor Tiberius but nevertheless much can be learnt about this very special person, the things he did and what he said and thought.
Physically, the Jews of Galilee tended to be taller and fairer than those from Judea in the south, mainly due probably to intermarriage over many years. The Jewish Encyclopedia article by Emil Hirsch describes how as early as Old Testament times the population of this region became greatly mixed and this tendency was increased after the fall of the Ephraimitic kingdom. Though, it must be remembered in earthly terms that Jesus was actually descended from a southern family as stated by Luke ( 2 v 4)-
 Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to
 Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.
    He was born during the final years of the reign of Herod the Great who died in 4 B.C.E.( Matthew 2 v 1 and 2 v 19.) and died by crucifixion when he was approximately 33 years old ( Luke 23 v 44-49).  Luke gives Jesus an age of about 30 when he began his ministry and by adding up all the various festivals mentioned in the gospels, beginning with the Passover in John 2 v 13 and concluding with a 4th and final Passover recorded in John 19 v 14, an age of about 33 or 34 seems to be correct. He was preceded by his cousin John the Baptist who was likened by the people to Elijah, the Old Testament prophet.
Despite being a descendent of King David, he came from working stock Joseph was a carpenter (Matthew 13 v 55), but the word used is tekton which means rather more  he was a builder of houses and the word is used to describe those who worked in both wood and stone, according to Marcello Craveri in his 1967 work, The life of Jesus ( page 6). Although there is no direct evidence that Jesus was himself a carpenter, it can be inferred from the fact that the custom of the time was for a man to pass on his skills to his sons. Jesus certainly uses building analogies to prove his points when he talks about a house requiring firm foundations ( Matthew 7 v 24-27).
    Although the modern day New Testament has of course a lot to say about Jesus, especially in the descriptions of his ministry recorded by the four evangelists, there are some problems with this and on occasions the chronology varies, this being a relatively minor matter. Although the canon of the New Testament was finally fixed to include or exclude various books, the works that were finally contained are not the only sources that mention Jesus. However, when the canon was finally fixed it was because the books included were considered by the church to be the most helpful and also the most authentic. So, books such as the Gospel of Thomas are not therefore generally considered to have the authority of the gospel records. It does at times however confirm that record, for example in v 20 there is a parable  which is also recorded  in the gospels as it is mentioned by Matthew, Mark and Luke  in the I Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, mentioned by Bernard Scott in Hear then the parables( 1986, page 342). I Clement 24 v5 includes an obvious allusion to the parable of the sower. (Matthew 13)
The Bible tells us that Jesus was a charismatic man who had close followers such as Peter and his brother (Matthew 4 v 18,19) He also attracted large crowds who would follow him for long distances  - (Matthew 4 v 25). He had an itinerant ministry with no permanent residence as he himself describes in Luke 9 v 58 The birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.
Jesus message was principally concerned with the coming kingdom of God, a spiritual rather than an earthly kingdom,  as noted by E.P.Sanders ( Chapter 11, The Historical Figure of Jesus 1993). He was however much more than an orator, but was also credited with performing many miracles as in Luke 18 v 35-43 where a blind man is given his sight. 
    If this well loved man went about doing so much good why was he crucified His enemies stated that he claimed to be king of the Jews, although Jesus himself stated that his kingdom was not of this world (John 18 v 36). They could not accept him as a prophet because they believed him to be a Galilean ( John 7 v 53, a passage not included in the earliest copies of the Gospel). In John 7 v 40, however, the crowd proclaims that he is even more than a prophet, but the actual Messiah.
    Finally, the Jewish leaders had had enough. They feared Roman retaliation if Jesus, as they thought he might, would began a rebellion. Despite the pleas of the Sanhedrin Pilate who found no fault in him (John 19 v 6 ) yet, because of the strength of the crowd, he handed him over to be crucified. Those are the bare historical facts, but Christians would claim there is much more to it than that, not least the resurrection three days later.
    There are a number of theories as to why Jesus had to die in order to fulfill his purpose. The early Christian hymn quoted by Paul in Philippians 2 v 8 simply records it as an act of obedience to God. It was something he could perhaps have avoided by staying in the north. In Luke 13 v 31 he was warned that Herod (Antipas ) wanted to kill him. In Mark 10 v32-34 Jesus predicts his own death in details, yet he still set off for Jerusalem. Irenaeus in about 180 C.E. stresses victory over evil and the obedience that God requires, and in order to exhibit such obedience, Christ had to live His life through all its stages, not excluding death itself according to the Atonement History web page. Clement says that Christ endured it all on account of us and that His sufferings should bring us to repentance. Anselm in Cur Deus Homo (Chapter 6) related it to ideas of honor payments with which he was familiar. Abelard in the 12th century stressed his example, a theory known as the moral one. Luther, according to George Carey, (page 330) veered towards the idea of Jesus paying a ransom to the devil, a once and for all payment and sacrifice for sin.  The commonest atonement idea is that in some mystical way the death of Jesus was necessary in order to restore Gods relationship with his creation as described by George Carey, page 328 in his work A New Creation. Paul, in Romans 3 v 24,25 points to his seeing it as an act of redemption, a payment for freedom, as when a slave is freed, a payment necessary because God is a God of justice.
One of the most important things about Jesus was the influence he had and continues to have on others. Many would agree that this was no ordinary man, even if they 
would hesitate to claim, as Christians do,  that he was the Son of God  or that he was the Messiah long predicted, as in Malachi 3 v 1
I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will appear in his temple.
    Men, such as Peter and Paul, were transformed  Peter from being so terrified that he denied even knowing  his Lord (John 18 v 15-17) , yet only weeks later he is willing to stand in front of a huge crowd, right in the center of Jerusalem (Acts 2 v 14 ) and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. He has become known down the ages as the Rock upon which Christ built his church. Paul had been a persecutor of the church as described in Acts 9, but on having a vision of the risen Christ he was transformed into the Apostle to the Gentiles.
    We can read descriptions by his contemporaries as (John 1 v 29) when John the Baptist points out his cousin as The Lamb of God, an image the Jews would have been familiar with, as the Messiah is described as a sheep led to the slaughter in Isaiah.( Isaiah 53 v 7). In Revelation 15 v 3, John points to Jesus as not just being  a good man who lived long ago, but as King of the Ages. The writer to the Hebrews calls him The Great High Priest i.e. not only the one who makes sacrifices on behalf of the people, but also the one who has closest access to God the Father.
    Finally, how did Jesus describe himself In John 6 v35 he says he is The bread of life i.e. the means of life being sustained in the world.  In John 15 v 1, he describes himself as The True Vine i.e. the source of all spiritual fruit. In John 8 v 12 he says
     I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,
 but will have the light of life.
    This was a light that not only showed men what God was like, as he told the Pharisees when he said If you knew me you would know the Father (John  8 v 19) but also shone into dark corners revealing sin wherever it lay.
    Christians believe, as for example the evangelist Saint John, that the gospels were written
    That you may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that by believing 
you may have life in his name.( John 20 v 31, N.I.V.)