Jesus Christ | Full Documentary | Biography

two thousand years after the birth  of jesus his story as told through   the gospels remains a source of inspiration  and faith to more than a billion people yet   outside of what the gospels tell us we know very  little of jesus the man we know he was a preacher   and a spellbinding one hailed as a faith healer we  also know as historical fact that he was arrested   tried and executed for his beliefs  but beyond that the life of jesus is   something of a mystery was he as  some say a revolutionary a radical   or a prophet join us now for what may be some new  insights as biography presents the life of jesus it has been some two thousand years since jesus  of nazareth was born into this world but the life   that began so long ago touches us even to this  day many of jesus's teachings still dominate   the western world and people everywhere even  non-believers have been influenced by his moral   and spiritual genius the story of jesus is told in  the four gospels of matthew mark luke and john for   virtually everything known about him is written  generations of scholars have devoted their lives   to the gospels trying to understand why these four  ancient books so often differ from one another   this is the story of his life as it can be  reconstructed today it is history it is tradition   it is faith all three interweave to  tell the extraordinary story of jesus in those days a decree went out from caesar  augustus that all the world should be counted and joseph went from galilee from the  city of nazareth to judea to the city   of david which is called bethlehem with  mary his betrothed who was with child and she gave birth to her first born  son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes   and laid him in a manger because there was no  room for them at the end the gospel of luke a newborn child nestles peacefully  among the animals in a manger   an angel guides wandering shepherds to  his crib wise men from the east follow a   star to present the babe with precious  gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh so begins the life of jesus of nazareth as  christian tradition tells it but the beloved   and majestic story of christmas may contain  as much sacred drama as historical reality we have no eyewitness accounts for  any of the events in the gospels   the gospels themselves don't claim to be written  by matthew mark luke and john to the contrary   these four books are anonymous whoever wrote them  didn't identify themselves the tradition that they   were written by these people emerged only decades  after they were actually written by christians   probably in the second or third generation  after jesus near the end of the first century   you have a at least a 40 year gap between the  life of jesus and between the writing down of the   gospels and the gospel writers did not write in  order to accurately record exactly what jesus did   to record exactly what the economy was like to  record exactly what society was like the reason   they wrote was to convert people to their  new faith to convert people to christianity   long before jesus was born the hebrew prophet  micah predicted that the messiah savior of   the jewish people would be born in bethlehem  only two of the gospels matthew and luke say   jesus was born there the other two mark  and john do not mention his birthplace   historians believe that jesus was probably born in  nazareth sometime between the years six and four   before the common era and that his parents were  in fact named joseph and mary joseph and mary   named their son yeshua a common hebrew name in  ancient times in english it means he who helps   the gospels which were written in greek turned  yeshua into jesus as the gospels tell us   yeshua was joseph and mary's firstborn  child he was certainly not their only child   most of the gospels mention jesus  and his brothers and even sisters   paul mentions jesus and his brothers so  there's really no doubt that he had brothers   how many brothers is up for grabs at least two  or three and probably a few sisters so he comes   from um for that time period a medium-sized jewish  family where you would have five or six siblings according to the gospels jesus had four  brothers named james joseph simon and judas   as well as sisters whose names have been lost after jesus's death one of his brothers james  would become a leader of the christian movement   and also suffer death as jesus james and  their brothers and sisters grew up together   none of them could have predicted the dramatic  days that lay ahead there's nothing mysterious   about jesus growing up he grew up like every  other jewish boy he grew up first with the   women then with the men he went to school he  learned to trade we are told that his father   was a carpenter we're told in one place that he  himself was a carpenter we assumed therefore he   was an artisan and therefore lived somewhere in  the in the what we might call the middle class two thousand years ago middle  class was not what it is today   in jesus time there were very few wealthy  families and a huge number of poor ones   middle-class families were simply  not quite as poor as others they lived in often one or two room what we would  call hubble's clean but nevertheless quite small   they walked everywhere they essentially had  one suit of clothes they lived a substance   subsistence existence one famine could cost  the lives of many people in any village   like most people in the ancient world jesus  probably spent his entire childhood where he   was born in nazareth almost nothing is known about  his first 25 years the gospels are mostly silent how jesus grew up as a child where he went  to school what his teenage years were like   these would be things that we might be interested  in but they were things that the ancients cared   nothing at all about the gospel of luke  does tell one famous story about jesus   as a precocious 12 year old when he accompanied  his parents to jerusalem to celebrate passover   and they found him in the temple sitting among  the teachers listening to them and asking them   questions and all who heard him were amazed at  his understanding and answers and he said to them   how is it that you sought me did you not know that  i must be in my father's house the gospel of luke   jesus life simply wasn't important to people  until he began proclaiming that the kingdom   of god was at hand after they were interested in  him then they went back and created some stories   about his earlier life and luke's story  of jesus in the temple is a tale like that the gospel's lack of information about jesus  childhood has led to endless speculations   about his so-called lost years that period between  ages 12 and 26 not described in any of the gospels   some believe that during the lost years   jesus journeyed throughout the world  acquiring extraordinary spiritual powers some people believe that he went to northern  india where he studied with buddhist monks   in the himalayas others say he traveled to  celtic england and lived with the druids   still others believe he meditated in a  monastery in japan most biblical scholars   are convinced that these stories of the lost  years are products of popular imagination is it possible that jesus of nazareth could  have gone to northern india well sure people   have been going back and forth across that area  ever since alexander the great you know you just   didn't do it on the weekend but it could be  done right so it's possible is it plausible   or is it even necessary that jesus should go to  cashmere absolutely not everything that we find   in the jesus tradition we can understand as as  coming out of the deep roots of the judaism in   which she grew up so as a historian would have  to say sure he could have done it but we don't   want we don't have any reason to say that he went  and learned his non-violence from the buddhists   but even if jesus did not wander the earth  his life story has artistic creations from   around the world show that over the centuries the  life of jesus has touched the hearts of people everywhere the lost years of jesus are aptly named  because we know nothing about them we   can only surmise what his life would have  been like during those years and based on   our reconstructions of galilee we can see that he  would have probably apprenticed with his family   he would have learned a skill the gospels refer  to jesus as a tech tone which we erroneously   i think render carpenter should be called  stone cutter or mason or construction worker   he was probably someone who worked with stone  which was ubiquitous throughout lower galilee galilee its rugged hills its rocky fields  and its great lake called the sea of galilee   would shape the young stone workers life and soul  and perhaps inspire him on his extraordinary path   two thousand years ago galilee was not the simple  land of shepherds imagined in biblical tradition   galilee was a complex dynamic turbulent region  a place where rural conservative jews found   themselves literally face to face with the  vibrant pagan cultures of greece and rome   the mighty roman empire had swallowed up the near  east a few decades earlier and had placed herod   antipas son of the infamous king herod the great  in charge of the galilee although herod was jewish   he ruled only with the consent of rome  herod antipas knew how to keep his imperial   masters happy he stifled every hint of public  discontent and collected a heavy burden of taxes   the roman presence it was a firm hand  if you didn't pay your taxes or if you   started a rebellion it would crush you without  mercy but if you did those two basic things   pay your taxes and not talk about rebellion  almost anything else was acceptable to them   some jews did talk about rebellion  and formed guerrilla units called   zealots to harass the romans others fearful of  roman power tried to get by as best they could   most were humiliated by the submission of their  proud ancient nation to foreign pagan masters these currents of discontent and frustration  swirled about galilee as jesus of nazareth grew up perhaps he also witnessed the mighty works of the  charismatic healers and prophets who frequented   the galilean hills our image today of galilee  is a area of strong jewish piety and a lot of   emphasis on what we might call the holy person  in other traditions the shaman the the person who   has a unique experience of god and then has both  acts and words of power that derive from that that   seems relatively common in  galilean way of being jewish   from nazareth the young jesus could also see the  great city of sephiros only an hour's walk away   sepharus was herod antipas's capital a splendid  city of 20 000 people many of them greek and   roman pagans it boasted a theater and a racetrack  called a hippodrome caravans brought goods from   around the empire to trade in its bazaars for the  young jesus sepharus may have been a window on the   great world which lay beyond his tiny village the  city of cepherus was destroyed in the early part   of the first century and then rebuilt and there  was a massive building program conducted during   probably jesus early teenage early adult years now  it's eat with an easy walking distance of nazareth   and a number of people have speculated that  in his younger years jesus would have gone   with joseph to participate in the building  program i mean you had greeks who came for   architecture romans who came for engineering you  had artists from all over asia minor who came   so it's quite possible that in his early  years jesus had a very cosmopolitan experience   perhaps these two very different galilees the  one of warrior zealots and wandering holy men the   other of pagan artisans and roman imperial power  combined to produce his extraordinary personality   and his passionate conviction that all  people should live in peace with one another   all that is known is that sometime in early  adulthood the galilean stoneworker jesus of   nazareth had a tremendous religious  experience which changed his life   and propelled him toward his incredible destiny   presiding over that experience was a brooding  mysterious figure called john the baptist sometime around the year 26 of the common era  when he was about 30 years old jesus of nazareth   left his native village and traveled  south to the desert lands of judea   when jesus next saw galilee he would  no longer be a village stone worker   he would be a wandering prophet who healed the  sick and preached a powerful radical message   as jesus traveled toward judea he was not yet  the charismatic teacher he was soon to become   he had gone in search of the most famous  and controversial holy man in all of israel in those days came john the baptist preaching in  the wilderness of judea repent for the kingdom   of heaven is at hand now john wore a garment of  camel's hair and a leather girdle about his waist   and his food was locusts and wild honey then  there went out to him jerusalem and all judea   and they were baptized by him in the river jordan  confessing their sins the gospel of matthew john baptizer is a person who believes that the  end of the world is end of the social world at   least is coming very soon he cannot imagine how  human beings on their own could dig out of the   deep trough of evil in which they are presently  mired and so he says it's coming soon but those   of you who want to get ready can burdened by roman  taxes and ruled by roman soldiers despairing jews   of jesus time hoped for a new king to restore  their once proud nation they called their savior   the messiah god's anointed one sanctified with  holy oil like the mighty kings of israel's past   some may have called the messiah by  his greek name christos or the christ   no one agreed on who he was human divine or  both a certain amount of jews expected no   messiah whatever others might have expected  a heavenly figure to come down from heaven   others thought in terms of a new king  like david a much more earthly figure   some expected a renewed life in this world others  thought perhaps more in terms of heavenly world to the romans and their puppet king herod any  dream of god's new kingdom and its royal messiah   sounded dangerously rebellious john the  baptist made things even more volatile   by announcing that the kingdom and the christ  were about to appear on earth as all men   were an expectation whether perhaps he were the  christ john answered them all i baptize you with   water for repentance but he who is coming  after me is mightier than i whose sandals i   am not fit to carry and he will baptize you with  the holy spirit and with fire the gospel of luke into this religious and political tinderbox  came the 30 year old jesus of nazareth somewhere on the banks of the jordan river  he encountered john and became his disciple when we start as historians  to try to isolate those   facts which are really indisputable out  of the life of the historical jesus one   of the ones that is right there at the  beginning is jesus relationship to john   in this sense that the christian sources report  that jesus goes to john to be baptized now if   the christians have been making that up that  of course would have been the other way around   that they would have had john coming to jesus but  jesus goes to john and as we try to reconstruct   it it seems quite clear that for some space  of time jesus is really in john's entourage john baptized jesus as he baptized all his  followers but jesus baptism was like no other   and when he had come out of the water  immediately he saw the heavens opened   and the spirit descending upon him like a dove and  a voice came from heaven thou art my beloved son   with whom i am well pleased the gospel  of mark it is not known whether anyone   else saw the heavenly vision but for jesus the  baptism by john was a life-changing epiphany   when the young galilean first discovered what  he considered his special relationship with god   jesus is getting baptized for the same  reasons that other people are getting baptized   which many historians would argue then jesus has  had some feeling of repentance jesus has been   moved by john's ministry and has been baptized  for the repentance of sins and has some kind   of transforming experience that then leads him to  inaugurate his own public ministry in part modeled   and fashioned after the ministry of john the  baptist before jesus could begin his mission he   had to reconcile his own fragile humanity with the  immense power he believed bestowed upon him by god he had to leave humanity  and wander in the wilderness   there to face the perils of the desert  and confront the temptations of the soul   the wilderness of judea a waterless  desert virtually empty of life   around the year 27 when he was about the age of 30   jesus of nazareth abandoned humanity and  wandered through this desolate land brooding   on the powerful vision which had just transformed  his life a vision which had proclaimed him to be   the beloved son of god the gospels tell us that  jesus did not go to the wilderness by choice that   he was propelled into the desert by the spirit  of god which held him in its irresistible grip   the spirit immediately drove him into the  wilderness and he was in the wilderness 40   days and he was with the wild beasts and the  angels ministered to him the gospel of mark the wilderness is in jewish tradition a  very uh auspicious place to meet god and   this goes back to the stories of moses who  meets god in the wilderness of mount sinai   and then the wanderings in the wilderness and many  prophets withdraw into the wilderness to meet god   these were people who would go out into the  wilderness and they would fast and they would   have visions and they would come back and  tell people what god had what god intended   probably the closest analogy today would  be to look at what happens in something   like native american religions or in  african religions where you have this   kind of holy figure who has special access  to god who then shares this with the people god would not be the only power jesus would  encounter in the desert lurking in its emptiness   was the great demon of worldly greed and weakness  who could challenge his faith and shake his soul   before he could return to humanity and preach  the word of god jesus had to conquer temptation and he fasted 40 days and 40 nights and afterwards  he was hungry and the tempter came and said unto   him if you are the son of god command these stones  to become loaves of bread but he answered it is   written man shall not live by bread alone but  every word that proceeds from the mouth of god   the gospel of matthew the temptation of jesus is  often misinterpreted as if jesus is being tempted   by sin the greek word means really that the  testing of jesus just as we test a medal to see   if it's solid or to see if it's uh genuine jesus  is being tested the devil took him to a very high   mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the  world and the glory of them and he said to him all   these i will give you if you will fall down and  worship me then jesus said to him be gone satan   for it is written you shall worship the lord your  god and him only shall you serve the gospel of he luke to start making choices and he sets  the course of his life that he's going to set   himself against the devil against the works of  the devil against the deceptions of the devil   and we see that worked out in many ways in his  teaching in his miracles and his exorcisms all the   way through his life it seems that his his mental  world was one not only of the human sphere but of   of unseen forces that ruled the cosmos that  there was a real battle going on and he was   a major player emerging from the wilderness at  the end of 40 days victorious in his combat with   temptation jesus was ready to part company  with john the baptist and proclaim his own   unique vision of the kingdom of god but as  he re-entered society he heard some shocking   frightening news herod antipas had arrested  john the baptist whose unassailable virtue   and spreading popularity had made him too  threatening to be ignored for jesus john's   arrest was an ominous warning of what befell  radical prophets in the domains of herod and rome   the gospels say that when he heard of john's  arrest jesus left judea immediately and returned   to galilee leaving the unfamiliar dangerous  territory of the south for family friends and home   as he began his mission back in galilee jesus was  to learn some painful lessons and discover that   his transforming experience of god had made him an  outcast from many who once had been his neighbors no one knows precisely when jesus of nazareth  returned to galilee it may have been in the   summer of the year 27 whenever it was that  he returned from judea jesus must have seen   his homeland with new eyes he had left galilee a  peasant craftsman who like so many others earned   his living by the skill of his hands he returned  as a visionary with an urgent spiritual mission   a mission made all the more pressing  by the arrest of john the baptist now after john was arrested jesus came  into galilee preaching the gospel of god   and saying the time is fulfilled and  the kingdom of god is at hand repent   and believe in the gospel the gospel of mark elsewhere around the world other spiritual  movements were developing as jesus preached   his message in the galilee a follower  of buddha the indian emperor ashoka was   building the great shrine of sanchi soon to  be visited by thousands of devout pilgrims in britain celtic priests called druids were  teaching that the human soul was immortal   reborn at death in the body of a newborn child   in mexico the people of teotihuacan were  constructing massive pyramids dedicated to the sun   and the moon the largest buildings in the americas  until europeans arrived some 1500 years later   and to the north the hopewell indians were piling  up sacred burial mounds shaped like huge serpents   which can still be seen in what is now southern  ohio jesus lost no time in beginning his new   life's work as an itinerant inspired prophet and  teacher following the ancient jewish tradition of   moses isaiah and john the baptist but having grown  up near the multicultural cities of galilee jesus   may have encountered some pagan traditions as  well in the broader greco-roman world we also have   other philosophers who are wandering around trying  to convince people to adopt new ways of life   jesus has probably seen these people  come through some of these cities   so that it's not an unheard of way of life  it's just very unusual and very threatening   it soon became painfully clear how threatening  the new jesus was to those who remembered the   old one when he returned to nazareth he  proclaimed his mission in the synagogue   he had attended as a child yet his reunion  with nazareth would prove to be a disaster and on the sabbath he began to teach in the  synagogue and many that heard him were astonished   saying where did this man get all this what is the  wisdom given to him what mighty works are brought   by his hands is not this the carpenter the son of  mary and the brother of james and joseph and judas   and simon and are not his sisters here with us  and they took offense at him the gospel of mark   the gospel of luke relates that jesus's fellow  nazarenes actually dragged him from the synagogue   to a nearby cliff intending to throw him  over it jesus managed to escape from them before he left nazareth he  told his jeering neighbors   a prophet is not without honor except  in his own country and in his own house as far as we know jesus never returned to nazareth   his own community had rejected him it would  be from among strangers that he would build   a new community a community of disciples  bound together by its faith in him as he walked by the sea of galilee he saw two  brothers simon who is called peter and andrew his   brother casting their gnat into the sea for there  were fishermen and he said to them follow me and i   will make you fishers of men immediately they left  their nets and followed him the gospel of matthew   the disciples are in some way unusual because  what was typical in first century palestine   was for a disciple as it were to seek  out a teacher to seek out a rabbi   but we don't really have a lot of evidence of  maverick rabbis going around and collecting   groups of disciples so in that  respect jesus is rather unusual i think unlike some of the uh you know films  about jesus where you almost get the sense that   jesus is calling what i like to say zombie  disciples he says follow me and they get   up and they you know follow him i think  one has to presume that jesus has prior   relationships with these folks that he knows  these folks that he's had contact with them   with his first disciples jesus walked  along the seashore to the town of capernaum   where he entered the local synagogue  and addressed the people gathered there this time he was an instant success the  synagogue crowd felt his passionate conviction   and marveled at his extraordinary power over evil there was in the synagogue a man with an unclean  spirit but jesus rebuked him saying be silent and   come out of him and the unclean spirit convulsing  him and crying with a loud voice came out of him   the gospel of mark by evening a huge crowd of  the sick and demon-possessed had gathered before   the house in capernaum where jesus was staying  everyone in town was there watching to see if   the new holy man would perform another miracle  the gospels say that jesus did perform miracles   that night that he healed the crowds of the sick  and cast out demons from all who were possessed as the sun rose the next morning he left  the crowds and went into the hills to pray   and to be alone from now until the last  day of his life he would never be alone   from now on jesus of nazareth would pursue  a mission that would change the world   and cost him his life no one knows how old jesus  of nazareth was when he began his mission the   gospel of luke says he was 30. the gospel of john  implies that he was older nor do we know exactly   how long his mission lasted it may have been as  brief as a few months or as long as four years   from galilee he traveled with his disciples as far  north as the phoenician cities of tyr and sidon   and the syrian town of caesarea philippi  east into the territory of the decapolis   to the cities of gadara and garasa  south to jericho and finally jerusalem wherever he went his reputation grew  his fame spread throughout all syria   and they brought him all the sick and he healed  them and great crowds followed him from galilee   and the decapolis and jerusalem and judea and  from beyond the jordan the gospel of matthew what drew so many different kinds of people to  follow jesus most came at first to witness his   power the spiritual power which healed the  sick cast out demons and performed miracles   the changing of water into wine the feeding  of multitudes with a few loaves and fishes   walking on water and raising the dead these miracles are central to christian  belief in the divinity of jesus   they are also the most  controversial episodes of his life to modern believers the miracles of jesus  remain indisputable and crucial events   to modern skeptics they are merely  later inventions of popular imagination   but scholars believe that whatever happened   jesus's followers were genuinely  convinced that he had supernatural power i don't think there can be any  question that jesus did acts of power   that impressed his contemporaries we think of  the world as uh operating by natural law and   so a miracle would have to be sometime that  that god or some divine power stepped in and   changed the laws as it were so that so that  things didn't work the way they should work the ancients didn't have a concept of natural  law like that god did everything god made the   sun come up in the morning god made it rain  uh or made it not rain and so those things   were controlled by prayer and divine forces  everything was and so a miracle wasn't a   violation of the laws of nature it was simply  god doing something special at a unique time when people were healed people noticed   that and they were impressed and they  thought of jesus as a person of power   while reports of healings and miracles attracted  followers it was jesus's teachings that   compelled them to stay they were teachings  deeply rooted in jewish moral traditions   like john the baptist and earlier prophets   jesus preached compassion for others and concern  for the poor and loving one's neighbor as oneself but jesus went much further than earlier  prophets and jewish scripture he proclaimed   a new vision of life a new way of being  which offered love even to those who hate you have heard that it was said an eye for an  eye and a tooth for a tooth but i say to you   do not resist one who is evil but if  anyone strikes you on the right cheek   turn to him the other also and if anyone would  sue you and take your coat give him your cloak   as well and if anyone forces you to go one mile  go with him two miles the gospel of matthew jesus broke jewish dietary laws he ate with  gentiles tax collectors and other disreputable   persons his famous story of the good samaritan who  comes to the aid of a jew when other jews will not   must have shocked his followers who had been  taught from birth that their samaritan neighbors   were inferior and in the patriarchal culture  of ancient israel his acceptance of women   into his movement was positively scandalous  these women ranged from all social strata   our image is that jesus attracted all these  prostitutes but that's not accurate there were   prostitutes attracted to jesus there were ordinary  uh people housewives as it were wealthy women   including uh one woman who is the wife of herod's  steward that is herod's bookkeeper as it were   his wife becomes one of jesus followers  and he said to him to support him   jesus's most famous female follower was  mary magdalene the gospels portray her   as a sufferer possessed by seven evil demons  jesus exercises all seven and mary magdalene   becomes his devoted disciple the gospels do  not say that mary magdalene was a prostitute   as later tradition claimed but in jesus time any  woman who left home to follow even a holy man   risked a bad reputation some of them actually  travel with jesus which is a shocking thing   to do women are supposed to protect the family  honor not to be with other men and certainly not   to leave home without your husband or some male  guardian going with you so these are all kinds   of counter cultural shocking anti-family kinds  of things that we see jesus doing with women   the scribes and the pharisees brought  a woman who had been caught in adultery   and they said to him in the law moses commanded  us to stone such a woman what do you say   jesus said to them let him who is without sin  among you be the first to cast the first stone   but they went away one by one and jesus was  left alone with a woman standing before him   jesus said to her has no one condemned you   she said no one lord and jesus said neither do i  condemn you go and sin no more the gospel of john at the heart of his preaching  was a powerful radical idea   that however they may judge one another  all people were equal in the eyes of god the vision of god which jesus has is one of what  can best be described as radical egalitarianism   a refusal to draw discriminations and  hierarchies and lines of demarcation separating   this one from that one lower from higher pure  from impure male from female slave from fee   from free pagan from jew it's  a refusal to accept the basic   distinctions which most people in his  society accept he who loves father or mother   more than me is not worthy of me and he who loves  son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me   and he who loses his life for my sake  will find it the gospel of matthew his road was hard and the burden of his vision  was often lonely the gospels tell of his angry   impatience when his disciples fail to understand  his teachings in one story his family fears for   his sanity and attempts to take him home jesus  refuses to speak to them and they said to him your   mother and your brothers are outside asking for  you and he replied who are my mother and brothers   and looking around on those who sat about  him he said here are my mother and brothers   whoever does the will of god is my brother  and sister and mother the gospel of mark jesus seems to have been willing to  leave his family this is a this is a very   uh radical immoral thing to do in jesus  time because the son had responsibilities   to the father and the mother and the  family especially if he's an older son   but jesus is willing to abandon all of that in  order to do what he thinks god is calling him   to do i think this notion of a kind of meek and  mild jesus who always talks in a soft voice and   i think that has very little ground in reality  i think you have to see him as somebody who is   simply possessed by this zeal possessed by the  spirit in this sense of mission and purpose   otherwise i don't think he would have established  the following that he did nor caused the trouble   that he caused i think that  the core of jesus as a preacher   minister as it were is that he is  trying to call people to a different   kind of understanding of god a different  relationship with god and with one another   and that in particular he's reacting against the  purity system of the day he's reacting against   in some degree the role of the temple that  it played in judaism in the first century   jesus was beginning to make powerful enemies  among the pharisees interpreters of jewish law   they believed the path to righteousness  lay in the strictest possible observance   of judaism which governed every aspect of life but in the name of compassion  jesus interpreted the law   as he saw fit whether the pharisees agreed or not he entered the synagogue and a man  was there who had a withered hand   and they watched him to see whether he would  try to heal on the sabbath and he looked at   them with anger grieved at their hardness of  heart and said to the man stretch out your hand   he stretched it out and his hand was restored  the pharisees went out and immediately held   counsel with the herodians against him  how to destroy him the gospel of mark   now the pharisees would begin to harass jesus  trying to prove that he was a blasphemer   which would condemn him to death under jewish law  some would try to prove he was a revolutionary   which would cause the merciless fist of rome to  come down upon him jesus refused to take their bait and they came and said to him is it lawful  to pay taxes to caesar or not but knowing their   hypocrisy he said bring me a coin and let me  look at it and he said to them whose likeness and   inscription is this and they said to him caesars  jesus said unto them render unto caesar the things   that are caesar's and unto god the things that are  gods they were amazed at him the gospel of mark even as jesus confounded  his enemies and more people   joined his movement he knew that his  world was becoming a more dangerous place and then suddenly a dreadful murder led him to  make the most fateful decision of his career as jesus of nazareth was preaching and healing  throughout the galilee john the baptist was   languishing in king herod's desert fortress of  macarius east of the jordan river herod feared   john too much to set him free when herod saw  the crowds around john and saw his eloquence   he knew that whatever john asked them to  do they would do and rather than wait for   them to revolt he decided to get rid of  john right away before it was too late history has given us two  versions of john's execution   the gospels say that john died  to satisfy the anger of herodias   herod's wife who hated him because he had  declared her marriage to herod unlawful   when herod refused to kill john out of respect for  his holiness herodias resorted to a cruel trick she sent her daughter salome to dance before herod  and his friends pleased with salome's performance   herod swore an oath to give her whatever she  desired salome answered as her mother had told her   give me the head of john the baptist on a platter  herod was horrified but had to grant her request   john the baptist was beheaded and  his head was brought to salome so say the gospels but the ancient jewish  historian josephus tells a different story   according to his account herod  simply murdered john out of fear   that he would incite the people to  rebel against him and against rome the gospels say that john's  disciples buried his body   then hurried to galilee and  told jesus the dreadful news the first most traumatic moment in jesus's adult  life must have been the death of john the baptist   if you had accepted john's message which jesus  clearly had and god let john be killed god did   nothing and day after day after day after john's  death god still did nothing until some point   jesus knew that god was not going to do anything  and that therefore one sense john was wrong when jesus learned of john's murder he tried  to be alone the gospels tell us that he got   into a boat with his disciples and sailed  to a lonely place across the sea of galilee   yet he could not be alone great crowds followed  him bringing the sick to be healed and he did   not refuse them as he continued his mission  jesus must have been aware that he might be   the next to suffer imprisonment perhaps even death  according to the gospels news of jesus's powers   and popularity had already reached an anxious  king herod and his court some of herod's advisers   thought jesus might be the prophet elijah whose  return was long awaited by the jews herod was   convinced that jesus was none other than john the  baptist risen from the grave and returned to earth facing almost certain doom jesus  powerfully reaffirms his vision   and his mission and accepts his inevitable fate not long after john's murder comes a stunning revelation took with him peter and james and john  his brother and led them up a high mountain and   he was transfigured before them and his face  shone like the sun and his garments became   white as light and behold there appeared  to them moses and elijah talking with him and the voice said this is my beloved son with  whom i am well pleased listen to him when the   disciples heard this they fell on their faces  and were filled with all the gospel of matthew what it seems to be is clearly an epiphany a  revelation that jesus is really some kind of a   divine being and for a moment  he reveals who he really is   this for the ancients of course was perfectly  normal the gods could walk on earth zeus could   in a flash show himself to be zeus as opposed  to whatever form he happened to be taking   and as they were coming down the  mountain jesus commanded them   tell no one the vision until the son of man  is raised from the dead the gospel of matthew that jesus knew that he had a choice  before him that he could go to jerusalem   and die or he could turn away he was warned  he chooses to go to jerusalem he chooses to   provoke the authorities he would not  back down from his program from his   his teaching his preaching his  stand for what he felt was just for jesus the path was now clear he would  no longer keep to the high and lonely places   of galilee he would no longer wander among  the villages and small towns debating with   pharisees and avoiding the authorities who would  have silenced him jesus would carry his mission   to the heart of his faith and into the stronghold  of his enemies he would go to jerusalem   jerusalem holy city of the jews home of solomon's  great temple central sanctuary of the jewish faith in the days of jesus of nazareth  jews from all over the roman empire   made an annual pilgrimage to jerusalem to  celebrate the great festival of passover   which commemorated their ancient deliverance  from the tyrannical pharaoh of egypt sometime around the year 30 ce jesus of  nazareth came to jerusalem for passover   the gospels say he rode a donkey colt  into the city surrounded by cheering   crowds who lay clothing and tree  branches in his path to honor him   and those who went before him and those who  followed cried out blessed is he who comes   in the name of the lord blessed is the kingdom of  our father david that is coming the gospel of mark   and some of the pharisees in the multitude said  to him teacher rebuke your disciples he answered   i tell you if these were silent the very  stones would cry out the gospel of luke by entering jerusalem as the messiah jesus  placed himself in the gravest possible danger the passover feast was especially a tinderbox  situation because it had the crowds in one place   celebrating their deliverance by god from egyptian  oppression when here and now they were under roman   oppression it probably took very little to start a  riot in such a situation some people believe that   he when he went there he expected to encounter  a final battle and god would rescue him and   bring the kingdom of god other people uh thought  he was going there in order to die sort of a   death wish a martyr wish i suspect jesus went back  and forth between jerusalem and galilee several   times and that in this climactic time he went  like he did it every other time to participate   in the festival and to make whatever impact he  could on the people that come to the festival   but at this time the machinery of destruction  is at work and he winds up being killed   he is quite consciously making something of  his entrance in jerusalem perhaps sensing   that this is the last time that he is quite  consciously seeking a final confrontation   with the leaders in the spiritual capital  either accept me or reject me this is it boys once in jerusalem jesus lost no time antagonizing  those in power not content with his provocative   entry into the city he immediately attacked the  very center of religious authority the temple   and he entered the temple and began to drive out  those who sold and those who bought in the temple   and he overturned the tables of the money changers  and the seats of those who sold pigeons he said   to them is it not written my house shall be  called a house of prayer for all the nations   but you have made it a den  of robbers the gospel of mark the way the temple worked is that people would  bring sacrificial animals to the priests and the   priests would sacrifice them and so there were  people selling animals now the question is why   does he overthrow these tables and uh with the  money changers tables and drive out those who   are selling animals it's possible that when jesus  went into the temple he wanted to enact a parable   by overthrowing tables and by causing a ruckus  he is symbolizing the future destruction of the   temple when god acts in judgment for his  people i think that this is probably what   leads to jesus death because he is he's making a  proclamation against the temple and its leaders the temple leaders were the priestly class  called the sadducees whose members came from   jerusalem's wealthiest aristocratic families as  religious and civic leaders the sadducees worked   closely with the romans to ensure that passover  remained peaceful they were not sympathetic to   radical prophets from the hills of galilee  especially prophets who attacked the temple   it was now two days before the passover  and the feast of the unleavened bread   and the chief priests and the scribes were  seeking how to arrest him by stealth and   kill him for they said not during the feast lest  there be a tumult of the people the gospel of mark   the gospels say that after the incident in the  temple jesus spent his days preaching to the   multitudes in jerusalem at night he withdrew from  the city to the nearby mount of olives across from   the temple in the city walls to his followers he  spoke of a violent apocalypse which would soon   destroy the temple and all the nations of the  world after the apocalypse would come the last   judgment when the messiah would return to usher in  the kingdom of heaven on earth when the son of man   comes in his glory and all the angels with  him then he will sit on his glorious throne   then the king will say to those on his right hand  come o blessed of my father inherit the kingdom   prepared for you from the foundation of the world  and he will say to those on his left hand depart   from me you cursed into the eternal fire prepared  for the devil and his angels the gospel of matthew while jesus preached the glorious  justice of the heavenly kingdom to   come he already knew that betrayal  and suffering awaited him on earth then one of the twelve was called judas  iscariot went to the chief priests and   said what will you give me if i deliver him  to you and they paid him 30 pieces of silver   from that moment on he sought an opportunity  to betray him the gospel of matthew the opportunity could not wait  jerusalem was filling with people   the sadducees wanted jesus out of the  way before his teachings started a riot passover was friday as the sun set on thursday  jesus called his disciples together and he said   to them i have earnestly desired to eat  this passover with you before i suffer   and he took bread when he had given thanks he  broke it and gave it to them saying this is my   body which is given for you do this in remembrance  of me and likewise the cup after suffered saying   this cup which is poured out for you is the  new covenant in my blood the gospel of luke during this last supper with his disciples jesus  revealed the shocking news that one of the twelve   would betray him as the horrified disciples stared  at one another judas iscariot asked is it i lord   jesus replied you have said so jesus knew  his hour was at hand the gospels say that   after supper he brought the  disciples to the mount of olives   there he revealed another  troubling glimpse of the future then jesus said to them you will all fall away  because of me this night peter declared to him   though they all fall away because of you i will  never fall away jesus said to him truly i say to   you this very night before the [ __ ] crows you  will deny me three times the gospel of matthew   peter and the other disciples protested that they  would never abandon their teacher they could not   foresee what would happen that night jesus  led them on into a garden called gethsemane   and he said to them my soul is very sorrowful  even unto death remain here and watch   and going a little farther he  fell on the ground and prayed   father all things are possible for you  remove this cup from me the gospel of matthew three times jesus prayed to  god to spare him from the agony to come   three times he found the disciples  sleeping instead of keeping watch but as he began to scold them for  the third time he suddenly stopped and he said to them it is enough the hour has come   rise let us be going see my betrayer  is at hand the gospel of mark the disciples turned to see judas iscariot  approaching leading a crowd of armed men   judas walked up to jesus  and kissed him on the cheek   it was a signal to the men behind him immediately  they moved forward and laid hands on jesus   one of the disciples drew his  sword and cut off an attacker's ear   jesus stopped him against his abductors  he responded only with ironic words have you come out as against a robber  with swords and clubs to capture me   day after day i was with  you in the temple teaching   and you did not seize me but let the  scriptures be fulfilled the gospel of mark the prophet who had healed the sick walked  on water and raised the dead allowed himself   to be led away to almost certain death and as  he had foretold his disciples fled in terror under cover of darkness the men who arrest jesus  bring him down from the mount of olives and back   inside the walls of jerusalem they hurry him  through the narrow streets of the sleeping city   to the house of caiaphas high priest of the  temple where his enemies are waiting for him and they led jesus to the high priest and  all the elders and the scribes were assembled   now the chief priests and the whole council  sought testimony against jesus to put him to death but they found none for many  bore false witness against him   and their witness did not agree the gospel of mark   as he listened to the lies of false witnesses   jesus must have known that his interrogators would  find whatever evidence they needed to condemn him   his teachings and his actions were inspiring  too many followers making too many enemies   suddenly caiaphas asked jesus are you  the christ the messiah the son of god   the gospels disagree about what jesus replied  according to mark jesus proclaimed that   he was the messiah according to matthew  jesus told caiaphas you have said so   and in luke's account he answers  if i tell you you will not believe but the gospels agree that whatever jesus answered  it was the answer caiaphas was looking for then the high priest tore his robes and  said why do we still need witnesses you   have heard his blasphemy what is your  judgment they answered he deserves death   and they spat in his face and  struck him and some slapped him   saying prophesy you christ who is it  that struck you the gospel of matthew jesus is condemned for committing a  blasphemy but so far as we can tell   there was no blasphemy committed it was  not a blasphemy to say i am the messiah   that would be comparable to me saying  i'm the president of the united states   it might be ridiculous but it's not a punishable  offense we have other jewish people uh from a   a range of time periods who claimed to be the  messiah or who were thought to be the messiah   that was no blasphemy the messiah was to be the  great king and so it's somebody claiming to be the   king that's not a blasphemy the jewish leaders had  difficulties with jesus for reasons of their own   they found jesus probably to be offensive because  he's saying that god's going to judge them and   their temple they find him a threat in that if  he gets the crowds to follow him then they aren't   going to follow the jewish leaders and so they  decide that jesus must be taken out of the way having condemned jesus to death for claiming  to be the messiah the jewish leaders faced   another problem how to execute him only pontius  pilate the roman governor of judea had the power   to execute criminals but caiaphas and his  friends knew how to get pilots attention   they had worked out an arrangement with the  romans whereby they would administer the local   religious government under the romans so  that they had a responsibility to keep order   and a messiah someone claiming to be messiah would  upset that order a messiah by definition is the   the ultimate ruler of a people so you can't have a  successful messiah and roman rule at the same time   the romans apparently were not terribly   concerned about the the fine points of whether  the kingdom of god was a heavenly entity   or a worldly entity you said the word king you  think you're a king you're going to be crucified from the house of caiaphas the high  priest's men dragged jesus across   jerusalem to the residence of pontius pilate they tell pilate that jesus is  claiming to be the king of the jews   however as jesus stands before  pilate events take an unexpected turn   pilate asked him are you the king of the jews and  he answered him you have said so and pilate said   to the chief priests and the multitudes i find  no crime in this man behold nothing deserving   death has been done by him i will therefore  chastise him and release him the gospel of luke i do not presume any trial before caiaphas  or any dialogue in which pilate is discussing   with jesus nor of course that there was a crowd  outside shouting crucify him when pilate was   saying he's innocent i want to let him go that is  christian fiction writing the story years later the gospels say that pontius pilate offered  a choice to the crowd which gathered outside   his residence in honor of passover rome would  release one prisoner jesus of nazareth so-called   king of the jews or the murderer and guerrilla  fighter called barabbas the crowd roared its   answer they all cried out together released to  us barabbas pilate addressed them once more what   shall i do with jesus who is called christ they  all said let him be crucified the gospel of luke the idea of the crowd shouting down pilate   is quite inconceivable to me this reads to me  like christian propaganda it is the early sect the   jewish sect of christians saying to themselves  we think the enemy is the jewish authorities   and we think the roman authorities are better  to go with we will play to the roman authorities   some scholars believe that what actually  happened to jesus on the last night of his life   might have been very different from  the dramatic stories of the gospels   jesus's fate may have been decided in a  tragically brief and routine procedure i would presume that there were standing orders  for the soldiers and agreements between caiaphas   and pilate of what to do with anyone who causes  trouble at passover in the temple kaifas and   pilate would say don't ask silly questions you  know what to do with a peasant who causes trouble   you kill him you execute him do you have  to come back and ask us no it probably   goes up no higher up the chain of command  than a centurion or something like that then the soldiers of the governor  took jesus they stripped him   and put a scarlet robe upon him weaving  a crown of thorns they put it on his head kneeling before him they mocked him saying  hail king of the jews they spat upon him   and struck him on the head led him away  to crucify him the gospel of matthew one last time he was led through jerusalem  along the street which would later be called   the via dolorosa the way of sorrow  to a hill just outside the city walls the name of this hill struck fear into the  hearts of all in jerusalem its name was golgotha   the place of the skull it  was the hill of crucifixion jesus of nazareth probably  went to his death in the year   30. in that year he would  have been about 33 years old   when he entered jerusalem he was the charismatic  leader of a growing religious movement surrounded   by disciples and crowds of devoted followers but  as he advanced toward golgotha on that passover   day he was alone the disciples would have realized  that if they've been subscribing to this teaching   of jesus and they've arrested jesus that they  themselves are in danger they appear to have fled   we don't know exactly where they went the earliest  traditions say that they stayed in jerusalem and   went into hiding according to the bible only one  disciple peter followed jesus as he was taken away when people recognized him as a disciple  of jesus peter vehemently denied it the next morning peter remembered jesus's  prediction that he would deny him and   wept bitterly while peter wept judas iscariot returned to the  temple he flung down the 30 pieces of silver at   the feet of the priests who had paid him to  betray his teacher and filled with remorse   he hanged himself betrayed condemned and abandoned by his  followers jesus was nailed to a cross the most   horrible death ever devised in the ancient world the romans would take stakes and drive them  through the the wrist bone rather than through   the hands as in popular imagination through the  wrist bones so that uh when the person then was   hung on the cross it wouldn't rip out it would  be fixed to the cross they wouldn't be lifted far   up as is sometimes imagined but probably just  enough to get off off the ground and left   there is a spectacle to everybody to see the  death came by suffocation as the lungs would   elongate a person then in order  to breathe would have to pull up   or else push up on the stake through the feet or  else possibly sit on the ledge and a person could   hold on as long as his strength held out we have  cases of crucifixion lasting three or four days historians are convinced that whatever may  be legend in the gospels the crucifixion   was all too real by condemning jesus to this  humiliating horror the romans left no doubt   that the young teacher from galilee was  a dangerous threat to peace their peace   and over his head they put the charge against  him which read this is jesus the king of the jews   and those who passed by laughed at him saying if  you are the son of god come down from the cross   the gospel of matthew deserted by his  apostles none of the twelve were with him   at golgotha only mary magdalene and a few female  followers watched the crucifixion from a distance   while they grieved others laughed mocked jesus then jesus said father forgive  them for they know not what they do for jesus the end came mercifully soon  the gospels say that the crucifixion began   at the third hour about nine o'clock in the  morning by early afternoon jesus was nearing death and when the sixth hour had come there was  darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour   and at the ninth hour jesus  cried with a loud voice   eloy eloy lama dani which means my god my god  why hast thou forsaken me the gospel of mark father into thy hands i command  my spirit the gospel of luke by modern reckoning jesus died at three in the  afternoon on passover friday in the year 30 ce   even after death the horror  of crucifixion did not cease roman crucifixion was intended to be a form of  state terrorism to scare the lower classes for   whom which was usually reserved against any  type of subversive activity so the body was   usually left on the cross [ __ ] was more or less  consumed by by troweling dogs wild beasts crows   vultures if there were any around that is what  made crucifixion horrible we think of it as   as being very very painful but the romans  did not calculate pain the calculated   shame and to not give the body burial really  annihilated the person in the ancient world jesus of nazareth would not be annihilated  the gospels say that joseph of arimathea   a rich and influential man who admired  jesus asked pontius pilate for his body pilate allowed joseph to take  jesus body down from the cross and joseph took the body and  wrapped it in a clean linen shroud   and laid it in his own tomb  which he had hewn from the rock   he rolled a great stone to the door of the  tomb and departed the gospel of matthew   when joseph of arimathea laid jesus in his tomb he  thought he was alone but he was not mary magdalene   and a companion had followed him from golgotha  they watched as joseph lay jesus in the tomb   the gospels say that two days later after the  jewish sabbath the women returned to the tomb   carrying spices and ointments they planned to  prepare jesus body for eternity in the grave   suddenly they were hurrying back to jerusalem  bursting with joy and trembling with awe   running to tell the disciples of something which  would forever change the world the resurrection now after the sabbath toward the  dawn of the first day of the week   mary magdalene and the other  mary went to see the tomb   and behold an angel of the lord descended  from heaven the angel said to the women do   not be afraid for i know that you seek jesus who  was crucified he is not here for he has risen go quickly and tell his disciples  that he has risen from the dead   he is going before you to galilee there  you will see him the gospel of matthew   the gospels say that in the weeks following  his crucifixion jesus of nazareth appeared   several times to his disciples but each gospel  gives a different version of these appearances   matthew writes that the disciples saw  jesus on a mountaintop in the galilee   luke says that jesus appeared near jerusalem  where he walked and ate with his disciples   mark and john tell of his appearing in different  places to different disciples but in all four   gospels jesus followers at first refused to  believe that their master could return from death now thomas one of the twelve said unless i see  in his hands the print of the nails and place my   finger in the mark of the nails and place my hand  in his side i will not believe but jesus said to   thomas put your finger here and see my hands  and put out your hand and place it in my side   thomas answered him my lord and my god jesus said  to him have you believed because you have seen me   blessed are those who have not seen  and yet believe the gospel of john after jesus's death his followers  eventually emerged from hiding   with the strength and faith to continue his  mission peter the disciple who denied jesus   found courage and carried on his teacher's work  so did jesus's brother james others joined them only 20 years after the crucifixion  about the middle of the first century   saint paul's famous letters revealed  that the movement jesus founded   had already grown far beyond galilee and  was winning converts wherever it spread by the time of paul we find christians sort of  spread throughout the greco-roman world in little   cell groups that they call assemblies and they  appear in every major city in the roman empire   by the middle of the century and by the end  of the century it's it's a major force that   the romans have to begin to reckon with there  are places where the economy has been impacted   because there are too many christians that  the pagan economy built on the worship of   other gods simply isn't functioning anymore  by the middle of the third century it's become   such a powerful force that it's really  in competition for the soul of the empire the emperor himself is converted and christianity  becomes the religion of the roman empire   within a matter of 300 years after the death  of jesus jesus incarnates a dream a profound   and ancient dream deeply embedded in the  human spirit for a world of radical justice   radical equality for a world not  of domination but of empowerment   and above all for the announcement that that is  what god that is what the holy and the sacred is   concerned about not about domination but about  empowerment about a world of justice that is   the permanent abiding legacy of jesus and as  long as that dream is alive jesus is alive it is one of history's greatest ironies  the mighty roman empire which crucified him   would one day come to worship the  young stone cutter from the galilee   certainly on that day long ago when jesus died  no one could have foreseen that as the centuries   passed millions of people around the world  would come to embrace his spiritual vision must one know all the facts of jesus's  life to believe in him of course not   but then one can't help but want  to know more about a man whose life   in some way has touched all  of us regardless of faith you

Channel: Biography

Views: 2,465,293

Keywords: history, bio, biography, jesus, jesus christ, jesus of nazareth, christmas, mini biography, full biography, bio channel, biography channel, biography tv, documentary, biography documentary channel, the biography channel, full episode, biography documentary, biographies, biography channel documentary, biography a&e, documentaries, biography of famous people, Portrait of Jesus Christ, help us understand Jesus, wilderness, ministry, newsworthy personalities, Portrait of Jesus

Id: AZI6ZGEWAa8

Length: 91min 31sec (5491 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 19 2020