Jesus, also called Jesus Christ, Jesus of Galilee, or Jesus of Nazareth, (born c. 6–4 BCE, Bethlehem—died c. 30 CE, Jerusalem), religious leader revered in Christianity, one of the world’s major religions. He is regarded by most Christians as the Incarnation of God. The history of Christian reflection on the teachings and nature of Jesus is examined in the article Christology.
Name and title
Ancient Jews usually had only one name, and, when greater specificity was needed, it was customary to add the father’s name or the place of origin. Thus, in his lifetime Jesus was called Jesus son of Joseph (Luke 4:22; John 1:45, 6:42), Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 10:38), or Jesus the Nazarene (Mark 1:24; Luke 24:19). After his death he came to be called Jesus Christ. Christ was not originally a name but a title derived from the Greek word christos, which translates the Hebrew term meshiah (Messiah), meaning “the anointed one.” This title indicates that Jesus’ followers believed him to be the anointed son of King David, whom some Jews expected to restore the fortunes of Israel. Passages such as Acts of the Apostles 2:36 show that some early Christian writers knew that the Christ was properly a title, but in many passages of the New Testament, including those in the letters of the Apostle Paul, the name and title are combined and used together as Jesus’ name: Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus (Romans 1:1; 3:24). Paul sometimes simply used Christ as Jesus’ name (e.g., Romans 5:6).
Summary of Jesus’ life
Although born in Bethlehem, according to Matthew and Luke, Jesus was a Galilean from Nazareth, a village near Sepphoris, one of the two major cities of Galilee (Tiberias was the other). He was born to Joseph and Mary sometime between 6 BCE and shortly before the death of Herod the Great (Matthew 2; Luke 1:5) in 4 BCE. According to Matthew and Luke, however, Joseph was only legally his father. They report that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived and that she “was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18; cf. Luke 1:35). Joseph is said to have been a carpenter (Matthew 13:55)—that is, a craftsman who worked with his hands—and, according to Mark 6:3, Jesus also became a carpenter.
Luke (2:41–52) states that Jesus as a youth was precociously learned, but there is no other evidence of his childhood or early life. As a young adult, he went to be baptized by the prophet John the Baptist and shortly thereafter became an itinerant preacher and healer (Mark 1:2–28). In his mid-30s Jesus had a short public career, lasting perhaps less than one year, during which he attracted considerable attention. Sometime between 29 and 33 CE—possibly 30 CE—he went to observe Passover in Jerusalem, where his entrance, according to the Gospels, was triumphant and infused with eschatological significance. While there he was arrested, tried, and executed. His disciples became convinced that he rose from the dead and appeared to them. They converted others to belief in him, which eventually led to a new religion, Christianity.
Jewish Palestine at the time of Jesus
Palestine in Jesus’ day was part of the Roman Empire, which controlled its various territories in a number of ways. In the East (eastern Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt), territories were governed either by kings who were “friends and allies” of Rome (often called “client” kings or, more disparagingly, “puppet” kings) or by governors supported by a Roman army. When Jesus was born, all of Jewish Palestine—as well as some of the neighbouring Gentile areas—was ruled by Rome’s able “friend and ally” Herod the Great. For Rome, Palestine was important not in itself but because it lay between Syria and Egypt, two of Rome’s most valuable possessions. Rome had legions in both countries but not in Palestine. Roman imperial policy required that Palestine be loyal and peaceful so that it did not undermine Rome’s larger interests. That end was achieved for a long time by permitting Herod to remain king of Judaea (37–4 BCE) and allowing him a free hand in governing his kingdom, as long as the requirements of stability and loyalty were met.
When Herod died shortly after Jesus’ birth, his kingdom was divided into five parts. Most of the Gentile areas were separated from the Jewish areas, which were split between two of Herod’s sons, Herod Archelaus, who received Judaea and Idumaea (as well as Samaria, which was non-Jewish), and Herod Antipas, who received Galilee and Peraea. (In the New Testament, Antipas is somewhat confusingly called Herod, as in Luke 23:6–12; apparently the sons of Herod took his name, just as the successors of Julius Caesar were commonly called Caesar.) Both sons were given lesser titles than king: Archelaus was ethnarch, and Antipas was tetrarch. The non-Jewish areas (except Samaria) were assigned to a third son, Philip, to Herod’s sister Salome, or to the province of Syria. The emperor Augustus deposed the unsatisfactory Archelaus in 6 CE, however, and transformed Judaea, Idumaea, and Samaria from a client kingdom into an “imperial province.” Accordingly, he sent a prefect to govern this province. That minor Roman aristocrat (later called a procurator) was supported by a small Roman army of approximately 3,000 men. The soldiers, however, came not from Italy but from nearby Gentile cities, especially Caesarea and Sebaste; presumably, the officers were from Italy. During Jesus’ public career, the Roman prefect was Pontius Pilate (ruled 26–36 CE).
Although nominally in charge of Judaea, Samaria, and Idumaea, the prefect did not govern his area directly. Instead, he relied on local leaders. The prefect and his small army lived in the predominantly Gentile city Caesarea, on the Mediterranean coast, about two days’ march from Jerusalem. They came to Jerusalem only to ensure peace during the pilgrimage festivals—Passover, Weeks (Shabuoth), and Booths (Sukkoth)—when large crowds and patriotic themes sometimes combined to spark unrest or uprisings. On a day-to-day basis Jerusalem was governed by the high priest. Assisted by a council, he had the difficult task of mediating between the remote Roman prefect and the local populace, which was hostile toward pagans and wanted to be free of foreign interference. His political responsibility was to maintain order and to see that tribute was paid. Caiaphas, the high priest during Jesus’ adulthood, held the office from about 18 to 36 CE, longer than anyone else during the Roman period, indicating that he was a successful and reliable diplomat. Since he and Pilate were in power together for 10 years, they must have collaborated successfully.
Thus, at the time of Jesus’ public career, Galilee was governed by the tetrarch Antipas, who was sovereign within his own domain, provided that he remained loyal to Rome and maintained peace and stability within his borders. Judaea (including Jerusalem) was nominally governed by Pilate, but the actual daily rule of Jerusalem was in the hands of Caiaphas and his council.
Relations between Jewish areas and nearby Gentile areas
Galilee and Judaea, the principal Jewish areas of Palestine, were surrounded by Gentile territories (i.e., Caesarea, Dora, and Ptolemais on the Mediterranean coast; Caesarea Philippi north of Galilee; and Hippus and Gadara east of Galilee). There also were two inland Gentile cities on the west side of the Jordan River near Galilee (Scythopolis and Sebaste). The proximity of Gentile and Jewish areas meant that there was some interchange between them, including trade, which explains why Antipas had telōnēs—often translated as “tax collectors” but more accurately rendered as “customs officers”—in the villages on his side of the Sea of Galilee. There also was some exchange of populations: some Jews lived in Gentile cities, such as Scythopolis, and some Gentiles lived in at least one of the Jewish cities, Tiberias. Jewish merchants and traders could probably speak some Greek, but the primary language of Palestinian Jews was Aramaic (a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew). On the other hand, the Jews resisted paganism and excluded temples for the worship of the gods of Greece and Rome from their cities, along with the Greek educational institutions the ephebeia and gymnasion, gladiatorial contests, and other buildings or institutions typical of Gentile areas. Because Jewish-Gentile relations in the land that the Jews considered their own were often uneasy, Jewish areas were usually governed separately from Gentile areas. The reign of Herod the Great was the exception to that rule, but even he treated the Jewish and the Gentile parts of his kingdom differently, fostering Greco-Roman culture in Gentile sectors but introducing only very minor aspects of it in Jewish areas.
In the 1st century Rome showed no interest in making the Jews in Palestine and other parts of the empire conform to common Greco-Roman culture. A series of decrees by Julius Caesar, Augustus, the Roman Senate, and various city councils permitted Jews to keep their own customs, even when they were antithetical to Greco-Roman culture. For example, in respect for Jewish observance of the Sabbath, Rome exempted Jews from conscription in Rome’s armies. Neither did Rome colonize Jewish Palestine. Augustus established colonies elsewhere (in southern France, Spain, North Africa, and Asia Minor), but prior to the First Jewish Revolt (66–74 CE) Rome established no colonies in Jewish Palestine. Few individual Gentiles from abroad would have been attracted to live in Jewish cities, where they would have been cut off from their customary worship and cultural activities. The Gentiles who lived in Tiberias and other Jewish cities were probably natives of nearby Gentile cities, and many were Syrians, who could probably speak both Aramaic and Greek.
Economic conditions
Most people in the ancient world produced food, clothing, or both and could afford few luxuries. Most Palestinian Jewish farmers and herdsmen, however, earned enough to support their families, pay their taxes, offer sacrifices during one or more annual festivals, and let their land lie fallow in the sabbatical years, when cultivation was prohibited. Galilee in particular was relatively prosperous, since the land and climate permitted abundant harvests and supported many sheep. Although it is doubtful that Galilee was as affluent in the 1st century as it was during the late Roman and Byzantine periods, archaeological remains from the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries nevertheless confirm the plausibility of 1st-century references to the region’s prosperity. There were, of course, landless people, but the Herodian dynasty was careful to organize large public works projects that employed thousands of men. Desperate poverty was present too but never reached a socially dangerous level. At the other end of the economic spectrum, few if any Palestinian Jews had the vast fortunes that successful merchants in port cities could accumulate. However, there were Jewish aristocrats with large estates and grand houses, and the merchants who served the Temple (supplying, for example, incense and fabric) could become very prosperous. The gap between rich and poor in Palestine was obvious and distressing to the poor, but, compared with that of the rest of the world, it was not especially wide.
The Jewish religion in the 1st century
Judaism, as the Jewish religion came to be known in the 1st century CE, was based on ancient Israelite religion, shorn of many of its Canaanite characteristics but with the addition of important features from Babylonia and Persia. The Jews differed from other people in the ancient world because they believed that there was only one God. Like other people, they worshipped their God with animal sacrifices offered at a temple, but, unlike others, they had only one temple, which was in Jerusalem. The sanctuary of the Jewish temple had two rooms, as did many of the other temples in the ancient world, but the second room of the Jewish temple was empty. There was no idol representing the God of Israel. The Jews also believed that they had been specially chosen by the one God of the universe to serve him and obey his laws. Although set apart from other people, they believed God called on them to be a “light to the Gentiles” and lead them to accept the God of Israel as the only God.
An important part of Jewish Scripture was the Torah, or Pentateuch, comprising five books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) that were believed to have been given to Moses by God. For Jews and their spiritual descendants, those books contain God’s law, which covers many aspects of ordinary life: it requires that males be circumcised, regulates diet, mandates days of rest for humans and animals alike (Sabbaths and festival days), requires pilgrimage and sacrifice, stipulates recompense and atonement following transgression, and specifies impurities and required purification before entry to the Temple. Moreover, it provides both rules and principles for the treatment of other people: for example, calling for the use of honest weights and measures in trade and for “love” (that is, upright treatment) of both fellow Jews and foreigners (Leviticus 19). The laws governing worship (sacrifice, purification, admission to the Temple, and the like) were similar to the religious laws of other people in the ancient world. Judaism was different because in most other cultures divine law covered only such topics, but in Judaism it regulated not only worship but also daily life and made every aspect of life a matter of divine concern.
Since both faith and practice were based firmly on the five books of Moses modified slightly over time, they were shared by Jews all over the world, from Mesopotamia to Italy and beyond. The common features of Jewish faith and practice are reflected in the decrees from various parts of the ancient world that allowed Jews to preserve their own traditions, including monotheism, rest and assembly on the Sabbath, support of the Temple, and dietary laws. There were, naturally, variations on each main theme. In Jewish Palestine, for example, there were three small but important religious parties that differed from each other in several ways: the Pharisees (numbering about 6,000 at the time of Herod), Essenes (about 4,000), and Sadducees (“a few men,” according to Flavius Josephus, in The Antiquities of the Jews 18.17). A largely lay group that had the reputation of being the most-precise interpreters of the law, the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead. They also relied on the nonbiblical “traditions of the fathers,” some of which made the law stricter while others relaxed it. The Essenes were a more-radical sect, with extremely strict rules. One branch of the group lived at Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea and produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. At some point in their history the Essenes were probably a priestly sect (the Zadokite priests are major figures in some of the documents from Qumran); however, the composition of their membership at the time of Jesus is unclear. Many aristocratic priests, as well as some prominent laymen, were Sadducees. They rejected the Pharisaic “traditions of the fathers” and maintained some old-fashioned theological opinions. Most famously, they denied resurrection, which had recently entered Jewish thought from Persia and which was accepted by most Jews in the 1st century.
Most Jews based their faith and practice on the five books of Moses (slightly modified by the passage of time) and rejected the extreme positions of the three parties. The Pharisees were respected for their piety and learning, and they may have exercised substantial influence on belief and practice. The Essenes were a fringe group, and those who lived at Qumran had dropped out of mainstream Judaism. Their interpretation of the Bible led them to reject the priests and the Temple as they existed in Jerusalem, and they looked forward to the time when they could seize control of the Holy City. To the degree that any of these parties had power, however, it belonged to the Sadducees. More precisely, the aristocratic priests and a few prominent laymen had power and authority in Jerusalem; of the aristocrats who belonged to one of the parties, most were Sadducees. According to the Acts of the Apostles (5:17), those who were around the high priest Caiaphas were Sadducees, which recalls the evidence of the Jewish priestly aristocrat, historian, and Pharisee Josephus.
Although the vast majority of Jews did not belong to a party, the study of these parties reveals the substantial variety within the general framework of Judaism. Another indicator of this variety was the diversity of Jewish leaders. Among them were charismatic healers and miracle workers, such as Honi the Circle Drawer and Hanina ben Dosa; hermitlike sages, such as Bannus; eschatological prophets, such as John the Baptist; would-be messianic prophets, such as Theudas and the Egyptian; and apocalyptic visionaries, represented by the pseudepigraphal First Book of Enoch.
Most Jews had some form of future hope. In general, they expected God to intervene in history and to restore Israel to a state of peace, freedom, and prosperity. Not all Jews expected God to send a son of David as messiah to overthrow the Romans, though some did. The Qumran sect believed that there would be a great war against Rome, that the sect would emerge victorious, and that the main blows would be struck by the angel Michael and finally by God himself. Notably, a messiah plays no role in this war of liberation. Some Jews were ready at any moment to take up arms against Rome, thinking that if they started the fight, God would intervene on their side. Others were quietists, hoping for divine deliverance without having a more-specific vision of the future but entirely unwilling to fight. Whatever their specific expectations, very few Palestinian Jews were completely satisfied with the governments of Antipas, Pilate, and Caiaphas. As God’s chosen people, the Jews felt they should be free both of foreign domination and of ambitious worldly leaders.
In the final analysis, variety and commonality are equally important to the understanding of Palestinian Judaism in Jesus’ day. Jews agreed on many basic aspects of their religion and way of life, and they agreed that they did not want to surrender their covenant with God to accept the lure of pagan culture, but, when it came to details, they could disagree with one another violently. Since God cared about every aspect of life, competing groups and leaders often saw themselves as representing the side of God against his adversaries.
Sources for the life of Jesus
The only substantial sources for the life and message of Jesus are the Gospels of the New Testament, the earliest of which was Mark (written 60–80 CE), followed by Matthew, Luke, and John (75–90 CE). Some additional evidence can be found in the letters of Paul, which were written beginning in 50 CE and are the earliest surviving Christian texts. There are, however, other sources that may have further information. Noncanonical sources, especially the apocryphal gospels, contain many sayings attributed to Jesus, as well as stories about him that are occasionally held to be “authentic.” Among these apocrypha is the Gospel of Judas, a gnostic text of the 2nd century CE that portrays Judas as an important collaborator of Jesus and not his betrayer. Another important text, the mid-2nd-century-CE Gospel of Thomas, has attracted much attention. A “sayings” gospel (114 sayings attributed to Jesus, without narrative), it is grounded in gnosticism, the philosophical and religious movement of the 2nd century CE that stressed the redemptive power of esoteric knowledge acquired by divine revelation. For Thomas, salvation consists of self-knowledge, and baptism results in restoration to the primordial state—man and woman in one person, like Adam before the creation of Eve (saying 23). Spiritual reversion to that state meant that nakedness need not result in shame. One passage (saying 37) allows it to be suspected that the early Christian followers of the Gospel of Thomas took off their garments and trampled on them as part of their baptismal initiation. There are a few connections between this worldview and that of Paul and the Gospel According to John, but the overall theology of the Gospel of Thomas is so far removed from the teaching of Jesus as found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke—in which Jewish eschatology is central—that it is not considered a major source for the study of Jesus. It is, of course, possible or even likely that individual sayings in Thomas or other apocryphal gospels originated with Jesus, but it is unlikely that noncanonical sources can contribute much to the portrait of the historical Jesus. As in the case of the Gospel of Thomas, the traditions found in other apocryphal gospels are often completely unlike the evidence of the canonical gospels and are embedded in documents that are generally believed to be unreliable.
There are a few references to Jesus in 1st-century Roman and Jewish sources. Documents indicate that within a few years of Jesus’ death, Romans were aware that someone named Chrestus (a slight misspelling of Christus) had been responsible for disturbances in the Jewish community in Rome (Suetonius, The Life of the Deified Claudius 25.4). Twenty years later, according to Tacitus, Christians in Rome were prominent enough to be persecuted by Nero, and it was known that they were devoted to Christus, whom Pilate had executed (Annals 15.44). This knowledge of Jesus, however, was dependent on familiarity with early Christianity and does not provide independent evidence about Jesus. Josephus wrote a paragraph about Jesus (The Antiquities of the Jews 18.63ff.)—as he did about Theudas, the Egyptian, and other charismatic leaders (History of the Jewish War 2.258–263; The Antiquities of the Jews 20.97–99, 167–172)—but it has been heavily revised by Christian scribes, and Josephus’s original remarks cannot be discerned.
The letters of Paul contain reliable but meagre evidence. Their main theme, that Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead, is especially prominent in 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul evokes an early tradition about Jesus’ death and subsequent appearances to his followers. The Crucifixion and Resurrection were accepted by all first-generation Christians. Paul also quotes a few of Jesus’ sayings: the prohibition of divorce and remarriage (1 Corinthians 7:10–11), the words over the bread and cup at Jesus’ Last Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23–25), and a prediction of the imminent arrival of the Saviour from heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:15–17).
Fuller information about Jesus is found in the Gospels of the New Testament, though those are not of equal value in reconstructing his life and teaching. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke agree so closely with one another that they can be studied together in parallel columns in a work called a synopsis and are hence called the Synoptic Gospels. John, however, is so different that it cannot be reconciled with the Synoptics except in very general ways (e.g., Jesus lived in Palestine, taught, healed, was crucified and raised). In the Synoptics Jesus’ public career appears to have lasted less than one year, since only one Passover is mentioned, but in John three Passovers occur, implying a ministry of more than two years. In all four Gospels Jesus performs miracles, especially healings, but, while exorcisms are prevalent in the Synoptics, there are none in John. The greatest differences, though, appear in the methods and content of Jesus’ teaching. In the Synoptic Gospels he speaks about the kingdom of God in short aphorisms and parables, making use of similes and figures of speech, many drawn from agricultural and village life. He seldom refers to himself, and, when asked for a “sign” to prove his authority, he refuses (Mark 8:11–12). In John, on the other hand, Jesus employs long metaphorical discourses, in which he himself is the main subject. His miracles are described as “signs” that support the authenticity of his claims.
Scholars have unanimously chosen the Synoptic Gospels’ version of Jesus’ teaching. The verdict on the miracles is the same, though less firmly held: in all probability Jesus was known as an exorcist, which resulted in the charge that he cast out demons by the prince of demons (Mark 3:22–27). The choice between the narrative outline of the Synoptics and that of John is less clear. Besides presenting a longer ministry than do the other Gospels, John also describes several trips to Jerusalem. Only one is mentioned in the Synoptics. Both outlines are plausible, but a ministry of more than two years leaves more questions unanswered than does one of a few months. It is generally accepted that Jesus and his disciples were itinerant, that they traveled around Galilee and its immediate environs and that Jesus taught and healed in various towns and villages as well as in the countryside and on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. But where did they spend their winters? Who supported them? None of the Gospels explains how they lived (though Luke 8:1–3 alludes to some female supporters), but the omission is even more glaring in John, where the longer ministry presumes the need for winter quarters, though none are mentioned. That and other considerations are not decisive, but the brief career of the Synoptic Gospels is slightly to be preferred.
The Synoptic Gospels, then, are the primary sources for knowledge of the historical Jesus. They are not, however, the equivalent of an academic biography of a recent historical figure. Instead, the Synoptic Gospels are theological documents that provide information the authors regarded as necessary for the religious development of the Christian communities in which they worked. The details of Jesus’ daily life are almost entirely lacking, as are such important features as his education, travel, and other developmental experiences. The characters on the whole are “flat”: emotions, motives, and personalities are seldom mentioned. There are nevertheless a few exceptions that show how little is actually known: Peter wavers (Matthew 14:28–31; Mark 14:66–72), James and John ask for preferential treatment in the coming kingdom (Mark 10:35–40), and Pilate anguishes over the decision to execute Jesus (Matthew 27:15–23; Luke 23:2–25). On the other hand, the Pharisees and scribes periodically challenge Jesus and then disappear, with little indication of what, from their point of view, they hoped to accomplish. Even Jesus is a rather flat character in the Gospels. He is sometimes angry and sometimes compassionate (Mark 3:5; 6:34, respectively), but one can say little more. This is a frustrating aspect of the Gospels. The situation is different with regard to Paul, whose letters are extant and self-revelatory. The force of his personality is in the letters, but the force of Jesus’ personality must be found somewhere behind the Gospels.
The Gospels comprise brief self-contained passages, or pericopēs (from the Greek word meaning “cut around”), relating to Jesus. Further study reveals that the authors of the Synoptic Gospels moved the pericopes around, altering the contexts to suit their own editorial policies—for example, by arranging the pericopes according to subject matter. In chapters 8 and 9, Matthew collects 10 healing pericopes, with a few other passages interspersed. Mark and Luke contain most of those passages, but their arrangements are different. Matthew put all those healings in one place, whereas Mark and Luke scattered them but in different ways. Since the authors of the Gospels rearranged the material to suit their own needs, it must be assumed that earlier Christian teachers had also organized stories about Jesus didactically. That means that the sequence of events in Jesus’ ministry is unknown.
Moreover, the Evangelists and other early Christian teachers also shaped the material about Jesus. During the course of transmission, the factual narrative elements that surrounded each saying or event were stripped away, leaving only a central unit, which was applied to various situations by the addition of new introductions and conclusions. For example, both Matthew and Luke relate the Parable of the Lost Sheep. In Matthew 18:12–14, the parable is told to the disciples, and the meaning is that they, like the shepherd, should go in search of the lost. In Luke 15:4–7 the same story is directed at the Pharisees, this time to instruct them not to grumble because Jesus has attracted repentant sinners. Both applications of the parable were useful homiletically and were therefore preserved. The context in which Jesus originally used the parable, however, is unknown. Another example is the saying “love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44). Homiletically, it may be applied to numerous circumstances, which makes it very useful for sermons and teaching. Historically, however, it is not known to whom Jesus referred when he spoke those words. The lack of firm knowledge of original context makes the precise interpretation of individual passages difficult.
Further, not all the sayings and deeds in the Synoptic Gospels are reports of things that Jesus actually said and did. Believing that Jesus ascended into heaven, the early Christians spoke to him in prayer and sometimes he answered (2 Corinthians 12:8–9; cf. 1 Corinthians 2:13). Those early Christians did not distinguish between “the historical Jesus” and “the heavenly Lord” as firmly as most modern people do, and some sayings heard in prayer almost certainly ended up in the Gospels as sayings uttered by Jesus during his lifetime.
Since both the original context of Jesus’ sayings and deeds and those passages in the Gospels that go back to the historical Jesus are unknown, there are substantial difficulties in attempting to reconstruct the Jesus of history. Of these two difficulties, the lack of immediate context is the more serious. It must be admitted that, on many points, precision and nuance in describing the teaching and ministry of Jesus cannot be achieved.
There are, however, tests of authenticity that make it possible to acquire good general information about Jesus’ teachings. One of the most important of these is “multiple attestation”: a passage that appears in two or more independent sources is likely to be authentic. A prime example is the prohibition of divorce, which appears in the letters of Paul and in two different forms in the Synoptic Gospels. The short form, which is focused on remarriage after divorce, is found in Matthew 5:31–32 and Luke 16:18. The long form, which is more absolute in prohibiting divorce, appears in Matthew 19:1–12 and Mark 10:1–12. Paul’s version (1 Corinthians 7:10–11) agrees most closely with the short form. Because of that excellent attestation, it is almost indisputable that Jesus opposed divorce and especially remarriage after divorce, though study of the five passages does not reveal precisely what he said.
A second test is “against the grain of the Gospels”: a passage that seems to be contrary to one of the main themes or views expressed in one or more Gospels is likely to be authentic because the early Christians were not likely to have created material with which they disagreed. Matthew’s depiction of John the Baptist is a good example. The author apparently found it to be embarrassing that Jesus received John’s baptism of repentance (why would Jesus have needed it?). Thus, he has John protest against the baptism and claim that Jesus should instead baptize him (Matthew 3:13–17; this objection is not in Mark or Luke). Those verses in Matthew assume that John recognized Jesus as being greater than he, but Matthew later shows John, in prison, sending a message to ask Jesus whether he was “the one who is to come” (Matthew 11:2–6). Those passages make it virtually certain that John baptized Jesus and highly probable that John asked Jesus who he was. John’s protest against baptizing Jesus appears to be Matthew’s creation. In keeping those passages while, in effect, arguing against them, Matthew validates the authenticity of the tradition that John baptized Jesus and later enquired about his true identity.
These are only a few examples of tests that may confirm the authenticity of passages in the Gospels. In many cases, however, the criteria do not apply: many passages neither meet nor fail the tests. Grouping passages into categories—probable, improbable, possible but unconfirmed—is a useful exercise but does not go very far toward determining a realistic portrayal of Jesus as a historical figure. More is needed than just the minute study of the Gospels, though that is an essential task.
The context of Jesus’ career
Good historical information about Jesus can be acquired by establishing the overall context of his public ministry. As noted earlier, he began his career by being baptized by John, an eschatological prophet, and an understanding of eschatology is pivotal to interpreting Jesus’ world. Although eschatology is the doctrine of last things, the Jews who anticipated future redemption did not expect the end of the world. Instead, they thought that God would intervene in human history and make the world perfect: that is, the Jews would live in the Holy Land free of foreign domination and in peace and prosperity. Many Jews, including John, expected final judgment to precede this golden age, and he taught that people should repent in view of its imminence (Matthew 3:1–12; Luke 3:3–9). Since Jesus accepted John’s baptism, he must have agreed with this message, at least in part. After Jesus’ death and Resurrection, his followers believed that he would soon return to bring in the kingdom of God. The clearest expression of this belief is offered by Paul, whose earliest letter indicates that the Lord will return before most of the people then alive die (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18). If Jesus began his career by being baptized by an eschatological prophet and if after his Crucifixion his followers expected him to return to save them (1 Thessalonians 1:9–10; 1 Corinthians 15:20–28), it is highly probable that he himself shared the basic views of Jewish eschatology.
Many aspects of Jesus’ career support the view that he expected divine intervention. One of the most common beliefs of Jewish eschatology was that God would restore the Twelve Tribes of Israel, including the Ten Lost Tribes. That Jesus shared this view is indicated by his call of 12 disciples, who apparently represented the 12 tribes (Matthew 19:28). Moreover, he proclaimed the arrival of the kingdom of God; he predicted the destruction of the Temple (Mark 13:2) and possibly its rebuilding “without hands” (Mark 14:58); he entered Jerusalem on a donkey, symbolizing his kingship (Mark 11:4–8; Matthew 21:1–11; see Zechariah 9:9 for the symbol); and he had a final meal with his disciples in which he said that he would “drink no more of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it in the new kingdom of God” (Mark 14:25). It is no surprise that after his death his disciples formed a small community that expected Jesus to return and inaugurate a kingdom in which the world would be transformed.
In this light, Jesus can be seen as an eschatological prophet, grouped historically in the same general category as John the Baptist and a few other 1st-century Jewish prophets, such as Theudas. Like John, Jesus believed in the coming judgment, but he stressed inclusion more than condemnation and welcomed “customs officers and sinners” in the coming kingdom of God (Matthew 11:18–19; 21:31–32). Moreover, his teaching was rich and multifaceted and was not limited to eschatological expectation.
The kingdom of God
While the Gospels agree that Jesus proclaimed the eschatological kingdom of God, they offer different versions of his view of that kingdom. One is that the kingdom of God exists in heaven and that individuals may enter it upon death (Mark 9:47). Since God’s power is in some respects omnipresent, Jesus may have seen “the kingdom,” in the sense of God’s presence, as being especially evident in his own words and deeds. The parable that the kingdom is like yeast that gradually leavens the entire loaf (Matthew 13:33) indicates that Jesus may have understood the kingdom of God to be beginning in the present. These other ways of viewing the kingdom do not, however, dominate the teaching of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels. Statements about the heavenly kingdom, or the kingdom as partially present on earth, do not negate the eschatological nature of Jesus’ message. The essence of his teaching is that the kingdom would come to earth in its full power and glory, at which time God’s will would be done “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Jesus died before heaven came down to earth, and this, coupled with the Resurrection appearances, led his followers to expect him to return in the near future, ushering in the kingdom and ruling in God’s stead.
Christianity
Jesus himself apparently anticipated the arrival of a heavenly figure whom he called “the Son of Man,” who would come on clouds of glory and gather the elect. The Hebrew Bible laid the foundation for this teaching in two ways. First, several prophets expected “the day of the Lord,” when the wicked would be punished or destroyed and the good would be spared, though the emphasis was on punishment (Amos 5:12–20; Zephaniah 1; Joel 1:15; 2:1; Obadiah verse 15). Second, Daniel 7 describes various kingdoms that are represented by four fantastic beasts, all of which are destroyed. Then, according to Daniel, the Son of Man, representing the people of Israel, ascends to God and receives “dominion and glory and kingship” (Daniel 7:14), after which Israel is to reign supreme (7:27). These passages seem to have led Jesus to depict the arrival of the Son of Man from heaven as initiating the coming judgment and the redemption of Israel. The theme appears in numerous passages in the Synoptic Gospels (see Tables 2, 3, 4, and 5).
Table 5: Preparedness Matthew 24:44 Luke 12:40
Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
Table 4: Son of Man comes like lightning or the great flood Matthew 24:27, 37-39 Luke 17:24, 26, 27, 30
For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.... 37For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.
For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.... 26Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man. 27They were eating and drinking, and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them.... 30[I]t will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
Table 3: Son of Man, glory of Father, angels, some will not taste death Matthew 16:27-28 Mark 8:38-9:1 Luke 9:26-27
For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. 28Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. 9.1And he said to them, Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.
Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27But truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.
Table 2: Cosmic distress, Son of Man, angels, gather elect Matthew 24:29-31 Mark 13:24-27 Luke 21:25-28
Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. 30Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see "the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven" with power and great glory. 31And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26Then they will see "the Son of Man coming in clouds" with power and glory. 27Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 26People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27Then they will see "the Son of Man coming in a cloud" with power and great glory. 28Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
Paul’s depiction of the coming kingdom also merits consideration (italics indicate the closest agreements with the passages in the Gospels):
For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air. (1 Thessalonians 4:15–17)
Paul changed “the Son of Man” to “the Lord.” It is not known whether Jesus intended to refer to himself or to another figure when he used the term Son of Man in this context (he did refer to himself as a Son of Man in the sense of “a human being,” as in Matthew 8:20). By Paul’s time, however, Christians made no such distinction and interpreted the heavenly Son of Man as the risen Jesus.
Jesus’ belief that the Son of Man would soon arrive to usher in the kingdom is confirmed as authentic by multiple attestation. It is also “against the grain” of the Gospel According to Luke, since the author tended to downplay eschatology (e.g., Luke 17:21 and Acts, written by the same author). Moreover, Paul, whose letters are earlier than the Gospels, thought that most people then living would still be alive at the time of Jesus’ return, whereas the Synoptic Gospels state that “some standing here will not taste death.” The change from “most” to “some” probably demonstrates that the expectation was beginning to fade when the Gospels were written.
Inclusion in the kingdom
Several passages indicate that following Jesus was highly desirable for those who wished to be included in the coming kingdom. Jesus called on some people to give up everything in order to follow him (Mark 1:16–20; 10:17–31) and promised that their reward would be great in heaven. It cannot be said, however, that Jesus viewed personal loyalty as a prerequisite for inclusion in the kingdom. Often he simply urged all to fix their attention on the kingdom, not on material possessions (Matthew 6:19–21; 6:25–34; Luke 12:13–21). The majority of his teaching in the Synoptic Gospels is about God and the value of returning to him. Thus, in one parable the “prodigal son” returns to “the father,” presumably representing God (Luke 15:11–32).
Perhaps faith in God and treating other people with love (Matthew 25:34–40) would suffice for entry into the kingdom. This seems to be indicated by the study of children, the childlike, the poor, the meek, the lowly, and the sinners, whom Jesus especially called and favoured. “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs” (Mark 10:14). In the coming kingdom, moreover, the last would be first (Mark 10:31); those who held the chief positions in the present world would be demoted (Luke 14:7–11); those who gave up everything and followed Jesus would receive “a hundred-fold” (Mark 10:30); and sinners, exemplified by the customs officers and prostitutes, also would be included in the kingdom (Matthew 21:31). The Beatitudes, drawn from the Sermon on the Mount, particularly stress Jesus’ concern for the poor and the meek who will be blessed (Luke 6:20; Matthew 5:3–5). This emphasis probably rests in part on his sympathy for those of his own socioeconomic class or below it. Significantly, Jesus and his disciples were not themselves from the very bottom of society. His father worked with his hands, but he was not destitute, and some of Jesus’ disciples were from families who owned fishing boats and houses (Mark 1:19, 29). They were not rich, but they also were not day labourers, beggars, or homeless, all of whom were the focus of Jesus’ sympathy.
His message had a social dimension in two respects. He thought that in the kingdom there would be social relationships, not a collection of disembodied spirits floating on the clouds. He also believed that the disadvantaged of the present world would be in some sense or other advantaged in the new age (Matthew 5:3–11; Luke 6:20–23). It is possible that the promise of houses and lands in Matthew 19:29 and Mark 10:29–30 is metaphorical, but it is also possible that Jesus envisaged a future society in which property would still count, though it would be redistributed.
Jesus’ appeal to sinners, according to Luke 5:32, meant that he called them to repent, but neither Matthew 9:13 nor Mark 2:17 mentions the word repentance. Most likely, Jesus’ message was more radical than a simple call for repentance, a proposition with which everyone would have agreed. He wanted sinners to accept him and his message, and he promised inclusion in the kingdom if they did so. This acceptance doubtless included moral reformation, but Jesus probably did not mean that they had to conform precisely to the standards of righteous Jewish society, which demanded repayment of money or goods obtained dishonestly, the addition of one-fifth as a fine, and the presentation of a guilt-offering in the Temple (Leviticus 6:1–7). Instead, Jesus called people to follow him and to be like his disciples. He evidently expected more people to be like him (accepting sinners, loving even enemies) than to join the small band that followed him. Although Jesus specifically called several followers, he seems not to have viewed personal faith in and commitment to him as absolute necessities (though faith in him became the standard requirement of early Christianity).
Whether he made this particular requirement or not, Jesus certainly attached great importance to his own mission and person. The Christian preoccupation with titles (did he think that he was the Messiah, Son of God, heavenly Son of Man, - Jesus Christ