Story of Jesus E-Book

Edoardo Albert

• Herausgeber: Fox Chapel Publishing
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Visual History
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Seitenzahl: 297

Beschreibung

With over 2 billion followers alive today, Jesus Christ may be the most influential person to have ever walked the Earth. Story of Jesus relates the epic tale of Jesus' life, from the prophecies surrounding his birth and childhood in Nazareth, to his adult years spreading his ministry and gaining followers. Discover the people Jesus selected to be his Apostles, who would witness his most dramatic moments and carry forward his teachings. Uncover the truth behind Judas' betrayal, Jesus' encounter with Pilate, and the crucifixion at Golgotha. Packed with incredible imagery and insight into this historical period, this is the perfect guide for anyone who wants to unearth the true story of Jesus of Nazareth.

Leseprobe

J

ESUS

STORY

of

Edoardo Albert, Robin Griffith-Jones

The Epic Account of His Life and Times on Earth

©2023 by Future Publishing Limited

Articles in this issue are translated or reproduced from

Story of Jesus

and are the copyright

of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company, UK 2022.

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http://www.futureplc.com

.

e-ISBN: 978-1-6374-1257-2

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With over 2 billion followers alive today,

Jesus Christ may be the most influential

person to have ever walked the Earth.

The Story of Jesus relates the epic tale of

Jesus’ life, from the prophecies surrounding

his birth and childhood in Nazareth, to

his adult years spreading his ministry and

gaining followers. Discover the people Jesus

selected to be his Apostles, who would

witness his most dramatic moments and

carry forward his teachings. Uncover the

truth behind Judas’ betrayal, Jesus’ encounter

with Pilate, and the crucifixion at Golgotha.

Packed with incredible imagery and insight

into the period, this is the perfect guide for

anyone who wants to unearth the true story

of Jesus of Nazareth.

Welcome to

J

ESUS

STORY

of

CONTENTS

08

Tumult in the Levant

Triumph and tragedy ebbed and

flowed in the Levant prior to the

birth of Jesus Christ

16

Levant and Legacy

The ancient lands of the Hebrew

people were hotbeds of political

upheaval

22

The Jewish Jesus in a

Roman world

What was life like for the Jewish

people of the empire?

28

A Messianic Age

How did Jesus fit into the Messiah

tradition?

32

One Jesus, Four Gospels

The Gospels tell us four distinct

and gripping stories

40

Son of Mary—and ‘Son

of God’?

What does scripture tell us of

Jesus’ lineage and birth?

50

“We Three Kings of

Orient Are”

Discover the identity of the Magi

and what gifts they gave

54

Herod I

Cruel and paranoid, Herod I ruled

Judea with an iron fist

60

A Jewish Boy

The story of Jesus’ birth is well

known, but what can we really

say about his childhood?

106

76

68

John the Baptist

How much do we know about

the man who helped set Jesus’

ministry in motion?

74

The Baptism of Jesus

This defining moment in Jesus’

life marked the start of his

ministry

76

The Temptation

of Jesus

Jesus’ will remains unbroken

in the face of temptation

78

The Twelve

The Apostles were to carry

forward Jesus’ teaching

88

Mary Magdalene

The prostitute-turned-

Apostle to the Apostles

92

The Sermon

on the Mount

One of the greatest

pieces of moral

discourse in

history

122

54

94

Miracles and Ministry

Jesus deployed many tactics to

help spread his message

104

The Cleansing of the

Temple

Casting out the money-changers

from the Temple

106

The Final Showdown

Jesus prepares his followers for

his arrest, and also for their life

afterwards

114

Pontius Pilate

Roman governors are not

usually remembered in history

118

Herod Antipas

Herod Antipas would be

forgotten if it weren’t for an

unexpected encounter with

a condemned man

122

Death Triumphant

The Romans were masters

of pain and they inflicted it

on rebels and slaves

130

Defeating Death

Crucifixion should have been

the end, but then something

unexpected happened . . .

136

Early Christianity

Discover the key events in early

Christianity immediately after

Jesus Christ’s Ascension

Triumph and tragedy ebbed and flowed

in the Levant prior to the coming of

Jesus Christ and during his lifetime

Tumult in

the Levant

200 BCE

192 BCE

170 BCE

230 BCE

169 BCE

167 BCE

166 BCE

166 BCE

BATTLE OF BETH

HORON

Town of Beth Horon north of Jerusalem

166 BCE

After soundly defeating a Seleucid army under the

command of Apollonius, the rebel forces of Judah

Maccabee confront another threat, a second Seleucid

army commanded by Seron, governor of Syria. Exploiting

Seron’s overconfidence, Maccabee continues the effective

tactic of ambush, and though Seron has tried to prepare

for such an encounter, the speed and maneuverability

of the Jewish fighters wins the day and costs Seron

his life. The Seleucids cling to their slow, ponderous

phalanx as a primary engine of battle, which costs

them dearly. Within weeks, the stalwart Jewish rebels

win another startling victory at the Battle of Emmaus.

MACCABEAN

REVOLT BEGINS

Judea

167 BCE

The ruthless suspension of their freedoms,

particularly to worship as they choose,

sparks the traditional Jewish faction

in Judea to rise against the rule of the

Seleucids and those Jews who favor

continuing Hellenization of their culture.

Inevitably, the unrest precipitates

open revolt under the leadership of

Judah Maccabee, son of a traditional

leader named Mattathias, who has

slain a Hellenistic Jew and fled to the

wilderness with his five sons. Judah

embarks on a campaign of guerrilla

warfare. During the period, the surname

Maccabee, supposedly derived from

the Aramaic word for “hammer,” is

bestowed on the fiery military leader.

BATTLE OF PANIUM

Panium near the Golan Heights

200 BCE

Antiochus III, also known as Antiochus the Great, undertakes

a campaign of conquest during the Fifth Syrian War. At the

head of a Seleucid army, his forces engage an army under the

Egyptian Ptolemaic General Scopus of Aetolia at Paneas, an

ancient shrine to the god Pan near the source of the Jordan River.

The Seleucid forces employ cataphracts, or armored cavalry,

under the command of the Seleucid leader’s son, Antiochus the

Younger, and attack the flanks of the Ptolemaic forces. Driving

the enemy cavalry before them, the cataphracts then turn to

attack the Ptolemaic infantry from behind. The ensuing rout

secures for Antiochus dominion over Palestine and Phoenicia,

and the end of Ptolemaic rule in the Levant. Antiochus III

grants substantial privilege to the Jewish population, and

the formation of the Sanhedrin occurs within three years.

SELEUCID KING

ANTIOCHUS IV

INVADES EGYPT

Egypt

170 BCE

ROMAN-SELEUCID

WAR BEGINS

Central Mediterranean

Asia Minor

192 BCE

BATTLE OF

EMMAUS

Emmaus, West

Of Jerusalem

166 BCE

ROME BEGINS

EXPANSION

INTO EASTERN

MEDITERRANEAN

Central Mediterranean

Basin

230 BCE

ANTIOCHUS

IV PLUNDERS

THE TEMPLE

Jerusalem

169 BCE

Antiochus IV executes a sharp reversal

of the freedoms the Jewish people have

enjoyed under his father, Antiochus III.

A systematic campaign of persecution

and Hellenization of the Jews begins

around 170 BCE, and while the king is

consumed with a military campaign in

Egypt, the deposed high priest Jason

returns to Jerusalem and takes control

of the city, deposing Menelaus, the

high priest installed by Antiochus IV.

When the king returns from Egypt,

he assaults Jerusalem, plunders the

Temple, and restores Menelaus, who

favors continued Hellenization of the

people. Antiochus IV subsequently

outlaws the Jewish religion and all

worship of the god Yahweh, and

orders the worship of the Greek god

Zeus as the supreme deity. Many Jews

are slaughtered during this period of

upheaval, and the city of Jerusalem

is destroyed. Antiochus IV establishes

a military fortress called the Acra.

164 BCE

160 BCE

160 BCE

152 BCE

146BCE

FIRST HANNUKAH

Jerusalem

164 BCE

With the success of the Jewish revolt led by Judah Maccabee

against Seleucid control, the Second Temple in Jerusalem

is reclaimed and rededicated, and Hannukah, derived

from the Hebrew word meaning “to dedicate,” is observed

for the first time. Also known as the Feast of Lights, the

season of Hannukah, beginning on the 25th day of Kislev

according to the Jewish calendar, commemorates the day

the Jews ceased fighting and the miracle of the olive oil

that sustained a burning menorah for eight days although it

appeared that enough oil was present for only a single day.

JONATHAN MACCABEE

BECOMES JUDEAN

RULER

Jerusalem

152 BCE

THIRD PUNIC WAR

ENDS

Carthage

146 BCE

DEATH OF JUDAH MACCABEE

Elasa, Palestine near the modern city of Ramallah

160 BCE

Despite the successes of the Jewish revolt against the Seleucids, the Acra remains in enemy

hands. Meanwhile, Jewish communities are under attack by neighboring Hellenistic cities.

Judah Maccabee and his followers remain at war, while an internal threat from Hellenized Jews

emerges. The Seleucid King Demetrius I dispatches an army under Bacchides to Judea, forcing

Maccabee to abandon Jerusalem and conduct a familiar guerrilla campaign until Bacchides

withdraws to Antioch. Maccabee returns to Jerusalem, only to be threatened by another

Seleucid army under Nicanor, which his forces destroy at Adasa. When he learns of Nacanor’s

defeat, Demetrius I again sends Bacchides to Judea with an army of 20,000 troops. At the

Battle of Elasa, many of Maccabee’s fighters withdraw in the face of overwhelming numerical

superiority. However, Judah and small force stand their ground, and he is killed in battle.

JONATHAN

MACCABEE ASSUMES

LEADERSHIP

JEWISH REVOLT

Emmaus, West Of

Judea

160 BCE

GREECE FALLS TO

ROMAN RULE

Greece

146 BCE

140 BCE

110 BCE

71 BCE

69 BCE

134 BCE

63 BCE

142BCE

67 BCE

HASMONEAN

DYNASTY

ESTABLISHED

Judea

140 BCE

Following the death of Judah Maccabee in

160 BCE, his brothers Jonathan and Simon

continue to lead the Jewish revolt against the

Seleucid Empire and succeed in achieving

a substantial degree of autonomy, which

survives in some form for over a century. The

establishment of the Hasmonean Dynasty is

facilitated by the steady weakening of the

Seleucid Empire, which also contends with

invading Roman and Parthian forces during

the period. Simon leads his people until 135

BCE, when he is assassinated in a plot initiated

by his son-in-law, Ptolemy, a Seleucid puppet

who rules a neighboring region of the empire.

HASMONEAN CIVIL WAR BEGINS

Judea

67 BCE

The Hasmonean Dynasty exists as a regional semiautonomous kingdom within the

Seleucid Empire and reaches the zenith of its influence and power during the reigns

of King Alexander Jannaeus and Queen Salome Alexandra, who rule from about 103

to 67 BCE, as Salome survives her husband for a decade. After the death of Salome, a

simmering rivalry between their two sons, Aristobulus and Hyrcanus, erupts in civil

war. Each is supported by the Sadducees and Pharisees respectively, opposing factions

within the Jewish community, while Aristobulus hires mercenary troops and Hyrcanus

receives support from the Nabataean Kingdom of Arabia. Hyrcanus has reigned as king

only briefly when his brother rises against him, and the civil war proves disastrous for

the Jews. Aristobulus gains the upper hand and

forces Hyrcanus to flee to sanctuary with the

Nabataeans after abdicating the throne.

Both brothers solicit the intervention

of the Roman Empire, attempting to

bribe Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, an

influential political figure in Syria.

Scaurus supports Atistobulus,

who temporarily prevails.

HILLEL THE ELDER,

FAMOUS JEWISH

LEADER, IS BORN

Babylon

110 BCE

POMPEY

INTERVENES

Judea

63 BCE

Pompey The Great, a military and political

leader of the Roman Republic, spends the

early years of the Hasmonean Civil War

campaigning in Armenia and detaches

Marcus Aemilius Scaurus to deal with

the competing appeals of the brothers,

Aristobulus and King Hyrcanus II, vying for

control of their regional kingdom. When

Pompey concludes his Armenian campaign,

he travels to Syria and receives a bribe of

500 gold talents from Aristobulus. However,

he also learns of his illegitimate claim

to the throne and ultimately sides with

Hyrcanus. Pompey moves through Syria

against Aristobulus, forcing the usurper

to take refuge in Jerusalem. Pompey lays

siege to the city and prevails after more

than three months, killing at least 12,000

Jews loyal to Aristobulus. Hyrcanus is

restored to the throne, but much of his

authority is taken away as the Hasmonean

king is obliged to pay tribute to Rome.

CANONIZATION

OF THE

HEBREW BIBLE

Judea

140 BCE

The canonization of the Hebrew Bible

begins, although modern scholars have

yet to achieve consensus on the accuracy

of this date, which falls during the

Hasmonean Dynasty. According to some

scholars the process is completed about a

century later around 40 BCE. The Hebrew

Bible’s 24 books are commonly referred to

as the Tanakh, which is divided into three

sections, Torah, Prophets, and Writings,

not strictly on content but due to the

fact that the groups were concluded at

separate times over a lengthy period. The

earliest canonization is that of the Torah,

which occurs sometime prior to 400 BCE.

JEWS

ALLOWED TO

COIN MONEY

Jerusalem

142 BCE

JEWISH

ISOLATIONISTS

OCCUPY QUMRAN

SETTLEMENT

Qumran, Judea

134

BCE

SPARTACUS

LEADS SLAVE

REVOLT

AGAINST ROME

Italy

71 BCE

BIRTH OF

CLEOPATRA VII

PHILOPATER

Alexandria, Egypt

69 BCE

53 CE

53 CE

40 BCE

43 BCE

43 BCE

BATTLE OF CARRHAE

Carrhae, Upper Mesopotamia

53 BCE

Roman expansion in the Levant is stymied after Marcus

Licinius Crassus, seeking to enhance his own political and

military standing, invades Parthian Mesopotamia without

the consent of the Roman Senate. The ill-advised campaign

leads to disaster as Crassus marches his army of more than

40,000 across miles of desert. On May 6 in the year 53 BCE,

Crassus encounters an army of 10,000 Parthians, mounted

archers, and armored cavalrymen called cataphracts, under

the command of Surena, a Parthian nobleman. The Parthian

archers, expert horsemen and deadly with the bow and

arrow, drive the Roman infantry back into a square formation.

Feigning retreat, they lure the Romans into a trap, sprung

by the cataphracts, who cut down the invaders. Crassus is

invited to a parlay and slain, his army virtually destroyed.

ASSASSINATION OF

ANTIPATER

Judea

43 BCE

Antipater I, also known as Antipater the Idumaean, after his homeland,

ingratiates himself to the Romans and gains nominal power in Judea, where

he is appointed procurator in 47 BCE. After assisting Julius Caesar in Egypt,

Antipater names his sons Herod and Phasaelus governors of Jerusalem

and Galilee. However, his support of the Romans arouses suspicion and

outright resentment among the traditional Jewish population of Judea,

and after the assassination of Julius Caesar, Antipater is compelled to

side with Gaius Cassius Longus in the struggle for power against rival

Mark Antony. Cassius demands troops and tribute from the Judeans, and

Antipater attempts to comply while a conspiracy to assassinate him is

hatched and succeeds when he is poisoned by a bribed cup bearer. In

the intervening years, Antipater has influenced the Hasmonean court and

married Princess Mariamne, paving the way for the Herodian Dynasty.

PARTHIANS

INVADE JUDEA

Judea

40 BCE

Rome is wracked by civil war, and

during this divisive period, the Parthian

army of King Pacorus I invades Judea

as part of a wider offensive war. With

the aid of defecting Roman General

Quintus Labienus, the Parthians capture

Hasmonean King Hyrcanus II. Mark

Antony counterattacks the following

year, and both Pacorus and Labienus

die in battle. To avenge the death of

Crassus, Mark Antony ventures into

Mesopotamia. However, the campaign

is unproductive and the Romans retreat

to the safety of Armenia. A temporary

peace is not concluded until 20 BCE

after Octavian subdues Mark Antony,

ending another Roman civil war.

ROME ANNEXES

SOUTHERN LEVANT

Eastern

Mediterranean,

Palestine

63 BCE

ASSASSINATION OF

JULIUS CAESAR

Rome

44 BCE

27 BCE

20 BCE

37 BCE

31 BCE

HEROD BECOMES KING

Judea

37 BCE

Herod the Great, son of Antipater the Idumaean, rises to the throne of Judea as a

Roman vassal king after overthrowing Antigonus, the last Hasmonean King of Judea in a

three-year war. Herod reigns for approximately 40 years until sometime between 4 BCE

and 1 CE, embarking on an ambitious building program that includes the construction

of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. At the same time, he ruthlessly extinguishes threats

from the dislodged Hasmoneans and others to gain the throne. Herod is remembered

for his suppression of his Jewish subjects and as the Biblical ruler of Judea during the

time of the birth of Jesus Christ. He is vilified in Biblical texts as the instigator of the

Massacre of the Innocents, ordering the deaths of all male children under two years

of age after being told by the Magi that they are seeking the one who is “born King

of the Jews.” Herod’s sons inherit his crown, perpetuating the Herodian Dynasty.

OCTAVIAN

BECOMES

AUGUSTUS

Rome

27 BCE

Octavian, great nephew

and adopted son of Julius

Caesar, becomes Emperor

of Rome, changing his name

to Augustus four years

after the defeat of his rival,

Mark Antony, in the Battle

of Actium. Ruling for 40

years until 14 CE, Augustus

initiates two centuries known

as the Pax Romana; the

empire is free from large-

scale conflicts, although

territorial wars and the

suppression of uprisings

continue. Augustus

is emperor of Rome

during the time of the

birth of Jesus Christ,

extending the taxation

decree that brings Joseph

and Mary to Bethlehem.

OCAVIAN

TRIUMPHS IN

BATTLE OF ACTIUM

Actium, Ionian Sea

31 BCE

HEROD EXTENDS

TEMPLE MOUNT

Jerusalem

20 BCE

Well known for his lavish spending on

numerous construction projects, Herod the

Great begins construction of an extension

of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a portion

of which stands to this day and is known as

the Western Wall. Three Islamic structures,

the Dome of the Rock, Dome of the Chains,

and al-Aqsa Mosque now stand on the site

as well. Herod extends the natural plateau

of a mountain overlooking the Kidron Valley

with four immense retaining walls and the

transport of fill material to level the surface.

He also begins an extensive expansion of the

Second Temple in the hope of gaining favor

with the Jewish people and constructing

a city that has few rivals in its grandeur.

The First Temple had been built by King

Solomon and the second by Zerubbabel.

Hebrew tradition relates that the Third

Temple will be erected on the site as well.

4 BCE

4 BCE

5 BCE

6 BCE

HEROD ORDERS SLAUGHTER

Jerusalem

4 BCE

Reported Biblically only in the Gospel of Matthew, the Massacre of the Innocents is

ordered by Herod to eliminate one of many threats to his throne, this one apparently

posed by a male child aged under two years. The result is the slaughter of an unknown

number of Jewish babies. After receiving the Magi at his court, Herod requests that they

return after finding the child that is “born King of the Jews” and disclose his location and

identity so that Herod “may worship him also.” An angel appears to Joseph in a dream,

warning him to take Mary and the Christ child to safety in Egypt, avoiding the massacre.

JUDEA, SAMARIA,

IDUMEA MERGE TO

CREATE ROMAN JUDEA

The Levant

6 BCE

CAESAR AUGUSTUS

ISSUES TAX DECREE

Rome

6 BCE

BIRTH OF JESUS

Bethlehem, Judea

5 BCE

Although the exact year of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth is unknown, scholars

assert that it occurs sometime between 11 BCE and 4 BCE, probably during

the month of September, since there are Biblical references to shepherds

tending sheep outdoors through the night and the livestock would be

housed indoors during cold winter temperatures. The weather that time of

year also remains favorable for long travel, such as undertaken by Joseph and

Mary. The Gospel of Luke cites the period during which Quirinius, governor

of Syria, mandates a census, and this event is known to occur in 6 CE.

BIRTH OF JOHN

THE BAPTIST

Judea

6 BCE

HEROD’S KINGDOM

DIVIDED

Jerusalem

4 BCE

Although the exact date of Herod The Great’s death

is unknown, his sons inherit his former kingdom

around 4 BCE. Although they remain vassals of the

Roman Empire, the sons each receive a portion

of their father’s former domain. Herod Archelaus

receives Judea, Sumeria, and Edom and rules for

a decade until approximately 6 CE, when he is

banished to Gaul. A second son, Herod Philip I,

receives a region in the northeast and remains

in nominal control until his own death in 34 CE.

The third son, Herod Antipas, becomes ruler of

Galilee and Perea until his exile to Gaul by order of

Roman Emperor Caligula in 39 CE. Herod Antipas

is believed to be the ruler referenced Biblically

during the murder of John The Baptist and the

trial and crucifixion of Jesus. Agrippa I, grandson

of Herod The Great and a friend of Caligula, is

given control of territories formerly belonging to

Herod Philip I and Herod Antipas. His son, Agrippa

II, is the last king of the Herodian Dynasty.

26 CE

6 CE

30 CE

QUIRINIUS CENSUS MANDATE

Syria

6 CE

Direct Roman rule is imposed in Judea under Publius Sulpicius Quirinius,

governor of the province of Syria, approximatley ten years after the death of

Herod The Great. In 6 CE, Quirinius orders a census in conjunction with a tax

to be levied across the Roman Empire under a decree from Caesar Augustus.

Although the Biblical Gospel of Luke dates the census to the time of the birth of

Jesus, it contradicts the historical record, placing the census during the reign of

Herod. Additionally, there is no evidence of a comprehensive census undertaken

during the reign of Augustus, and there is no record of any such event requiring

individuals to travel to ancestral locations. Still, some researchers assert that

Quirinius may have held another office that allowed him to exercise authority that

would require travel related to a census during the timeframe noted by Luke.

PONTIUS PILATE APPOINTED

Jerusalem

26 CE

Appointed during the reign of Emperor Tiberius, Pontius Pilate becomes

the fifth prefect of the Roman province of Judea. The extension of Roman

rule in the eastern region, Pilate is identified as the official who allows an

enflamed mob of Jewish citizens to condemn Jesus to death during the

religious observance of Passover. Although Pilate offers that he finds no

criminal guilt in Jesus, he nevertheless acquiesces to the crowd and hands

the messianic teacher over for crucifixion, symbolically washing his hands

of the situation and hoping to maintain order in the streets of Jerusalem.

Herod Antipas, puppet ruler of Galilee, also pronounces that he finds

Jesus guilty of no crime. Pilate is later removed from office after brutally

suppressing an uprising in Samaria. Returning to Rome, he dies around 36 CE.

CRUCIFIXION

OF JESUS

Jerusalem

30 CE

Arrested in the Garden of

Gethsemane, Jesus is accused of

blasphemy and treason at a trial

before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish

tribunal in Jerusalem. He is then

transferred to Pontius Pilate for

pronouncement of sentence, and

though Pilate finds Jesus guilty of

no crime, the Sanhedrin clamor for

his execution due to unrest and

questioning of the status quo he

has caused. According to Biblical

accounts, Jesus is beaten and made

to wear a crown of thorns as Roman

soldiers mock him, and crowds line

the street as he carries his cross to

the hill of Golgotha, the Place of the

Skull, where he is crucified with two

thieves. The Gospel of Mark states the

execution begins around 9 a.m., and

that at 3 p.m. Jesus dies. The exact

year of the crucifixion is believed to

be somtime between 30 CE and 33 CE.

I

n 323 BCE, Alexander the Great, the

legendary Macedonian-born conqueror of

the known world, died before he could

consolidate his empire. Subsequently,

his generals carved vast territories for

themselves from Alexander’s land. As

masters of the Levant, they followed the

Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians,

each influencing the culture of the ancient

Hebrew people.

Generals Ptolemy and Seleucus Nicator

secured Egypt, and Asia Minor and the

Middle East respectively; however, they

became rivals and fought for control of

the Levant, an area stretching from the

Mediterranean Sea east to Mesopotamia,

and from the Sinai Desert in the south

to the Taurus Mountains in the north.

At the decisive Battle of Panium in 200

BCE, the Seleucid (or Syrian-Greek) army

extinguished Ptolemaic (or Egyptian-Greek)

supremacy in the region.

Greek (Hellenistic) influence on

culture remained pervasive in the eastern

Mediterranean and the Middle East,

including the land of ancient Israel,

primarily Galilee in the north and Judea

in the south. Alexander’s heirs founded

cities and colonies that flourished

economically. Simultaneously, the Hellenistic

philosophical, theological, and social

perspective on the world was propagated. A

pantheon of gods, a flowering of literature,

art, and mathematics, and advances in

architecture and science were accompanied

by a lifestyle that by strict Hebrew

standards was decadent.

For 150 years, the Seleucids controlled a

sprawling empire that included the Levant.

On the fringes of the empire, however,

the Hellenistic hold on society either

began to fray or had never captured the

popular spirit. The interior of the Levant

was particularly insulated as deserts and

other natural barriers made population

centers distant. Small settlements, nomadic

tribesmen, and traditional Hebrew peoples

were largely untouched by the wave of

Hellenistic thought and practice that shaped

much of the Western world.

Faith of the Fathers

The oldest sector of Jerusalem, known as

the City of David, was a small concentration

of life in the Levant, particularly in

comparison to the thriving metropolises of

the Mediterranean coast. While many Jews

embraced Hellenization and at least partially

assimilated into Greek life, there remained

a stalwart group of Jews that defended

traditional faith, the worship of a single

god, Yahweh, and the observance of laws

as recorded in the early writings of Jewish

religious leaders. Despite its diminutive

stature, Jerusalem and the territories of

Judea and Galilee remained largely resistant

to Hellenization.

The traditional Jews recoiled at the

‘excesses’ of Greek society. Hellenes

engaged in behavior that, according to

Jewish law, was at times punishable by

death. Those Jews corrupted by Greek

influence were apostate, Jews in name only.

Conversely, the high priests appealed to

Judea and Galilee, ancient lands of the Hebrew people,

were governed by great powers and hotbeds of political

and religious tumult in the time of Jesus

Levant and

Legacy

WRITTEN BY MICHAEL HASKEW

© Alamy

16

STORY OF JESUS

The Levant plays host to many

important people and events in

the three Abrahamic religions

the nomadic herdsmen and pilgrims who

made the journey to Jerusalem for religious

observances and festivals.

Although relations between the hardline

Jews and the Seleucids were cooperative

at first, the death of King Antiochus

III brought an abrupt end to peaceful

coexistence. By 170 BCE, Antiochus IV

initiated a systematic persecution of those

Jews who resisted Hellenization. The

resulting unrest erupted in open rebellion

as traditional Jewish followers fought the

Seleucids for independence. The defining

moment came around 167 BCE when

Mattathias ben Johanan, from a family of

rural priests in the town of Modi’in, was

asked by the Seleucid representative in his

hometown to perform a sacrifice to the

Greek gods. Mattathias refused and in his

righteous anger killed a Hellenized Jew who

had stepped forward to comply. He also

killed the Seleucid official who requested

the sacrifice.

Judah the Hammer

Mattathias fled to the countryside with his

five sons, and soon a widespread revolt

threatened the mastery of the Seleucids.

Judah Maccabee, one of the sons, became

leader of the insurrection, winning victories

François-Joseph Heim’s

Study for Destruction of

Jerusalem by the Romans is

filled with dramatic action

while employing guerrilla tactics against

the armies sent to suppress the uprising.

The surname “Maccabee” is derived from

the Aramaic word meaning “hammer.” The

revolt continued after Judah’s death at the

Battle of Elasa in 160. His brothers, Jonathan

and Simon, became its leaders, and Simon

is credited with establishing the Hasmonean

dynasty, the first semi-autonomous rule of

the Jewish people in more than 400 years.

By then, the traditional Jewish faith had

matured under foreign rule, solidifying

doctrine with the traditionalists seeking the

return of the Jewish monarchy of old, ruled

from Jerusalem and encompassing territories

once under control of King David and his

son, King Solomon. Hebrew remained as a

literary and legal written language, but the

day-to-day language of the people became

Aramaic. Nevertheless, the Hasmonean

dynasty was plagued by civil war. Infighting

and external threats from surrounding

powers led to an appeal to Rome to

intervene in the continuing unrest. Pompey

the Great, campaigning in Armenia,

dispatched a subordinate to deal with rival

brothers, each claiming the throne. In 63

BCE, Pompey personally brought an army

to Jersualem, laid siege, and took the city.

He even entered the Holy of Holies, thereby

desecrating it. From this moment forward,

the Hasmonean rulers of Judea were held

under Roman authority.

The security of the frontier of the Roman

Empire and the questionable loyalty of

many Jewish people who refused to accept

foreign rule remained problematic as puppet

kings and city-states were established under

indirect Roman supervision. In Judea,

Herod the Great succeeded with his Roman

benefactors in securing the throne against

Parthian enemies. In 37 BCE, Herod was

proclaimed King of Judea, while traditional

Jewish antipathy simmered below the surface

for at least 30 years and among the people,

the concept of the ‘Messiah’—a deliverer

that would free them from oppression—

became a popular theme. The idea gained

further support following the death of Herod

in 4 BCE, the imposition of direct Roman

rule, and the annexation of much of the

Levant into the Roman province of Judea.

The Birth of Jesus

Amid Roman hegemony and the polarization

of the Jewish people from those who

accepted assimilation into the Roman way of

“In 37 BCE, Herod was proclaimed King of Judea, while

traditional Jewish antipathy simmered below the surface”

18

STORY OF JESUS

This artist’s rendering depicts

Solomon’s reconstruction of the

Temple in Jerusalem based on

information from Bible texts

life and those that steadfastly refused to bow

to the authority of Caesar, the birth of Jesus

was quite probably an event that went largely

unnoticed. Biblical accounts of an angelic

host and the Magi that journeyed to visit

the child are harbingers of the tremendous

influence the adult Jesus would exert during

a brief ministry on Earth that is believed to

have lasted no more than three years.

According to the Gospel of Luke, it

was customary for the Jews to congregate

in Jerusalem for the observance of the

Passover celebration. When Jesus was just

12 years old, he was separated from his

parents, Mary and Joseph, who believed he

was with them but traveling homeward in

company with friends and relatives. After

traveling for a day, the parents were unable

to locate their son. They quickly returned

to Jerusalem and searched for three days

before finding him among the rabbis in

the Temple. Mary naturally expressed her

concern, but young Jesus replied that the

parents should have known that he could be

found in his “Father’s house.”

Luke relates that Mary paused to consider

the implications of her son’s wisdom, which

had astonished the Temple elders, and Jesus

grew in both “wisdom and in stature and

in favor with God and man.” From that

time, virtually nothing is known of the life

of Jesus until the beginning of his ministry

approximately 18 years later. The accounts

of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and

John, however, are apparently not intended

as standard biographical texts. Rather, they

are allegorical in nature, written to encourage

a deepening faith in the Messiah, brought

to Earth by God through immaculate

conception, born to a virgin and a carpenter,

the true Son of the Most High, whose

mission was to atone for the sins of mankind

and reconcile them with their Creator.

Mission and Fulfillment

At about the age of 30, Jesus is believed

to have undertaken his Earthly ministry.

While John the Baptist is preaching in the

wilderness, Jesus comes to the banks of the

River Jordan near Bethabara, where he is

baptized by John. Born in Judea and reared

in Galilee in the town of Nazareth, Jesus

walks into the Judean desert and faces the

temptations of the devil before beginning an

itinerant ministry. He preaches at Capernaum

on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee,

and the town becomes a center of activity

for Jesus as he calls the first five of his 12

disciples, including the fisherman brothers,

Peter and Andrew, and Philip, all three of

whom hailed from the village of Bethsaida.

At a wedding in Cana of Galilee, Jesus

turns water into wine, his first recorded

miracle. His travels take him to Jerusalem in

Judea, likely for the observance of Passover,

and then into Samaria, where he encounters

the Samaritan woman at the well in the

village of Sychar. While in Cana, he heals

the son of a royal official who lies near

death in Capernaum. Jesus preaches in his

hometown of Nazareth, and the people reject

him, threatening to throw him from a cliff.

Jesus reportedly heals many people. At

Capernaum, he restores a raving madman

in the synagogue and dispels a fever from

Peter’s own mother-in-law. Returning to

Jerusalem, he heals a crippled man at

the Pool of Bethesda. Walking again to

Capernaum, he heals the daughter of a

Roman centurion’s servant and soon calms

the stormy Sea of Galilee as the disciples

Jewish Revolts

Against Rome

In time, the Jewish people rebelled forcefully against

Roman rule. The first revolt, known to history as

the Great Revolt, occurred from 66-73 CE, about 30

years after the crucifixion of Jesus. The imposition

of taxes by the Romans incited the unrest, adding

to an oppressive rule in Judea that had continually

intensified for years. In response, the Zealots, a

faction of militant Jews that sanctioned whatever

means possible to end Roman rule, emerged. The

Jews further refused to deify Emperor Caligula

(Gaius Caesar), and when the last Roman procurator,

Flavius, confiscated a large cache

of silver from the

Temple in Jerusalem in 66 CE, violence erupted.

Following an inconclusive victory over the

small Roman garrison in Jerusalem, the rebels

were confronted with an overwhelming force of

at least 60,000 well-trained Roman soldiers. The

rebellion was ruthlessly crushed by the Roman

forces, particularly in northern Galilee, a hotbed of

unrest. As many as a million Jews were killed in the

conflict, and in 70 CE the Romans sacked Jerusalem

and destroyed the Temple. Sixty years later, the Bar

Kokhba revolt was also suppressed. These revolts

were the most calamitous events in Jewish history

prior to the Holocaust. Two millennia of exile and

the absence of a Jewish political voice in Israel

persisted until the founding of the modern Jewish

state in 1948.

■

In this 14th century illustration,

Roman forces breach the walls

of Jerusalem and destroy the

Temple during the Great Revolt

“By 170 BCE, Antiochus IV initiated

a systematic persecution of those

Jews who resisted Hellenization”

© Alamy

19

Levant and Legacy

Jesus greets his prospective disciples at

the Sea of Galilee during their miraculous

catch of fish after following his directive

huddle aboard a small boat in the midst

of the gale. On the northwestern shore,

probably near the village of Tabgha, he

delivers the Sermon on the Mount. At

Bethsaida, he performs the miracle of the

loaves and fishes, feeding a throng of 5,000

with only the food a small boy has brought

to the gathering. The disciples board a boat

to return across the Sea of Galilee, and

Jesus walks on the water to meet them.

Jesus then ventures into Phoenicia and

visits the area of Sidon and Tyre along the

eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

Traveling through Galilee, he continues

healing in the region of the Decapolis and

miraculously feeds 4,000 people who have