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Jesus
Table of Contents
Jesus

 * Introduction
   
 * 
   Name and title
   
 * 
   Summary of Jesus’ life
   
 * Jewish Palestine at the time of Jesus
    * The political situation
   
    * Relations between Jewish areas and nearby Gentile areas
   
    * Economic conditions
   
    * The Jewish religion in the 1st century

 * 
   Sources for the life of Jesus
   
 * 
   The context of Jesus’ career
   
 * Main aspects of Jesus’ teaching
    * The kingdom of God
   
    * Inclusion in the kingdom
   
    * The relation of Jesus’ teaching to the Jewish law
   
    * Ethics

 * 
   Miracles
   
 * Controversy and danger in Galilee
    * Crowds and autonomy
   
    * Scribes and Pharisees

 * 
   Jesus’ last week
   
 * 
   The Resurrection
   
 * The picture of Christ in the early church: The Apostles’ Creed
    * Preexistence
      * Jesus Christ
      * God’s only Son
      * The Lord
   
    * Incarnation and humiliation
      * Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary
      * Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried
      * He descended into hell
   
    * Glorification
      * The third day he rose again from the dead
      * He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father
        almighty
      * From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead

 * The dogma of Christ in the ancient councils
    * The Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople
      * Early heresies
      * Nicaea
      * Constantinople
   
    * The Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon
      * The parties
      * The settlement at Chalcedon

 * The interpretation of Christ in Western faith and thought
    * Doctrines of the person and work of Christ
      * The medieval development
      * The Reformation and classical Protestantism
   
    * The debate over Christology in modern Christian thought
      * Origins of the debate
      * The 19th century
      * The 20th century and beyond

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JESUS

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Alternate titles: ʿIsā, ʿIsā ibn Maryam, Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus of Galilee,
Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus son of Joseph, Jesus the Nazarene
By E.P. Sanders See All • Last Updated: Aug 13, 2022 • Edit History

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Table of Contents
Jesus
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Born: c.6 BCE Bethlehem ...(Show more) Died: c.30 Jerusalem Israel ...(Show
more) Notable Family Members: mother Mary ...(Show more)
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Summary


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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


Holy Family

“Tree of Jesse”

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.



Abraham Bloemaert: The Preaching of St. John the Baptist

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


THE POLITICAL SITUATION


Palestine: Roman era

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.



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External Websites
 * JewishEncyclopedia.com - Jesus of Nazareth
 * Jewish Virtual Library - Jesus
 * World History Encyclopedia - Jesus Christ

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Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
 * Jesus Christ - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
 * Jesus Christ - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

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 * Table Of Contents
 * Introduction
 * Name and title
 * Summary of Jesus’ life
 * Jewish Palestine at the time of Jesus
 * Sources for the life of Jesus
 * The context of Jesus’ career
 * Main aspects of Jesus’ teaching
 * Miracles
 * Controversy and danger in Galilee
 * Jesus’ last week
 * The Resurrection
 * The picture of Christ in the early church: The Apostles’ Creed
 * The dogma of Christ in the ancient councils
 * The interpretation of Christ in Western faith and thought

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MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style
Sanders, E.P. and Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan. "Jesus". Encyclopedia Britannica, 13
Aug. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jesus. Accessed 5 October 2022.
Copy Citation
External Websites
 * JewishEncyclopedia.com - Jesus of Nazareth
 * Jewish Virtual Library - Jesus
 * World History Encyclopedia - Jesus Christ

Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
 * Jesus Christ - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
 * Jesus Christ - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)


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