Traveling Preacher, Founder of Religion, Messiah

With Jesus of Nazareth a new era in human history began. And although the gospels are primarily religious writings, and not books of history, nevertheless, researchers today still find important evidence of the life of Jesus Christ there.

Outside of Galilee and Judea during his lifetime, practically no one knew anything about this traveling preacher, who proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God and suffered martyrdom on the cross. And yet, nowhere and never has there been another person who would have had such a powerful and decisive influence on the course of world history.

He himself did not leave a single written word, but numerous writings appeared decades and even centuries after his death. They told how Jesus lived and worked, how he died and how he was then resurrected. Four of these “good news” have been recognized as canonical by the Catholic and Orthodox churches: the gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. They are not historical works in the modern sense and are replete with stories of miracles and mythical motifs. And therefore, scientists are still occupied with the question: who was the historical Jesus really?

No nursery, no infanticide?

In the past, some meticulous researchers doubted whether the Nazarene even lived in this world. “From a historical point of view, these are highly improbable conclusions,” condemns theologian Jens Schröter of Humboldt University in Berlin. After all, the gospels contain so many plausible details from the life of Christ! In addition, there are non-Christian sources, such as the Jewish author Josephus or the Roman Tacitus.

Archaeologist Dieter Viehweger from the University of Wuppertal, Germany, who regularly participates in excavations in the Holy Land, is of the same opinion: “Although there is not a single indisputable archaeological proof of the existence of Jesus, the traditions are so clear and powerful that there cannot be any basis on reasonable grounds.” doubts".

Jesus supposedly came to this world in 4 BC. This is the year of the death of Herod the Great, who ruled in what was then Israel as an ally of Rome. The king must have still been alive at the time of the birth of Jesus, as the evangelists Matthew and Luke tell about it. However, what they tell directly about this event rather belongs to the realm of legends. Most likely, the stories about the manger at Bethlehem, about infanticide and about the wise men from the East are mostly fiction. It is most likely that Jesus was born in Nazareth and there, as the gospels echo each other, he grew up.

We don't know what Jesus looked like

We still have no idea what Jesus Christ looked like. There is not a word in the gospels about his appearance.

“This is not unusual for this type of narrative, and the Old Testament also does not say anything about the appearance of the prophet,” explains Schröter. And no drawings can answer this question, since the Jews were forbidden to depict the image of God. It was only centuries after the death of Jesus that the first picturesque depictions of his appearance began to appear in European communities.

The famous Shroud of Turin could give an accurate idea of ​​what Jesus Christ really looked like, but, alas, there is still no one hundred percent guarantee of its authenticity.

From artisan to traveling preacher

We also have no information about the childhood of Christ. The story Luke tells about the twelve-year-old boy in the temple is most likely a legend. But we can safely assume that Jesus had many younger brothers and sisters - they are mentioned not only in the gospels, but also in the Acts of the Apostles and in the letters of Paul.

Jesus spoke, obviously, in the Aramaic dialect, common at that time in Galilee. We do not know whether he spoke other languages, such as Greek.

As the first son, Jesus was most likely preparing to learn his father's profession. This was the custom in Palestine at that time. Therefore, he had to become, like his father Joseph, a “tekton,” which, according to Greek concepts, meant a craftsman-builder who could work with wood, stone, and other materials. So he was by no means a “carpenter,” as Christian tradition insists.

“Jesus’ family was in some way part of the ‘middle class’, although of course such a concept did not exist in ancient times,” says the scientist from the Humboldt University of Berlin. Much the same as his students - fishermen Peter and Andrey. In any case, they were not unambiguously poor “proletarians”. “Therefore, it is completely wrong to connect the teachings of Christ with any social revolution,” the Berlin theologian is sure.

Conflicts with family

However, Jesus rejected the life path planned for him, according to which he was to inherit his father’s profession, start a family and take care of relatives. And it is quite clear that this could lead to a serious conflict in the family. The Bible mentions that Jesus' relatives declared him crazy, and the people of Nazareth even threatened to take his life.

It is obvious that John the Baptist played a critical role in the development of Christ. All the gospels begin by talking about him, which is very significant. And from there it is clear that Jesus valued John very highly. The preacher from the desert, who baptized people in the Jordan to cleanse them of their sins, was probably a teacher and mentor for the Nazarene.

The only specific date mentioned in the Gospels is also associated with the name of John. He began to baptize in the 15th year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, as Luke relates. This should have been either the 28th or 29th year according to the Christian calendar. And soon Jesus left his mentor to go on wanderings and bring the good news to people. From these events until his death in Jerusalem, the gospels describe everything in great detail, although not always in chronological order: how Jesus gathered disciples around him, how he healed the sick and performed miracles, and how he made a vivid impression on the crowds with his sermons people.

Paving the way to the Kingdom of God

Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom of God is near, and it will be here on Earth, now, and not after the apocalyptic destruction of the world. He saw himself as a pioneer, allowing people to know God's presence and bringing them salvation. And the fact that Jesus, in the then patriarchal society, addressed equally both women and marginalized people such as the poor, the sick and the outcast, put him under the attack of harsh criticism, as the gospels tell. From a historical point of view, all this looks extremely reliable and realistic.

Deadly dispute on the Temple Mount

Apparently, in the year 30, Jesus came into direct conflict with the Jewish religious elite, with the Sadducees and with the Jewish Sanhedrin right on the temple grounds. In the courtyard of the sanctuary, he overturned the tables of merchants and money changers and, using a rope whip, drove them out of the temple grounds.

All four gospels recount the incident, which in itself demonstrates the importance of the event. However, scientists suggest that it was actually not as dramatic as the sacred texts say. Otherwise, the Roman troops, who were watching the temple square from the Antonia fortress, would certainly have intervened. And yet, in front of the temple, without a doubt, something happened that later led to the execution of Jesus.

Historically, it seems quite justified that after the arrest of Jesus, Jesus was interrogated by the Jewish Sanhedrin. Especially plausible are the words of the High Priest Kaifa, reminiscent of calculations, that it is better for one to die for the people than for all to die. And in fact, there was a very real danger that the Romans, at the slightest disturbance, were capable of causing a bloody massacre, as had happened more than once.

Torture and death route

Since it was the prerogative of the Roman occupiers to sentence anyone to death, the Jewish authorities had to bring Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of the province of Judea. The gospels describe this very accurately. However, when it came to describing the trial against Jesus and the verdict itself, a certain bias began to appear in the texts. Allegedly, Pilate found the defendant innocent and tried to free him, but the Jewish priests and the Jewish people forced him to sentence Jesus to death. This fact clearly contradicts historical information, according to which Pilate was a corrupt, ruthless and cruel tyrant who, without the slightest doubt, sent people to their deaths.

Tied to the cross, but not nailed

Subsequent events could well have occurred as they are described in the gospels: Roman soldiers scourged Jesus, forced him to carry the cross beam to the place of execution, stripped him there and crucified him. Mark, Matthew and Luke do not say that he was nailed to the cross. Only John mentions the wounds of the nails to fulfill a prophecy in the Old Testament. It was predicted there that the Messiah would have his hands and feet pierced. However, most likely, the executioners simply tied Jesus' hands to the crossbar of the cross so that he would die painfully on it - a common practice of the Romans during crucifixions.

And today believers flock to "Via Dolorosa", the street in the old part of Jerusalem along which Jesus allegedly walked painfully to the place of his execution. In reality, the condemned man had to take a different road.

“Later, the Antonia fortress was mistakenly mistaken for the palace of the governor,” explains Dieter Viehweger, an archaeologist from the University of Wuppertal. “And then, in full accordance with these ideas, Christians living in Jerusalem in the fourth century reconstructed the path to Golgotha. However, the Jerusalem of the time of Jesus lay to the south and Since then it has been mired in rubbish heaps."

Several decades ago, archaeologists unearthed the real palace of Pontius Pilate.

“And it turns out that Jesus had to approach the place of his execution not from the northeast, but from the southwest,” says the German archaeologist. So it is no longer possible to restore the Savior’s true way of the cross today.

Resurrection from the Dead

With a very high degree of probability, it can be argued that the Calvary Rock, whose remains are today in the Jerusalem Church of the Holy Sepulcher, is the true site of the crucifixion of Jesus, says archaeologist Dieter Viehweger. Traditions conveyed information about this place very accurately, and Constantine already ordered the construction of a church there.

“However, it is not entirely clear whether the now revered burial is exactly the place where Joseph laid the body of Jesus,” the archaeologist doubts. “The early Christians were not particularly interested in this place, because they expected the Savior to return soon, and therefore did not create any religious buildings there. And It was only when in the fourth century builders were digging the ground for the Church of Constantine that they accidentally came across a grave in the rock, which has since become known as the biblical burial place of Jesus Christ.”

What then happened to the body of Jesus? As is known from the writings of the evangelists, when the women rolled away the stone from the entrance, they found the tomb empty. Jesus' disciples and other followers were convinced that the recently crucified teacher had risen from the dead. For Christian churches, the resurrection of Christ is the main thing in their beliefs, and yet Judaism and Islam do not believe in this amazing event.

In any case, death did not stop the influence of Jesus Christ

It turns out that it's all about the degree of faith? “I find it absolutely incredible that the evangelists simply invented the entire appearance and deeds of the crucified teacher, or that we are talking about a psychological phenomenon, and all this was just a figment of the imagination of his apostles,” the theologian from Berlin is sure. The descriptions are too detailed, the actions of the people involved in the events were too startling, unrealistic and often discouraging. It seems that a variety of people constantly acquired the same experience of realizing that the influence of Jesus does not cease, but that everything continues to manifest itself in some new ways,” the scientist believes.

One thing is undeniable: the man from Nazareth, who lived 2,000 years ago, still influences the course of world history.

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