Historical Jesus
This paper is an analysis and a reconstruction of Jesus the man, to meditate on the human life of Jesus Christ. History shows he was a real person and this essay will examine the important aspects of the historical Jesus of Nazareth as the disciples knew him and understood him. So fundamentally looking at Jesus as an actual person who lived his life in Palestine, stating the historical situation and the different religious groups of the time. This essay will also underline the beliefs of Jesus, the person he claimed to be and the reason behind his actions and thoughts. Providing a historical core of facts and the important events of his life up until his scandalous death will produce a portrait of Jesus in the Jewish society of his time.
The land that Jesus carried out his mission was called Palestine, which is now part of the modern state of Israel. Rome was a city state then, ruling large tracts of land around the Mediterranean Sea, including Palestine. The Herod family that ruled Palestine during Jesus' lifetime was from Idumea, a southern province in Palestine. At the time of the birth of Jesus Palestine was ruled by the Roman vassal king Herod the Great, who in fact attempted to kill Jesus when he knew of his existence (Aulen, G.1973).
To write about Jesus’ life and the historical events that took place in his time can prove to be a difficult as the gospels that were composed were more of as collection of writings that occurred independently from one another rather than a simple chronological biography of Jesus. In this sense, it would be impossible to produce a biography of Jesus; nevertheless this does not prevent the possibility of reconstructing, through historical facts, the outlines of the personality of Jesus or a general ...