Jesus: A Biography From a Believer. (19 page)

Beneath the rulers were the contrasting worlds of the rich and the poor: men feasted unconcernedly while most did without and a few starved. The Gospels paint this panorama in vivid shades. There was a great deal of charity, institutional and personal; much of it was quite ineffective and hopeless: “The poor always ye have with you.” Cripples were ubiquitous. The destitute begged. Pious men took high seats in the synagogue or stood in the streets praying aloud. The Gospels tell it all. They show the activity of the good amid the prevailing indifference: rough men like Peter who were willing to leave their jobs to work, unpaid, with just their keep, for the common cause. And there were the women—the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, Martha, Susanna, Joanna, and many others who were decent and generous, like the widow with her mites, or trusting and long-suffering, like the crone with “an issue of blood.” Most of them were poor, a few wealthy; some, like Pilate’s wife, superstitious and yearning for spiritual help, we hear of only offstage. We find women in every chapter of the Gospels, almost on every page: the human pulse of emotion, the conduit of love. Their presence compensates for the cruelty, the sneers, the insensitivity, and the roughness we also find on almost every page.

Amid all this teeming humanity is the gregarious, friendly figure of Jesus: always there, teaching, listening, sometimes just chatting at a well or when dining or supping with people of all kinds. Occasionally he was stern. Once or twice he showed righteous anger. But he was usually soft-spoken and genial; images from the fields and groves, or from animal life, were always on his lips. He was a fascinating, irresistible figure, radiating love, benevolent, forgiving, talking always of mercy, smiling often. He was a serious man nonetheless, one who spoke with authority; a man to respect, obey, follow; a man who seemed to, perhaps occasionally really did, emanate light—one of his favorite words—and dispel the dark side of life. He was clearly a man who, despite his meekness, challenged official authority, especially that of those who dealt in spiritual matters. So they had him watched. Always, at his elbow, were agents, spies, informers, and provokers, committing his words to memory so that they could be twisted when used in court. He was a man rarely alone. But when he was solitary, he prayed, kneeling. He prayed often, even on the cross: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

Jesus lived in a cruel, unthinking world, and his life and death formed an eloquent protest against it. He offered an alternative: not an outward life of revolution and reform but an inner life of humility and love, of generosity and mercy, of forgiveness and hope. We live in a cruel world, too, one just as unthinking, though teeming with knowledge, universities, communications, expertise. So Jesus’s alternative is still relevant: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” If Jesus were to appear again today, we can be sure not only that he would find countless followers but equally that he would be persecuted and killed. The Christianity he bequeathed has not been tried and failed. As G. K. Chesterton once wrote, it has been found difficult and left untried. But it remains at our disposal. Its message, at its simplest, is: do as Jesus did. That is why his biography, in our terrifying twenty-first century, is so important. We must study it, and learn.

On the historicity of Jesus, the two most valuable books are E. P. Sanders,
The Historical Figure of Jesus
(London, 1994); and Robert Geis,
The Christ from Death Arisen
(Lanham, Md., 2008). For the Gospels, see Andrew Lincoln,
The Gospel According to St. John
(London, 2005); Ulrich Luz,
Matthew,
3 vols. (Minneapolis, 1989-2005); John Nolland,
The Gospel of Matthew
(Grand Rapids, 2005); Joel B. Green,
The Gospel of Luke
(Grand Rapids, 1997); Joel Marcus,
Mark 1-8
and
Mark 8-16
(New York, 1999); and John R. Donahue and Daniel J. Harrington,
The Gospel of Mark
(Collegeville, Minn., 2002). Among good recent books are Richard Bauckham,
Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony
(Grand Rapids, 2006); Gerald O’Collins,
Jesus: A Portrait
(London, 2008); and Pope Benedict XVI,
Jesus of Nazareth
(trans., London, 2007). For background I have used Walter A. Elwell, ed.,
Encyclopaedia of the Bible,
2 vols. (London, 1988); and James Hastings et al.,
A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels,
2 vols. (Edinburgh, 1906), which, though old, is very full and useful.

Acts of the Apostles

adultery

Aeneas

Agony

Akeldama

Andrew, Saint

angels

Anna

Annas

Annunciation

anointing

Antioch

Antonia fortress

Antony, Mark

“apostolic succession”

Aramaic language

Archelaus

Aristotle

art and architecture

Ascension

astrology

Augustine, Saint

Augustus, emperor of Rome

baptism

Barabbas

Barnabas

Bartholomew, Saint

Beatitudes

Beelzebub

Benedictus

Bethany

Bethesda

Bethlehem

Bethsaida

Bible
see also
New Testament; Old Testament

blasphemy

blindness

bread

Caesar, Julius

Caesarea

Caiaphas

Calvary

Cana, wedding at

Canaanites

Capernaum

Caravaggio

Carlyle, Thomas

catacombs

celibacy

census

centurions

charity

Chesterton, G. K.

children

Christianity:

art and architecture of

conversion to

growth of

historical evaluation of

influence of

Judaism compared with

moral values of

origins of

persecution of

prayer in

priesthood of

reformation of

social impact of

women in

circumcision

Cleophas

commandments

Communion

constitutional arrangements

Contarelli Chapel

conversions, religious

Corinthians, Epistles to the

cripples

cross

crown of thorns

Crucifixion

Cyrenius

Damascus

Darwin, Charles

David

dead, raising of the

Dead Sea Scrolls

Decalogue

Decapolis

Deuteronomy, Book of

devils

divorce

dogma, religious

Dorcas

Doria Pamphilj Gallery

“Doubting Thomas”

Ecclesiasticus, Book of

economic issues

Egypt

elders

Elias

Eliseus

Elizabeth

Emmaus

Enlightenment

Epistles of St. Paul

equality

Essenes

Euripides

evangelists

evil

exorcisms

faith

families

feet-washing

fishermen

forgiveness

free will

Gabbatha

Gabriel

Galilee

Gamaliel the Elder

Garden of Gethsemane

Gaul

Gaza

Gentiles

Gergesa

Gloria in Excelsis

God:

as creator

as Father

Jesus as Son of

justice of

Kingdom of

love of

mercy of

as omniscient and omnipresent

tripartite nature of

will of

worship of

as Yahweh

Golgotha

Good Samaritan

Good Shepherd

Gospels
see also specific gospels

government

grace

Great Commandment

Greece

Greek language and literature

Haydn, Joseph

healing of sick

Hebrew language and literature

Hebrews

heresy

Herod Antipas

Herodias

Herod the Great

hierarchies, social

high priests

Hillel

Hinnom Valley

Holy Family

Holy Spirit

Homer

Horace

idolatry

innocence

Iran

Isaiah, Book of

Israel

Jacob

Jairus

James, Saint

James, Saint (son of Alphaeus)

Jericho

Jerusalem

Jesus Christ:

Agony of

anointing of

apostles of ;
see also specific apostles

arrest of

artistic images of

Ascension of

authority of

baptism of

Bethlehem as birthplace of

betrayal of

biographies of

birth of

blasphemy charge against

body of

as carpenter

childhood of

children favored by

circumcision of

commandments of

compassion of

cross of

crowds attracted by

crown of thorns of

Crucifixion of

dead raised by

death of

death sentence for

as descendent of David

divine nature of

dogma opposed by

economic and social issues as viewed by

education of

elderly respected by

enemies of

epiphany of

existence of

exorcisms by

faith in

family of

feet-washing by

fishermen summoned by

forgiveness by

gaze of

Gentile followers of

as Good Shepherd

high places visited by

humanism of

human nature of

imagery used by

imitation of

immaculate conception of

Incarnation of

Jerusalem entered by

as Jew

Jewish followers of

Kingdom of God described by

as king of the Jews

as Lamb of God

Last Supper of

light-and-darkness imagery of

as Logos

love preached by

menial work done by

as Messiah

metaphors and similes used by

ministry or mission of

miracles of

missing years of

name of

natural phenomenon altered by

Nazareth as residence of

parables of

Passion of

personality of

physical appearance of

praying by

prophesies about

as prophet

questions asked by

religious authority questioned by

Resurrection of

as revolutionary

robe given to

sacrifice of

salvation offered by

as Savior and Redeemer

sayings of

Scourging of

“seven last words” of

sick healed by

signs given by

silences of

sins absolved by

sociability of

as Son of God

as Son of Man

spear wound of

teachings of

tomb of

Transfiguration of

travels of

trials of

truths espoused by

universalism of

in wilderness

wisdom of

witnesses against

women as followers of

Jewish Antiquities
(Josephus)

Jews:

culture of

education of

feast days of

as followers of Jesus

Gentiles compared with

Jesus as king of

orthodox

political leadership of
see also
Judaism

Joanna

Job, Book of

John, Gospel of

John, Saint

John the Baptist, Saint

Jordan River

Joseph

Joseph of Arimathaea

Josephus

Judaea

Judah

Judaism:

authority of

Christianity compared with

commentaries on

elders of

laws of

moral values of

Mosaic

reformation of

teachings of
see also
Jews

Judas Iscariot

Jude, Saint

justice

Justin Martyr

King James Version

Lamb of God

Last Supper

Latin language and literature

Lazarus (beggar)

Lazarus, resurrection of

legalism

Levites

Leviticus, Book of

Livy

loaves and fishes, miracle of

Logos

Lord’s Prayer

love

Luke, Gospel of

Luke, Saint

Maccabees

Magnificat

Mark, Gospel of

marriage

Martha

martyrs