Who was Jesus? (1)

Adapted from Kamal Salibi's book Who was Jesus?

 Most scholars today agree that the Gospels cannot be regarded strictly as history; not as many may be prepared to admit how little history they actually contain. Written probably between about AD 70 and 100, the four canonical Gospels have been attributed by Christian tradition to four apostles: two of them (Matthew and John) companions of Jesus; the other two (Mark and Luke) companions of Paul.

Paul, whose writings are older than the oldest known Gospels, did not believe all the stories about Jesus circulated in his time by the apostles in Jerusalem. To him, some of these stories were mere legend' with no more historical truth than the false reports circulated about Paul himself by these same apostles. Considering that the Gospels, at least in part, probably repeat what the Jerusalem apostles had originally taught about the person and mission of Jesus, it is highly unlikely that Paul would have fully endorsed the truth of their contents. For example, while he did agree with all four Gospels that Jesus was a descendant of David, it is clear that he rejected the accuracy of the various genealogies – among them, no doubt, the two conflicting ones that ultimately found their way into the texts of Matthew and Luke. Yet Paul, in his own writings, said very little about Jesus as a human being. For information about the man in the Christian scriptures, we have mainly the Gospels to go by. Because they frequently speak of general political events in connection with the life and career of Jesus (what are technically called 'synchronisms'), the canonical Gospels give the impression that their authors had done their historical homework and knew exactly what they were talking about. Upon closer scrutiny, however, this turns out to be largely incorrect. Scholars today commonly concede that the Gospels were written to prove that the historical Jesus was in fact the expected Israelite Messiah, or Christ, rather than provide an accurate biography. It is for this reason that they are replete with references to prophecies from the Israelite scriptures - what Christians call the Old Testament.

For example, while he did agree with all four Gospels that Jesus was a descendant of David, it is clear that he rejected the accuracy of the various genealogies – among them, no doubt, the two conflicting ones that ultimately found their way into the texts of Matthew and Luke. Yet Paul, in his own writings, said very little about Jesus as a human being.

To appreciate the real extent to which the Gospel material is in fact exegetical elaboration of Old Testament material, let us consider the example of the Christmas story as told in Matthew. This Gospel explains that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married, she discovered that she was with child by the Holy Spirit. Matthew immediately adds: 'Now all this happened in order to make what the L Who was Jesus? (2)

To appreciate the real extent to which the Gospel material is in fact exegetical elaboration of Old Testament material, let us consider the example of the Christmas story as told in Matthew. This Gospel explains that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was engaged to Joseph, but before they w ord had said through the prophet Isaiah come true, "a virgin will become pregnant and have a son . . ." ' (1:22–3, referring to Isaiah 7:14). Matthew next explains that Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, 'For this is what the prophet wrote: "Bethlehem in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least of the cities of Judah; for from you will come a leader who will guide my people Israel" '

When King Herod of Judea heard that the Magi were asking where the baby was born who was destined to be the 'king of the Jews', he ordered the killing of all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighbourhood who were two years old or younger (Matthew 2:16). King Herod of Judea (37 BC –AD 4), as is well known, was an important historical figure in early Roman Palestine, but the available records do not indicate that he ever ordered a massacre of all the male infants of the Bethlehem district. However, after relating this episode in his Christmas story, Matthew stops to point out that: 'In this way what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true: "A sound is heard in Ramah, the sound of bitter weeping. Rachel is crying for her children; she refuses to be comforted, for they are dead" ' (2:17–18, quoting Jeremiah 31:15). Rachel, it must be explained here, is spoken of in the Old Testament as a wife of Jacob, the common ancestor claimed for the Israelite tribes, and she reportedly died in the vicinity of Bethlehem and was buried there (Genesis 35:19). Matthew next says that Joseph, to keep Jesus safe from the massacre ordered by Herod, took the baby and his mother to Egypt, then brought them back after Herod was dead – all this 'to make what the Lord had said through the prophet come true, "I called my son out of Egypt.

Jesus is referred to in Mark (6:3) as 'the carpenter' (Greek tekton), and in Matthew (13:55) as 'the carpenter's son'. This could mean that Jesus actually came from a family which traditionally practised carpentry. On the other hand, it may simply indicate that the surname of Jesus was the Aramaic Bar Nagara, meaning 'Son of the Carpenter'. In Semitic surnames (as in modern Arabic ones) the part of the appellation indicating descent or flliality (in Aramaic Bar, meaning 'son of) can be maintained or dropped. Hence, the surname of Jesus could have been indicated either as Bar Nagara (i.e. 'Son of the Carpenter'), or more simply as Nagara (i.e. 'the Carpenter'). 2 The father of Jesus was called Joseph. On this point all four Gospels agree (Matthew l:16ff.; 2:13ff.; Luke 1:27; 2:4ff.; 3:23; John 1:45; 6:42). It is not certain that the mother of the historical Jesus was called Mary. While Matthew, Mark and Luke identify her by this name, but say nothing about her immediate family, John seems to make a point of leaving her unnamed (2:1, 3, 5, 12; 6:42; 19:25, 26), but speaks of her in one instance as attending her son's crucifixion accompanied by a sister (Greek adelphe ) called Mary, identified as Mary the wife of Clopas (19:25). The mother of Jesus could not have been called Mary if she really did have a sister by the same name. Faced with this problem, Christian tradition has assumed that the two women were half sisters by the same mother but by different fathers, although there is nothing in the Gospels to support this assumption. 3 Jesus had four brothers called James, Simon, Joses and Judas, and more than one sister (Matthew 13:55;* Mark 6:3). 4 He began to attract public attention shortly after the reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius (i.e. AD 28 or 29, Luke 3:1), when he was about 30 years old (Luke 3:23); when Herod Antipas was tetrarch of Galilee (4 BC–AD 39, Matthew 14:lff.; Mark 6:14ff; Luke 3:lff.); and when Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judea (AD 26–36, Luke 3:1). Of this information, the reported age of Jesus is the only one that raises a question, because it seems to plead for two Old Testament parallels: first, the reported age of the Old Testament Joseph when he entered the service of Pharaoh (Genesis 41:46); second, the age of David when he first began to reign as king (2 Samuel 5:4). 5 Jesus had disciples and friends (men and women) whose names are cited in the Gospels, though not always with consistency (see below). 6 He led a disturbance in the Jerusalem temple, after which he was tried in the presence of Pontius Pilate and put to death on the eve of the Jewish passover (Matthew 27:2ff; Mark 15:lff.; Luke 23:lff.), or the day before (John 18:29ff.). Here, one may doubt that the crucifixion of Jesus necessarily took place one or two days before the Jewish Passover, because this can imply an esoteric comparison between his execution and the killing of the Jewish Paschal lamb. Some of this Gospel information about Jesus is validated by other sources. It has already been noted that both the apostle Paul and the Jewish historian Jospehus attest to the fact that Jesus had a brother called James, who was their contemporary. Paul actually met this James. In his Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius of Caesaria (d. AD c.340) speaks of grand* Matthew, repeating the information from Mark, renders the name Joses as Joseph. The Gospel evidence 41 children of another brother of Jesus, Jude (i.e. Judas), who were living in Galilee during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian (AD 81–96). Quoting the authority of the secondcentury Christian historian Hegesippus, whose original work has been lost, Eusebius (3:19–20) relates the following story about them: The same emperor ordered the execution of all who were of David's line . . . And there still survived of the Lord's family the grandsons of Jude, who was said to be His brother, humanly speaking. These were informed against as being of David's line, and brought. . . before Domitian Caesar .

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