The man from Nazareth is not what most
of us think. Let's take a closer look at him.
Jesus from Nazareth was the child of a peasant woman from an obscure town in Palestine. He worked as a carpenter until late in his twenty-ninth year, then became an itinerant preacher for the last few years of his life.
He never bought a home, never raised a family of his own, never wrote a book or went to college. He never held a political office, had only a few close followers, and stayed in a comparatively small area. He had no credentials, but became the most controversial figure of his time.
Who was this man? An incredible number of people claim they have had a spiritual experience with this prophet although he lived 2,000 years ago. What is it about Jesus from Nazareth that has so affected our world?
Jesus was not born between B.C. and A.D. Modern scholarship has revealed he was probably born somewhere between 4 to 6 B.C. He was raised in a small village called Nazareth in the province of Galilee. He lived a short life and probably never saw his thirty-fourth birthday. He was crucified by the Romans somewhere near A.D. 29 (or shortly afterward).
Like most Jews of the era, this man did not possess a last name. A Jew was usually known by his father. Thus, Simon was called Simon bar-Jona. "Christ" is not Jesus' last name. It is the Greek word for "Messiah" and was a title used extensively by the early Christian church.
Jesus was probably suntanned and physically rugged. Anyone who has walked under Palestine's hot sun knows the prophet could not possibly have remained fair-skinned for long. He lived in an age when men had to be physical. As the firstborn son, he no doubt was taught to work in his stepfather's carpentry shop early in life. He had to walk almost everywhere he went, and he traveled considerable distances during his last three and a half years.
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