Bill OReilly - The Last Days of Jesus. His Life and Times

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To Madeline and Spencer who are following the path of Jesus

CONTENTS

A NOTE TO READERS

In the Beginning

Jesus of Nazareth is certainly one of the most influential men who ever lived. Many people are sure that he is number one on that list. Nearly two thousand years after he was brutally murdered by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is the Son of God. I am one of them, a Roman Catholic who was educated in religious schools all the way through college.

But I am also an historian who investigates the truth about important people. That is what I have done in this book. I believe that in order to understand what Jesus accomplished and why he paid with his life, we have to understand what was happening around him. It was a time when Rome dominated the western world and allowed no dissent. Human life was worth little. Life expectancy was less than forty years and far less if you happened to anger the Romans.

For evidence about Jesuss life, we look to the New Testament gospels, accounts written by four of his friends. Admittedly these narratives concentrate on the evidence that Jesus was God, but we can gather facts about his life and times in them as well. In addition, the Romans kept good records of the time and a few Jewish historians also wrote down the events of the day.

From these, I have gathered information and written a fact-based book about Jesus the man. I do not address Jesus as the Messiah, but as a man who inspired people in a remote part of the Roman Empire by preaching a philosophy of peace and love and who made very powerful enemies at the same time. This is a violent story about the punishment this man received because he upset the ruling people in government and at his own temple.

I do not suggest that I know everything about Jesus. There are major gaps in his life, and at times I can only suppose what happened to him based upon best available evidence. The sources I used in researching the life of Jesus, and other books, websites, and DVDs that I think you might be interested in, are listed on the last pages of this book.

This is a story of the struggle between good and evil. Thank you for reading it.

New York

April 2014

KEY PLAYERS

THE FAMILY OF JESUS

JOSEPH: Husband of Mary.

MARY: Mother of Jesus.

JESUS

JESUSS ORIGINAL DISCIPLES

MATTHEW: A tax collector.

SIMON (Whom Jesus renamed Peter): A fisherman and one of Jesuss inner circle; very active in preaching to the Jews after Jesuss death.

ANDREW: Brother of Simon, a disciple of John the Baptist and then of Jesus; also a fisherman.

JUDAS ISCARIOT: The only disciple from Judea; betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.

PHILIP: A fisherman; preached in Samaria after Jesuss death.

BARTHOLOMEW (or Nathanael): Watched and listened to Jesus before finally becoming a disciple.

THOMAS: Sometimes called Doubting Thomas because he questioned Jesuss divinity.

JUDE (or Thaddeus): Brother of James the Younger.

JOHN THE BELOVED: Brother of James the Elder; thought to be the closest to Jesus; lived to an old age.

SIMON THE ZEALOT: From Cana; thought to be a Zealot, a member of an extreme nationalistic group that hated Roman law.

JAMES THE ELDER: Brother of John; one of Jesuss inner circle.

JAMES THE YOUNGER: Brother of Jude.

WRITERS OF THE BOOKS OF THE TANAKH, OR HEBREW BIBLE, WHO PROPHESIED THE COMING OF A SAVIOR

MOSES: Led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt in about 1440 BC.

DAVID: King and poet who lived about 1000 BC.

HOSEA: King who lived about 750 to 715 BC.

MICAH: Lived about 750 to 686 BC.

ISAIAH: Lived about 740 to 681 BC.

ZECHARIAH: Lived about 520 to 480 BC.

PATRIARCHS OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE

ABRAHAM: According to Jewish tradition, the first to believe in one God.

DANIEL: A Jewish captive in Babylon who interpreted dreams and made prophecies.

DAVID: Second king of the Israelites, poet, and ancestor of Jesus.

ELIJAH: Prophet who foretold the coming of a Messiah.

ISAAC: The son Abraham was willing to sacrifice to prove his faith.

JACOB: One of Isaacs sons; believed to be the father of the Jewish people whose twelve sons founded the twelve tribes of Israel.

JEREMIAH: A prophet who warned of, and witnessed, the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple.

MOSES: The prophet who received the Ten Commandments from God and led the Jews out of Egypt.

SAMSON: A man of amazing strength who saved the Jews from the Philistines.

SOLOMON: Son of David; third king of the Israelites and builder of the First Temple.

ROMAN RULERS AND ADMINISTRATORS DURING JESUSS LIFETIME

AUGUSTUS CAESAR: Emperor from 27 BC to AD 14.

TIBERIUS: Succeeded Augustus as emperor and ruled from AD 14 to 37.

PONTIUS PILATE: Roman prefect, or governor, of Judea from AD 26 to 36.

HEROD THE GREAT: Reigned as king of the province of Judea from 37 to 4 BC; rebuilt and renovated the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

HEROD ANTIPAS: One of Herod the Greats sons; a tetrarch, or administrator, of Galilee from 4 BC to AD 39.

TEMPLE PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS GROUPS

ANNAS: Patriarch high priest; father-in-law of Caiaphas.

CAIAPHAS: High priest of the temple; one in a family of priests.

JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA: Wealthy, influential Sadducee who became a secret disciple of Jesus and gave his tomb for Jesuss body.

NICODEMUS: Influential Pharisee who questioned Jesus and became a secret disciple.

PHARISEES: Less wealthy, more liberal priests.

SADDUCEES: High-born priests who believed in the letter of the Mosaic Law.

OTHERS

ANNA: Pilgrim at the temple who bore witness to the divinity of Jesus.

BARABBAS: Convicted thief who was freed as the peoples choice over Jesus.

JOHN THE BAPTIST: Preacher who foretold the coming of the Messiah; baptized Jesus.

JUDAS OF GAMALA: Jewish revolutionary crucified in the early first century.