Who was the real Jesus Christ? His teachings inspired what is today the world’s largest religion, but many details of the life of the Jewish carpenter who lived from roughly AD 1 to 33 remain elusive.
According to biblical tradition, Jesus was born in Bethlehem but grew up mostly in Nazareth, a village in the Galilee region, near the Dead Sea. He was raised in a typical Jewish household and probably spoke Aramaic, then the most common language in the Middle East.
Jesus lived during a period of great upheaval and social strife among Jews in the Near East. Judaea and Galilee, once independent Jewish kingdoms, had been subjugated by the Roman Empire; some Jews were themselves divided into several quarreling factions.
At some point, the young Jesus was introduced to John the Baptist, a wandering Jewish preacher who was not aligned with either faction but had attracted a large independent following with his apocalyptic preaching. John baptized Jesus—at the Jordan River, according to the Bible—but was soon executed as a troublemaker by the Roman authorities.
After John’s arrest, Jesus began his own ministry as a preacher and miracle worker. He spent several years traveling around the Jewish heartland of Judaea, spreading his teachings, establishing a following, and recruiting the apostles who would later spread his message. According to the Gospels, Jesus was scornful of the religious establishment and criticized powerful groups like the Pharisees.
Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, the home of the temple that was the center of Judaism, just before Passover in AD 33. He soon managed to alienate the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, who had him crucified after only a few days in the city.
Historical details about the life of Jesus are scant, and most of the traditional stories about his life and teachings were compiled in Gospels written many decades after his death. But the community of followers inspired by his teachings would spread quickly throughout the Roman world.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
- Aramaic is still spoken in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran, but the number of native speakers is rapidly declining.
- Jesus did not consider his teachings to be a religion separate from Judaism; the gradual separation of Christianity into a distinct faith occurred decades after his death.
- A widespread method of execution in the Roman Empire, crucifixion was usually reserved for common criminals. It was abolished after the empire embraced Christianity in the fourth century.
