A prophet called Jesus

The history of Christianity began with the preaching of a prophet called Jesus in Roman Palestine, which had Jerusalem as its capital.

Most of what is known about the life of Jesus can be found in the Gospels, written several decades after his death. There is minimal factual knowledge about him.  He was a Jew, as were all those who became his first disciples and later spread his message.

The Jews, who were divided into several religious communities, were the largest group ofpeople living in the various regions where the events in the Gospels took place: Judea, Galilee, Samaria, Idumea, Perea and Decapolis.

In all these regions, there were also Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and Arabs.

For some Jews, the Roman occupation of Palestine, which began in 63 BC, was seen as a manifestation of divine prophecy. They believed that the Jewish people would only be liberated by following the teachings of a prophet sent by God.

This was the religious context at the time of Jesus.

It is thought that he was born in Bethlehem, Judea or perhaps in Nazareth in Galilee around 6 BC.  During his infancy, his family may have lived in exile in Egypt, but later he spent his childhood and adolescence in Nazareth, the hometown of Joseph, his adoptive father.

He began his preaching at around the age of 30. It is impossible to trace his life with any exactitude, given variations in the Gospels, but they all agree on the following events and where they took place:

- Baptism by his cousin, the prophet John the Baptist, on the banks of the River Jordan;

- His withdrawal into the desert;

-His preaching and miracles

in Cana, Sidon, Tyre, Caesarea,

on the banks of the Sea of Galilee at Bethsaida and Magdala,

and in Judea at Jericho, Bethany and Jerusalem.

In the year 30 AD, or perhaps 33 or 37, Jesus was denounced as an agitator by several groups of Jews and brought before the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate for judgment. Pilate was persuaded to condemn him to death by crucifixion.

According to the Gospels, Jesus was buried in a tomb on the hill of Golgotha in Jerusalem and was brought back to life. This resurrection is the foundation of the Christian faith.