Why are there so few contemporary historical references to Jesus?

             Acknowledgment that there was an actual Jewish man named Yeshua who lived in the areas of modern Israel and Palestine (the Herodian kingdom of Judea) during the first half of the first century is almost universal. Virtually no reputable scholars will deny that. That he existed is the only fact on which almost everyone can agree.

So, why are there so few contemporary historical references to Jesus? Well, the truth is there if you look. The best way to get noticed in those times was to be born wealthy or to be politically connected. Or, to cause trouble for those people, the ones who mattered.

Jesus was a nobody because he was not a Roman citizen. Almost none of the Jews of that day were.

Jesus was a nobody because he was from a hick country town. None of the residents of Nazareth mattered until it came time to pay taxes. They were considered to be uneducated, unsophisticated, and to have very odd strong speech accents.

Nazareth was a worker’s residential village of about 200 to 400 people. None of its residents were wealthy or politically important in any way.  John 1:46 echoes what was probably a common sentiment: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"

The town is not mentioned at all in the Old Testament, the Jewish Talmud, or the writings of contemporary historians like Josephus. The town was ignored and its residents were ignored.

A literal translation of the Greek text of John 1:46 reads like this: “and said to him nathaniel out of nazareth is able any good thing to be says to him philip come and see.” (There was no capitalization, punctuation, or spaces between words in these texts.)

At first, Jesus was ignored and rejected even in Nazareth. He was considered to be odd and just a carpenter. One time, his brothers went to get him before he embarrassed the family. Mark 3:21. They thought he was Ἐξέστη.

Ἐξέστη means to "to stand out of,” here meaning out of one’s mind, losing one’s senses, becoming irrational, out of one’s wits, or overwhelmed.

After he became established as a respected teacher, Jesus’ ministry was primarily in the rural towns among the poor people. All the Jewish wealth and power was concentrated in Jerusalem.

            It was not until the final three years of his life that Jesus was noticed outside of Nazareth. He soon became a very hot topic of intense discussion and he was quickly disposed of when he became a problem for the people who mattered.

Relatives of Jesus

 

6-4 BC/BCE: This is the probable range of dates for the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, Judea (modern Beit Lahm, West Bank). Matthew 2:1. Some believe that the Simeon who blessed the infant Jesus (Luke 2:25-35) was Shimon ben Hillel, the nasi of the Sanhedrin and a son of Rabbi Hillel. Shimon was the father of Rabbi Gamaliel and, since the family was descended from King David, they were all distant relatives of Jesus.  Acts 5:34-39, 22:3.

Extrabiblical Evidences of Biblical Persons, Places, or Events: The Pilate Inscription

The only known ancient inscription which mentions the Roman governor Pontius Pilatus was found in June 1961 in Caesarea-on-the-Sea (Caesarea Maritima) by Dr. Antonio Frova in the ruins of the Fourth Century Roman amphitheater at the site. 

The original flat stone was part of a dedicatory plaque for a temple dating from 26 to 36 AD. In the Fourth Century, the stone was used as one building block for a set of stairs in a theater.  The original inscription is now housed in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. 

This phenomenon is seen repeatedly in the Middle East. Many ancient stones were pulled from ruins of ancient towns and cities and re-used as building blocks for later buildings.

The inscription reads as:

 Line One:  TIBERIEUM,,

 Line Two:  (PON) TIUS

 Line Three:  (PRAEF) ECTUS IUDA (EAE)

The original article cited is here.

Messianic Prophecies From the Bible: The Star of Bethlehem

Messianic Prophecies is a recurrent segment in this blog.  To see links to several other posts, click here.

Old Testament:

“I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.” Numbers 24:17

New Testament:

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”  Matthew 2:1-2

In ancient times, stars and comets were often believed to be heralds of important events.  Stars were also seen as symbols of royal power.

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To see other posts about Messianic prophecies in the Bible, go to the Labels list at the bottom of this page.  The labels are in alphabetical order.  Click on "Messianic Prophecies."

Film Comment: The Spirit of '76

The silly comedic (?) film, The Spirit of ’76 (1991), is almost totally negligible unless you are on a nostalgia trip to the Seventies.   You might wish to see it for its long list of cameo appearances by Tommy Chong, Julie Brown, Devo, Iron Eyes Cody, Don Novello, Carl and Rob Reiner, Moon Unit Zappa, and others.

The thin plot is basically this: three time travelers from 2176 [ Adam 11 (David Cassidy), Chanel 6 (Olivia d’Abo), and Heinz 57 (Geofff Hoyle}] set out for 1776 to recover the long lost history of America.  A malfunction in their time machine sends them to 1976, where they set out to find the meaning of America, not realizing that they have missed their mark by 200 years.

Just like the confused time travelers, we really do not understand what it was like to live in Roman Judea.  The average live span was about 35 years.  The majority of people were illiterate or very close to it.  Most people lived and died in the village in which they were born and did the same work their parents before them had done.  The Romans were a brutal and alien occupying force who could arrest or kill someone for little or no reason.  Though many/most were illiterate it was quite common for the men to have a deep knowledge of Jewish tradition, history, and the scriptures.

The modern student of scripture must realize that we read and see and hear through our modern filters.  When Jesus and the Apostles spoke, their listeners understood what they meant.   Some of their responses make sense only when we understand the historical and cultural environment in which they lived.  

A 1500 Year Old Church is Uncovered in Israel

On 2 February 2011, in the Judean hills, southwest of Jerusalem, Israeli archeologists announced the discovery of a church built about 1500 years ago.  Khirbet Madras (aka: Khirbet Midras) could be identified with the shrine of St. Zacharias found on the sixth-century Madaba Mosaic Map. “The Madaba Map (also known as the Madaba ) is part of a floor mosaic in the early Byzantine church of Saint George at Madaba, Jordan. The Madaba Map is the oldest surviving original cartographic depiction of the Holy Land and especially Jerusalem. It dates to the 6th century AD.”  From Wikipedia article, “Madaba Map.”


The Byzantine church contains a mosaic floor depicting lions, peacocks, foxes and fish.  The archeological group plans to cover the site with dirt after one week to protect it from the elements.

           
Picture of Archaeology of Israel

            thanks to Pikiwikisrael from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!      

The photograph is from http://ookaboo.com/o/pictures/picture/12619161/Columbarium_Khirbet_Midras