The Historical and Divine Jesus1

1. During the rule of Augustus Caesar, in the last year of the Roman king
Herod the Great, appointed to oversee Judea, a child is born into an
ordinary Jewish family. St. Luke says Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary
were heading by donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the city of David,
because Joseph himself was from the house of David and Herod was
conducting a census in order to impose a tax on all Judeans according to
their birth place. Taxes were needed to pay for Herod’s expensive (and
typically Roman) building projects.
2. There is no room at the inn, but the innkeeper allows the young couple to
go into the manger where they can bed down for the night among the hay
and animals.
3. A bright star, perhaps a comet, an alignment of stars, or supernova
exploding in the distant heavens2, is taken as a sign that the messiah has
been born. The wise men who believe this omen in the heavens alert
Herod.
4. The King of Judea, who reports to Rome, fears anyone who might be a
threat to himself or his favored sons. Herod is a tyrant. He had killed his
father-in-law, several of his 10 wives, and two of his other sons. He now
orders all male children under the age of two in and around Bethlehem to
be killed.

1
This story of “The Historical and Divine Jesus” by David Jensen, former World History teacher at Notre Dame
Preparatory High School in Scottsdale, was researched over several years and continues to evolve. There are no
copyright restrictions on its use. It may be freely shared and reproduced with attribution. The author contends
there is no inherent conflict between the historical Jesus, who even skeptics agree existed, and the Trinitarian
Jesus; however, this story attempts to enlighten students at the high school level on basic facts investigated by
Martin Kähler, Albert Schweitzer, B.H. Streeter, James Dunn, John Dominic Crossan, Bart Ehrman, Jean-Pierre
Isbouts, and Kristin Romey, among others. Attribution of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) is
preserved, although some historians believe that Matthew, Mark, and Luke are pseudonyms because those
Gospels were written in Greek well after Jesus’s death and are believed to have borrowed from Mark and other
sources. After studying the Greco-Persian Wars, Alexander the Great and the Hellenization of the Near East, and
expansion of the Roman Empire, students arrive and are seated in a circle on the carpet to hear the story of “The
Historical and Divine Jesus.” A single candle is lit next to a framed reproduction of Da Vinci’s The Last Supper.
Instructor notes are in brackets, indicating when the hidden bread and wine are to be revealed.
2
http://129.81.170.14/~tipler/starofbethlehem.pdf
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5. Joseph hears about this and flees with Mary and their new-born child
Jesus to Egypt, according to the Gospel of Matthew. But Herod suddenly
and mysteriously dies. It is a painful death that according to one historian
caused Herod to have breathing problems and convulsions, rotting of his
body, and worms.3
6. Herod’s kingdom is divided by the Romans among three of his sons, one
of whom will ultimately order that Jesus die by crucifixion.
7. Hearing of Herod’s death, Joseph returns with Mary and Jesus to Judea.
They settle in Nazareth.
8. Every year the family will travel in pilgrimage with other families for five
days from Nazareth south, to Jerusalem, for Passover. Following the
destruction of Solomon’s temple in 422 BC, Jerusalem is where Persia’s
King Cyrus the Great had allowed a second temple to be built for the
Jews.4 When Jesus is 12, he sneaks away from his family’s return with the
other pilgrims to Nazareth and stays behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and
Mary are astonished. They return to Jerusalem, finding their young boy
“sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them
questions,” according to St. Luke.
9. Tiberius Caesar is now emperor of Rome. It is during his reign when Jesus
is baptized – by John the Baptist, later beheaded by Herod’s son.5
10. Jesus begins preaching a simple, powerful, divinely inspired message that
cuts through the complexities of traditional Judaism with all of its
regulations and dietary restrictions. But he reassures his fellow Jews that
he doesn’t plan to undermine their traditional religion: “Do not think that
I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets,” he says, “rather, I have
come to fulfill them.”
11. He gives the simplest command, which may be summed up in a single,
powerful, life-changing, history-changing word: Love. “Do unto others as
you would have them do unto you…. Love your God with all your heart

3
Herod’s tomb was discovered in 2007 eight miles south of Jerusalem. There was a broken sarcophagus but no
body.
4
Its dedication was a festival of lights, commemorated each year when Jews celebrate Hanukkah by lighting
candles in a menorah over eight days and nights.
5
John the Baptist’s head is displayed inside the Basilica of St. Sylvester I in Rome
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and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength….
Love your neighbor as yourself.”
12. He says if you are struck on the cheek, offer the other. Jesus is not timid.
He reacts violently when he sees the materialism of moneychangers in the
temple. His principles are clear. But they are seen as so profound, some
call them revolutionary.
13. He gives a sermon on a mountain, exhorting:
“Bless are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
14. He cares not whether you’re rich or poor. Even if you’re a sinner, he
comes to wash your sins away. [Wash and kiss the feet of students.]
15. When asked what to do about Caesar, he says, “Give unto Caesar what
belongs to him. Give unto God what belongs to God.”
16. He preaches for just three years, ultimately appointing 12 apostles6 who
have varying degrees of faith in him. Four of them are fishermen.
Altogether, there are about 70 who are following Jesus.
17. More and more, by virtue of his words, these profound principles, and the
miracles of making the blind see and curing the sick, Jesus is seen as
revolutionary, not evolutionary.
18. “Are you the messiah?” they ask. “If I tell you, you will not believe.”
19. At this point, Jesus knows he is not long for this earth. …Judas Iscariot
secretly was betraying him, perhaps for money, to curry favor among
Jewish elders in the Sanhedrin, or to fulfill the prophecies of the Old
Testament.

6
Note: Disciples are learners or followers; apostles refer to those who are “sent out” (Matthew 28:19). The Twelve
Disciples became apostles.
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20. Passover is now two days away. This is when Jews celebrate their
deliverance from Egypt during the time of Moses. When the disciples
think Jesus is not prepared, he surprises them by saying all is prepared.
“Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow
him…and he will show you a large upper room7 furnished and ready.”
[Pull out the bread and wine8; ask one or two students to assist. The
mood in the classroom will be somber and respectful for what is about to
happen.]

The Last Supper

21. The one who has betrayed Jesus, Judas Iscariot, is at the table, as is
Thomas, the doubter, and Peter, whose faith in Jesus had already been
tested and who is about to deny Jesus three times.
22. Jesus looks at his followers. He blesses the bread, breaks it, gives it to his
disciples and says, “This is my body. It will be given up for you. Do this in
memory of me.” [Students quietly pass the bread to one another.]
23. He says the same when he and the disciples pour the wine for the meal.
“Do this in memory of me.” [Students quietly pass pre-poured cups of
grape juice.]
24. There are two people close to Jesus who are not in the upper room but
who will play a major role in what happens next.
25. Meanwhile, Augustus Caesar is dead, as is Herod the Great. But,
Augustus’s successor Tiberius is emperor, and Herod’s son Herod Antipas
has already killed John the Baptist.
26. Herod’s local governor Pontius Pilate is under pressure by the Pharisees,
who are conservative Jews, because Jesus doesn’t follow their rules – he
heals on the Sabbath – and he refuses to deny the allegation he is King of
the Jews.
27. After the Last Supper, a crowd armed with clubs and swords looks for
Jesus and the disciples near the Mount of Olives. Judas had told the high
priests that Jesus was likely to go there. The disciples are spotted. But

7
The room could have been an upstairs room in a house belonging to the family of the young evangelist, Mark.
See http://www.seetheholyland.net/st-marks-church/
8
Full disclosure: Yes, the idea is borrowed from Stephen Schwartz’s Godspell, a brilliant stage play and musical.
 5

which one is Jesus? Judas goes up to Jesus and says, “Master!” – kissing
him and betraying his identity.
28. Jesus is forcibly taken to the home of the high priest and in the early
morning hours is given over to the Sanhedrin, where council elders
condemn him but turn him over to the Romans for final judgment.
29. There are public outcries. Many want the blasphemer dead. Others cry
out, “What has he done?” …to which Pilate replies that, since it is
Passover, he can spare one person’s life. Jesus? …or the murderer
Barabbas? “Crucify him!” shouts the crowd, pointing to Jesus. His
disciples scatter, believing they may be targeted next.
30. And so it happens, on a hill named Golgotha, just outside the walls of the
city. It is Friday – what we now refer to as “Good” Friday, when many
belief the prophecy of Isaiah9, foretold 700 years earlier, is fulfilled. Luke
tells that darkness fell over the earth.
31. Jesus dies a long, slow, and painful death on the cross. To make sure he is
dead, a soldier thrusts a lance into Jesus’s side. Today that lance is buried
inside the Vatican.
32. Two people who were not at the Last Supper are there when he dies:
Mary, Jesus’s mother, and Mary the Magdalene, Jesus’s close friend.
Three days later it is Mary Magdalene who discovers Jesus’s tomb…
empty.
33. The disciples do not know what to do, so they go into hiding. They fear
they will be put to death in the same way as their teacher.
34. Lost and confused, they meet a week later behind closed doors – again in
the upper room. “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting
was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the
word of God boldly…. With great power the apostles continued to testify
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.”10
35. Lest there be any doubt, Jesus, the Risen Lord, appears to them, even
asking Thomas to touch Jesus’s side where he had been speared.

9
Isaiah 53:9-12
10
Acts 4:31
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36. Now there is no doubt among the apostles. They remember that Jesus
had given them power over unclean spirits and that they should go out,
two by two, to share the good news – that our God is a mighty god, and
that He11 forgives our sins, we who believe in Jesus as Lord.
37. “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” John 1:14
38. Within a short time, there are as many as 120 followers of Jesus in
Jerusalem. Caligula is now emperor, and he dislikes Jews as well as
Christians; so those who believe in Jesus as messiah meet secretly in
private homes.
39. Nonetheless, some Apostles journey immediately to share the good news
of Jesus Christ. James goes to distant Spain to preach, and by the year 44,
barely 10 years after Jesus’s death, he has written his first epistle.
40. A Pharisee named Saul, from the town of Tarsus in what is now Turkey,
had persecuted Christians – going from house to house dragging men and
women off to prison because of their faith. “I was convinced that I ought
to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And
that is just what I did in Jerusalem,” Luke says of Saul in the Acts of the
Apostles.12 But, members of Saul’s family are Christian, and on the road
to Damascus, he has a vision of the Lord, wherein Jesus asks him: “Saul,
why do you persecute me?”
41. Saul is blinded by the light. His friends lead him to Damascus where a
disciple sent by Jesus lays hands on him and cures his blindness.
42. From that point on, Saul knows he can only follow Jesus. Going out two
by two with a converted Jew named Barnabas13, Saul sails for Cyprus –
where he changes his name to Paul and becomes the greatest evangelist
the world has ever known, traveling 10,000 miles14 all over the eastern
Mediterranean.
43. Just as James had gone west, to Spain, Thomas and Bartholomew head
east – establishing the church in India.

11
Apologies to readers for conventional pronoun use: Author fully appreciates the gender duality of our Creator.
12
Acts 26:10
13
The author’s confirmation saint
14
http://www.openbible.info/blog/2012/07/calculating-the-time-and-cost-of-pauls-missionary-journeys/
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44. Meanwhile, in the year 49, Emperor Claudius has expelled the Jews from
Rome. The next year there are Passover riots in Jerusalem. And Jesus’s
band of followers are left with questions the Teacher did not answer
before his crucifixion.
45. They all return to Jerusalem to meet and decide what to do next. Must
adult male Gentiles who put their faith in Jesus be circumcised? The
disciples cannot decide. What about keeping the Jewish holidays and
eating kosher meals? Ultimately, the Council of Jerusalem decides: “We
should not make it difficult for the Gentiles15 who are turning to God.”
46. Having resolved these issues, the apostles fan out from Jerusalem to
resume preaching. This time, Paul goes alone to Greece – and in any
public forum he can find – speaks to the Galatians, the Macedonians, the
Philippians, the Thessalonians, and, finally, the Corinthians. His written
letters and speeches form the text for much of the New Testament.
47. St. Thomas returns to India, where the Church grows and where St.
Thomas ultimately dies and is buried.
48. Andrew heads north, into what is now Russia. He also preaches in Asia-
Minor, or modern-day Turkey, and in Greece where he is said to have
been crucified.
49. Philip, meanwhile, is busy in Carthage and then in Asia-Minor, converting
the wife of a Roman official. This turns out to be his downfall, as the
Roman official is not happy about his wife’s conversion and has the
apostle Philip arrested and crucified.
50. Matthew, who wrote the Gospel, ministers in Persia and Ethiopia where
was stabbed to death.
51. James the Younger is stoned and clubbed until his last breath in Syria.
52. Simon the Zealot ministers in Persia and is killed after refusing to sacrifice
to a pagan god.
53. Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace Judas, is burned to death in Syria.
54. Peter and Paul continue preaching, as does James who outlives them all.

15
a person who is not Jewish
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55. Amidst all the turmoil, the apostles and their followers try their best to
write down their memories of Jesus, what they had witnessed, the
miracles they had observed, and revelations they have received.
56. Peter arrives in Rome. Paul is arrested, once in Greece and later in
Jerusalem. But unlike any of the Apostles, Paul is a Roman citizen. He
insists on being tried in Rome. However, Paul gets shipwrecked on the
island of Malta. Ultimately he makes it to Rome, too, and is put under
house arrest, using the time to write many of the epistles (or letters) that
appear in our New Testament today.
57. In Rome it is the year 68 and a great fire has broken out. Needing
someone to blame, the emperor Nero points to the monotheistic
Christians and orders the beheading of Paul as a scapegoat. The saint is
buried outside the walls of the city. You can visit his grave.
58. St. Peter, the anointed one chosen by Jesus to build his church, who never
forgave himself for denying Jesus as messiah three times before Jesus
died, asks to be crucified – upside down, because he thought himself too
unworthy to die like his savior. Nero grants him his wish.
59. Right and left, Christians are increasing in number but also are being
persecuted – literally fed to the lions inside the Coliseum. St. Ignatius,
third Bishop of Antioch, rejected the Sabbath on Saturday in favor of “The
Lord’s Day” (Sunday); he too is fed to the lions.
60. Jerusalem and even Judea are erased on some maps. There are horrible,
organized persecutions, such as in Lyon, France, where 48 Christians are
charged with heinous crimes, beaten, then tortured.
61. Could it get any worse? It does…
62. Emperor Diocletian, over the next 9 years, from 303 to 312 AD, orders a
systematic massacre of Christians and all scriptures to be burned. Many
are martyred, including the pope.
63. The church – what’s left of it – has no choice but to go underground (quite
literally, as in the catacombs of Rome).
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64. But like embers that refuse to be snuffed out, the Christians in Rome do
not give up. They continue to meet. They continue to pray. They
continue to believe that a miracle will occur. And it does.
65. Perhaps the Roman Empire with its vast organization, system of
government, and roads was built for a reason? Perhaps, after much
sacrifice, it exists to carry the unifying and loving Word of Christ to the
farthest reaches of the empire.
66. On October 27, in the year 312, the emperor Constantine is preparing to
go into battle near Rome against his co-consul, Maxentius. He receives a
vision – to put a Christian symbol on the shields of his soldiers. He does
and decisively wins the battle against Maxentius.
67. Constantine and another co-consul officially end the persecution of
Christians. He even builds a palace for the pope in Rome. Today we know
it as the church of St. John the Lateran.
68. In 321, Constantine officially decrees Sunday as a “day of rest.”
69. Four years later, in 325, he calls a church council to meet in Nicaea where
the Apostle’s Creed is written. “I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth…” Constantine builds the Church of the
Nativity in Bethlehem, too.
70. The following year he builds the first Basilica of St. Peter in Rome over the
tomb of the Apostle.
71. And on May 22, in the year 337, the faith-filled emperor dies. But, before
he does, he is baptized – in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit.

Why was Christianity able to attract so many followers? Historians16 offer the
following…
72. Certainly, the Christian message had much to offer the Roman world.

16
With appreciation to Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; Jackson J. Spielvogel, Rob Chaffart, Ken Curtis, Rev.
S.M. Lockridge; James Allan Francis, who wrote One Solitary Life; and the unknown author of Jesus – The Teacher.
 10

73. The promise of salvation, made possible by Jesus’s death and

resurrection, had immense appeal in a world full of suffering and
injustice.
74. Christianity seemed to imbue life with a meaning and purpose beyond the
material possessions.
75. Jesus, who never ventured more than 50 miles from his home, had been a
human figure, not a mythological one.
76. Moreover, Christianity had universal appeal. It welcomed women as well
as men. It did not require a difficult or expensive initiation rite as with
other religions. Initiation was accomplished simply by baptism – a rite of
purification using water – by which anyone could enter into direct
communion with God.
77. In addition, Christianity gave new meaning to life and offered what pagan
Rome could not – a personal relationship with God and a way to salvation.
78. Finally, Christianity fulfilled the human need to belong. Christians formed
communities bound to one another in which people could express their
love by helping one another and aiding the poor, the sick, widows, and
orphans – the strangers among us, as some would say.
79. Christianity satisfied the need to belong in a way that the huge,
impersonal, and remote Roman empire could not.

[Speaking directly to the students…] Many years ago, a wise man who became
my best friend sent me a card. That man, who lived until the age of 93, was my
grandfather. On the card was a poem called Jesus – The Teacher. I would like to
read it to you now…
“He never taught a lesson in a classroom. He had no tools to work with, no
blackboards, maps or charts. He used no subject outlines, kept no
records, gave no grades, and his only text was ancient and well-worn.
“His students were the poor, the lame, the deaf, the blind, the outcast –
and His method was the same with all who came to hear and learn.
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“He opened eyes with faith. He opened ears with simple truth, and
opened hearts with love – a love born of forgiveness.
“A gentle man, a humble man, he asked and won no honors, no gold
awards of tribute to His expertise or wisdom. And yet, this quiet teacher
from the hills of Galilee, has fed the needs, fulfilled the hopes, and
changed the lives of many millions.17
“Of all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever (sailed),
and all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings (who) ever reigned put
together have not affected the life of (humankind) upon this earth…as
that One Solitary Life.”

Today, despite the failings of Christians who have sinned through the ages, from
the Crusades a thousand years ago, to the last century when Christians
incomprehensibly battled one another as Catholics and as Protestants in Ireland,
and even now as far-right believers become divisive rather than inclusive as Jesus
taught, Christianity thrives – embracing nearly a third of the world’s population –
because of a young boy, trained as a carpenter, who as Son of the Living God
embodies all that is good in our Creation and who forgives and loves us with all
our faults, and who teaches us to this day and always.

17
The next paragraph is adapted from One Solitary Life, a poem based on a sermon by Canadian evangelist James
Allan Francis, pastor of Riverside Baptist Church in New York City.