Are You Ready to Meet the Jesus of History?

 
In my last email I introduced the Law of Language and Linguistic Profiles (click here to read). Today I am going to introduce you to the Linguistic Profile of “the Jesus of history” -- the person who lived in Nazareth and traveled through Galilee and Judea preaching his gospel. We call him “the Jesus of history” because as we explore biblical heritages and travel from the 1^st century to the 21^st century, we will make new Linguistic Profiles from documents written between those dates. Those Linguistic Profiles will be about Jesus the Christ, Jesus The Christ of Paul, Jesus the Christ of Athanasius, Jesus the Christ of Arius, Jesus the Christ of Constantine the Great, Jesus the Christ of Augustine, Jesus the Christ of the Trinity, Jesus the Christ of Martin Luther, etc.
 
The information we acquire from creating or just reading Linguistic Profiles is very useful, but when we compare Linguistic Profiles of Jesus from documents written over a 1,500 year span, we acquire very valuable insights about the evolution of Christianity.
 
As you read the Linguistic Profile below you may find things that trigger your BS Warning System (BS = belief system). This happens when you read something that doesn’t agree with what you believe about Jesus. What you believe about Jesus will be found in the other Linguistic Profiles above. Later, as we explore biblical heritages, we will find the one you probably have for him. Now it is time to meet “the Jesus of history.”
 
1. Symbols: Taught orally in Hebrew; spoke Aramaic in his daily life. He may have been familiar with Greek and Latin too.
 
2. Source: Yeshua ben Yoseph (Jesus son of Joseph). Luke has “the virgin birth story and Matthew copied it from him. No “virgin birth” story is found in Mark or John. Based on his culture and the way he interacted with his Jewish audiences, our conclusion is they would have viewed him like any other person, except for his message and miracles. There are stories about other people in that culture proclaiming similar messages and doing miracles. The people that heard him most likely referred to him this way -- his name plus the name of his father. They did not have last names like we do today.
 
3. Time & Place: 25 - 28 CE. Information in the four Gospels provides two options for the length of time he led his movement – either one year or three years.
 
4. The Culture of Jesus: Late Second Temple Period Galilean Judean. His primary culture was that of the Land of Judea, but the influence of living in the Galilee would have been apparent to people in Judea. I run into the same problem, being a Texan living in the USA.
 
5. Personal Experiences of Jesus: Probably educated by Joseph and teachers at synagogue in Nazareth; his childhood textbook was the Torah (first five books of Bible); at age twelve interacted with leading teachers at the Temple in Jerusalem; probably worked as a carpenter with Joseph until age 30; influenced by the teachings of John the Baptist; he had a lot of knowledge about the Torah and the Prophets (especially Isaiah); began his movement around 25 CE (probably called “The Kingdom of Heaven Movement); led the movement for either one or three years; crucified by Romans for a political crime (claiming to be king without Roman approval).
 
6. Receptors: He spoke to Jewish audiences about Jewish things.
 
7. Goal: Proclaim that the Kingdom of God had arrived; the Great Day of Judgment was imminent; people must repent and do acts of righteousness (TDQ) or they will face eternal punishment instead of entering eternal life. A new age will begin after the earth has been cleansed of sin and purified and he will King of God’s new Kingdom.
 
It is important to note that the Jesus of history did not write anything. He only taught orally. So, how did his oral teaching end up in my 1769 King James Bible? That will be the subject of my next email. Please share and discuss this information with others. Thank you for reading Exploring Our Biblical Heritages emails!
 
Shalom,
Jim Myers
 
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