Mysteries of Jesus: Exploring the Secrets of Easter

By Jean-Pierre Isbouts

Join National Geographic and bestselling author Jean-Pierre Isbouts to investigate ten enduring mysteries of Jesus in this original ebook short. Who was the unnamed "Beloved Disciple" who leaned on Jesus during the Last Supper? What did the Holy Grail look like-and could it possibly still exist? What do alternative tales of Jesus' life, not included in the New Testament, suggest about early Christianity? From the extraordinary circumstances of Jesus' birth to the latest analysis of the Shroud of Turin, Isbouts consults with the world's leading scholars to shed new light on the mysteries that surround the extraordinary story of Jesus' life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: National Geographic
• Release date: Mar 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781426209789

Jean-Pierre Isbouts

Jean-Pierre Isbouts is an art historian and a professor emeritus at Fielding Graduate University. He is the author or coauthor of multiple history books, including Mapping America, Mapping the Holy Land, National Geographic’s The Ultimate Visual History of the World, The Biblical World, In the Footsteps of Jesus, and The Story of Christianity, which together have sold more than two million copies, and together with Christopher Heath Brown, the coauthor of the art books The da Vinci Legacy: How an Elusive 16th-Century Artist Became a Global Pop Icon, The Mona Lisa Myth, and Young Leonardo, and the coproducer of The Search for the Last Supper and The Search for the Mona Lisa specials shown on Public Television. Dr. Isbouts has been on numerous radio and TV shows, is the host of several series for The Great Courses, and has directed several programs for Disney, ABC, Hallmark, and the History Channel, working with actors such as Leonard Nimoy, Charlton Heston, Dick van Dyke, and Morgan Freeman, and produced recordings with orchestras around the world. Dr. Isbouts lives in Santa Monica, California.

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INTRODUCTION

It was the most fateful week in history. The events of a spring week two thousand years ago, from the Last Supper to the betrayal, trial, and Crucifixion of Jesus, have been told and retold many times since. And yet, its mysteries continue to fascinate us to the present day, for much remains to be explored and resolved.

The story of Jesus’ life and ministry in Galilee and Judea in the first century is, of course, described in the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But the Gospels were written many years after the events they describe, and many mysteries remain about the great drama of Jesus’ Passion, as the events leading up to the Crucifixion are known. Is it true, as popular books such as The Da Vinci Code suggest, that Mary Magdalene played a very special role in the Passion events? Why are most depictions of the Last Supper, from Leonardo da Vinci’s to Mel Gibson’s, wrong about Jesus’ last meal with his Apostles? Who is the enigmatic beloved disciple, and what role does he play? What motivated Judas, one of Jesus’ most trusted followers, to betray him? Do the most recent reports prove that the Shroud of Turin is a miracle after all? And who, in the final analysis, is truly responsible for Jesus’ death?

These and other spellbinding mysteries are the subject of this book. Over the last few years, archaeologists and biblical experts have made amazing breakthroughs in understanding the world of Jesus and the events that led to the dramatic showdown between Jesus, a rabbi from rural Galilee, and Pontius Pilate, a prefect from the most powerful empire the world had ever seen. Many of these findings have shed new light on not only the historical but also the social and political dimensions of what brought Jesus and his Apostles to Jerusalem during Passover two thousand years ago—and why he was a threat to some of the highest elites in Roman-occupied Judea.

By the time Jesus and his Apostles arrived in Jerusalem for the Passover festival, Judea had been occupied by Roman soldiers for roughly 25 years, and the country seethed with unrest. While the other territories of Herod the Great’s former kingdom were still governed by Herod’s sons, Herod Antipas and Philip, Judea—the heartland of the old Jewish kingdom—was now an imperial province, ruled by a prefect who in turn reported to the Roman governor in Antioch, Syria. While many Jews—particularly the aristocracy and merchants—collaborated with the occupying forces, the majority of pious Jews detested the Romans, their pagan cults, their rigorous taxation, and their fondness for paintings and sculpture, which were strictly forbidden by the Jewish law against graven images. All this produced a highly combustible environment, with escalating tensions during the great Passover festival, when thousands of Jews streamed into Jerusalem to celebrate their liberation from another pagan tyrant—the Egyptian pharaoh—during the Exodus.

In reconstructing the events that followed over a span of some 72 hours during Passover, we have several sources. First and foremost, there are the four Gospels of the New Testament, written by authors whom tradition has given the names of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Mark’s is commonly regarded as the earliest Gospel, arguably written during or right after the First Jewish Revolt of 66–70 C.E. The Gospels of Luke and Matthew, which use Mark as a source, are believed to have been written in the 80s or early 90s, while the Gospel of John is usually dated between 80 and 100. In addition to the four accepted texts, we have Gospel-like documents that were found in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945. Many of these Gospels, attributed to Apostles such as Peter, Philip, and Thomas, were compiled by dissident Christian sects that did not form part of the early Christian Church led by Paul. Scholars usually place