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In the FOOTSTEPS Jesusof A chronological journey through the gospels set in the geography, politics, people, power, culture and history of the day HON STUART ROBERT MP Unless otherwise noted, all scripture is from the New English Translation (NET) Bible. Th is is a wonderful contemporary but rigorously exact translation that I know you will thoroughly enjoy reading. Within copyright statements or in discussion about the NET Bible, the following is preferred: Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.org All rights reserved. Th e names: THE NET BIBLE®, NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION COPYRIGHT (c) 1996 BY BIBLICAL STUDIES PRESS, L.L.C. NET Bible® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK THE NET BIBLE® LOGO, SERVICE MARK COPYRIGHT (c) 1997 BY BIBLICAL STUDIES PRESS, L.L.C. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SATELLITE IMAGERY COPYRIGHT (c) RØHR PRODUCTIONS LTD. AND CENTRE NATIONAL D‘ÉTUDES SPATIALES PHOTOGRAPHS COPYRIGHT (c) RØHR PRODUCTIONS LTD. ISBN 978-0-97575-671-3 Published by the Honourable Stuart Robert MP Copyright © 2017 Hon Stuart Robert MP Coverart: Miguel S. Kilantang Jr Cover design: Miguel S. Kilantang Jr Photographs: used by permission from the Hon Stuart Robert MP used by permission from the Library of Congress (public domain) front cover image is used by permission from istockphotos.com Maps: used by permission the American bible society 1888 (public domain) used by permission from God’s Word First International Biblical Research and Teaching Ministry used by permission, J. T. Barclay ‘City of the Great King’ 1858 (public domain) Edit: Th e Expert Editor Printed in: Createspace Comments: inthefootstepsofj [email protected] To my amazing wife, Chantelle. Thank you for your patience in this great gospel journey of discovery. To our three beautiful sons, Caleb, Isaac and Jacob. May you grow and learn to love the Saviour of the world, Jesus, and the holy land of Israel He lived and died in, as much as we do. To readers young and old. May you walk through the gospel story of Jesus afresh and marvel at the scandal of grace that has been afforded to you. Contents Prologue .........................................................................................7 Introduction .................................................................................11 Chapter 1 - The scarlet thread ...................................................17 Chapter 2 - Time is split ............................................................42 Chapter 3 - Inauguration ...........................................................60 Chapter 4 - Death threats ..........................................................81 Chapter 5 - Popularity .............................................................109 Chapter 6 - Parables .................................................................141 Chapter 7 - Opposition ..........................................................176 Chapter 8 - Transfiguration .....................................................204 Chapter 9 - Travel diaries .........................................................235 Chapter 10 - Jesus sets out for Jerusalem ....................................263 Chapter 11 - Triumphant entry .................................................288 Chapter 12 - Passover ................................................................325 Chapter 13 - Crucifixion ...........................................................366 Chapter 14 - Resurrection ..........................................................403 Conclusion .................................................................................423 About the Author .......................................................................425 Prologue Many have attempted to provide a chronology of the key events from Jesus’ life sourced from the four gospels. Early attempts, starting with the ‘Diatessaron’ by the Assyrian Christian Tatian in the 2nd cen- tury erroneously tried to merge the gospels into a single narrative and remove repetition. Many subsequently tried and all ultimately failed. The gospel accounts of Jesus are too rich and varied to harmonise into a simple, lone account. Though this is a single book, this chronological attempt does not resort to a single narrative. Every word of the gospels is included and put in a chronological order to try to build a flowing picture of Jesus’ life and ministry. It is important to note that every attempt, including this one include leaps of logic, numerous assumptions and a few flat out guesses. Every attempt is cognisant of geography, archeology, historical documents and the odd local legend. All are well meaning and there is no conclusive proof that one chronological attempt is better than another. The four gospels were written as different accounts to different audi- ences and there was never an attempt to harmonise them geographically or chronologically within the Bible. Jesus probably spoke in Aramaic, 7 HON STUART ROBERT but the gospels are written in Greek, which helps explains different ver- sions of the same stories. Matthew, Mark and Luke are called ‘synoptic’ gospels because they seek to present the events of Jesus’ life with the same intent (synoptic literally means ‘together sight’). Nearly 90 per- cent of Mark’s content is found in Matthew, and 50 percent of Mark is in Luke. All of the parables of Christ are found in the synoptic gospels, whilst John’s gospel contains no parables (the vine and the branches in John 15:1-8 is not considered a parable). Some of the authors tended to arrange materially topically, which explains all of Jesus’ recorded mira- cles in Matthew being contained in just a few chapters. Jesus travelled extensively and used similar analogies and phrases to communicate His message at different times, in much the same way itinerant preachers do today. This explains why different gospels have similar content used in different circumstances. What is refreshing about this clear lack of coordination and chronol- ogy, is that it is one of the best examples of the independence of the gospels. The differing accounts of the same activity and different order they appear in the gospels put to flight any criticism of gospel plagia- rism from any ‘unnamed’ source. This book’s chronological attempt, however flawed, tends to follow the order of the gospel of Luke. Luke was writing an historical account for his benefactor and thus tended to be more concerned with timing of events. Luke was a doctor in his time and it’s fair to say that order was a little more up his alley. He was also keen to emphasis Jesus’ compassion to Gentiles and Samaritans so that the travel diaries of Jesus in His final months on earth (Luke 10-20) is largely unique to that gospel. Matthew was writing to a predominantly Jewish audience so his focus was not necessarily logical but more spiritual. He quotes extensively from the Old Testament and his often-used phrase (in fact thirty-two times), ‘the kingdom of heaven’ is not found anywhere else in scripture. 8 IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS Both Luke and Mathew are also much longer than Mark’s gospel. Mark was writing from the teaching of Peter and to a predominantly Gentile (Roman) audience, so his account is fast paced, punchy and full of activity. A bit like Peter. John’s gospel is different again. Many of the important events in the synoptic gospels are omitted: the temptation of Jesus, the sermon on the mount, Jesus’ transfiguration, the Lord’s prayer and the institution of communion (the Lord’s supper). You won’t find Jesus casting out a demon in John, yet only John mentions Jesus’ early Galilean ministry. In fact, it is John’s gospel that gives us the three year view of time in ministry and the number of visits to Jerusalem. The synoptic gospels appear to describe only one journey of Jesus to Jerusalem (the final one), and concentrate predominantly on just one year of Jesus’ minis- try in Galilee. John also tends to write in more dialogue and discourses, rather than statement of events, leading some to argue his gospel is a more reflective style of writing1. Suffice to say that every effort has been made to present the chronology of the gospels with as much rigour as possible. Likewise every effort has been made to present the dates accurately. All dates are based on the crucifixion of Jesus on Friday 3rd April 33 AD (14th Nisan 3793 in the Hebrew calendar). There are equally compelling arguments for the date being Friday 7th April 30AD (16th Nisan 3790 in the Hebrew calendar) however like the chronology, a timeline has to be chosen, so for this book it is 33 AD. Please note that if there are errors, they are mine and mine alone and I apologise for them if they appear. My only caution is not to jump to conclusions too readily. Archaeological evidence seems compelling at 1 W. Hall Harris III is Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary in https://bible.org/seriespage/2-major-differenc- es-between-john-and-synoptic-gospels (accessed 22 Oct 2016) 9 HON STUART ROBERT first until the fifth century piece of pottery turns up in the undisturbed pristine first century living room. Above all, enjoy the rollicking read of the greatest story every told. Jesus, the Son of God, through whom the universe was made, came to earth to die for you and I to reconcile us back to God. Separated by the first man Adam, we are made right with our God because of the second Adam, Jesus. Hon Stuart Robert 10 Introduction The Bible speaks of a scarlet thread woven

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