Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Many admire his spiritual teachings; some go
further and claim him as the messiah, while a few deny he ever existed
at all. But everyone has an opinion about this obscure preacher who
lived his brief life in one of the less significant regions of the Roman
Empire; and who, in being crucified, died the traditional death for
criminals and trouble-makers. Jesus lived in turbulent times. Under
Roman rule, Judea was a hotbed of nationalist, political and religious
interests, all vying for power. Jesus was caught in the middle of these,
allied to none and ultimately reviled by all. 'My kingdom is not of this
world, ' he said, though he agreed taxes should be paid to the Romans.
'Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's.' He taught
simply but challengingly, advocating love for our enemies, a spirit of
forgiveness and respect for children. What else was new about Jesus? He
spoke of a new way of being which he called 'the kingdom of God.' This
was not a place but an inner state, and the doorway to this kingdom was
trust in a heavenly father. As he would often say: 'Have anxiety about
nothing.' It was a trust Jesus himself required in a life full of
conflict; not least with his family who largely disowned him. 'Who is my
mother? Who are my brothers?' he famously asked when they attempted to
rein him in. In 'Conversations with Jesus of Nazareth', the questions
are imagined, but the words of Jesus are not; they are authentically
his, taken from the various records of his life in the gospels of
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Thomas. Jesus himself never wrote anything
down, but in a culture of oral transmission, his words, deeds and
stories were well-remembered, and it's not hard to see why. 'It's the
shape of our heart which Jesus is interested in, ' says Simon Parke.
'This is what comes across when talking with him. It's not what we do
that matters, but who we are, and that's why he upset the religious
people of his day: he didn't give them anything to hide behind. He's not
always easy company, I agree, but his life and his words - they have the
undoubted ring of truth.'
