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The Bible and Archaeology
Jesus Christ: The Early Years
by Mario Seiglie
The Good News has traced some
of the many historical and archaeological findings that confirm and clarify the biblical
record of the Old Testament, a record that spans some 4,000 years. We continue that
survey into the New Testament era.
How much has archaeology confirmed about the New Testament period? Are the many names
mentioned in the New Testament real people? Can their existence be verified by credible
historical evidence other than the Bible?
Although the time in question is much briefer--less than a century--archaeology has
much to tell us about the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth and His apostles. As
we examine this period, the physical evidence supporting the biblical record multiplies.
Let's begin this fascinating archaeological journey into the New Testament world.
Appropriately, the Old Testament ends with God's promise to send a messenger to prepare
the way for the Messiah. In Malachi, apparently the last prophetic book of the Old
Testament to be written, the final two chapters record a dramatic prophecy: " 'Behold,
I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you
seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom
you delight. Behold, He is coming,' says the Lord of Hosts" (Malachi 3:1).
It should come as no surprise that the story flow of the New Testament begins where
the last of the Old Testament prophets leaves off--with the arrival of the messenger
foretold by Malachi. This shows a continuation from the Old to the New Testament,
bearing in mind that a few hundred years had passed in the interim.
At the beginning of Luke's gospel, an angel tells Zacharias the priest about the
fulfillment of the prophecy in Malachi. The messenger prophesied by God in the Old
Testament would be his son John (the Baptist), who would prepare the way for the
Christ. The angel told him: "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard;
and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John . . .
He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts
of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to
make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:13,17).
Thus, at the start of Luke's gospel, the stage is set for the first coming of the
Messiah.
Herod the Mighty King
One of the first people to appear in the New Testament account is King Herod.
Matthew takes us to the court of Herod the Great: "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star
in the East and have come to worship Him. When Herod the king heard this, he was
troubled, and all Jerusalem with him . . .
"Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what
time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, 'Go and search carefully
for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may
come and worship Him also" (Matthew 2:1-3,7-8).
Was Herod a real figure, and was he the king at this time? Yes. Secular history and
archaeology have confirmed his existence and reign beyond a doubt. He is known in
history as Herod the Great. Under the Romans this non-Israelite king had ruled the
province of Judea (most of the area of the former kingdoms of Israel and Judah) for
almost 40 years when Jesus Christ appeared on the scene. Herod was a great builder
and left his name on many monuments. He was a famous figure in Jewish and Roman history.
John McRay, archaeologist and Wheaton College professor of New Testament, summarizes
Herod's reign: "Archaeological excavations have uncovered a surprisingly large amount
of evidence pertaining to Herod the Great . . . Herod the Great was an
Idumean who, in 41 B.C., was granted provisional rule of Galilee by Mark Antony (the
friend of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra´s last lover) . . . In 30 B.C.
Octavian (Caesar Augustus) affirmed Herod's rule over Judea, Samaria, and Galilee
. . . Herod remained in power until his death in 4 B.C.; thus Christ was
born in Bethlehem prior to that date" (Archaeology and the New Testament,
1997, p. 91).
One of the main reasons Herod is referred to as Herod the Great has to do with his
extensive and exquisite building projects. F.F. Bruce, former professor of biblical
criticism and exegesis at the University of Manchester in England, says, "Had Herod
done nothing else, he would have made a secure niche in history for himself as a
great builder" (New Testament History, 1972, p. 20).
He is known to have initiated construction projects in at least 20 cities or towns
in Israel and more than 10 in foreign cities. Two inscriptions pertaining to Herod
have been found in Athens. One reads: "The people (erect this monument to) King Herod,
lover of the Romans, because of his beneficence and good will (shown) by him." The
other said: "The people (erect this monument to) King Herod, devout and lover of
Caesar, because of his virtue and beneficence" (ibid, p. 92).
Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, confirms Herod's great construction projects
outside Israel: "And when he had built so much, he shewed the greatness of his soul
to no small number of foreign cities . . . And are not the Athenians . . .
full of donations that Herod presented them withal!" (Wars of the Jews, Book
I, Chapter XXI, Section 11).
Of his notable building achievements inside Israel, six are generally acclaimed as
the most notable: (1) his renovation of the temple and expansion of the temple platform
in Jerusalem; (2) Herodium, his palace-fortress near Bethlehem, encased in a manmade
mountain; (3) his magnificent palace at Jericho, equipped with a swimming pool more
than 100 feet long; (4) Masada, a mountain fortress where he built two palaces (the
site was later immortalized as the last holdout of the Jews in defense of their country
against the Romans); (5) Caesarea, a manmade port city built under his supervision
that became the official headquarters of the Romans; and (6) Samaria, the capital
of the former kingdom of Israel, which he rebuilt and renamed Sebaste.
Of the six, all except Herodium and Masada are mentioned in Scripture.
From studying the remains of Herod's vast building programs, archaeologists and architects
have nothing but praise for the beauty, massiveness, ingenuity and practicality of
his projects. For instance, at the base of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem archaeologists
discovered, among other massive foundation stones, one block that weighed 415 tons.
In comparison, the largest blocks in the Great Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt weigh only
15 tons, and the megaliths in Stonehenge, England, weigh only up to 40 tons.
Herod the Cruel King
Herod was known not just for his great building, political and military skills
but for his great cruelty. The Bible gives us an indication of his utter disregard
for human life in its record of his reaction to hearing of the birth of Jesus.
Having heard that a "King of the Jews" had been born, Herod was greatly disturbed
by this potential threat to his power and throne (Matthew 2:1-3). When his scheme
to identify the newborn Messiah failed (verses 7-8,12), Herod lashed out violently.
"Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry;
and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and
in all its districts, from two years old and under (the approximate age of Jesus),
according to the time which he had determined from the wise men" (verse 16).
The massacre in Bethlehem was not out of character for Herod. A.T. Robertson, chairman
of New Testament interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, shows us
Herod's savagery. Dr. Robertson describes Herod's cruelty even toward those in his
own family:
"Those familiar with the story of Herod the Great in Josephus can well understand
the meaning of these words. Herod in his rage over his family rivalries and jealousies
put to death the two sons of Mariamne (his wife) (Aristobulus and Alexander), Mariamne
herself, and Antipater, another son and once his heir, besides the brother and mother
of Mariamne (Aristobulus, Alexandra) and her grandfather John Hyrcanus. He had made
will after will and was now in a fatal illness and fury over the question of the
Magi. He showed his excitement and the whole city was upset because the people knew
only too well what he could do when in a rage over the disturbance of his plans"
(Word Pictures in the New Testament, Bible Explorer Software, 1997).
The New Testament description of Herod the Great is thus confirmed by what historians
and archaeologists have found concerning his rulership, building projects, political
strength and uncontrollable wrath toward anyone threatening his kingship.
Caesar Augustus's Census
Luke, the meticulous historian, introduces other famous personages in his account
of the birth of Christ. "And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out
from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took
place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone
to his own city" (Luke 2:1-3).
Caesar Augustus, or Octavian, was Julius Caesar's adopted son. He ruled the Roman
Empire for 57 years (43 B.C. to A.D. 14) and established an era of peace and stability
that would facilitate the growth of Christianity.
Archaeologists have made great progress in discovering how and when a Roman census
was taken. Ancient papyrus census decrees have been found for the years 20, 34, 48,
62 and 104. These show they normally took place every 14 years, although local counts
at times were taken more frequently.
A papyrus in the British Museum describes a census similar to Luke's account, taken
in 104, in which people were ordered to return to their birthplaces. It reads: "Gaius
Vibius Mazimus, Prefect of Egypt: Seeing that the time has come for the house to
house census, it is necessary to compel all those who for any cause whatsoever are
residing out of their provinces to return to their own homes, that they may both
carry out the regular order of the census and may also attend diligently to the cultivation
of their allotments" (Frederick G. Kenyon, Greek Papyri in the British Museum,
1907, plate 30).
For many years some scholars had doubted the Bible's accuracy since they thought
Luke had erroneously referred to another Quirinius who ruled a decade after Christ's
birth. But now the biblical account has been confirmed by further evidence.
Researcher Randall Price writes: "Some recent archaeological evidence has provided
new insights into the time and place of the birth of Jesus. The Gospel of Luke gives
the time of birth with a specific reference to a census decreed by Quirinius, the
governor of Syria (Luke 2:2). While inscriptional evidence reveals that there was
more than one ruler with this name, a Quirinius within the time frame of Jesus' birth
has been found on a coin placing him as proconsul of Syria and Cilicia from 11 B.C.
until after 4 B.C." (The Stones Cry Out, 1997, p. 299).
Joseph's Occupation in Nazareth
Once Herod died, Joseph and Mary brought Jesus back to Israel and returned to
their home in Nazareth. Joseph was a skilled craftsman who worked not only with wood
but with stone masonry. The usual term translated as "carpenter" in the Bible is
misleading. The Greek term is tekton, which has a broader meaning.
"The Greek word tekton, translated 'carpenter' in Mark 6:3, has the root meaning
of 'artisan,' that is, a skilled worker who works on some hard material such as wood
or stone or even horn or ivory . . . In Jesus' day construction workers
were not as highly specialized as in today's work force. For example, the tasks performed
by carpenters and masons could easily overlap" (Richard A. Batey, Jesus &
the Forgotten City: New Light on Sepphoris and the Urban World of Jesus, p. 76).
Jesus learned the trade from Joseph and lived in the area of Nazareth most of His
life. Although Nazareth was a small Galilean village of no more than a few hundred
inhabitants, Joseph and Jesus likely found steady work in the city of Sepphoris four
miles away.
About the time of Jesus' birth, Herod Antipas--son of Herod the Great and ruler over
Galilee who would later order the execution of John the Baptist--chose Sepphoris
as his capital.
"For more than three decades while Jesus grows up in Nearby Nazareth a huge construction
project continues, as Sepphoris rapidly becomes the largest and most influential
city in the region . . .
"Joseph and Jesus knew of the construction of the new capital and would have been
acquainted with artisans and other workers employed on the site. Shirley Jackson
Case, professor of New Testament at the University of Chicago, (wrote:) '. . .
It requires no very daring flight of the imagination to picture the youthful Jesus
seeking and finding employment in the neighboring city of Sepphoris. But whether
or not he actually labored there, his presence in the city on various occasions can
scarcely be doubted; and the fact of such contacts during the formative years of
his young manhood may account for attitudes and opinions that show themselves conspicuously
during his public ministry' " (Batey, pp. 70-71).
Recent archaeological excavations in Sepphoris show it to have been a bustling, prosperous
city during the years Jesus grew up in nearby Nazareth. This historical record helps
us better understand the background of Christ's teachings, which included illustrations
drawn not just from farming and animal husbandry, but also construction, rulers and
nobility, the theater, government, finance and other aspects of city life.
In the next article in this series we will continue with important background information
that helps us better understand the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
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