The Message of Jesus

Written as an introduction to a new Spanish edition of the New Testament, Sojourners obtained this original English translation (done by Sister Kathleen England), and is introducing this remarkable study to American readers. Juan Mateos, born in Spain in 1917, was a Jesuit scholar of biblical studies and church liturgy, and was teaching at the Oriental Pontifical Institute in Rome, Italy, when this article appeared. -- The Editors

The Jewish World at the Time of Jesus

At the birth of Jesus, Herod I the Great, an ally of the Roman emperor, reigned in Palestine. At his death in 4 B.C., the kingdom was divided among his sons, with the consent of the emperor:

Judea, the southern province containing Jerusalem, and Samaria in the center, fell to Archelaus; Galilee in the north and Transjordan to the east were governed by Herod Antipas II, who reigned until the year 39. Another son, Philip, inherited the territory to the east of the Jordan and from the Lake of Galilee to the north.

Because of his cruelty, Archelaus was deposed by the Romans and exiled; in his place Rome named the governor in 6 A.D. Among several, the best known is Pontius Pilate, who held the office between the years 26 and 36 and condemned Jesus to death.

The Roman government left the Jews a certain freedom of movement. Herod in the North enjoyed relative independence and Roman officials did not usually interfere in internal Jewish concerns in the South, although there were fairly frequent exceptions.