Page 11 - Life of Christ w videos

In spite of all the beautiful buildings Herod constructed for the Jewish people, for the most part he was
greatly hated. The Sadducees hated him because he had terminated the rule of the old royal house to
which many were related, so their influence was curtailed. The Pharisees despised him because, even
though he claimed to be Jewish in religion, he did not reverence the Law. And the people hated him
because to build all the buildings and sites were expensive to build, so he taxed the Jews with TWO
taxes annually, one at 10.7% and one at 8.6%. Herod had to resort to violence and employed
mercenaries and secret police to enforce the tax.

In 4BC, Herod died of a terrible disease and his son, Herod Antipas was assigned to rule Galilee and the
east bank of the Jordan. His sibling, Philip, was to be tetrarch of the Golan Heights, and Herod’s son,
Archelaus, became tetrarch of Samaria and Judaea. Herod was buried in Herodium and few were sorry
to see him go. This was how the country was divided in leadership when Jesus Christ was a young child.

Nazareth
Nazareth was a small city located 12 miles southwest
of the Sea of Galilee. It was located on a high bluff
about 1,138 feet above sea level and has a perfect
view of the fertile Jezreel Valley below. At the time of
Christ there was one ancient spring for water. It was a
conservative town, clinging to the traditional Jewish
culture in a world that had radically endorsed Greek
thought and culture. The population at the time of
Christ probably was less than 1000. They spoke
Aramaic (derivative of Hebrew) and most boys were
taught to read and study the Torah in the Synagogue.
Jesus’ home was the little village of Nazareth, off the
main road, over the hill but still within walking distance
of the city of Sepphoris (3.7 miles) or Zippori. The
peasant families who lived there eked out a living, paid
their taxes, and tried to live in peace. They were
observant Jews, so they circumcised their sons,
celebrated Passover, did not work on the Sabbath,
travelled as pilgrims to Jerusalem, and valued the
traditions of Moses and the prophets. Herod stationed
a garrison of Roman troops in Sepphoris. After Herod’s
death, his son, Herod Antipas was made tetrarch and
he proclaimed Sepphoris as the “Ornament of the
Galilee”. It was constructed as a show-case city in the
northern Galilee region. It perhaps was the site where
Jesus and Joseph worked as carpenters and stone
cutters during the time Jesus grew up.

Locate Nazareth on the map to the right (hint: look up by the Sea of Galilee, to the left)

Bethlehem.

The city of Bethlehem is located about six miles southwest of Jerusalem. Bethlehem means “house of
bread” and was known as the City of David. It was there in young David’s hometown that the prophet

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