(Above, from the Shroud of Turin, which is later covered.) To add to the confusion, keep in mind that the consensus of biblical historians is that Jesus had six siblings (who could well have been children by Joseph from a first wife, for he is usually portrayed as much older than Mary, perhaps even 90 years old, as there are some reports indicating that he died at the age of 111) named Judas (sometimes called Jude, plus also an uncle Judas, brother of Joseph), another called Joses (short for Joseph) and a sister named Mary. Thus, there were three more Marys in addition to the “Virgin” Mother, another being Magdalene (Miryam of Magdala…consort, wife, lead disciple, prostitute, companion, who knows…??) and Mary of Bethany (teenager who apparently had a crush on Jesus and was present at that Last Supper, but did not make the cut list for the painting by Da Vinci). Toss in Judas, (not Jesus’ brother nor uncle), who was the chief financial officer for the movement, and whose reputation changes every few hundred centuries, and you now have a real mess of contradictions and misunderstandings.
Jesus of Nazareth (where he was from) becomes known as Jesus Christ (in Greek, “anointed”) and the Messiah (Hebrew). The claim that he rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven is more and more being interpreted as his soul or spirit that was resurrected, not the entire dead body. Joseph, his “foster father,” later became St. Joseph, namesake of many schools and cities (San Jose is Spanish for St. Joseph) and much later, the object of millions of statues buried upside down to help sell homes. That was not a joke, but this now is, as it is said Jesus was Jewish because he went into his father’s business, lived at home until he was 33, was sure his Mother was a virgin, and his Mother believed he was God.
To make a long story short, then, Jesus was a Jewish mystic and healer. He probably was not a carpenter (dad Joseph was) in the tradesman sense, but was so alluded to only metaphorically, ironically and perhaps in sarcasm. He was tried for sedition and crucified on what is now known as Good Friday at the age of about 33. The stories regarding resurrection and such were shared by his disciples through oral tradition and only decades later actually transcribed. If the Antioch Jesus Movement orchestrated the whole thing, they almost botched it, as those apostle tales were not even close to being consistent.
There will be a fourth and final section to Jesus.
JP Morgan Chase and Intel reported better than expected profits, but the Dow Jones Industrials sunk 101 to 10610. World markets were mostly down. Gold dropped $13/toz to $1131 and oil is now at $78/barrel.