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00:00:00Jesus Christ is perhaps the most famous man ever to walk this planet.
00:00:06Yet how much do we really know about him?
00:00:10His life remains shrouded in mystery, full of bizarre events and unanswered questions.
00:00:16We'll reveal the truth behind seven mysteries that have intrigued Christians for centuries.
00:00:30The mysteries surrounding Jesus begin at his birth, the day we now celebrate his Christmas.
00:00:37Most of us think the Nativity is just about joy and happiness at the birth of Jesus.
00:00:43But we couldn't be more wrong.
00:00:47Staring us in the face are signposts to something very different.
00:00:51So what is the dark message, buried in a story we think we know so well?
00:01:00The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is said to be built on Jesus' birthplace.
00:01:05For centuries, hundreds of thousands of Christian pilgrims have come to pray at this sacred site.
00:01:11But their devotion is to a Nativity story obscured and sanitized by myth and legend.
00:01:17The original biblical account is shockingly different.
00:01:22It takes us straight into the real world of the Holy Land 2,000 years ago.
00:01:27A land under foreign control, torn by political and religious differences.
00:01:33According to Luke's Gospel, the story of the Nativity begins with Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem,
00:01:39where she gives birth to Jesus.
00:01:44The Gospel of Luke simply tells us that shepherds witnessed the birth,
00:01:48while the Gospel of Matthew has many more dramatic details,
00:01:51like the Star of Bethlehem and the Wise Men.
00:01:57But for centuries, all of these different elements have been combined.
00:02:01When Christmas is being celebrated, people smash the two stories together to create one big account.
00:02:10The Nativity is now one of the most popular of all Christian images,
00:02:14a beautiful and even magical scene.
00:02:16Christian communities all over the world have copied every detail.
00:02:20The trouble is, this cute picture has distracted us from what the Gospel writers were really trying to say.
00:02:26I think it's our romantic desire to think that something amazing must have accompanied the birth.
00:02:33And so we add stuff, you know, to the story that makes it more romantic, more exciting for us.
00:02:45Over the centuries, the deeper message of the Nativity has been plastered over with layers of romance and sentimentality.
00:02:53I think we've sanitized this whole thing, and we've put all these images together and come up with a nice, cutesy little picture.
00:03:00The Gospel accounts are not trying to offer comfort and joy.
00:03:04The familiar symbols of the Nativity scene are meant to deliver a heart-stopping punch,
00:03:09which hits home right from the start, when the birth of Jesus is signified in the night sky.
00:03:16The Star of Bethlehem is one of the most famous Nativity symbols.
00:03:21According to Matthew's Gospel, it's seen by wise men, or Magi, coming from the east and leads them to Bethlehem.
00:03:29Some theories say it was two planets close together, or a distant star going supernova.
00:03:36And there's another idea that ties it directly to the real message of the Gospels.
00:03:42There's a particular phrase in Matthew's Gospel that this star that the Magi saw in the sky,
00:03:48it stopped over the place where the child was born.
00:03:51The Magi were traveling from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.
00:03:54As they were traveling, they saw this star ahead of them.
00:03:57But how can a star stop over a place like Bethlehem?
00:04:00There is one and one only star that can do this, and that's a comet.
00:04:04Two thousand years ago, when a comet appears in the night sky, everyone sits up and takes notice.
00:04:19No one has any doubt that a dramatic event is about to take place.
00:04:23But it isn't good news.
00:04:26You've also got the star, which in some ways could be seen as heralding the birth of a great person.
00:04:32But a star could also be interpreted as a comet.
00:04:35And a comet was a bad omen. It usually signified a day.
00:04:39The wise men are seen as the top thinkers and forecasters of their day.
00:04:47They know this sign in the stars marks the birth of a new king of the Jews.
00:04:52But if it's a comet, then his future could be a dark one.
00:04:57So they follow it to Bethlehem, carrying gifts loaded with significance.
00:05:02I think most people don't realize that there is any important symbolism in the gifts.
00:05:07The gold, the frankincense and the myrrh.
00:05:21But these aren't presents for an ordinary child.
00:05:24First, there is gold.
00:05:27Gold is something extraordinarily valuable.
00:05:33And I think what it's trying to say there, Jesus is going to be a king.
00:05:37And this is a gift appropriate to a king.
00:05:40The next gift is frankincense.
00:05:43Frankincense, incense was often offered up to God.
00:05:46And so it's showing not the royalty of Jesus, but the divinity of Jesus.
00:05:50But the significance of the third gift has been forgotten in modern times.
00:05:54Myrrh.
00:05:56It is a plant resin used to prepare corpses for burial.
00:06:00That gives the readers the indication that Jesus is going to die
00:06:04and that death is going to be part of the story.
00:06:07So myrrh warns of death.
00:06:09And the earliest Christians would have picked up on this crucial message.
00:06:16Even the popular Christmas carol, We Three Kings of Orient Are,
00:06:20which is written in 1857, refers directly to the true significance of myrrh
00:06:25in its fourth verse.
00:06:27The chilling words, sealed in a stone-cold tomb,
00:06:30are a clear reference to Jesus' death.
00:06:33Bleeding, dying, sealed in a stone-cold tomb.
00:06:42That is one of those surprising things, which I often wonder whether we're really taking those things in when we sing the carols.
00:07:03The symbolism of the wise man's gift of myrrh is clear.
00:07:09They bring the threat of death to the birth of the child.
00:07:12And that threat is not just for the future.
00:07:23It hangs over the Holy Family right at that moment in the person of King Herod the Great.
00:07:29Herod is king of Judea and the heartland of the Jewish nation.
00:07:35He's also a bloodthirsty tyrant who kills his wife and three sons when he thinks they're plotting against him.
00:07:42By a tragic irony, the wise men tip off Herod that the new king of the Jews has been born as they pass through Jerusalem.
00:07:49Matthew's Gospel describes the sadistic way Herod tries to get rid of this new rival for his throne.
00:07:56And what happens is he arranges this extraordinary, ruthless, violent, unpleasant slaughter of the innocent so that every child under the age of two is slaughtered.
00:08:12Warned of the killers by an angel, Mary and Joseph flee Bethlehem with Jesus and run for their lives.
00:08:20This story is going to end horribly. It's going to end violently.
00:08:26This is very gruesome. This is a reality.
00:08:54And, of course, it's glossed over because, well, if you like, it's not politically correct or it doesn't correspond to sales of Christmas cards.
00:09:02The brutal story of Herod's massacre of the innocents is an important element of the Nativity story.
00:09:08But it's not what we want to hear at Christmas.
00:09:10We don't want to be reminded that the birth of Jesus is somehow linked to the death of other children.
00:09:17The escape of the Holy Family from Bethlehem ends Matthew's account of the Nativity.
00:09:23A final detail highlights the way a much darker story has been turned into a kind of fairy tale.
00:09:29The lamb is one of the most familiar figures in the traditional Nativity scene.
00:09:35It's innocent, make, and harmless.
00:09:37But the Nativity lamb has been shorn of its true meaning.
00:09:41The lamb and the sheep are symbols.
00:09:45Symbols because they were sacrificed.
00:09:48And they became the symbol of Jesus, who was going to be sacrificed as a lamb or as a sheep.
00:09:57The shepherds who appear at the birth of Jesus are not in town by accident.
00:10:02Bethlehem was the breeding ground for lambs used in religious sacrifice,
00:10:08particularly during the Jewish feast of Passover.
00:10:12And again, this is no coincidence.
00:10:15The Counting John's Gospel is very clear that Jesus was crucified
00:10:19at exactly the same time as the first Passover lambs were slain.
00:10:23So that symbolism is very exact.
00:10:25So Christ is seen as a sacrificial lamb.
00:10:29From beginning to end, the Nativity story is packed with symbols.
00:10:34The Star of Bethlehem, which could be a comet signifying death.
00:10:38The three wise men bringing myrrh used for embalming corpses.
00:10:43Herod and the massacre of children.
00:10:47And the lamb, an image of sacrifice.
00:10:50The message couldn't be clearer.
00:10:53The chief character in the story, at this stage just a baby, is going to die a horrible death.
00:10:59Then there's something jarring about that.
00:11:01There's something that makes you sit back in your seat.
00:11:03You go, hold on a minute, this isn't one of these normal stories of a hero that marches on to victory.
00:11:08This is a very different kind of story.
00:11:10The earliest Christians who would have read or heard these Nativity stories would have had no question in their mind that, in fact, this is not simply a warm, cuddly story to make you feel good on December 25th.
00:11:22This is the story of the birth of the Savior and the entire point of his life, as already foreshadowed in the Nativity scene itself, is that he's going to die and that it's his death that ultimately matters.
00:11:34So for centuries, sentiment and commercialism have often masked the true meaning of the Nativity scene.
00:11:40Far from offering warmth, comfort and reassurance, this well-known story at the heart of our Christmas celebration is really a prophecy of Jesus' brutal death.
00:11:55Jesus wasn't the first religious prophet Israel had seen.
00:11:59But when he begins preaching around the Sea of Galilee, he stuns people with the incredible acts we now call the miracles.
00:12:06Tragically, the miracles provide the ammunition his enemies use to bring him down.
00:12:12So how did Jesus' miracles put his own life in danger?
00:12:22When we think of the miracles of Jesus, the stories that spring to mind are dramatic incidents like his walking on water.
00:12:28It's become a classic demonstration of his divine power.
00:12:36And the same kind of power is shown in another famous miracle.
00:12:42This is the Church of the Multiplication and Tabga.
00:12:48It stands on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Kinneret.
00:12:53This is where Jesus is believed to have fed the 5,000.
00:12:57You know, what do we see?
00:12:59We see him feeding people.
00:13:01The 4,000 or 5,000 people sitting there, he multiplies the bread and the fish so that there's enough for everybody.
00:13:08But why would Jesus, someone with such power over nature and such a love for ordinary people, be condemned to die on the cross?
00:13:20The answer lies in the acts of healing that make up the bulk of Jesus' miracles.
00:13:25In his time, the sick and crippled are despised and rejected by the rest of society.
00:13:31Yet Jesus goes out of his way to help them.
00:13:34By healing these people, Jesus is symbolically bringing them into the community and showing people, if only for a few moments, what it's like to be in the kingdom of God.
00:13:48Some people make easy targets for discrimination, like those suffering from a disease which even today provokes fear, leprosy.
00:14:00This is the Naimi Leprosy Mission Hospital near Allahabad, India.
00:14:04The hospital treats those whose leprosy has left them severely disabled.
00:14:12Even though leprosy is now a treatable disease, the patients here are shunned by local people, just like leprosy victims in the days of Jesus.
00:14:22The Leprosy Mission Charity, which supports the hospital, draws inspiration from the way he behaved when confronted with the disease.
00:14:31In Jesus' time, leprosy is not just terrifying, it's seen as a sign of moral and religious impurity.
00:14:41Religious purification is so important in first century Judaism that washing rituals, similar to those still performed today, have to be carried out by Jews before they're allowed to enter a place of worship.
00:14:53It was essential to purify yourself before you could then enter into the temple precinct and undertake your sacrifices.
00:15:03And indeed, in terms of their daily life, if you entered into a house, may have come into contact with something which was impure, then you needed to purify yourself.
00:15:15Jesus takes on the whole idea of religious purification with one famous miracle described in the Gospels.
00:15:27Coming across a man with leprosy in a street, Jesus stops.
00:15:33It's actually quite dangerous because he's risking becoming impure himself, not just contracting leprosy, which would be bad enough, but becoming ritually impure.
00:15:45Jesus touches him, and that touch heals the leper.
00:15:57But that simple touch threatens the belief system of his world.
00:16:02Jesus is demonstrating that even people classed as impure should not be shut out of religious life.
00:16:08Such revolutionary behavior at the very beginning of his time as a religious prophet means he quickly comes to the attention of those in power.
00:16:22I think from that moment on, he was on the radar and became very important and closely watched.
00:16:36Out of almost 40 miracles described in the Gospels, more than half help people who are treated as outcasts because of sickness or disability.
00:16:45And Jesus raises the stakes again when he dares to heal members of another group who often experience discrimination, women.
00:16:56What he did in reaching out to women and listening to women was revolutionary for that time.
00:17:06In one of Jesus's most important miracles, he heals a woman who has been bleeding uncontrollably for 12 years.
00:17:15As a result, she's been unable to take part in religious ceremonies or everyday community life.
00:17:22The woman with the flow of blood is quite an interesting story, I think, because she's obviously got some kind of menstrual impurity.
00:17:32And that would have meant that she couldn't take part in all aspects of Jewish life.
00:17:38She would be impure, she wouldn't be able to go to the synagogue, certainly wouldn't be able to go into the temple.
00:17:45And so, to some extent, she's on the fringes of society.
00:17:53Jesus is making his way through a crowded town to help a sick child.
00:17:58What happens next is electrifying.
00:18:09A woman reaching out and touching the hem of his garment changes the world.
00:18:16The woman, who has been forbidden to go to the synagogue or public events for the 12 years she has bled, has dared to touch Jesus.
00:18:24But the touch cures her.
00:18:30And just as significant, Jesus calls her daughter.
00:18:34A mark of status given to no one else healed by his miracles.
00:18:39She becomes pure again.
00:18:41Ordinarily, you would have to bathe and you would have to go and inform the priest that that's what had happened.
00:18:47But Jesus, simply by his own authority, is bringing her back.
00:18:51Jesus uses his miracles to bring outcasts back into the fold.
00:18:57By doing so, he's challenging a fundamental belief of his time.
00:19:01That people believed to be impure could not take a full part in normal life.
00:19:05The miracles of Jesus are really going against the customs of his time.
00:19:16Healing lepers, touching women.
00:19:21So, he's doing things that are not allowed in a time.
00:19:25And he's doing that on purpose, I think.
00:19:29But there's another kind of sickness that breeds fear.
00:19:32Demonic possession.
00:19:34Everyone dreads it.
00:19:35By trying to bring its victims back into normal society, Jesus is not just challenging the rules.
00:19:40He's stepping into a dark world of fear and superstition.
00:19:44And he's playing with fire.
00:19:46In several ways, I think the miracles are challenging the rule book.
00:19:51And not just in the way that he heals people, the way that he feeds people.
00:19:58But sometimes he expressly breaks the rules.
00:20:04People at this time blame illness and suffering not just on the will of God, but also on the work of evil demons.
00:20:12They're believed to be responsible for anything from minor ailments to murderous rage.
00:20:25There was a danger with the possessed.
00:20:27Because who knows what these possessed people would be capable of?
00:20:30Physical violence.
00:20:33But Jesus doesn't want anyone to be excluded from religious life.
00:20:37His chance to demonstrate this comes when he's confronted by a terrifying figure.
00:20:42We have someone who had to be shackled.
00:20:46He had to be fettered in order to keep him under control.
00:20:49He was so dangerous.
00:20:51He was a public danger.
00:20:52And the only place he could live was among the tombs.
00:20:56So he was really cast out from human society.
00:21:03To everyone in the area, the man is violent, uncontrollable and terrifying.
00:21:07But on seeing Jesus, his behavior changes.
00:21:11The Bible accounts say that the demons inhabiting him recognize Jesus' divinity.
00:21:22They know Jesus Christ very well.
00:21:23They know that he is the son of God.
00:21:25And they're frightened of him because they know his power over them.
00:21:27So, of course, Christ's enemies could use these words and say,
00:21:32Ah, he has control over the demons.
00:21:34Therefore, he is a demon himself.
00:21:36The man Jesus helps has been made impure by living among the dead and by being possessed.
00:21:44The miracle ends with Jesus casting the demons out of the man and into a herd of pigs grazing nearby.
00:21:51Driven mad, the pigs rush over a cliff to their deaths.
00:21:54Now Jesus has set the man free.
00:21:57Some people who hear the story are frightened and angry.
00:22:00It seems that Jesus is just a little too familiar with the demons and their ways.
00:22:05People start thinking, well, is this some kind of magic man?
00:22:08Is this some kind of sorcerer that's got this, is he in league with the devil?
00:22:12I mean, this was one of the charges against Jesus that he casts out demons by the prince of demons.
00:22:18Reports of Jesus' miracles around Galilee reach his home village of Nazareth.
00:22:23But the result is not what you'd expect.
00:22:26The people there are outraged that an ordinary carpenter's son dares to challenge the religious rules that dominate their lives.
00:22:33And when he returns to Nazareth and dares to speak in the synagogue,
00:22:37Jesus finds out just how much of a risk he's been taking.
00:22:41The villagers form a lynch mob.
00:22:44Luke tells us a story all about how Jesus is driven to the brow of the hill and they're about to throw him off the edge.
00:22:51The Old Testament laid down the punishment for someone accused of preaching against religious beliefs.
00:22:57They must be thrown down from a high place and stoned to death.
00:23:01They didn't want him in their area.
00:23:03He was upsetting all sorts of people.
00:23:06And then a remarkable thing happens.
00:23:09No one dares to strike the first blow.
00:23:12Jesus leaves Nazareth, having escaped a horrifying death.
00:23:18The message of Jesus' healing miracles is revolutionary.
00:23:25Everyone can be a part of his new kingdom of God.
00:23:29But religious leaders believe he is threatening the soul of the nation.
00:23:37And it's a threat they cannot ignore.
00:23:41A day of reckoning has to come.
00:23:46How does Jesus develop the wisdom he shows when he performs his miracles in Galilee?
00:23:55For some people, the answer is simple.
00:23:57He is the Son of God.
00:23:59But some believe Jesus has to go out into the world and learn by experience.
00:24:05One centuries old legend suggests that he goes all the way to England and gains important knowledge.
00:24:11What is the truth behind this extraordinary claim?
00:24:20After their powerful description of Jesus' birth, the Gospels mention him only once more as a child, when he is 12 years old.
00:24:28From then, until Jesus reaches 30, there is no information about him.
00:24:33What happens in those 18 missing years?
00:24:38The traditional view is that as a boy, Jesus learns Joseph's trade and becomes a craftsman and carpenter.
00:24:44But it's possible he doesn't spend his youth laboring in the tiny village of Nazareth.
00:24:50Because Galilee at this time is no rural backwater place.
00:24:54I think Galilee in the first century was a place which was flourishing, especially in terms of agriculture, trade and all sorts of other activities.
00:25:04This success owes a lot to the region being under Roman occupation.
00:25:09Nazareth is on the doorstep of a busy town called Sepphoris, close to one of the Roman Empire's important trade routes.
00:25:16Sepphoris is ideally placed to give traders in Galilee the chance to reach distant markets and obtain raw materials.
00:25:23I think that idea of small traders having access to a wider Mediterranean swim, as it were, is really something we have to hold on to when we think about the eastern provinces.
00:25:39Could Sepphoris be where Jesus meets the man who is crucial to the England story, Joseph of Arimathea?
00:25:50Joseph only appears in the Gospels at the time of Jesus' death when he claims the body for burial.
00:25:57The Gospels say that Joseph is a secret follower of Jesus and a wealthy man.
00:26:03And to some, the fact he's allowed to bury Jesus suggests they could have been related.
00:26:09Later stories even claim that Joseph is Jesus' great uncle and that his wealth comes from trading in valuable metals.
00:26:16In the ancient world, it isn't just silver and gold that are valued.
00:26:21Ordinary metals like tin and copper are essential for the manufacture of bronze, which is used to make everything from statues to armor.
00:26:29And top of the list for high-grade tin deposits is southwest Britain in today's counties of Devon and Cornwall.
00:26:36The tin mines in Cornwall and Devon are an obvious goal.
00:26:41There's no reason to think that there weren't Roman traders connecting to the tin mines of Britain before the Roman conquest of Britain in the 50s.
00:26:52Could Jesus have accompanied Joseph of Arimathea to Britain in search of tin?
00:27:02Traders follow shipping routes across the Mediterranean to present-day France.
00:27:07After an overland journey to the coast, it's only a matter of crossing the English Channel.
00:27:14After a long voyage, Jesus and Joseph could have set foot in the tin mining region of southwest England.
00:27:21Today, people like local British author Glyn Lewis are convinced that Jesus made his way to Britain and landed in what is today the county of Cornwall.
00:27:31I believe that Jesus came to Cornwall along with his uncle Joseph of Arimathea, possibly more than once.
00:27:37Tin had been mined in this area for centuries, but further inland are sources of other valuable metals, iron and lead.
00:28:02Jesus and Joseph would have to go to a trading center to find them.
00:28:27This place on the top hill, rising 500 feet above the surrounding marshes, marks the location of a town which would become the focus of the legend about Jesus and Joseph in England.
00:28:37This is Glastonbury.
00:28:57This is where a whole new dimension is added to the story of Jesus in England.
00:29:14The area around Glastonbury is linked to an ancient pagan sect known as the Druids.
00:29:20Even today, people who follow Druid traditions meet on the hill that looms over the town, Glastonbury Tor.
00:29:27As priests, teachers and healers, Druids were important figures in ancient Britain.
00:29:38The story is that Jesus studied with the Druids.
00:29:48The story is that Jesus studied with the Druids.
00:29:53The Druids was about a young man and pagar as a man and the German man,
00:30:00and the German man has the whole land of the land of the city.
00:30:05The town of Glastonbury for the city is about globally,
00:30:08and we are all underrated.
00:30:09The whole property of Jesus is about through the city's land.
00:30:11That's what I think is that Jesus is about to be found to be found.
00:30:14The idea of Jesus is about to not according to the new world.
00:30:17The idea of Jesus is about the capital of the land of the town.
00:30:18It's about the людs.
00:30:20The idea of Jesus studying as a young man with the Druids, for which I'm afraid there's
00:30:28no historical evidence, but there's this sort of memory in the medieval church, I think
00:30:35that is really an idea of trying to take credit for some of Jesus' spiritual power.
00:30:41The idea that part of what makes Jesus so great is something that he borrowed from us,
00:30:47from our region.
00:30:49The belief that Jesus meets up with the Druids may have been reinforced by ancient accounts
00:31:04of their skill as healers.
00:31:10Jesus demonstrates the importance he gave to healing the sick when he performed his miracles.
00:31:17Early Christian writers had no doubt that Christianity made a quick start in Britain.
00:31:24In the sixth century, a British monk named Gildas declares that Christianity came to Britain
00:31:30within five years of Jesus' death.
00:31:33And the great Christian theologian Tertullian said it happened by the early third century.
00:31:41Firm evidence to support their claims has yet to be found.
00:31:45The traces of the earliest Christianity in Britain are really quite slim.
00:31:51We've got hints archaeologically, but if you really are careful about the dating, you really
00:31:59don't have good evidence for Christian activity archaeologically until the fourth century.
00:32:05What we do know is that it was in medieval times that the legend of Jesus visiting the southwest
00:32:11really takes off.
00:32:12And it all starts with the writings of one man.
00:32:16At the beginning of the 12th century, William of Malmesbury writes a history of Glastonbury Abbey.
00:32:22Glastonbury Abbey was a really important place.
00:32:25It was a rich and wealthy abbey.
00:32:27But in order to stay that way, they really needed to keep having pilgrims coming to the
00:32:32abbey on pilgrimages.
00:32:34In a key passage, William writes that Jesus' disciples could have built the first church
00:32:40in Glastonbury.
00:32:41William's account ensures the abbey remains a must-see destination for pilgrims.
00:32:46So a few years later, the monks of the abbey go even further.
00:32:51This time, they hit on the idea of using Joseph of Arimathea.
00:32:56By the 13th century, Joseph had become linked with the story of the Holy Grail.
00:33:02Medieval Europe is obsessed with the search for the grail.
00:33:05The cup believed to have caught Jesus' blood when he's on the cross.
00:33:10Joseph's role at the crucifixion guarantees him a place in the grail's story.
00:33:16For the monks of Glastonbury, this is too good an opportunity to miss.
00:33:23Glastonbury got on top of this quite quickly.
00:33:25They realized that if they could claim Joseph of Arimathea, they could also claim the Holy
00:33:30Grail.
00:33:31They could also claim early Christianity.
00:33:34And really, it would bring in monks.
00:33:36It would bring in pilgrims.
00:33:37It would bring in all sorts of people.
00:33:40By the 13th century, Glastonbury Abbey claims that a British man with a connection to Jesus
00:33:48had visited their church.
00:33:50This claim makes it possible for people to believe that Jesus himself had come to the
00:33:54abbey as well.
00:33:56Glastonbury Abbey's brilliant marketing strategy planted the idea of Jesus coming to Britain
00:34:01in the minds of the country's Christians.
00:34:04But what brings the story into more recent times is a poem.
00:34:08First published by Englishman William Blake in the early 19th century, it later becomes
00:34:13one of the country's most popular hymns, Jerusalem.
00:34:17It begins with these extraordinary lines.
00:34:19And did thou speak in ancient time, walk upon England's mountains free, and was a glory Lamb of God, on England's
00:34:35pleasant posture to see.
00:34:52The legend of Jesus, the Holy Lamb of God, coming to Britain, has appealed to many people.
00:34:58A dangerous young religious radical from Palestine reaching all the way to Celtic Britain, that connection, imaginatively, it's very evocative.
00:35:10But why did Blake write this poem?
00:35:13As Britain's industrial revolution starts to turn the country into a giant factory, Blake is horrified.
00:35:19He uses the image of ancient Britain made holy by Jesus to remind his readers what had been lost.
00:35:26Jerusalem has become Britain's unofficial national anthem, played at sports matches, even at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
00:35:35Despite the popular desire to link Jesus with England, the story still has to be classed as legend, not fact.
00:35:43But we still need to account for those 18 missing years.
00:35:47And what about the question of how Jesus gained the knowledge that played such a crucial part in his preaching?
00:35:53Glenn Lewis has no doubts about the answer.
00:35:56When he appears in Nazareth and Capernaum, he appears almost as a stranger,
00:36:02as if people recognized him but wondered where he'd been and how had he obtained his wisdom.
00:36:08And I believe it's in Britain that he obtained his wisdom.
00:36:11The idea that he could have gotten to Britain is a bit exaggerated, but it's not impossible.
00:36:17The details of Jesus' life have become the foundation of a worldwide religion.
00:36:22It's no surprise that many different countries want to claim a part in his story.
00:36:27As for Jesus coming to Britain, perhaps the evidence is still out there somewhere.
00:36:38Jesus' miracles began to send shockwaves through Galilee.
00:36:42People from all over the region want to hear him speak or be cured of their illnesses.
00:36:47He picks a team of 12 men to help him teach and heal, the disciples.
00:36:54Their leader is Peter.
00:36:56But the Bible presents Peter as slow, hot-headed, and cowardly.
00:37:02Why did Jesus choose such a flawed man to be his top disciple?
00:37:06St. Peter's Basilica is in the heart of Vatican City in Rome.
00:37:15It's named after Peter, who becomes a crucial figure in the founding of Christianity.
00:37:22Beneath the soaring dome of the Basilica is the crypt said to contain the bones of St. Peter himself.
00:37:29But this towering figure is not what he seems.
00:37:33Jesus' choice of Peter to be his number one disciple seems to have the makings of a disaster.
00:37:42Peter's the most extraordinary person to have as Jesus' right-hand man because he seems singularly ill-qualified for the job.
00:37:50I mean, he keeps making mistakes.
00:37:54The Sea of Galilee, according to the Gospels, was around this huge lake where Jesus carries out the teaching and healing known as his ministry.
00:38:03He would travel from village to village or simply speak to people out in the open.
00:38:09So many people come to see and hear him that he needs help, not just to pass on his words, but even to heal in his name.
00:38:17The Sea of Galilee is the stomping ground of an illiterate fisherman called Simon.
00:38:22There's nothing in his life to set him apart from his fellow villagers.
00:38:39Yet when Jesus visits Simon's village looking for men to be his disciples, Simon is one of the first to join him.
00:38:47Jesus renames him Peter. The name means the rock.
00:38:52And Jesus predicts Peter will be the rock on which his new kingdom of God will be founded.
00:39:06It seems a very odd nickname indeed to give to Simon, to call him the rock.
00:39:12The rock implies stability and strength and fortitude.
00:39:18And Simon shows anything but strength and stability and fortitude in the Gospels.
00:39:24And it's not long before Peter reveals himself to be a bit of a fool.
00:39:28After the miracle of feeding the 5,000, Jesus sends the disciples across the Sea of Galilee in a boat, while he stays on shore to pray.
00:39:39A storm blows up, and the disciples are caught right in the middle of it.
00:39:43Even the fishermen among them, like Peter, are helpless.
00:39:50Suddenly, they see a ghostly figure walking across the sea towards them.
00:40:03But Peter turns the miracle they are witnessing into what almost looks like slapstick.
00:40:09Peter comes out of the boat, starts walking to him, but then he starts looking at him.
00:40:38And realizes what he's doing, and he starts to sink, and so Jesus has to save him.
00:40:43This is a perfect example of Peter trying to show off his spiritual power, in some sense, and failing.
00:40:50Peter falls into the water because he starts out full of faith in Jesus.
00:40:54But then he loses that faith.
00:40:57For Jesus' top disciple, it's a strange characteristic, but one he displays time and time again.
00:41:03And that's almost parabolic of the way that Peter is throughout the Gospels.
00:41:08Excitement and sudden following of Jesus, and then falling away at the crucial moment.
00:41:16Peter is a man who just doesn't think hard enough before he acts.
00:41:21And while he's with Jesus, Peter comes across as not being the smartest of the disciples.
00:41:30I think it's a little bit difficult when we're just reading the Gospels to know to what extent Peter was a bit dim and didn't really get it.
00:41:37Matthew's Gospel highlights a case of Peter's complete failure to grasp the point of Jesus' mission on earth.
00:41:44It comes at a crucial moment when Peter is the first of the disciples to declare that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah.
00:41:52Jesus tells Peter and the others he must now go to Jerusalem to fulfill his destiny and atone for mankind's sins with his death.
00:42:02But Peter steps forward and actually tries to stop him.
00:42:06The normally gentle Jesus fires off a shocking put-down.
00:42:11Well, this is great.
00:42:15So Peter understands who Jesus is, you would think.
00:42:18But then Jesus goes on and says that he has to go to Jerusalem and be rejected by the scribes and elders and be crucified.
00:42:25And Peter says, no, Lord, not you.
00:42:28In other words, Peter acknowledges he's the Messiah, but he doesn't understand what that means.
00:42:34And Jesus has to say to him, get behind me, Satan.
00:42:38Time after time, Peter seems to get in the way of God's divine plan.
00:42:43That mankind's salvation will come from Jesus' death.
00:42:47The contradictions of Peter's behavior have made him a focus of attention for theologians.
00:42:53He knows the words, but he doesn't understand the meaning of what he says.
00:42:59And therefore, Jesus is very critical towards him.
00:43:02I actually feel a little bit sorry for Peter,
00:43:04because I'm not sure that anybody would really have got the message of Jesus.
00:43:09Not only is Peter missing the whole point of Jesus' life and ministry,
00:43:14he is in complete denial about his own weaknesses.
00:43:23Gospel accounts make it clear that Jesus' disciple Peter had failings that become more obvious as time passes.
00:43:29At the Last Supper, Jesus calmly tells Peter of the disloyalty he will soon demonstrate.
00:43:34Before sunrise, Peter will deny knowing Jesus three times.
00:43:39Peter's response is typical.
00:43:41He, with some arrogance, declares to Jesus that he'll stand by him no matter what.
00:43:48John's Gospel tells how the story of Peter's worst failure begins in the Garden of Gethsemane.
00:43:54Jesus' time to be arrested, charged, and dead.
00:43:56John's Gospel tells how the story of Peter's worst failure begins in the Garden of Gethsemane.
00:43:57John's Gospel tells how the story of Peter's worst failure begins in the Garden of Gethsemane.
00:43:59Jesus' time to be arrested, charged, and put to death has finally arrived.
00:44:27But when Judas arrives with a party of soldiers to identify and arrest Jesus, Peter tries
00:44:37to stop them.
00:44:38And when they go in, it's Peter who draws a sword and lops off Malchus, the slave's
00:44:44ear.
00:44:45Jesus stops Peter's foolish attempt to delay the inevitable, but Peter's reckless
00:44:50behavior is not his worst quality.
00:44:53That becomes clear when Peter faces the ultimate test.
00:44:57Peter behaves like a coward, just as Jesus knew he would.
00:45:10After his arrest, Jesus is interrogated at the house of the high priest.
00:45:15And now, just a few hours after he insists he would stay by Jesus to the end, Peter
00:45:22behaves as predicted.
00:45:24A servant woman accuses him of being one of Jesus' followers.
00:45:30A terrified Peter betrays Jesus.
00:45:34Peter lies through his teeth, denies that he's the disciple of Jesus, trying to save his miserable
00:45:41life.
00:45:42In short, Jesus stands tough.
00:45:44Peter, the rock, crumbles before the fierce interrogation of a slave girl.
00:45:54Peter makes his cowardice complete when he doesn't even stay to witness the crucifixion.
00:45:59He flees the scene, leaving Jesus to face his death alone.
00:46:06This chapter of betrayal reveals Peter at his most shameful.
00:46:21So what are we to make of the stark contrast between the Peter who today towers over the Christian
00:46:25church and the deeply flawed man of the Gospels?
00:46:37Some now argue that Peter is chosen precisely because of his weaknesses.
00:46:43Could it be that his character flaws and failures capture the way ordinary Christians might behave
00:46:48in difficult situations?
00:46:52The earliest readers of the Gospels, just like readers of the Gospels today, aren't perfect.
00:46:57And therefore, if you have a character in there who is less than perfect, then it acts as
00:47:02a nice symbol of there's always hope.
00:47:05The Gospels themselves provide evidence to support this idea.
00:47:09Jesus' critical words to Peter in the Gospel of Matthew have passed into everyday language.
00:47:15When Peter tries to walk on water and sinks because of his fear and doubt, Matthew has
00:47:20Jesus saying, O ye of little faith.
00:47:25In the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus stops Peter from fighting, Jesus says, Those who live
00:47:30by the sword will die by the sword.
00:47:35So does Christ choose Peter to be his top disciple because he knows that Peter's behavior and mistakes
00:47:41would be mirrored through the ages by ordinary people.
00:47:44Peter is somebody that people can relate to, and it may be that that's why he's given such
00:47:49a position of prominence in the Gospels, because he, more than anyone else, is someone who's
00:47:53like us.
00:47:56There is a dramatic end to the story of this ordinary man who becomes Jesus' most important
00:48:01disciple.
00:48:03After Jesus' resurrection, Peter takes to the road, traveling and preaching the faith.
00:48:08But according to tradition, he is finally arrested in Rome and sentenced to death.
00:48:14And what happens next is truly astonishing.
00:48:19Peter insists on being crucified upside down because he is not worthy of dying like Jesus.
00:48:26Peter's journey from foolishness to wisdom and from cowardice to valor is complete.
00:48:32The early Christian audiences who first read the Gospels would have known that afterwards,
00:48:37Peter did go on to be a great missionary.
00:48:40He went on to be a great leader of the church.
00:48:43Peter says, because he fails so dramatically, that ultimately he becomes the success story
00:48:52that he is as one of the first great Christian missionaries.
00:48:55So is Jesus' decision to choose a flawed and weak character to be his right-hand man really
00:49:00a mistake?
00:49:01It seems he deliberately picks someone to be an example.
00:49:06The underlying message to all Christians is this.
00:49:08If Peter can fail so badly and still rise to great heights, then they too will be forgiven
00:49:15when normal human weakness leads them astray.
00:49:21In the Gospel accounts of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, one name stands out as a clear
00:49:26example of faith and devotion, Mary Magdalene.
00:49:31Yet many people today remember her only as a former prostitute.
00:49:36How did Mary Magdalene become the victim of such extraordinary character assassination?
00:49:45Modern popular entertainment has a lot to answer for when it comes to a negative portrayal
00:49:50of Mary Magdalene.
00:49:52Some famous religious films not only suggest she was a former prostitute, but even that
00:49:56she had a relationship with Jesus himself.
00:49:59People have a craving to hear these stories that are just on the edge of something almost
00:50:06a little bit saucy.
00:50:09And I think that's a storyline that has been absolutely vital from the ancient world all
00:50:17the way through to Jesus Christ Superstar and the Da Vinci Code.
00:50:22In a new staging of the popular musical Jesus Christ Superstar, Mary Magdalene is played by
00:50:27former Spice Girl, Mel C. In this version of Jesus' story, there's little doubt about
00:50:33Mary's past life.
00:50:35I think there's a very powerful image there in terms of the repentant prostitute.
00:50:40It feeds very much into a patriarchal culture where women are defined by their sexuality.
00:50:45So you're either a good virgin, people like Mary, the mother of Jesus, or you're a bad whore.
00:50:56Many people today believe Mary Magdalene was a reformed prostitute, but not here.
00:51:03Not at this church.
00:51:04This is the Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem.
00:51:08Here, and in Orthodox Christian churches across the world, Mary Magdalene is a revered figure,
00:51:15nothing like her sexualized image.
00:51:18The Orthodox Church sees Mary Magdalene as one of the faithful women, the mer-bearing women,
00:51:23who came and was around Christ at the time of his crucifixion and resurrection.
00:51:32The portrayal of such an honored figure as a former prostitute could be one of the greatest
00:51:37character assassinations in history.
00:51:41The biblical account of Mary provides very few details about her life.
00:51:46For centuries, people believe her name, Mary Magdalene, simply means Mary came from a place
00:51:51called Magdala.
00:51:54But there is an entirely different interpretation of Mary's name, that Magdalene comes from the
00:51:59word migdal, meaning tower.
00:52:02Could this be a clue not to where Mary came from, but to her character and importance in
00:52:06Jesus' movement?
00:52:07The other idea has to do with the Aramaic word for tower, Magdalene, which gives an epithet
00:52:16for Mary similar to the epithet that St. Peter has.
00:52:21Peter is the rock.
00:52:23And in a way, it's very tempting to think that Peter is the rock and Mary is the tower.
00:52:29As Jesus and the disciples travel around Galilee, they need money, food, and shelter.
00:52:35Luke's gospel says that a group of women provide this vital support, and the first to be named
00:52:40is Mary Magdalene.
00:52:41I think it's clear that she was an important member of the group.
00:52:47This interpretation of Mary's name fits very well with the gospel accounts of her role in
00:52:51the Jesus story.
00:52:53They tell of two crucial moments in the life of Mary.
00:52:58Matthew, Mark, and John all say that Mary stays with Jesus during the crucifixion, when
00:53:07all the male disciples flee.
00:53:13And in John, Mary is the first person, man or woman, to see the risen Christ.
00:53:18This makes Mary highly significant.
00:53:31If it's historically true that Mary Magdalene was the first to proclaim that Jesus was raised
00:53:36from the dead, you could argue that Mary Magdalene started Christianity.
00:53:42The biblical account of Mary Magdalene is absolutely clear.
00:53:52Mary is a major figure in the story of Jesus.
00:53:56So where on earth did the idea she was a repentant prostitute come from?
00:54:01The story begins with the place of women in the first century, and Jesus' revolutionary
00:54:06attitude towards them.
00:54:08Jesus preaches that everyone should be allowed in the kingdom of God.
00:54:12That includes those with leprosy, people believed to be possessed, and women who have broken
00:54:17the rules of society.
00:54:20In one famous story, Jesus is asked to judge a woman who is going to be stoned to death
00:54:24for adultery.
00:54:26But Jesus refuses to condemn her.
00:54:28Instead, he throws down a challenge.
00:54:31If you're without sin, cast the first stone, a line we've all heard.
00:54:34How remarkable it must have been to that woman, lying on the ground, cowering, waiting to
00:54:39die, probably her face in the sand.
00:54:43And if her eyes are open, what she sees is the stones falling, falling on the ground.
00:54:46But challenging the way women are treated is typical of Jesus' attitude.
00:55:00The fact that women are a part of his movement at all is revolutionary.
00:55:15One of the striking things that modern studies of the historical Jesus have shown is that
00:55:20Jesus appears to have been unusually involved with women during his public ministry.
00:55:26Jesus' willingness to accept women as equals enables them to join his followers.
00:55:33And in the early years of Christianity, Mary Magdalene's status often rivals that of Peter.
00:55:38In the 19th century, an ancient manuscript is found which describes a discussion between
00:55:43Mary, Jesus, and the disciples.
00:55:46Known as the Gospel of Mary, it has never been accepted as equal to the biblical gospels.
00:55:52But not all scholars think it should be dismissed.
00:55:54We have this wonderful text called the Gospel of Mary, which was written probably at the very
00:56:00end of the second century, but seems to preserve a debate about Mary Magdalene.
00:56:11The text of the Gospel describes Peter being threatened by Mary's better understanding of Jesus'
00:56:17teachings.
00:56:19And this is just one of several early Christian accounts that stress Mary's status.
00:56:24They are more or less at each other's throats.
00:56:26And what's interesting is that in these other Gospels, Mary is always the one who comes out
00:56:31as being right, and Peter is the one who's being wrong.
00:56:34Peter continues to be a hothead, and Mary is the voice of reason.
00:56:39Mary's prominent role means that women are fully accepted in Christian communities, not
00:56:44merely as followers, but as leaders in their own right.
00:56:48This comes as a surprise to many people who think that in the early church women were oppressed
00:56:53and they were silenced.
00:56:55But if you read our earliest Christian documents, women have a prominent place.
00:57:00But gradually, this prominence is taken away.
00:57:04As the Christian church takes shape, men begin to dominate its councils.
00:57:08And then in the late sixth century, Mary becomes the victim of an astonishing attack.
00:57:14The man responsible is one of the most important figures of the early Christian church, Pope Gregory
00:57:20the Great.
00:57:21At the end of the sixth century, there is a series of disasters in Rome.
00:57:26Gregory believes the city is being punished by God.
00:57:29His solution is for everyone to repent their sins, but he needs a powerful symbol to inspire
00:57:34people.
00:57:35He finds it in a story about a repentant prostitute in the Gospel of Luke.
00:57:40He brings this figure of the repentant prostitute into the much beloved figure of Mary Magdalene.
00:57:48It's a stroke of genius, but it's one of the very rare moments where we really have the
00:57:52smoking gun of how it happened.
00:57:59In a sexually charged scene of Luke's Gospel, Jesus is eating with other guests when a woman
00:58:04described simply as a sinner comes in.
00:58:11Many others are outraged, but when she approaches Jesus, he makes no move to turn her away.
00:58:17She cries, she wets Jesus' feet with her tears, she dries them with her hair, she anoints Jesus.
00:58:35And Jesus says, because she is loved very much, she'll be forgiven very much.
00:58:39Because she's forgiven very much, she'll love very much.
00:58:42It's a wonderfully resonant story about the sinner coming to Jesus and repenting.
00:58:51Luke doesn't identify the woman or give any details of her past.
00:58:55But Pope Gregory implies the sinner with her jar of ointment is actually a prostitute.
00:59:00And even worse, he says that this repentant prostitute is none other than Mary Magdalene herself.
00:59:10The slander sticks.
00:59:14That view has come down to us today, of course.
00:59:16So that's why people think of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute.
00:59:21Why is the church so willing to accept such a negative view of one of its sacred figures?
00:59:28Mary Magdalene was particularly liked by some of the non-mainstream Christian groups in the
00:59:33first few centuries.
00:59:35And I think that might have been one of the reasons why some of the early church fathers
00:59:39decided that it might be a good thing to try and give her memory a rather less positive
00:59:45slant.
00:59:46The Western Christian church has followed Gregory's lead in linking Mary Magdalene and the woman
00:59:51sinner who washes Jesus' feet with her tears.
00:59:55We still tell stories about prostitutes that turn around in our culture.
00:59:59I mean, films like Pretty Woman, they are based on the idea that it would be fascinating
01:00:04to see a prostitute turn around.
01:00:08And so we love seeing that in the Christian story.
01:00:13People have been trying to clear Mary's name for many years.
01:00:17In 1969, the Catholic Church tries to right the wrong it had done to Mary Magdalene.
01:00:22It removes references to her as a public sinner.
01:00:30And Pope John Paul II also restores the name that acknowledges her real significance for
01:00:36the Christian faith, apostle to the apostles.
01:00:42To theologians, Mary Magdalene is one of Jesus' greatest and most loyal followers.
01:00:47But sadly, this seems to have done little to change her image as a repentant prostitute.
01:00:53In the West, we've got a lot to answer for in terms of Mary's reputation.
01:00:59Locked away in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is a cloth that is said to bear the face of
01:01:13Jesus Christ.
01:01:15But this is not the world-famous Turin Shroud.
01:01:18It's called the Veil of Veronica.
01:01:21For centuries, the Veil of Veronica is one of the Catholic Church's most treasured relics.
01:01:26But today, this once-crucial image of Jesus is almost unknown.
01:01:31Why?
01:01:33In the early years of Christianity, Jesus' teachings are all important.
01:01:43But as the religion spread, people also want to know more about Jesus the man.
01:01:48People want to focus for their belief.
01:01:51They need to know what Jesus looked like.
01:01:54Because in the Catholic tradition, it's important and has long been important to have some kind
01:01:59of tangible essence that one can relate to that conveys spiritual reality.
01:02:05The Gospels provide no details, so artists create portraits of a youthful-looking Jesus,
01:02:11or even show him dressed as a Greek or Roman god.
01:02:15But by the 6th century, stories begin to circulate about miraculous portraits of Jesus.
01:02:21Not paintings, but images created by contact with his face.
01:02:26The most famous example in the world today is the ghostly face on the Turin Shroud.
01:02:33But there have been doubts about the Shroud's authenticity ever since it first appeared.
01:02:37There is no mention of the Turin Shroud before the 14th century in a church in France.
01:02:45The local bishop said it was not an original shroud, but a painted fake.
01:02:53In the medieval period, the image the Catholic Church venerates as the true face of Jesus is
01:02:58on another piece of cloth.
01:02:59It's known as the Veil of Veronica.
01:03:02And this is no grave shroud.
01:03:04This is believed to show the face of the living Jesus.
01:03:07Pope Innocent III particularly promoted the Veronica.
01:03:12The story emerges, and it really catches on, yes, in the Catholic Church.
01:03:18And it's much more important than the Turin Shroud, which is a minor provincial object in France.
01:03:24The dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is supported by four colossal pillars.
01:03:29Each one commemorates a priceless holy relic kept within the basilica's walls.
01:03:34One of them is the Pillar of Veronica.
01:03:37At the base of the pillar is a 16-foot-high statue of a woman holding a piece of cloth bearing
01:03:43the outline of Jesus' face.
01:03:47Though it isn't mentioned in the Bible, later tradition has it that Veronica's veil is created
01:03:51on the day of Jesus' crucifixion in Jerusalem.
01:03:55The route he's believed to have taken to the place of execution is called the Via Dolorosa,
01:04:00or Way of Sorrows.
01:04:03For centuries, the Catholic Church has commemorated everything that happened to Jesus on his last
01:04:08journey.
01:04:09These events have become known as the Stations of the Cross.
01:04:12And each station is marked so that pilgrims can pray as they follow the route.
01:04:17Well, there is a devotion, a kind of system of prayer within the Catholic Church, which
01:04:22is known as the Stations of the Cross, which are 14 reflections on Jesus' journey from being
01:04:32condemned by Pilate to finally being crucified and being taken down from the cross and buried.
01:04:37According to the story, standing in the crowd watching Jesus pass is a woman said to have been healed in one of his most extraordinary miracles.
01:04:48She is identified with the woman who, in the Synoptic Gospels, had suffered from a menstrual flow of blood for some 12 years and was healed by Jesus.
01:05:12As Jesus stumbles and falls, she steps forward and uses her veil to wipe the blood and sweat from his face.
01:05:42And Jesus was shaken into the cross and when she was healed and was healed and she was healed and healed and was healed and healed.
01:05:49Then, the Holy Spirit of Jesus came to let the Holy Spirit of the Cross and did not reveal his body in theơnv.
01:05:55She has to be alone with her and with her and with her and with her leadership of her and with her and with her, she has to be the Sanoptic Gospels.
01:05:59There was a lot of fun and she comes to her and with her and with her.
01:06:04And the Holy Spirit of the Cross and the Holy Spirit.
01:06:09When Jesus returns, the cloth, his image is on there.
01:06:22The creation of a miraculous image of Jesus on Veronica's veil
01:06:26is commemorated here at the Chapel of the Holy Face,
01:06:30the sixth of the 14 stations of the cross on the Via Dolorosa.
01:06:35The Veronica story is only one of a number about such images
01:06:39that appears from the 6th century onwards.
01:06:43Constantinople, today known as Istanbul,
01:06:46becomes the focus of these accounts.
01:06:48But over the centuries, many of the city's priceless holy relics disappear.
01:06:54The first written records of Veronica's veil date from the 12th century.
01:06:59Pilgrims visiting Rome describe seeing a holy relic,
01:07:01which is the true image of Jesus.
01:07:05They call it the Veronica.
01:07:07In Western Europe in the Middle Ages, we're asking,
01:07:09well, what did Jesus Christ actually look like?
01:07:11And they refer back to this story,
01:07:14and they said, well, this is the true image.
01:07:16It's the Vera Icona, Vera being Latin for true,
01:07:19Icona being the Greek for image.
01:07:21This is the true image of Christ.
01:07:23And from Vera Icona came the name Veronica.
01:07:26In the 13th century, the veil of Veronica becomes the center of an annual procession.
01:07:35In 1300, it's put on public display in St. Peter's Basilica,
01:07:39and named a wonder of the city of Rome.
01:07:41The poet Dante sees it and praises the Veronica in his great work, The Divine Comedy.
01:07:48Seeing the veil of Veronica becomes one of the high points of any pilgrimage to Rome.
01:07:52Many, many people were present when the Veronica was shown, and there could be dangers.
01:07:59So many people would force their way into the basilica to see the veil,
01:08:03that in 1300, a British monk is killed in the crush.
01:08:06The veil's status as a priceless relic is increased when the pope composes a special prayer to it.
01:08:13Repeated in front of the veil, it would reduce punishment in the afterlife for earthly sins.
01:08:19It is the first time the Christian church had granted a prayer such power.
01:08:24If you've traveled to Jerusalem, if you've seen the Veronica,
01:08:27if you've helped finance some great building of a church,
01:08:32that gives you time off the penance you have to do for your sins.
01:08:37The belief in the power of the veil is so great that people begin buying copies
01:08:42so that they can continue their prayers to it even after they leave Rome.
01:08:46St. Veronica was like anticipation of seeing God face to face.
01:08:52But then rumor and mystery begin to cloud the story of the veil.
01:08:56In 1527, Rome is captured by a rebel army.
01:09:04And in an orgy of violence and looting,
01:09:06many priceless artworks and holy relics are stolen or destroyed.
01:09:12Had one of the most important Christian relics in the world survived?
01:09:18It does seem that it got stolen in the sack of Rome.
01:09:23Just as the enormous Veronica Pillar built to commemorate the veil is nearly complete,
01:09:28Pope Urban VIII cracks down on all copies being made of the Veronica.
01:09:33And significantly, he orders all existing copies to be destroyed.
01:09:39Though the Catholic Church insists the real veil is in the Veronica Pillar,
01:09:43the public has doubts.
01:09:46Adoration of the Veronica begins to decline.
01:09:53The church of St. Peter's lost control.
01:09:58And that seems to be part of the decline,
01:09:59that once they'd lost control,
01:10:01the whole environment,
01:10:03the whole charismatic appeal of the Veronica went down.
01:10:08Had one of the best-known relics in the Christian world
01:10:10simply been locked away for safety?
01:10:13Or had it been stolen and replaced with a replica?
01:10:16A veil image remains in the Veronica Pillar
01:10:20and still goes on display once a year.
01:10:22But at such a distance,
01:10:24it's impossible to see any detail.
01:10:30The church has not yet allowed any photo
01:10:33on the Veronica in the Vatican.
01:10:35The very few people who have seen it
01:10:37say no image is visible on it.
01:10:40Could it be that the real veil
01:10:44is no longer in the Vatican?
01:10:46And if not, where is it?
01:10:49The town of Manopelo lies in the Abruzzi Mountains,
01:10:53125 miles northeast of Rome.
01:10:56It's home to a church
01:10:57called the Sanctuary of the Voto Santo.
01:11:00In an ornate frame above the altar
01:11:03is a small piece of cloth.
01:11:05Only by looking at it from the correct angle
01:11:07is it possible to make out the face of a man?
01:11:11This is the Voto Santo,
01:11:13the holy face of Manopelo.
01:11:17Artist Raffaella Zardoni
01:11:19believes this could be the real veil of Veronica.
01:11:25The veil of Manopelo
01:11:26is a portrait of Christ on cloth.
01:11:29As all the legend about the holy face say,
01:11:33the face is equally visible
01:11:35on the both sides of cloth.
01:11:38And yet the cloth seem transparent.
01:11:44The people of Manopelo
01:11:46have venerated their veil for centuries
01:11:47as a portrait of Jesus,
01:11:49taking it on a procession
01:11:51through the village twice a year.
01:11:54It's only in the last few decades
01:11:56that other people have taken notice
01:11:58of this holy face.
01:11:59And then a single event
01:12:01placed it right in the headlines.
01:12:02On September 1st, 2006,
01:12:06Pope Benedict XVI
01:12:07goes to Manopelo
01:12:09and becomes the first pope
01:12:11ever to pray in front of the holy face.
01:12:13It gives enormous encouragement
01:12:15to those who believe the image
01:12:17is the real face of Christ.
01:12:19The origin of Jesus' face on this cloth
01:12:25remains a mystery.
01:12:27So far, no one has been able
01:12:28to prove any link
01:12:29between this precious relic
01:12:31and the famed veil of Veronica.
01:12:33But some people insist
01:12:34it has some extraordinary
01:12:36and disturbing qualities.
01:12:38According to the light,
01:12:39Jesus' face on the veil
01:12:42can be serene and luminous,
01:12:44or scared and dead.
01:12:46The holy face of Manopelo
01:12:49has become a focus
01:12:50for Christian pilgrims.
01:12:52In a single year,
01:12:53more than half a million visitors
01:12:54from all over the world
01:12:56make their way
01:12:57to this remote village.
01:12:59Veola Veronica researcher
01:13:01Raffaella Zardoni
01:13:02has no doubt about the importance
01:13:03of the Manopelo image.
01:13:05Novo conveys
01:13:06the consoling beauty
01:13:08of that face.
01:13:09It has all the features
01:13:11of face of Christ,
01:13:12but cannot be compared
01:13:14to any painting.
01:13:16Could this be
01:13:17the real veil of Veronica,
01:13:19stolen centuries ago
01:13:20from the Vatican
01:13:21and forgotten
01:13:22when replaced by a copy?
01:13:24Or is it just another survivor
01:13:27of the medieval mania
01:13:28for religious relics?
01:13:30It all comes down
01:13:31to what you believe.
01:13:33We are beginning
01:13:34to realize
01:13:35maybe what we thought
01:13:37was a legend
01:13:38is actually real.
01:13:40From the moment
01:13:48of his birth,
01:13:49Jesus had been on a path
01:13:50that could only have one end,
01:13:52his death.
01:13:54The gospel accounts
01:13:56of the nativity
01:13:56make this fate crystal clear.
01:14:01And Jesus' miracles
01:14:02leave no doubt
01:14:03that powerful enemies
01:14:04have Jesus in their sights.
01:14:06Now comes the last step.
01:14:15Jesus has to fulfill
01:14:16his destiny
01:14:17and leave mankind
01:14:18an enduring legacy.
01:14:26Just one mystery
01:14:27still remains.
01:14:30The crucifixion
01:14:32is the crucial event
01:14:33in Jesus' story.
01:14:34without it,
01:14:36there would be
01:14:36no Christianity.
01:14:38Jesus is accused
01:14:39of breaking
01:14:40the religious laws
01:14:41of his time.
01:14:42But the punishment
01:14:43for this crime
01:14:44is stoning to death.
01:14:46So why is Jesus
01:14:47put to death
01:14:48by crucifixion?
01:14:49This is the church
01:14:58of the Holy Sepulchre
01:14:59in Jerusalem.
01:15:01It's believed
01:15:02to stand on the site
01:15:03of the crucifixion,
01:15:04the brutal and agonizing
01:15:05end to Jesus' life
01:15:07on earth.
01:15:08But for some scholars,
01:15:09the horror of Jesus' death
01:15:11is crucial
01:15:12to the birth
01:15:13of Christianity.
01:15:14If Jesus had not
01:15:15been crucified,
01:15:16there never would have
01:15:17been Christianity.
01:15:18Jesus knows
01:15:20he has to die
01:15:21on the cross.
01:15:23In fact,
01:15:23the Gospel of Matthew
01:15:24tells us
01:15:25Jesus knows exactly
01:15:26how things are going
01:15:27to play out.
01:15:28But he still needs
01:15:29to make it happen.
01:15:31The first step
01:15:31is to go to the holiest
01:15:33city of Israel,
01:15:34Jerusalem.
01:15:35He's been going around
01:15:37talking about
01:15:37the kingdom of God,
01:15:38talking about God
01:15:39establishing a new
01:15:41kingdom in Israel.
01:15:42And where else
01:15:43would God do it
01:15:44except in Jerusalem?
01:15:45Jerusalem has to be
01:15:47at the heart
01:15:47of this message.
01:15:52Jerusalem is the site
01:15:53of the great temple.
01:15:55It has dominated the city
01:15:56and attracted worshippers
01:15:58from all over the Middle East.
01:16:00But it's more
01:16:01than just a monument.
01:16:03The temple is
01:16:05the heart of Judaism.
01:16:06It's as simple as that.
01:16:08Jesus' miracles
01:16:09and teachings
01:16:10have challenged
01:16:11the ideas
01:16:11of religious authorities
01:16:12in Galilee
01:16:13at the risk
01:16:14of his life.
01:16:15If he had only
01:16:16just escaped death
01:16:17in the provincial north,
01:16:19he knows death
01:16:19is certain
01:16:20if he dares
01:16:21to do the same thing
01:16:22at the heart
01:16:22of the Jewish nation.
01:16:26Jesus probably
01:16:27had a pretty clear idea
01:16:29that he was heading
01:16:30towards a really
01:16:31nasty end.
01:16:33By going to Jerusalem,
01:16:35he was going
01:16:36into the mouth
01:16:36of the lion.
01:16:44Jesus times
01:16:45his journey
01:16:46to Jerusalem well.
01:16:47The great religious
01:16:48festival of Passover
01:16:49is taking place.
01:16:57It can be
01:16:58a time of tension
01:16:59as Jews celebrate
01:17:01escaping from Egypt
01:17:02centuries before.
01:17:04But Jesus makes
01:17:05no effort
01:17:06to avoid causing
01:17:06trouble
01:17:07when he heads
01:17:08straight to the temple.
01:17:10Money changers
01:17:11are busy
01:17:11as Jews
01:17:12from all over
01:17:13the known world
01:17:14exchange their coins
01:17:15for local money
01:17:16to pay the temple tax.
01:17:18This is how
01:17:19the temple is financed.
01:17:22In one of the most
01:17:23famous incidents
01:17:24in the Gospels,
01:17:26Jesus attacks
01:17:26the money changers
01:17:27and animal sellers
01:17:28inside the temple.
01:17:36to the temple priests,
01:17:46Jesus' attack
01:17:47on their income
01:17:48and rituals
01:17:49looks like
01:17:49an attempted takeover.
01:17:53It is in its own way
01:17:54a kind of royal messianic act
01:17:55claiming ownership
01:17:58of the temple
01:17:58in some sense.
01:18:00And of course,
01:18:00understandably,
01:18:01the temple administration
01:18:02who think of it
01:18:02as their venue
01:18:03are basically thinking,
01:18:05who the devil
01:18:06do you think you are?
01:18:07We're the ones
01:18:07that are in charge here.
01:18:08How dare you
01:18:09take this kind of action?
01:18:11The priests hear
01:18:13that Jesus has been saying
01:18:14that they will be destroyed
01:18:15with their temple.
01:18:20They cannot allow this
01:18:21to go unpunished.
01:18:22There were people
01:18:30throughout the history
01:18:31of Judaism
01:18:31who had predicted
01:18:33that the Jewish leaders
01:18:34were going to be destroyed
01:18:35and the temple
01:18:36were going to be destroyed.
01:18:37And in virtually every case
01:18:39we have of this,
01:18:40the person who made
01:18:41this prediction
01:18:42got into serious trouble,
01:18:44usually was arrested,
01:18:45was seriously flogged
01:18:48or possibly even killed.
01:18:50The punishment
01:18:51for anyone
01:18:51who is believed
01:18:52to be attacking God
01:18:53is laid down
01:18:54in ancient texts.
01:18:55They must be stoned to death.
01:18:57And by killing the leader,
01:18:59any new movement
01:18:59will be stopped
01:19:00in its tracks.
01:19:01Well, there were
01:19:02other messianic pretenders.
01:19:03These were all executed,
01:19:05sometimes with some
01:19:05of their followers,
01:19:06and it sort of snuffs
01:19:07the movement.
01:19:08But it's clear
01:19:09from the gospel accounts
01:19:10that Jesus knows
01:19:11he will not be taken away
01:19:12to some remote spot
01:19:13and die like a fake
01:19:15religious prophet.
01:19:16His death has to be meaningful
01:19:18and cannot simply be forgotten.
01:19:20He has to die
01:19:21in a public
01:19:22and dramatic way.
01:19:27And so for the history
01:19:28of Christianity,
01:19:29it's of utmost importance
01:19:31precisely that Jesus
01:19:32was crucified.
01:19:33If Jesus had been
01:19:35smuggled out of Jerusalem
01:19:36by a group of Jewish zealots
01:19:39and had been strangled,
01:19:41we wouldn't have Christianity.
01:19:43If he had been stoned
01:19:45to death by a mob,
01:19:47we wouldn't have Christianity.
01:19:49Christianity is predicated
01:19:50precisely on Jesus
01:19:52being crucified
01:19:53by the Romans.
01:19:54The last week
01:19:55of Jesus' life
01:19:56is known as the Passion.
01:19:58The gospel narratives
01:19:59of this terrible week
01:20:00set the stage
01:20:02for the final showdown.
01:20:03Jesus knows
01:20:04that many of his supporters
01:20:05are in the city
01:20:06for the Passover festival.
01:20:07The religious authorities
01:20:08will have to react
01:20:09to his challenge.
01:20:11But Jesus also knows
01:20:12there will be another player
01:20:13in this high-stakes game,
01:20:15Jerusalem's occupying garrison
01:20:17of Roman soldiers.
01:20:19I suspect that
01:20:20when we look at
01:20:21the Passion narratives,
01:20:23we need to take
01:20:24at least as much account
01:20:26of the Roman authorities
01:20:28as the Jewish leaders.
01:20:30Jesus had dared
01:20:31the temple authorities
01:20:32to act against him
01:20:34at a time of highest risk
01:20:36to themselves.
01:20:37In the explosive atmosphere
01:20:39of Passover,
01:20:40the slightest incident
01:20:41could cause a riot.
01:20:43And that would provoke
01:20:44an immediate and violent
01:20:45crackdown by Roman troops.
01:20:47The Romans knew full well
01:20:49that Passover
01:20:50was an incendiary time.
01:20:52This was the one time
01:20:53of the year
01:20:53when the Roman governor
01:20:54would leave his residence
01:20:56in Caesarea
01:20:56and come with troops
01:20:58to Jerusalem
01:20:59and station them
01:21:00around the temple.
01:21:02Why?
01:21:02To quell any possible riots.
01:21:04Jesus has put
01:21:06the temple priests
01:21:07in an impossible situation.
01:21:13By challenging
01:21:13the authority
01:21:14of the temple priests
01:21:15in Jerusalem,
01:21:16Jesus presents them
01:21:17with a dilemma.
01:21:18Putting Jesus to death
01:21:19might lead to riots
01:21:20and the Romans
01:21:21would simply step in
01:21:22and take over.
01:21:23The priests
01:21:24would be kicked out
01:21:24of the temple,
01:21:25lose their power,
01:21:26and Jewish independence
01:21:27would end.
01:21:28Jesus is operating,
01:21:30he's being subversive
01:21:32at a time
01:21:34which is highly
01:21:37politically charged.
01:21:39So the authorities
01:21:40have to be very careful
01:21:41about how they deal
01:21:42with Jesus.
01:21:42They want him out the way,
01:21:44but they can't just
01:21:45arrest him openly,
01:21:47given the number
01:21:49of Jesus' followers
01:21:49and the sort of
01:21:51public attraction
01:21:52that he appears
01:21:53to have generated.
01:21:55But the high priest
01:21:58Caiaphas has to make
01:21:59a decision.
01:22:00Jesus has driven
01:22:01him into a corner.
01:22:03Even though it may lead
01:22:04to accusations
01:22:05of collaboration
01:22:05with the Romans,
01:22:06he has no choice.
01:22:11He decides to surrender
01:22:12the right to punish Jesus
01:22:14and hands him over
01:22:15to the Romans.
01:22:16It's a price
01:22:17Caiaphas thinks
01:22:18is worth paying.
01:22:19Caiaphas stands up
01:22:23and says,
01:22:24look, you idiots,
01:22:26this man has to die.
01:22:28It's better
01:22:29to sacrifice one man
01:22:31than the entire nation.
01:22:34But by handing Jesus
01:22:36over to the Romans,
01:22:37Caiaphas is helping
01:22:38to bring about
01:22:39the death Jesus
01:22:39has foreseen.
01:22:42When a squad
01:22:43of Jewish
01:22:43and Roman guards
01:22:44come form
01:22:45in the Garden
01:22:45of Gethsemane,
01:22:47Jesus is ready
01:22:48to go quietly.
01:22:49In the Garden
01:22:54of Gethsemane,
01:22:55he prayed quite clearly,
01:22:57may this cup
01:22:58pass from me.
01:22:58He didn't want
01:22:59to go through all this,
01:23:00but he knew
01:23:00that he had to
01:23:01for the sake
01:23:01of the human race.
01:23:03Jesus is taken
01:23:04to the high priest's house.
01:23:07Caiaphas goes
01:23:08through the motions
01:23:09of a religious trial.
01:23:12At this trial,
01:23:13he's accused
01:23:14of committing blasphemy.
01:23:16It's interesting
01:23:17that these Jewish
01:23:18authorities don't take
01:23:19any steps
01:23:20to punish him
01:23:21for Jewish blasphemy.
01:23:23Instead,
01:23:23they hand him over
01:23:24to the Roman authorities.
01:23:26Normally,
01:23:27the Romans
01:23:27would not be interested
01:23:28in another maverick
01:23:29religious preacher,
01:23:30but Jesus has given
01:23:31the priests
01:23:32the excuse they need.
01:23:34They decide
01:23:34to accuse him
01:23:35of not just blasphemy,
01:23:36a religious crime,
01:23:38but of claiming
01:23:38to be king of the Jews.
01:23:40This is a political claim,
01:23:42and it's a political charge
01:23:43against Jesus.
01:23:44The priests claim
01:23:47that by being proclaimed
01:23:48a king by his followers,
01:23:50Jesus is trying
01:23:51to seize power
01:23:52and challenge
01:23:53Roman authority.
01:23:54The charge against him
01:23:55that was preferred
01:23:56is that he's setting himself
01:23:57out to be
01:23:57a messianic king,
01:23:59messiah in Jewish language,
01:24:01king in political
01:24:02or Roman language.
01:24:04So they're able
01:24:05to come up
01:24:05with a charge
01:24:06that translates
01:24:07quite readily
01:24:07against which
01:24:09the Roman governor
01:24:10would have to move.
01:24:11Jesus is now taken
01:24:13to the Roman governor
01:24:14Pontius Pilate
01:24:15to answer the charges
01:24:16against him.
01:24:17As expected,
01:24:19Pilate has no interest
01:24:20in Jesus' religious message.
01:24:22He asks one crucial
01:24:24political question.
01:24:26Pilate simply asked Jesus,
01:24:28are you the king
01:24:29of the Jews
01:24:29or do you call yourself
01:24:31the king of the Jews
01:24:32or do you really think
01:24:33you're the king of the Jews?
01:24:34And Jesus either answered yes
01:24:36or he didn't answer at all.
01:24:40And Pilate thought,
01:24:41he's a troublemaker,
01:24:42he should be crucified.
01:24:57Jesus is found guilty
01:24:58and sentenced to death.
01:25:01The Roman form
01:25:02of public execution
01:25:03for murderers,
01:25:04mutineers
01:25:05and political rebels
01:25:06is not stoning,
01:25:07beheading
01:25:08or hanging.
01:25:09It is crucifixion.
01:25:11Crucifixion was something
01:25:12which was for slaves
01:25:14and, you know,
01:25:16the worst of the worst.
01:25:17It was a terrible way
01:25:18to die
01:25:18and Pontius Pilate
01:25:20wanted that image
01:25:21of his death
01:25:22to be retained
01:25:23in memories
01:25:24of all of those
01:25:25who were going
01:25:26to be spending
01:25:26Passover in Jerusalem
01:25:28in the year 30 CE.
01:25:30We're talking here
01:25:32about a form of punishment
01:25:33which was designed
01:25:35to draw out the whole process
01:25:37to make it as painful
01:25:39as possible
01:25:40but also to draw in spectators
01:25:43to watch the whole process
01:25:45of a person die
01:25:48a humiliating death.
01:25:50Jesus' death
01:25:51is to be a degrading
01:25:52public spectacle.
01:25:54First,
01:25:55he is brutally whipped
01:25:56and then forced
01:25:57to carry
01:25:57the heavy wooden beam
01:25:58of his cross
01:25:59through the streets.
01:26:01The Gospels make it clear
01:26:02that by his death
01:26:04Jesus will be atoning
01:26:05for the sins of mankind
01:26:06but this means
01:26:09he has to experience
01:26:10the full horror
01:26:11of what is to come.
01:26:13He even refuses
01:26:14the pain-killing drink
01:26:15that is offered
01:26:16to people
01:26:17about to be executed.
01:26:20Victims usually died
01:26:22as far as we can work out
01:26:23by asphyxiation.
01:26:25You wouldn't necessarily
01:26:26lose a lot of blood
01:26:28even being nailed
01:26:29by hands and feet
01:26:30to the cross
01:26:31so it was much more
01:26:32the process
01:26:33of trying to keep breathing
01:26:36while you are affixed
01:26:38in this position.
01:26:41Jesus' crucifixion
01:26:42takes place
01:26:43near one of the main gates
01:26:44to Jerusalem
01:26:45in full view
01:26:46of anyone entering
01:26:47or leaving the city.
01:26:49The stage is set
01:26:50for the birth
01:26:51of a new religion.
01:26:58There's something
01:26:59about the very public nature
01:27:00of an execution
01:27:01like crucifixion
01:27:03that gives Christianity
01:27:05for want of
01:27:06a better way of saying it
01:27:08a kind of kickstart.
01:27:09The Bible tells us
01:27:10that through his death
01:27:11Jesus fulfills
01:27:13his mission on earth.
01:27:14By forcing the Jewish
01:27:15and Roman authorities
01:27:16to act against him
01:27:17he takes his message
01:27:19onto a very public stage.
01:27:22His death could not be hidden
01:27:23and becomes an inspiration
01:27:25for generations of Christians.
01:27:27The early Christians
01:27:28took Jesus' crucifixion,
01:27:30turned it as it were
01:27:31from a great mark of shame
01:27:33into a kind of badge of honor
01:27:35because they saw in his death
01:27:38the atoning sacrifice
01:27:40for sin.
01:27:43The crucifixion
01:27:44is the last
01:27:45and most important
01:27:46of the mysteries
01:27:47that surround Jesus' story.
01:27:50Now it is possible
01:27:51to see just why
01:27:53the events of the last week
01:27:54of his life
01:27:55unfold the way they do
01:27:56and how it leads
01:27:58to the creation
01:27:59of a worldwide religion.
01:28:01The story ends
01:28:19The story ends