Jesus: His Life

The Roman Empire occupies the land of Judea in a time of turbulent unrest, as a craftsman Joseph faces a personal test of faith, when his fiancée Mary tells him she is pregnant with the Son of God. Joseph vows to love and protect his son Jesus through many dangers and escape death at the hands of mad King Herod.

Some thirty years after Jesus is born, his life intersects with that of John the Baptist, a radical preaching in the desert against Judea's rulers, including Herod's son, Herod Antipas. Inaugurating his divine mission, John baptizes Jesus, but loses his own life, beheaded in a famous conflict with Herod Antipas's step-daughter, Salome.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is torn between wanting to protect her son and letting him go to fulfill his destiny when the time is right; until Jesus is thirty, only she and Joseph know his mysterious mission. Jesus performs his first public miracle at her request at the Wedding Feast of Cana. But it puts himself and his family in increasing danger.

Caiaphas faces an impossible dilemma. Caught between determination to preserve his faith and the repressive might of Rome, Caiaphas must judge how great a provocation Jesus might pose. Jesus' astonishing raising of Lazarus from the dead marks a turning point. Afraid that Jesus could prompt an uprising and possible brutal retaliation.

His name a synonym for traitor even to this day, Judas is known as the devoted disciple who ultimately betrays Jesus. What prompted one of Jesus' closest friends to turn on him remains one of the Bible's great mysteries, one explored as Jesus and his disciples enter Jerusalem for Passover and what will become the Last Supper.

Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, has to make a decision about a troublesome preacher called Jesus. As pressure builds to execute Jesus, Pilate's wife, inspired by a prophetic nightmare, urges him to leave Jesus alone. Instead, Pilate sends him away to be crucified, and publicly washes his hands of responsibility.