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empire. Later these stories were collected and recorded and preserved in multiple versions which are now considered to be sacred history. The foundational stories about the life of Jesus (the gospels) are contained in the books of what has now come to be called the New Testament of the Bible. The spiritual ideas were at first molded into a new sect of the Jewish religion by Jewish interpreters and teachers, such as Paul, who revealed the meaning of the events as they had come to understand them after the death of the prophet. 14 The synagogues were small gathering places for Jews in the villages. Most of the people were not able to travel regularly to the central place of ritual worship at the Jerusalem Temple. The sacrificial cult did not take place on a local level. The synagogues were places where local sages, called rabbis, would teach and lead the people in prayer, singing, and worship.
Exodus 21:24 read in context shows an intention to limit vengeance. This verse is quoted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount when he urges his followers to turn the other cheek when confronted by violence (Matthew 5:3839). Christian interpretations often unwittingly criticize the intent of these words in the Hebrew Bible without understanding Biblical Judaism in its own context in a pre-Christian era. Mahatma Gandhi added another layer of response when he commented: “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and the whole world would soon be blind and toothless." 10 Several versions of the traditional stories indicate that John and Jesus were cousins. "From the Jewish perspective, all non-Jewish groups of people are known as Gentiles. 18 The term Messiah originated in the Near East where the kings were anointed with oil as part of the coronation ceremony. The title is found in several texts in the Hebrew Scriptures, both in the historical records of kings and in prophetic speeches. The Persian king Cyrus is called God's Anointed when he is selected to be an instrument in God's dealings with Israel. 19 The major distinctions in the underlying meanings of the terms Messiah and Christ reflect deep and complicated issues that reach beyond the purposes of the present discussion. 20 The Passover was a feast memorializing the escape from slavery in Egypt. It required the sacrifice of a perfect male lamb whose blood was then applied to the doorpost of the house to identify the faithful family.. 21 The council was called the Sanhedrin. See Acts 5:34-39 for a sample of the record in the New Testament. 22 The Jewish council reasoned that if Jesus was also inferring that he was the expected deliverer, the Prophet like Moses whose appearance had been prophesied, then it would be expedient, and righteous for these leaders of Israel to pronounce their judgment by condemning Jesus to death. It is even recorded
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