The Final Days of Jesus

The Final Days of Jesus is not only a book about religion, but also of Roman history. The events which took place during the Passover of 33 AD may have changed the course of the entire western world, but it is important to recognise that our understanding of them have been shaped by almost two thousand years of faith, studies and oral and written tradition. For the people of the time however, the significance of Jesus’s final days remained largely unacknowledged. Mark Smith, a classical historian and an expert storyteller, vividly depicts the final days of Jesus, writing with a keen focus on historical fact: what really happened, and who was involved? Pontius Pilatus is typically considered to be one of the most justly hated men of Christian history, but was he really a despicable tyrant, or was he just a man with a lack of foresight, constrained in a difficult situation, trapped between the Roman law and higher political powers? Who were Annas and Caiaphas, High Priests of Jerusalem, and how did they become embroiled in the decision to crucify an obscure teacher from Nazareth? This book compellingly explores the role which politics played in the execution of the “King of the Jews”.