The Passion

There can be no doubt that nearly 2000 years ago a Jewish charismatic was judicially murdered. This was an unremarkable event. Palestine was in ferment, Jews and Romans were at bitter odds and the authorities often reacted ferociously in the face of any perceived threat. The consequences, of course, were incalculable – Pontius Pilate’s decision forming the spark that created a religion which continues today in dynamic and surprising ways to shape much of world history. But how much do we really know about the Passion – the sequence of events so brilliantly described by Jesus’s followers – the arrest, trial and execution of a local holy man whose posthumous impact can be compared to only two or three other figures in human history?