Earthly key, a messiah who will deliver them from the yoke of roman oppression. Into this powder keg walks jesus of nazareth. His protests against the romans make him a popular hero. To some, he is the messiah. But to the romans, hes political trouble, so they crucify him. The followers of jesus believed that he has risen from the dead and will soon usher in the kingdom of heaven, but when and how will this new faith survive after jesus . Today, more than 2 billion people call themselves christians, people who believe jesus rose from the dead. But perhaps its a miracle that christianity did not disappear when the romans crucified jesus on a lonely hill outside jerusalem almost 2,000 years ago. This region, jerusalem and judea, represented an important land bridge between syria and egypt. So throughout history, this has been a critical place. Jerusalem had been the holy city of judaism for more than 1,000 years, a place that the romans had occupied since 63 b. C. At the time the romans killed jesus, around 30 a. D. , scholars say, the jews were desperate for a messiah to free them from roman oppression, to liberate them on their promised land. But even then, there was disagreement as to who that messiah might be. In the 1st century, there was no messianic checklist. Some people would have followed jesus and considered him to be will messiah, gods annointed one. Others followed john the baptist. Others followed additional figures. In the cosmopolitan city of jerusalem, with its massive temple, the holiest site on earth for jews, and its regal priestly caste, would many have even noticed jesus, a wandering rabbi from the galilee. Its a good question, whether jews in jerusalem at the time would have even known about this sect of jewish christians, people who believed that jesus was the messiah. He would have looked the same as everybody else. He dressed the same as everybody else. He had some perhaps some disciples, some people following behind him. When you think of the temple, its a place where theres a lot of activity, a lot of coming and going. No pews. Then he would not necessarily have stood out to everybody. And his execution might have been equally obscure. The romans executed hundreds of thousands of people in the holy land in the 1st century b. C. And a. D. , and another person being crucified, its almost part of everyday activity. In fact, the jesus story looked to be over even before he died. After all, jesus had been betrayed by his own disciple, judas, and as jesus had foretold in the gospels, his chief disciple, peter, had already publicly denied him three times. Only a few women, led by his mother, mary, stayed at the foot of the cross. Outside of the women, who remained there watching, the picture we get from the gospels was that most of his followers actually ran away and hid because they were afraid for their own safety. That should have been the end of the jesus story, and it might have been if not, the gospels tell us, for the women, namely Mary Magdalene, and mary, mother of jesus. Three days after his death, they discovered his empty tomb. As he promised, jesus had risen from the dead. This is the key moment. What happened in the days after easter, and how did the news spread . The new faith had another revelation. The resurrected jesus appeared to his disciples. According to the acts of the apostles, jesus told them to stay in jerusalem, where they would soon get a sign from heaven, baptized with the holy spirit. So they sat there in a state of anticipation and expectation, but not really knowing. Then on the jewish feast of pentecost, 50 days after jesus died, the sign came. And suddenly, from heaven, there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind. It filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues as a fire appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them, all of them were filled with the holy spirit and began to speak in other languages. So that jews who were in jerusalem, be they from egypt or syrene or greece or even rome would be able to understand this new proclamation in their own dialect. And so now, all of a sudden, 8,000 jews in jerusalem have converted, and before long there wont be any nonchristian jews left, according to the book of acts. The story in the book of acts was written by luke decades later. Could he have exaggerated to make it sound even more impressive . I think it most unlikely that it happened exactly as luke describes it, but luke is absolutely clear what significance he sees in what happened. And what he needs to do is relay through his story, not just what happened, but what it meant that it happened, what it signified, and so he draws on the Old Testament. And we have this wonderful image of all the nations of the earth being reunited under this renewed blessing and law of god. Less than two months after the violent death of jesus, his once terrified followers were now boldly proclaiming his divine rule. It would seem that christianity had already taken root, though its followers didnt see it that way. These earliest followers of jesus understood themselves to be jews. They thought that jesus was the jewish messiah, who had been sent from the jewish god to the jewish people in fulfillment of the jewish scriptures. So theyre not, at least, originally interested in starting a new religion. Theyre interested in preparing the world for its final consummation. But that kingdom doesnt come. And the claims the followers of jesus start to make about him begin to sound like blasphemy. So the problem is not in the belief that jesus is the messiah. The problem is when the belief is moving from messiah to a kind of deified messiah. And as this begins to be understood by the jews, then opposition to this movement is no longer a political thing. Its a very strong religious thing. In fact, it will come to bitterly divide the family and lead to centuries of persecution. But now in the years after the death of jesus, his followers needed to keep his message alive. And they get two messengers, who could not be more different. Peter, the simple fisherman from galilee, who was jesus chief apostle. And paul, the sophisticated pharisee. Together they will create a religion that would change the world. [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of all day pain relief. This season, discover aleve. All day pain relief with just two pills. [ male announcer ] how could a luminous protein in jellyfish, impact Life Expectancy in the u. S. , real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany . At t. Rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. Its just one reason over 70 of our mutual funds beat their 10year lipper average. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. Request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. Pop in the drum of any machine. To wash any size load. It dissolves in any temperature, even cold. Tide pods. Pop in. Stand out. Just a few years after jesus was killed, the book of acts tells us, a devout jew named stephen stood on the steps of the temple in jerusalem, the holiest spot in all of judaism, and directly challenged the religious establishment. He proclaimed the jews had rejected the messiah, and so the temple would be destroyed. The only way to salvation was through jesus, the son of god. It was blasphemy. And according to the traditions in the book of acts, as hes being stoned to death, he looked up to heaven, and he saw jesus himself standing by the right hand of god, and he prays to jesus that he not hold this against his wepersecutors, and then he dies. The martyrdom of stephen was a gift from heaven and a propaganda coup. Just like jesus, his followers were willing to prove their faith with their lives. But for one young man who participated in the stoning of stephen, getting rid of blasphemers was the mission. His name was saul. Born in tarsus in asia minor, he was a pharisee, a member of a powerful jewish movement. And he thought that this was a blasphemous idea that the messiah would be somebody who was crucified, because for most jews the messiah must be a figure of grandeur and power. How can you say that a crucified man is the messiah . As he understands it, the appropriate response to this is to persecute, to cut out, to destroy this Messianic Jewish Movement that is happening, that is focused on jesus of nazareth, and thats what he does. Saul was at the forefront of that persecution, says the book of acts. Breathing threats and murder, saul set off in furious pursuit of jesus followers who had fled to damascus. Damascus was a holy place, and there were those who thought the messiah, the christ, would appear in damascus. But while on the road to damascus, saul had an extraordinary vision. Suddenly, a light from heaven flashed around him, says the book of acts. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, saul, saul, why do you persecute me . He asked, who are you, lord . The reply came, i am jesus, whom you are persecuting. And when he finds out that jesus is truly alive, it means that the other things that jesus followers say about him must also be considered as true. Jesus is the messiah. Saul of tarsus who never met jesus in the flesh, never traveled or supped with him and who wanted to kill his followers, becomes the greatest defender of the jesus faith, known to the world by the greek version of his name, paul. Some people have called paul the second founder of christianity, because christianity is more than following the teachings of jesus. Christianity is not just the religion that jesus had, its the religion about jesus. Its the religion founded on jesus death and resurrection. In his letter to the galatians, paul reveals exactly what jesus told him to do. That i should announce him triumphant among the gentiles. It was a radical mission. He starts preaching there, to gentiles, to pagans and saying, this is a faith that can touch you, and that must have been it must have the jews in the diaspora must have said, my gosh, did we miss something . When did they suddenly make judaism into a universal religion . People listened to paul because he was the perfect man for the job, able to speak to both jews and gentiles in their own language. So hes one of the first really powerful intellect to convert to christianity in the 1st century. Just what did this cosmopolitan jew say to the pagans to make them give up their ancient gods and believe in jesus . This is the one who could heal your child, if your child was sick. This is the one who could end the drought, who could end the famine. This was the god who could raise the dead. This was the god who could do miracles and so this was the only god to be worshipped. Indeed, pauls First Mission abroad was so successful that for the first time, the followers of jesus get the name by which they will be known forever. In the acts of the apostles, luke tells us that it was an antioch that the believers were first called christians. Theres some evidence to suggest the term christian itself was actually used by the opponents of the followers of jesus, as a term of derogation that, in fact, these are christians, little christs. Who was christ . He was the one who was crucified, thats what these people deserve, as well. The christians now had a name and an identity of their own. It marked the beginning of the public split with judaism. You both claim the same heritage going back to abraham. At some stage, you begin to give yourself a label or perhaps other people begin to give you a label. And labels themselves begin to set up differences. They begin to make you aware of differences. But delivering the jesus message put paul and peter in conflict. Pauls Open Door Mission to the pagan gentiles was a huge problem for peter, who thought the resurrection of jesus was for the jews alone. If you wanted to follow jesus, you had to become a jew and obey jewish law. And peter wielded considerable power back in jerusalem, power given to him by jesus. According to the gospel of matthew, jesus says to peter, you are peter, the greek term for rock, petros, and on this rock, petra, i will build my church. Peter became the head of the small Christian Church that was centered in jerusalem itself. So early on, peter was the key player in early christianity, and according to our traditions, was the one who converted jews early on to believe in jesus as the messiah. But there was another crucial leader of the early followers of jesus. His name was james, and he seemed to have the ultimate trump card in the new faith. Because he was jesus earthly brother, he was naturally raised in prominence among the christians of jerusalem, and eventually then, it wasnt long before he became the leader of the jerusalem church. And james agreed with peter, jesus was for the jews. Within two decades of the crucifixion of jesus, scholars say, christianity faced a life or death moment. This was the major dispute in early christianity, whether followers of jesus have to become jewish in order to worship the jewish god. The conflict threatened to destroy the new faith. How could it be saved . In jerusalem, around the year 48 to 49, the first Apostolic Council is called in order to resolve the issue of Gentile Christians. Do they convert or dont they convert . Paul argues that the holy spirit had descended upon the gentiles apart from the law of moses. Therefore, there was no reason to insist that those gentiles be converted first to judaism in order to be a member of the church. And james, the brother of jesus, presiding over this jerusalem council, agrees with paul. It was a huge triumph for the new faith, and especially for paul, whose argument had won the day. The jesus message was for the whole world, and those who believe that message would win eternal life. But the biggest test was yet to come. Just how would the jesus message go down in the pagan heart of the roman empire . [ sneezes, coughs ] ive got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. Its time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that wont relieve all your symptoms. New alka seltzer plusd relieves more symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. Oh what a relief it is. [ male announcer ] the parking lot helps by letting us know whos coming. The carts keep everyone on the right track. The power tools introduce themselves. All the bits and bulbs keep themselves stocked. And the doors even handle the checkout so we can work on that thing thats stuck in the thing. [ female announcer ] today, cisco is connecting the internet of everything. So everyone goes home happy. To help secure retirements and protect financial futures. To help communities recover and rebuild. For Companies Going from garage to global. On the ground, in the air, even into space. We repaid every dollar america lent us. And gave america back a profit. Were here to keep our promises. To help you realize a better tomorrow. From the families of aig, happy holidays. In the 1st century a. D. , the roman empire was home to more than 60 Million People and dozens of religions. At the center of it all, rome, a city of a Million People. To spread the word of jesus, the missionaries now had to conquer that empire. And first into rome was the simple galilean fisherman, peter. Would peter have been in awe . Of course he would have been. But peter had a message which he was convinced would put in awe all those people of rome. Believers in jesus also provided answers to the central mystery of life. The questions pagans were asking were, what was going to happen to me when i die . How do i get forgiveness from sin . The Christian Church said, we can provide you those answers. Believe in the resurrected jesus and win eternal life. That was the message that had appealed across the roman empire. A message that first spread throughout the huge Jewish Community outside israel. Over a million jews in egypt and alexandria, jews in damascus, jews in antioch, jews in athens, certainly jews in rome. And for the early christians, these early followers of jesus, some of these jews would have provided missionaries a home, missionaries a base by which they could reach other jews as well as gentiles. The romans had provided roads throughout the entire empire. They had gotten rid of many of the pirates that were on the seas. There was a common currency throughout the empire. Travel was both possible and feasible, and so it wasnt unusual for somebody like paul to be able to travel around to different places. And paul never stopped. He just never stopped, and either by foot across the great land mass of asia minor, or by sea, particularly across the aegean, to and fro, from east to west. But we cannot discount the force of pauls own personality. Religiously speaking, paul was a genius. Paul not only set up Christian Communities, he also directed them from afar. Writing letters or epistles to keep them on the jesus message. Pauls epistles to these various Christian Communities are the earliest surviving christian documents. Older than the gospels. And he preached everywhere from smalltown synagogues to athens, the center of world culture. Convincing philosophers and slaves alike that god had sent his son, jesus, to die and rise again to save everyone. In his letter to the romans, written in 57 a. D. , paul says that, by gods will, i may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. Nearly three decades after the death of jesus, paul would make his way to rome. But only after he was jailed in jerusalem, where he found himself threatened with death. I can picture him just trying to convert the entire praetorian guard. The early christians, particularly the evangelists, the apostles were politically problematic. They were proclaiming a son of god, a god from god, a savior. But those happened to be titles that the Roman Emperor abrogated to himself. For the next few years, paul would languish in prison, surviving assassination attempts and brutal interrogations. Finally, his appeals to be tried in rome were answered. Paul is a citizen of the roman empire, and that provides certain protections for him. They include the right to a trial, the right to not be whipped or beaten without a trial, the right to appeal to caesar, and a protection against crucifixion. The trip from jerusalem almost killed paul when he was shipwrecked in a storm. Finally, in the year 60 a. D. , paul reached rome in chains. Just in time for romes First Official persecution of christians at the hands of the emperor, nero. In the year 64 a. D. , when a fire destroyed much of imperial rome, nero famously fiddled while the city burned. But he had his reasons for letting the fire burn. He wanted to clear out space for grand new buildings. The christians living in the south of the c