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 he s being stoned to death, he looked up to heaven, and he saw jesus himself standing by the right hand of god, and he praised to jesus that he not hold this against his persecutors, 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
breached the walls of jerusalem. they attacked the temple, slaughtering more than half a million jews with sword, fire, and crucifixion. the temple mount was a huge area. you could fit 40 american football fields inside the temple mount within the walls. much of it was plated with gold and with fine wood, and so from a distance, it would sparkle. every single jew had an obligation to make three pilgrimages a year to the temple in jerusalem, and people who lived in judea felt that obligation very seriously.
looks like they get something in return. alisyn: and the jew he is rededicated had a temple in jerusalem, with a vile of oil it was only supposed to burn for one night, but miraculously burned for eight days. clayton: it s a circle so it wouldn t be called square. i learned that in pre-school. let s check with maria molina this morning, she is in for rick reichmuth looking at the cold, windy temperatures out there, hey, maria. maria: hey, good morning, good to see you. that s right, very chilly as we head out west across portions of the rockies and upper midwest and the temperatures are in the teens and factor in the wind it s going to be feeling 5 to 10 degrees colder than that. bundle up out the door and be safe as you do so in dakotas, wisconsin, because we re seeing snowfall out here, some places could pick up over half a foot of snow. 81 for a high over in tampa,
no one even thought to record his death. the story of jesus has transcended generations and cultures. the tale of a routine execution that gave birth to a new religion. yet from that unlikely beginning a great faith was born. today some 2 billion people believe jesus was the son of god. but even as billions of people pledge themselves to follow jesus s teachings we know nothing about the man. no other great figure from moses to mohamed is shrouded in mystery. it s very difficult to classify jesus in a single category. the most accurate response to the question of who was jesus at the time is a mixture of all of these different identifications. the startling discovery of what some claim to be the burial box of jesus s brother james reopened the biggest detectivive story of all time. the mystery of jesus the man. the plain limestone container is inscribed with a clue in aramaic, the language jesus spoke. james, son of joseph, brother of jesus. the public was enthralled. cou
it s a dangerous, tumultuous time in the roman empire. nowhere more so than in the province of judea on the far edge of the mediterranean. its capital, the holy city of jerusalem, is teeming with pilgrims for the springtime feast of passover. many of them looking for an 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, he s 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 it s 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