1.1 Jesus was born to Jewish parents in the land we know today as Israel. Jesus was a Jew. He was descended from the tribe of Judah. A Jew is a person who is descended from the tribe of Judah.1.2 Although Jesus actually lived in what was known as the Roman Empire, we have seen that He, and his fellow countrymen, were not Romans. They were Jews from the land, or country of Israel that had been conquered by the Roman Empire. The Romans changed the name of the land to "Palestine." (see map)
1.3 Jesus and His fellow countrymen were natives of the land of Palestine. That means they were born there. Today, most of the land the Romans called "Palestine" is known as Israel. Even in Jesus' day the Jews thought of their country as "Israel." And many of them they thought of themselves as "Israelites."
1.4 Remember that Jesus and His fellow countrymen were not called Palestinians. They were called Jews, or Israelites.
1.5 In the time that of Jesus, there were a lot of people living in Palestine who were not Jews or Israelites. They were Romans. The Romans kept a strong military force in every country they had conquered. Some of the "Roman" soldiers were not Roman. They were German, or Spanish, or from some other nation that the Romans had conquered. The Roman soldiers were not permanent residents of Palestine. They were only stationed there for a tour of duty. Then other Roman soldiers would come and take their place.
1.6 Besides the Roman soldiers there were many other citizens from different nations living in Palestine. Many people from Syria lived in Galilee. Traders and Merchants form all over the world lived in Jerusalem and other Jewish cities. Many Greek speaking people also lived in Palestine. Some people say that as many as 1/3 of all the people living in Galilee were not Jews or Israelites. They were Gentiles (people who were not Jews). That is why Galilee was known as "Galilee of the Gentiles."
1.7 Jesus was born in the year 5 BC. "BC" means "before Christ." A long time ago people thought that Jesus was born in the year one AD. "AD" means "Antes Domini" or "after the Lord." We know that a mistake was made. Jesus was really born five years earlier in 5 BC. We know that King Herod the Great died in the Spring of 4 BC not long after he tried to kill the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. Jesus was probably a little over six months old at that time. I believe that Jesus was born in September of 5 BC. That would mean that His mother Mary became pregnant with Him sometime in December of 6 BC. That means the "Word became flesh" in December. So we can celebrate Christmas in December.
1.8 Sometimes you will see a date written as "BCE" instead of BC. BCE means "Before the Common Era." You might also see a date written as "CE" instead of AD. CE means "common era."
1.9 Rome was the capitol of the Roman Empire. The city of Rome was far away from the land of Palestine where Jesus lived. Palestine was only one of the many lands the Romans had conquered. The ruler of the Roman Empire was called the Emperor, or Caesar. When Jesus was born, Caesar Augustus was the Emperor.
1.10 Rome was about 1,500 miles from Jerusalem by foot. Rome was closer by ship.
1.11 The Roman army had to defend all of the lands they had conquered. They built roads so they could travel more quickly. These roads were made of clay, chalk, and gravel, then topped with stone slabs that were cut and shaped into hexagons and fitted together. Those roads were built to last hundreds of years. Some of them are still being used today.
1.12 The Romans also built many ships so they could travel by sea. Roman ships were powered by sails and also by oars.
1.13 The Roman roads were of great use to the early Christians. They traveled from country to country spreading the Gospel all along those roads. They also traveled a great deal by ship. Because of these roads and ships the Romans had a great system for sending mail anywhere in the empire. Early Christians used the Roman Post Office to send letters to one another. Some of those letters are in the Bible. It's a good thing the Roman Post Office was able to deliver them!