This book is an attempt to explain, in lay terms, the world that Jesus took as his reference point. The kinds of houses in which he dwelt; the education he received; the clothes he would have worn; the language he spoke; the terrain and climate; the agricultural methods; the cultural assumptions; the religious customs; the festivals; the Temple; the synagogue; the scriptures; the opposition and the political currents - all of these formed the soil in which Jesus the man was nurtured. Each chapter covers a distinct aspect, and opens a whole new range of understanding which we are likely to miss. For instance, a rich symbolism concerned with water and light, and linked with the Feast of Tabernacles, underlies John 7 and 8, but much of this will probably escape us.
