Even the general reader must be aware that some knowledge of Jewish life and society at the time of Christ is requisite for the understanding of the Gospel-history. Here, we are transported into that time.

First and foremost, this book is a study of the Life of Jesus the Messiah. But, secondly, since Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew, spoke to, and moved among Jews, in Palestine, and at a definite period of its history, it was absolutely necessary to view that Life and Teaching in all its surroundings of place, society, popular life, and intellectual or religious development. The Gospels present to us a real, historical scene. The men and the circumstances to which we are introduced are real. It is not a fanciful picture, but just as we would expect them to have spoken, or to have behaved within the context of their times.