This book explores a sequence of important questions about Jesus that have relevance to our own faith journeys; • Where did Jesus start from? • What did he meet on the way, both in the annual journey with his family to Jerusalem for the Passover and also in his inner spiritual journey? • How did these encounters shape his life, activity and message? To help readers with these questions, 'ground-level insights' are offered, both from recent advances in the historical Jesus studies and from the author's own research visits to Israel-Palestine. Part of the author's aim is to show, in a respectful but honest way, that there is plenty of evidence in the Gospels that Jesus himself grew and developed in his own life journey. At each step of the way, he considers how this relates to Christian discipleship, particularly in relation to our attitudes to those who are strangers.
