The Shadow The Galilean Sparknotes

In The Shadow the Galilean, the reader follows the thoughts and actions of a fictional Jewish man named Andreas. The book begins with Andreas being imprisoned by Roman officials for accidently attending an anti-Roman demonstration. The reader finds out that Andreas has connections with anti-Roman friends such as a Zealot named Barabbas, but that he is completely innocent otherwise. Although the Romans find Andreas innocent through their interrogations, Pilate decides to blackmail Andreas in order to use him to spy on the Jewish anti-Roman groups. After realizing that Pilate has the power to imprison him and ruin his family, Andreas agrees to spy for the Romans. Andreas finds himself torn between how he can give information to the Romans and

also help his fellow Jews. He decides to only present the information that suits the advancement of the Jews, but that will also keep the Romans from having suspicions of him.
During his first travel to infiltrate a Jewish group called the Essenes in the Wilderness, Andreas discovers a man named Baruch who has just been exiled from the Essenes. Andreas takes advantage of the opportunity by extracting information from Baruch on the Essenes. After acquiring the information he needs, Andreas departs back to the Romans to report what he had found about the Essenes with his new found friend Baruch and his two other servants. On his way, Andreas hears new reports about a well-known Prophet by the name of John the Baptist being beheaded by Herod Antipas as well as of a new prophet named Jesus.
The Roman Officials, Metilius and Pilate, are worried about Jewish revolts from the death of John the Baptist and are eager to see if Andreas has any information relating to this situation. Andreas reassures them that the death of John the Baptist will not generate a riot against the Romans and that the Essenes are a harmless Jewish faction. Having heard of Jesus, Metilius then decides that Andreas is to now gather information on Jesus in order to make sure that he is not a security risk. After hoping he would be done helping the Romans, Andreas reluctantly leaves to spy on Jesus.
Next, Andreas heads to Jesus’ hometown, Nazareth, in hopes of finding Jesus and learning more about this prophet. Being a tradesman, Andreas finds his way to Tholomaeus and Susanna, old farming couple from Nazareth, by offering to purchase some of their product. Andreas gains a lot of useful information from the old couple as they explain that their three sons ran off. They explain that two of their sons got into debt and were forced to run into the wilderness to escape prosecution like many young folk around Nazareth and their third son left to follow Jesus on. After getting as much as he could out of the couple, Andreas left to finish his business trip with hopes of meeting Jesus along the way or hearing more about him.
On his way, Andreas and his servants are taken hostage by Zealots and taken to their camp. At first Andreas was expected to write a ransom letter to his parents, but when the rebels found out that he was jailed by the Romans they let him go. Here Andreas met up with his friend Barabbas and they discussed information on the Zealots and how they function as well as Jesus and his followers. Andreas begins to understand the reasoning behind the Zealots revolting against the Romans and who follows Jesus. After being released by the Zealots, Andreas heads to Capernaum to finish his business.
In Capernaum, Andreas meets Matthias’ family in which the daughter is ill. The daughter rambles on about how she can’t wait until Jesus comes and heals her. Andreas hears a lot about Jesus and the many parables and teachings he has. He also hears about the many miracles that Jesus has performed, but is skeptical of Jesus’ ability to heal. From the many followers and stories that Andreas hears about Jesus, Andreas begins to think Jesus is a security risk for the Romans.
Passing by a tax-collector booth, Andreas discovers that Levi is no longer the tax-collector and has decided to follow Jesus.

The new tax-collector explains that ever since Jesus came, held a party for Levi and the poor people, and Levi left, beggars have been continuously returning in hopes of finding Jesus and having a party.

Andreas then heads to Chuza’s house where he discovers that Chuza’s wife has become a follower of Jesus. She expresses to Andreas how peaceful and loving Jesus teachings are. Andreas figures that Jesus is not a direct risk to the Romans, but his teachings on the Kingdom of God do express a destruction or ending to the Roman’s oppression of the Jews. Andreas decides to send a report to the Romans that Jesus is an itinerant philosopher and poet who holds similar views to Greek traditions of loving God and one another.

Then Andreas gets a report from one of his servants in Rome that his friend Barabbas has been arrested for killing a Roman soldier. Andreas immediately leaves for Jerusalem to report about Jesus in person and hopefully free his friend Barabbas. In Jerusalem, Andreas finds out that Jesus has made quite a commotion in the temple and has also been arrested. When talking with the Roman officials, Andreas finds out that they are worried that Jesus’ teachings might start a rebellion against the Romans by causing an uproar with the crowd. His expertise and suggestions on preventing a revolt allow him to obtain a meeting with

Pilate.
In the end, Pilate manipulates Andreas’ suggestions on pardoning crimes and debts to decide to allow the crowd to pick whether Jesus or Barabbas lives. Andreas feels at fault about Pilate’s decision to allow only one of the men to live. Andreas struggles to clear his conscience after news is relayed to him that Jesus was crucified.
The book concludes with Andreas discussing with the Roman official Metilius about Jesus’ guilt and death as well as Metilius’ views on Judaism.

Andreas remains skeptical of the rumors of Jesus’ resurrection and the claims that he performed miracles, but does agree with many of the teachings of Jesus. Andreas also meets up with Baruch who confesses his belief in the power and resurrection of Jesus. At first Andreas thinks Baruch is being a fool to follow Jesus, but later Andreas dreams of Jesus freeing people from the Roman’s power. Andreas realizes the power of Jesus and comes to have harmony with his servant Baruch about Jesus’ resurrection and messianic

words.
I relished The Shadow of the Galilean. It is an excellent book that allows the reader to gain a probable view of what Jewish scholars may have thought of Jesus at the time. The book also provides lots of historical information on Jewish sub groups that existed during the time of Jesus. This information enlightens the reader to the many reasons that so many Jews may have been skeptical at the thought of Jesus being the Messiah. In many ways, I started to empathize with their skepticism. Theissen also adds lots of quotes lots of Jesus’ sayings and goes through what a Jew would have thought of these sayings at the time. It was interesting to process some of the likely thoughts Jews may have had at the time.
Besides having lots of intriguing historical information throughout the book, Theissen writes a quite entertaining plotline. Everything is well ordered and presented well for the average reader to comprehend and keep engaged. The reading was predictable though in that the average Christian reader would probably know exactly what is going to happen throughout the book by just reading the first chapter. Although I found the plot to be simply predictable, envisioning what it would be like during Jesus’ time and enjoying a wonderful adventure story made Theissen’s book completely worthwhile.
The introduction of the book was also very well made. Most books are very difficult for me to get interested in because the beginning is so dull, but The Shadow of the Galilean has a thrilling beginning. I was able to immediately become engaged and stay engaged throughout the book because the book was full of fascinating events and discussions that continued to absorb my attention.
Theissen also had great character development in the story. Observing the beliefs and behavior of Metilius is easy proof of the ingenuity Theissen showed in writing this book. Metilius started off as someone that did not respect or care for Jews. As the story continued, Metilius became more and more understanding of the Jews and their situation. In the end, Metilius is even attending a Synagogue as he expresses his profound interest for the Jews and their traditions. Through Metilius’ character development, the reader is able to further understand the gap the Romans had in comprehending Jewish customs and the reason why there was tension between these two nations.
One complaint I have about this book are the unnecessary comments made in between chapters to Dr.Kratzinger. I felt Theissen’s comments between chapters stripped away from the main story and could have been cut out of the book. The extra comments seemed one-sided to me and in the end distracted the reader from making their own analysis of the reading. I simply would have removed these extra comments from the book.
Overall, I found The Shadow of the Galilean to be a brilliant book. Through its clever plot, historical storyline, and character development, I would definitely read this book again. I learned a lot from this book about the thoughts Jews may have had of Jesus as well as the different Jewish groups that existed during the time of Jesus. I would absolutely suggest this book to anyone who is interested in Jesus of Nazareth or something related.