0:00:02 > 0:00:04'I'm David Suchet,
0:00:04 > 0:00:08'and I'm in search of one of the most puzzling characters in history,
0:00:08 > 0:00:10'a simple first century fisherman
0:00:10 > 0:00:13'who somehow became the founding father
0:00:13 > 0:00:16'of the most powerful Christian church on Earth.'
0:00:17 > 0:00:19Wow, look at these!
0:00:19 > 0:00:22'We know him as St Peter,
0:00:22 > 0:00:27'mentioned more times in the New Testament than anyone except Jesus.
0:00:27 > 0:00:28'He was his right-hand man
0:00:28 > 0:00:31'and a leader of the early Christian movement.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35'In later traditions, he's martyred in Rome
0:00:35 > 0:00:39'and revered as the first Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.'
0:00:43 > 0:00:47Peter's a real person. He's human, he's fallible.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50You sense with Peter something that we can all identify with,
0:00:50 > 0:00:51and that's doubt.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54But our portrait of Peter is a mosaic,
0:00:54 > 0:00:59constructed by different authors, each with their own stories to tell.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03He's always depicted as this meek and timid individual,
0:01:03 > 0:01:05but Peter's the courageous one.
0:01:08 > 0:01:09Wow.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14'Peter's character, and what motivates him,
0:01:14 > 0:01:16'has always intrigued me.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22'Flawed, headstrong, never fully understanding,
0:01:22 > 0:01:23'a faithful friend,
0:01:23 > 0:01:26'yet a denier in the hour of need.'
0:01:26 > 0:01:29- "Is that man a friend of yours?" He says, "No."- Yes.- "No, no."
0:01:30 > 0:01:35'Yet somehow Peter pulled the Jesus movement back together
0:01:35 > 0:01:37'when all seemed lost.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40'In this series, I'll be uncovering fragments of tradition
0:01:40 > 0:01:43'and half-whispered traces of Peter's life,
0:01:43 > 0:01:47'revealing surprising new discoveries and theories
0:01:47 > 0:01:49'about the man who shaped a faith
0:01:49 > 0:01:53'that came to dominate Western civilisation.'
0:02:16 > 0:02:19On a July night nearly 2,000 years ago,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22a great fire flared up in the city of Rome.
0:02:22 > 0:02:23Fanned by the summer winds,
0:02:23 > 0:02:26the flames spread quickly through the dry, wooden buildings.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28It lasted six days.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32By the time it had run its course,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35more than three quarters of Rome was a smouldering ruin.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39No-one was quite sure how the fire started,
0:02:39 > 0:02:41but the Roman historian Tacitus
0:02:41 > 0:02:45tells us that the emperor Nero found his scapegoats.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48He falsely charged with guilt
0:02:48 > 0:02:51and punished with the most fearful tortures
0:02:51 > 0:02:54the persons commonly called Christians.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58In later tradition, Peter was present in Rome,
0:02:58 > 0:03:02and perhaps caught up in Nero's purge and executed.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08And there we see Peter crucified upside down.
0:03:11 > 0:03:12I find this very moving.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26Christianity is the world's largest religion.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28And the largest denomination of that religion
0:03:28 > 0:03:31is the Roman Catholic Church.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33Now, the official view of the Vatican is that
0:03:33 > 0:03:35by coming to Rome and being martyred here,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37Peter becomes its first bishop,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40the first of an unbroken line of popes that stretches
0:03:40 > 0:03:43all the way to the present day.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45Now, of course, there are branches of Christianity
0:03:45 > 0:03:47that would dispute that claim.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51So how is it that Peter became the leader
0:03:51 > 0:03:53of one of the most powerful movements on Earth?
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Important clues to Peter's early life are found
0:04:01 > 0:04:06in the New Testament gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11The stories they tell often differ,
0:04:11 > 0:04:15but they all agree that Peter was a fisherman, plying his trade
0:04:15 > 0:04:20on and around the Sea of Galilee in what is now northern Israel.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29'Today, Galilee's lakeside fish restaurants draw hungry tourists and
0:04:29 > 0:04:34'pilgrims from all over the world, eager to eat one particular meal.'
0:04:34 > 0:04:36- And it's all St Peter's fish? - It's St Peter's fish.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41- Oh, wow!- The oil.- That's hot!
0:04:41 > 0:04:45- I think about 200...- 200 degrees centigrade.- Centigrade. Yeah.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47'The Galilee tilapia,
0:04:47 > 0:04:50'better known by its popular name of St Peter's fish.'
0:04:52 > 0:04:53Let's look inside.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Here they come...
0:04:57 > 0:04:59- Perfect.- Perfect!
0:04:59 > 0:05:01'The fish that bears Peter's name is associated with
0:05:01 > 0:05:05'many of Jesus's greatest miracles, like the feeding of the 5,000.'
0:05:05 > 0:05:07- That's it?- Slice of lemon.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11- Wow.- Bon appetit!
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Thank you... And here is one that I certainly did not prepare earlier.
0:05:17 > 0:05:18Couldn't be fresher.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21'But names can be deceptive.'
0:05:21 > 0:05:22Who ordered fish?
0:05:24 > 0:05:27Mm. That's delicious!
0:05:29 > 0:05:32But maybe it shouldn't be called St Peter's fish at all.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36The man we know today as Peter wouldn't have been given that name
0:05:36 > 0:05:39at birth because it didn't exist as a Hebrew name.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45We know him in the New Testament as Simon, or Simon Peter,
0:05:45 > 0:05:49and the word Simon or Shim'on was a classic Hebrew name.
0:05:49 > 0:05:55We also know that Jesus nicknamed him, in Aramaic, Cephas - rock.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00And in Greek, rock is petra or petros - Peter.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03The nickname I suppose as a modern idiom would be known as Rocky.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05But perhaps there's another alternative.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Maybe Peter always had two names -
0:06:08 > 0:06:10the Jewish name Simon or Shim'on,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13and the Greek name Petros -
0:06:13 > 0:06:14Peter.
0:06:16 > 0:06:21So why would a young Jewish boy have both a Hebrew and a Greek name?
0:06:21 > 0:06:25Well, one place where having two names might be useful
0:06:25 > 0:06:27was in Bethsaida,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29a village on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee
0:06:29 > 0:06:33where, according to the Gospel of John, Peter grew up.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36Bethsaida was Hellenistic,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39influenced by Greek culture and a pagan way of life.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44Part of the fishing village...
0:06:44 > 0:06:47'Archaeologist Kate Raphael showed me around.'
0:06:47 > 0:06:49And where are we here now?
0:06:49 > 0:06:53This is a typical house for the Mediterranean region
0:06:53 > 0:06:55almost throughout history.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Looking around this particular house,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00this seems to be very, very large.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04Well, possibly we're talking about three generations living here.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07- Oh, right.- So you would have the toddlers running round,
0:07:07 > 0:07:11the grandchildren, uncles, aunts.
0:07:11 > 0:07:16It's a much larger family than we live in today.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20'In Hebrew, Bethsaida means "house of fishing",
0:07:20 > 0:07:23'and Kate and her colleagues have discovered that in Peter's time,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26'there was a vibrant fishing industry here.'
0:07:26 > 0:07:30Throughout the entire excavation, we have been finding
0:07:30 > 0:07:33- lots of fishing weights. - Oh, my goodness.
0:07:33 > 0:07:34- And you can hold one.- Oh!
0:07:34 > 0:07:37- See how heavy it is? It's a lead fishing weight.- Oh, wow!
0:07:37 > 0:07:41- And you see here the twine goes through it.- Yes.
0:07:41 > 0:07:47And then you clamp it onto the twine and it will help the net sink down.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50That is hard, tangible evidence
0:07:50 > 0:07:54that people here really did fish for a livelihood.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56And the other thing we find are those needles.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58Oh!
0:07:58 > 0:08:02So you can see the eye. And they're pretty big.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07They're made out of metal, and they're used for mending nets.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12I played a fisherman once in a film and we made these out of wood.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17So this is metal! This is quite sophisticated, really. Wow, yeah.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20I can see you! I can see you through the eye of the needle.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22DAVID LAUGHS
0:08:23 > 0:08:25We know that Peter was Jewish,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28but is there any evidence of a Jewish religion here?
0:08:28 > 0:08:33I think it would be safest to say that we assume there was
0:08:33 > 0:08:35a mixed population here.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39From the bones we're gathering, we learn what their diet was.
0:08:39 > 0:08:40Oh, good. Interesting.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42And when we look at the question
0:08:42 > 0:08:47whether they were keeping or maintaining a kosher diet...
0:08:47 > 0:08:52- Yes.- ..we can see that we have also non-kosher animals
0:08:52 > 0:08:57within this diet. Like catfish - they're not kosher.
0:08:57 > 0:08:58They're not? Why is that?
0:08:58 > 0:09:01They don't have scales, and they're scavengers.
0:09:01 > 0:09:06So catfish are not something that a Jewish family would eat,
0:09:06 > 0:09:07not even today.
0:09:09 > 0:09:14'Visiting Bethsaida today, one thing is immediately obvious.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17'The village is a very long way from the water.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19'But as Kate explained, in the first century,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23'a large lagoon lapped against the shores of the village.'
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Wow.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28If we try and reconstruct the landscape here
0:09:28 > 0:09:31at the time Peter was part of this village,
0:09:31 > 0:09:35this entire area in front of us would have been covered in water.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39Their fishing boats would have been docked around here,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42- and we're not talking about huge fishing boats.- No.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46- They're very much suitable for shallow waters.- Yes.
0:09:46 > 0:09:52And seismic movement here caused the course of the river to change,
0:09:52 > 0:09:58and it had moved west, and the area of the lagoon slowly dried up.
0:09:58 > 0:09:59Ah.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04So today the lake is over a mile away from us,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07and you can see it just in front of us.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13If Peter did spend his early years growing up here, his family would
0:10:13 > 0:10:17have been one of the very few Jewish families living in the village.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19Maybe he learned how to fish here.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23But if he was a fisherman,
0:10:23 > 0:10:25from the evidence of the fish bones that were
0:10:25 > 0:10:28discovered by the archaeologists, he would have caught catfish
0:10:28 > 0:10:32which, being an observant Jew, he would not have been allowed to eat.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35But one thing is certain,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39that if he grew up here amongst a Greek-speaking pagan community,
0:10:39 > 0:10:41he would have ended up being both linguistically
0:10:41 > 0:10:45and culturally very well-equipped to cope with the challenges to come.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52But it appears that, for some reason,
0:10:52 > 0:10:54Peter chose to leave Bethsaida.
0:10:56 > 0:10:57By the time he met Jesus,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00he was living in the village of Capernaum,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02a few kilometres across the Sea of Galilee.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13In St Peter's time, Capernaum wouldn't have been a huge town
0:11:13 > 0:11:15or city or anything like that.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17It was a small village with probably dirt tracks.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21No paved roads, no major buildings as such.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Its houses were probably made of wooden structures
0:11:25 > 0:11:29with - like I'm going up here - stone steps leading to the roof.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33But what is really very interesting is that, by the second century,
0:11:33 > 0:11:34Christian pilgrims came here
0:11:34 > 0:11:38and started drawing graffiti on the walls of one house in particular.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41And it's thought that that house was the house of St Peter.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46'Today, a modern and rather spaceship-like Catholic church
0:11:46 > 0:11:48'stands over the ancient building.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52'As Franciscan archaeologist Eugenio Alliata explained,
0:11:52 > 0:11:56'excavations here have revealed a history of shrines
0:11:56 > 0:11:58'and churches being built over the house.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01'It's long been revered as special.'
0:12:01 > 0:12:04Well, what made the pilgrims believe that it was Peter's house
0:12:04 > 0:12:06at that time, going all the way back?
0:12:06 > 0:12:08What was special about it?
0:12:08 > 0:12:11- Pilgrims usually follow traditions. - Yes.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14And the old tradition of the place
0:12:14 > 0:12:21is that above the house of St Peter was built a house church,
0:12:21 > 0:12:27but the walls were still standing, original walls of the Peter house.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31After Peter's time, the house was turned into a meeting place
0:12:31 > 0:12:34where Christian pilgrims could gather.
0:12:34 > 0:12:35The walls were plastered,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38and onto them were scrawled messages and prayers.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43The walls were covered with paintings
0:12:43 > 0:12:47and signed by pilgrims with graffitos.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50- Really. So they put... They drew the graffiti on the walls?- Yes.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54And some of them are very special,
0:12:54 > 0:12:58because they are prayers to the Lord Jesus Christ.
0:12:58 > 0:12:59Oh, I see!
0:12:59 > 0:13:02So it was very special to find,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05in a Jewish village, prayers to Jesus as Lord.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09- As the Messiah.- As the Messiah. - Yes.- Yeah.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14But Peter wasn't born here. He was born in Bethsaida.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17Why would he have come to Capernaum, do you think?
0:13:17 > 0:13:23- Capernaum was a place more open to commerce, to the...- Oh, I see.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26- To the movement of goods. - Because the...
0:13:26 > 0:13:29They were fishing, but also selling maybe the...
0:13:29 > 0:13:32- So it's more of a business centre. - It was a business centre.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35It was a business. So it sounds as if Peter was like an entrepreneur.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39- So he had a business here. - Why not? He and his family...
0:13:39 > 0:13:41- Yeah.- It is possible to see...
0:13:41 > 0:13:43'Capernaum was a Jewish village
0:13:43 > 0:13:47'where we're told Jesus later healed Peter's mother-in-law.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51'So it seems Peter was married.'
0:13:51 > 0:13:54If this was established as a Jewish village
0:13:54 > 0:13:58and Peter was in Bethsaida, which we're not sure whether it was Jewish
0:13:58 > 0:14:04or not, is it possible that maybe he came here to get married?
0:14:04 > 0:14:08We don't know exactly all of these things.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13The Gospels are centred around the person of Jesus and his teaching.
0:14:13 > 0:14:14Yes.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16So they don't give us
0:14:16 > 0:14:19- all the information that we would like to know.- No. No.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30I think Capernaum would have been a good choice for Peter,
0:14:30 > 0:14:32coming from Bethsaida.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36He may have come here to find a Jewish wife, start a family.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39We know that he lived here with his mother-in-law
0:14:39 > 0:14:43so he probably would have had children, had mouths to feed.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47And where we are now is right on the lake.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49It's sheltered, lots of fish,
0:14:49 > 0:14:52it's an ideal choice to set up a fishing business.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56I wonder how successful he really was.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59Hmm.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07- So this is...- That's amazing!
0:15:07 > 0:15:11It is now here on permanent exhibition.
0:15:11 > 0:15:17And we keep it safe in a good condition.
0:15:17 > 0:15:22'In 1986, archaeologists made an amazing discovery.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25'From out of the mud on a beach just a few kilometres away from Capernaum
0:15:25 > 0:15:30'emerged the remains of a first century fishing boat,
0:15:30 > 0:15:32'almost certainly the same type of boat
0:15:32 > 0:15:35'that Peter himself may have used.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37'What could it tell me about his life as a fisherman?'
0:15:41 > 0:15:43I can come up?
0:15:44 > 0:15:47Wow! That is extraor... That's wonderful.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51- What a view! - Yes, it is amazing.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53It is amazing.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57Do we know if there were any oars? Or was it sail? Or was...
0:15:57 > 0:16:01The experts believe that it had a mast with sail
0:16:01 > 0:16:05and two pairs of oar, and a steering oar at the back.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09How many people would have been in this boat?
0:16:09 > 0:16:12- At least five people...- Five! - ..to operate such a boat.
0:16:12 > 0:16:17- You need one to steer it, one in each one of those oars.- Yes.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19So you need at least five peoples.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26- We've got 12 different types of wood all over.- 12?- Yes.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31Some of them are just beams of trees that still got the bark on them.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33- They didn't take the bark off. - Yeah.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36And why so many different types of wood?
0:16:36 > 0:16:39Well, it's probably the economical situation.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42We can say that whoever built this boat was an expert.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44He knew how to use the wood.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46But he couldn't get the best quality of wood
0:16:46 > 0:16:49so he used whatever he could find.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53We believe it's been in use for quite a long period
0:16:53 > 0:16:56and eventually it starts to fall apart.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59In some places, I can even show you.
0:16:59 > 0:17:06Like over here, you can see staples just that they put later,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09- iron staples to hold pieces together.- Really?
0:17:09 > 0:17:14That seems... At the end it was quite a dangerous piece to work on.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19'Owning a boat like this clearly involved a major
0:17:19 > 0:17:21'investment of time and money.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25'It was also something that required an experienced crew to operate.
0:17:27 > 0:17:32'Archaeologist Kurt Raveh was one of those who helped excavate the boat.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34'He took me out on the lake in a reconstruction,
0:17:34 > 0:17:39'to experience what it would have been like for Peter.'
0:17:39 > 0:17:41Kurt, is this what a first century fishing boat
0:17:41 > 0:17:43would have looked like, then?
0:17:43 > 0:17:47Not an exact copy, cos not every nail is in the same place,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50but it's about, yeah, this is about the size.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55So would this boat have been owned by one person?
0:17:55 > 0:17:57Or a family or a business?
0:17:57 > 0:17:59You needed a group of people that worked together.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03Because of the heavy nets and things like that, you needed a team.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07Also because every year they had to take out a new licence,
0:18:07 > 0:18:11- a fishing licence for a certain area.- Yes, of course.- Like today.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13- Yes.- There's nothing new under the sun.
0:18:13 > 0:18:14That cost also money,
0:18:14 > 0:18:16so usually they didn't have enough to do it by themselves,
0:18:16 > 0:18:21so again, they cooperated, they made a cooperation of fishermen.
0:18:23 > 0:18:24So what we're saying is
0:18:24 > 0:18:28that Peter would have come from a lower middle-class family,
0:18:28 > 0:18:29probably from a family business,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32a bit of an entrepreneur, but a hard life,
0:18:32 > 0:18:36a tough life, and totally dependent on...
0:18:36 > 0:18:39- on this lake.- On the lake and the fish, yeah.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42What has always intrigued me
0:18:42 > 0:18:46is how a man who started life as a relatively poor and uneducated
0:18:46 > 0:18:51fisherman grew to be such a figure of authority in early Christianity.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Of course, fishermen often describe themselves as simple,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57but the truth is rarely that.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01Menachem Lev has been fishing the Sea of Galilee for over 30 years.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05What's the main quality,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08as a character, do you need to have to be a fisherman?
0:19:08 > 0:19:12- First of all, you have to feel like a hunter.- A hunter.- A hunter.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15The other thing that you must have
0:19:15 > 0:19:19is to know, to read what around you -
0:19:19 > 0:19:22the stars, the moon,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25how the cloud's moving,
0:19:25 > 0:19:29to appreciate what the lake going to do.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33Today, Menachem's is the last of the big fishing boats
0:19:33 > 0:19:35left on the Sea of Galilee.
0:19:36 > 0:19:37Fishing is a kind of life.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42- OK?- OK!
0:19:42 > 0:19:45Apart from the modern winches and all that sort of thing,
0:19:45 > 0:19:49I'm doing what St Peter would have done,
0:19:49 > 0:19:51and his brother Andrew and James and John.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54It's as though I'm touching a little bit of history.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58You see I'm circling all the time.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00You're circling and the net's in a circle.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02That's right. To catch the fish inside.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04- Inside the net there. - This is the hunting.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11They're all working as such a team.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14Everybody knows what they're supposed to be doing.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27- It's a lovely rhythm, isn't it? - Oh, yeah.
0:20:34 > 0:20:35Whoa!
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Wow! Look at these!
0:20:45 > 0:20:47My goodness. What's that?
0:20:47 > 0:20:49- Little mullets.- That's a mullet.
0:20:52 > 0:20:53It's a big catch.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57Wow.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00- Do you ever get tired of fishing? - No. I never get tired.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04For sure, when you see these fishes shining, look how fresh they are.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06Look how nice they look.
0:21:06 > 0:21:12This is the bleak - these sardines say from the time of Jesus.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17So welcome to Sea of Galilee!
0:21:17 > 0:21:19- Oh, I feel sorry for them.- Why?
0:21:19 > 0:21:23- Well, because they're...oh... - Well, you want to let him go?
0:21:23 > 0:21:26- Yes.- Then throw it far.
0:21:26 > 0:21:27Bye-bye!
0:21:28 > 0:21:31I'm too soft-hearted to be a fisherman!
0:21:33 > 0:21:37Obviously I'm not as tough as I should be because this is a living.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42This is what they did. And it puts me in touch with Peter.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45He was living with nature, the outdoors.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47I think he would have been very weathered.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51I see him as a big man with big fisherman's hands, very rough.
0:21:51 > 0:21:52But a big heart.
0:22:03 > 0:22:04Having visited some of the places
0:22:04 > 0:22:07where Peter may have been born and grown up,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09and spending some time with modern-day fishermen
0:22:09 > 0:22:10on the Sea of Galilee,
0:22:10 > 0:22:14I'm getting a little understanding of what Peter may have been like.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17I mean, there's no doubt that the life of a fisherman
0:22:17 > 0:22:19would have been very tough, very hard.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22But I like to think of him as basically a happy man with a wife,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25children, moderately successful.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27And then one day a man came into his life
0:22:27 > 0:22:28that would change his world forever.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37Down the centuries, water levels rise and fall.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39But walking along this shore,
0:22:39 > 0:22:42I feel I'm following in Peter's footsteps.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46And the Gospels tell us that, somewhere here, Jesus recruited
0:22:46 > 0:22:51Peter, his brother Andrew, and some of the other fishermen to his cause.
0:22:52 > 0:22:57"Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people."
0:22:58 > 0:22:59A beguiling call.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01But where would it take Peter?
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Palestine was under Roman rule,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12and Jesus was preaching a potentially revolutionary message
0:23:12 > 0:23:15of justice and equality for all.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19Sooner or later, he would come to the attention of the authorities.
0:23:19 > 0:23:24Peter must have realised that joining him was a dangerous game.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29Over there are the cliffs of Mount Arbel,
0:23:29 > 0:23:31and fairly close to the north
0:23:31 > 0:23:35are the towns of Bethsaida and Capernaum.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37I suppose you could call this Peter's back yard.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40But it's also the site of one of the bloodiest massacres
0:23:40 > 0:23:42in the whole of the Galilee.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59In 37 BC, there was a battle
0:23:59 > 0:24:02between the Roman puppet king of Judea, Herod the Great,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05and the Jewish rebels, who barricaded themselves
0:24:05 > 0:24:07into those caves in the cliffs just above me.
0:24:09 > 0:24:10The Romans overcame the rebels
0:24:10 > 0:24:13by lowering their soldiers down in baskets.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15They then burned the rebels out,
0:24:15 > 0:24:18putting every man, woman and child to the sword.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26The historian Josephus records the most horrendous incident
0:24:26 > 0:24:29of an old man who killed his wife and seven children
0:24:29 > 0:24:31before throwing them into the gorge
0:24:31 > 0:24:33and then jumping to his own death.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47All this happened 40 years or so before the birth of St Peter,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50and I have no doubt that he would have heard about this terrible
0:24:50 > 0:24:54massacre as he was growing up, from his parents, and even grandparents.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01Despite the obvious dangers,
0:25:01 > 0:25:04Peter decided to throw in his lot with Jesus.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10'On top of Mount Arbel, I met biblical scholar Claire Pfann.'
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Why do you think Peter follows Jesus?
0:25:14 > 0:25:17What convinces him that this is the guy?
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Most Jews of Peter's generation
0:25:19 > 0:25:22were hoping for a messiah who would overthrow the Romans
0:25:22 > 0:25:25and who would re-establish the Jewish people
0:25:25 > 0:25:26as an independent nation.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30His hopes are pinned on Jesus that he might do that very thing.
0:25:30 > 0:25:35So he was really expecting his messiah, Peter's messiah,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38- to overthrow the Romans?- Yes.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42The standard checklist - go to Jerusalem, overthrow the Romans
0:25:42 > 0:25:47and re-establish a Davidic monarchy, a king from the line of David.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49That's what the Jews were hoping for.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53That's what they thought Jesus might do - be a political deliverer.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55But then again, he doesn't deliver that.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58And is that why he left his family?
0:25:58 > 0:26:01I think that he left his family... I mean, we can only guess.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04- I know!- What would make a successful businessman
0:26:04 > 0:26:08- pack it all in and take off with an itinerating preacher?- Yes.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10It just sounds crazy to us.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13And yet there must have been some personal dynamic
0:26:13 > 0:26:15between Peter and Jesus.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19And if he leaves the business and his wife up in Capernaum
0:26:19 > 0:26:20to travel with Jesus, you know,
0:26:20 > 0:26:23maybe he thinks this is just going to be a couple of months or
0:26:23 > 0:26:27a year or something like that, so the risk is a calculated risk.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29I think what he doesn't expect
0:26:29 > 0:26:33is that, three years later, Jesus will go to a cross.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37So what sort of disciple was Peter?
0:26:37 > 0:26:41There are clues in the Gospel stories.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45One stormy night, Peter sees Jesus walking across the water.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48He leaps from his boat to join him,
0:26:48 > 0:26:50but becomes afraid and starts to sink.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53Jesus saves him, but chides him.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57"You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
0:26:57 > 0:26:59A little harsh, perhaps,
0:26:59 > 0:27:03but this won't be the last time Peter's faith is questioned.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07I detect a certain impetuous streak in his character.
0:27:08 > 0:27:13Jesus didn't only operate in the Jewish areas of Galilee.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15We're told he also led the disciples north
0:27:15 > 0:27:19to the pagan sanctuary of Caesarea Philippi,
0:27:19 > 0:27:21modern-day Banias,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24a centre for the worship of the Greek god Pan.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30What happened here in this pagan sanctuary
0:27:30 > 0:27:33was ultimately to become a most significant,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36if not THE most significant moment in church history,
0:27:36 > 0:27:39and a major turning point for Peter.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43In Matthew's Gospel, we read that Jesus brought his disciple to
0:27:43 > 0:27:47this place, a place where human beings worshipped many gods.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51And Jesus said, "Who do you say that I am?"
0:27:51 > 0:27:55And Peter, the wonderful impetuous Peter, turned round and said,
0:27:55 > 0:27:59"Well, you are the Messiah, the son of the living God."
0:27:59 > 0:28:03And Jesus replied,
0:28:03 > 0:28:07"And I tell you that you are Peter,
0:28:07 > 0:28:12"and on this rock I will build my church,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16"and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19"I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven."
0:28:26 > 0:28:27BLEATING
0:28:30 > 0:28:34But I mean, look at this rock. It's almost vertical, isn't it?
0:28:34 > 0:28:36It is. It is.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38And you can sort of see...
0:28:38 > 0:28:41Niches, where people used to worship.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45- So here we have this rock dedicated to paganism.- Yes.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47Why would they have come here?
0:28:49 > 0:28:52Well, there are many possible reasons, of course,
0:28:52 > 0:28:56and the first answer might be the landscape itself.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58It's remarkable, it's dramatic.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01And it was understood to be so in antiquity,
0:29:01 > 0:29:03that's how we have this shrine here.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07How important is paganism to this moment?
0:29:07 > 0:29:10These are the people that become
0:29:10 > 0:29:14the Christians of the Mediterranean in later generations.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17It's probably the most crucial moment in understanding
0:29:17 > 0:29:20the outreach of the early Jesus movement
0:29:20 > 0:29:24as that sort of switch where, all of a sudden, people see pagans
0:29:24 > 0:29:28or Gentiles as the next followers of this movement.
0:29:28 > 0:29:33Certainly, the move to approaching non-Jewish populations
0:29:33 > 0:29:37is the critical piece that transforms the early Jesus movement
0:29:37 > 0:29:40into the Christianity it becomes.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42The more I stand in front of this rock,
0:29:42 > 0:29:46the more I realise what a... monumental this moment was.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49- Yeah.- That you could just skim through these little verses...
0:29:49 > 0:29:52- But here we are.- Right.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54- And it's...extraordinary moment in the history.- Right.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57It is a place where the human and the natural meet,
0:29:57 > 0:29:58but some people could say, right,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01it's where the human and the divine meet also.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04- What would I give for a time machine now!- Yes!
0:30:06 > 0:30:09Though Jewish, Peter had been brought up
0:30:09 > 0:30:12among the Greek-speaking Gentiles of Bethsaida,
0:30:12 > 0:30:16so it seems to me he may not have been too shocked by this pagan site.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19What probably would have puzzled him, though,
0:30:19 > 0:30:23is why Jesus was now referring to him as "Rocky".
0:30:26 > 0:30:28So, why is it that that phrase,
0:30:28 > 0:30:31"You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church,"
0:30:31 > 0:30:33caused so many disputes?
0:30:33 > 0:30:36I think it's because it's open to so many different interpretations.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39I mean, if I received that piece of text through the post,
0:30:39 > 0:30:41I would look at it and want to ring up my playwright
0:30:41 > 0:30:43and say, "What do you mean?"
0:30:43 > 0:30:45Unfortunately, we can't do this in this case.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49But, in context, let's say here is Jesus, there is Peter,
0:30:49 > 0:30:51and there is a rock.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53I wonder what he was doing with his hands.
0:30:53 > 0:30:58Was he saying, "Upon THIS rock I build my church"?
0:30:58 > 0:31:02Was he saying, "On THIS rock I will build my church"?
0:31:02 > 0:31:05Was he looking at Peter and actually saying,
0:31:05 > 0:31:08"On THIS rock, you, Peter, I will build my church"?
0:31:08 > 0:31:12Which, actually, I think is very highly unlikely,
0:31:12 > 0:31:16knowing the wonderfully flawed character of Peter.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18Or maybe he's saying to Peter,
0:31:18 > 0:31:21"What you have just said about me,
0:31:21 > 0:31:27"your faith is the rock on which I will build my church.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31"On THIS rock I will build my church."
0:31:31 > 0:31:35And the debates will go on and on and on.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42After Banias, we're told the party travelled to a high mountain,
0:31:42 > 0:31:45and one possible location would be Mount Hermon,
0:31:45 > 0:31:47just a few days' walk away.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50You would have thought that Peter,
0:31:50 > 0:31:52having said that Jesus was the Messiah,
0:31:52 > 0:31:55that everything was going to go well from that moment on,
0:31:55 > 0:31:57but no, not at all.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00Jesus began to teach his disciples
0:32:00 > 0:32:03that the Messiah had to go to Jerusalem, suffer,
0:32:03 > 0:32:05and ultimately be killed.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08And Peter just could not get this into his head.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12He took Jesus off to one side and said, "No.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16"The Messiah cannot go through all this. It can't happen."
0:32:16 > 0:32:19And Jesus was ruthless with Peter.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23He said, "Get behind me, Satan.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26"You are a stumbling block to me.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28"You do not have in mind the concerns of God,
0:32:28 > 0:32:30"but merely human concerns."
0:32:32 > 0:32:34Well...
0:32:34 > 0:32:37that's always struck me as very harsh.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39"Get behind me, Satan,"
0:32:39 > 0:32:42just after Peter has said, "You're the Messiah"?
0:32:43 > 0:32:45No wonder Peter was confused.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48I feel very sorry for him, I do.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51Anyway, I'm going to take the easy way up the mountain.
0:33:03 > 0:33:05When the snow falls,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08Mount Hermon is transformed into a lively ski resort.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13But today's weather reminds me that 2,000 years ago
0:33:13 > 0:33:16this must have been a very forbidding place indeed.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26What happened next was one of the most extraordinary events
0:33:26 > 0:33:28that was ever recorded in the New Testament.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30Jesus brought with him to the top of the mountain
0:33:30 > 0:33:34three of his disciples that were later known as the inner circle -
0:33:34 > 0:33:38James, John and, of course, Peter.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41And what they witnessed and believed that they saw
0:33:41 > 0:33:46was Jesus literally transforming himself into a blazing white light
0:33:46 > 0:33:49and talking to two Old Testament prophets
0:33:49 > 0:33:52and hearing the voice of God.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54And, actually, it was only Peter that spoke,
0:33:54 > 0:33:56because when he saw this vision,
0:33:56 > 0:33:58he wanted to take care of the people in front of him,
0:33:58 > 0:34:00and said, "Can I build you a booth,
0:34:00 > 0:34:02"can I build you a shelter?"
0:34:02 > 0:34:04And, of course, that wasn't necessary.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06It was as though Jesus wanted to show his disciples,
0:34:06 > 0:34:08and Peter in particular,
0:34:08 > 0:34:12that he was actually the person who Peter said he was -
0:34:12 > 0:34:13the true Messiah.
0:34:37 > 0:34:42The New Testament tells us that, after descending from the mountain,
0:34:42 > 0:34:45Jesus continued to travel and preach around Galilee
0:34:45 > 0:34:48until he decided it was time to go to Jerusalem.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53I think Peter must have been very confused.
0:34:53 > 0:34:54If Jesus was the Messiah,
0:34:54 > 0:34:57why was he insisting he needed to suffer and die?
0:34:58 > 0:35:02I don't think Peter had any idea what would happen next.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20Why Jesus chose to go up to Jerusalem at this point
0:35:20 > 0:35:21is really not clear.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25It was a few days before the Jewish Passover, the harvest festival,
0:35:25 > 0:35:28and the city would have been packed full of pilgrims.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32Up to now, Jesus had avoided any clash with the powers that be.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36Perhaps he was going there to gain more followers.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38Or perhaps he was deliberately intending to have a clash
0:35:38 > 0:35:41with the Jewish and Roman authorities.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43As I said, it's not clear.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47But what is clear is that it was a very dangerous game.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52The prime reason for a Jew to come to Jerusalem
0:35:52 > 0:35:54was to visit the Jewish Temple.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02But it was destroyed by the Romans some years after Peter's death,
0:36:02 > 0:36:05during the Jewish revolt of AD 70.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10What I'm looking at now is an extraordinary scale model
0:36:10 > 0:36:13of what first-century Jerusalem would have been like.
0:36:15 > 0:36:19And what it does show us is the huge size of the Second Temple.
0:36:19 > 0:36:21It was vast.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25And at the very bottom you can see two pairs of gates.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27They're like little arches.
0:36:27 > 0:36:32Of course, today there's very little left of these walls at all,
0:36:32 > 0:36:36but there is the outline of those two pairs of gates still there.
0:36:38 > 0:36:43Ronny, when I was at the model of Jerusalem, we saw gates in the wall.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48And if you look there, right there you see three arches.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51- Can we have a look? - One there. Let's go there.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55Archaeologist Ronny Reich
0:36:55 > 0:36:58has been excavating the southern steps of Temple Mount.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03Have a look at the three arches, and behind the blocking
0:37:03 > 0:37:07is the tunnel leading into the Temple Mount.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11How many people would be coming here, let's say, at Passover?
0:37:11 > 0:37:14At Passover, er, several tens of thousands leading...
0:37:14 > 0:37:17- Wow.- ..their sacrifices, their sheep.
0:37:17 > 0:37:22Let's say one sheep for about ten people, so also about
0:37:22 > 0:37:24several thousands of sheep go in
0:37:24 > 0:37:29and have to be slaughtered in one afternoon.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32We read in the Gospels that Jesus, Peter and the disciples
0:37:32 > 0:37:35came here and they caused some trouble in the temple,
0:37:35 > 0:37:38threw the tables of the money changers over and that...
0:37:38 > 0:37:40Would that have been a big moment in there?
0:37:40 > 0:37:42I think yes,
0:37:42 > 0:37:46because the money changers were essential to the cult
0:37:46 > 0:37:49because, according to the religious code,
0:37:49 > 0:37:54- each Jew had to bring half a shekel - money temple tax.- Oh!
0:37:54 > 0:37:56And it had to be given in a specific coin.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59But people come from various places
0:37:59 > 0:38:02with different coins in their pocket, as we today have.
0:38:02 > 0:38:08They first had to change their coins into the specific coin.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12Occasionally, here and there, people who deal with money,
0:38:12 > 0:38:15who are merchants of money, let's say,
0:38:15 > 0:38:20can confuse innocent people who are not so used to deal with money.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22This can happen.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24Because they were being corrupt.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27I can imagine that Jesus saw...
0:38:27 > 0:38:32- saw some misdeed of, um, of a money changer.- Yes.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35And then, spontaneously, he just, pfft,
0:38:35 > 0:38:38lifts the table and says what he says.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40What would Peter have felt about this?
0:38:40 > 0:38:41Would he be shocked, surprised or...?
0:38:41 > 0:38:42He would be surprised.
0:38:42 > 0:38:47This is a place, the Temple Mount is a place where you behave properly,
0:38:47 > 0:38:49in those days as today.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53With tension growing,
0:38:53 > 0:38:57Jesus, Peter and the others gathered for the Last Supper.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02As dinner parties go, it's one of the most famous in history.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06Yet one event that took place there has always intrigued me.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10According to John's Gospel, Jesus began to wash Peter's feet -
0:39:10 > 0:39:13something Peter was not at all comfortable with.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28I have to admit, I feel very awkward sitting up in this chair
0:39:28 > 0:39:33having my shoes cleaned, although it reminds me of a very true story.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36I was filming in Portland, Oregon, in the United States of America,
0:39:36 > 0:39:39and I was walking down the street one day
0:39:39 > 0:39:41and there was a shoe-shine man and a lady.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45And she stopped me and said, "Would you like your shoes shined, sir?"
0:39:45 > 0:39:47And I said, "Oh, no, thank you very much, no."
0:39:47 > 0:39:49She said, "Why not? Your shoes are filthy!"
0:39:49 > 0:39:52And I said, "Yes, I know but I really couldn't sit in that chair.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54"It would make me feel too awkward."
0:39:54 > 0:39:57And she said, "Do you know the story of Peter and Jesus?"
0:39:57 > 0:39:59I said, "No."
0:39:59 > 0:40:02She said, "Well, Jesus wanted to wash Peter's feet,
0:40:02 > 0:40:05"and he said, 'No, you can't do that,' -
0:40:05 > 0:40:07"implying, 'You're the Messiah!'
0:40:07 > 0:40:12"But, sir, Jesus was teaching Peter something else.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14"He had to learn to receive.
0:40:14 > 0:40:15"He had too much pride.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19"And that's your problem, sir - you've got to learn to receive.
0:40:19 > 0:40:20"You've got too much pride.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23"Now get up in that chair because that man's my husband
0:40:23 > 0:40:24"and he needs the money."
0:40:26 > 0:40:29It doesn't make it any easier for me to be here.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34Although my shoes look very shiny and clean.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36- Thank you.- Thank YOU.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45So, after the Last Supper, we're told that Jesus and his disciples
0:40:45 > 0:40:50elected to go to a place called Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53And we're also told that Jesus was very troubled.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56He asked Peter and two other disciples to keep watch
0:40:56 > 0:41:00throughout the night but, sadly, they immediately fell asleep.
0:41:00 > 0:41:02And they kept on falling asleep.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04Jesus had to keep on waking them up.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07The last time they woke up, however, it was too late.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10Judas had arrived with an arresting party.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13And then we read of a very bizarre incident -
0:41:13 > 0:41:16Peter draws out his sword
0:41:16 > 0:41:19and cuts the ear off the high priest's servant.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22I've always found that very puzzling -
0:41:22 > 0:41:25the peace-loving disciple of Jesus wielding a sword.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28What is that all about?
0:41:32 > 0:41:35At the traditional site of the Garden of Gethsemane
0:41:35 > 0:41:39I met archaeologist and weapons expert Guy Stiebel.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43Would the disciples have been walking around
0:41:43 > 0:41:45with these swords all the time, or...?
0:41:45 > 0:41:47- We're not speaking about the Wild West.- No.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50I mean, it's not like cowboys walking around with weapons.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53You would be wise taking a weapon with you
0:41:53 > 0:41:56once you're outside of Jerusalem.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58For example, going to the Dead Sea or to Jericho,
0:41:58 > 0:42:00you need to cross the Judaean Desert,
0:42:00 > 0:42:03- which is five minutes from here. - Yes.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07And once you leave the city, you're out in the open,
0:42:07 > 0:42:10be wise, carry a weapon with you.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13So, what sort of sword would they have? What sort of weapon?
0:42:13 > 0:42:19If you look down here, you can see a sword from that period of time.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21- Gosh, it's big, isn't it? - It is big.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24I mean, we're speaking about 91cm, just the blade.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26I mean, it's really mind-blasting.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30This is what we call a gladius, that was adopted by the Roman Army
0:42:30 > 0:42:33from Spain and became the standard weapon.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35So this was sort of military issue?
0:42:35 > 0:42:40This is something a Roman soldier would walk equipped with.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44I don't think you would expect someone local
0:42:44 > 0:42:46carrying something like that.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49It's like walking today in the middle of London
0:42:49 > 0:42:50carrying a Kalashnikov.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53- It's a bit obvious. - Too obvious. Too obvious.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57So what would you think they would carry?
0:42:57 > 0:43:03I think a short pugio or a dagger, what we call the sica.
0:43:03 > 0:43:09It is 20cm long, made of iron, with a scabbard or the sheath,
0:43:09 > 0:43:14and you can very, very easily conceal it under your clothes.
0:43:14 > 0:43:18A very, very interesting example
0:43:18 > 0:43:23was found not long ago in the Judaean Desert.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27You can see the blade and you can see the scabbard or the sheath.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31And this is something that is very, very easy, like a pistol,
0:43:31 > 0:43:34to carry under your clothes nowadays.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37If you want me to put my money, this is it.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40So what does it mean, "cut off the ear", then?
0:43:40 > 0:43:44Cutting off ears is something very common in this part of land.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48What one would do, I guess, is either cut you
0:43:48 > 0:43:52and just slice your lobe or part of the ear -
0:43:52 > 0:43:55a very Van Goghic way of doing this.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57- That's like a mutilation.- Indeed.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59- You don't want to kill this person. - Oh.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02You want to send a message every now and then.
0:44:02 > 0:44:03Would there be any other weapons
0:44:03 > 0:44:06that the disciples may have been carrying?
0:44:06 > 0:44:09Yes. And I happen to have here a sling.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12This shows you how conservative this part of land can be.
0:44:12 > 0:44:17Those types of weapons were used ever since the Neolithic period,
0:44:17 > 0:44:20all the way through to that very day.
0:44:20 > 0:44:24And if you place this, you can see the sling shot,
0:44:24 > 0:44:29you place it here in the pouch, and you just pull it like that,
0:44:29 > 0:44:31and if you start to swing it - I'll be careful...
0:44:31 > 0:44:33Oh, yes. Whoa!
0:44:33 > 0:44:38It goes like that, it will travel the distance of 200 metres...
0:44:38 > 0:44:40- 200 metres?! - ..and it can be very, very lethal.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43- And accurate?- Very accurate.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45According to the Old Testament,
0:44:45 > 0:44:48the slingers from the Benjamite could actually hit...
0:44:49 > 0:44:52..something like that, a hair,
0:44:52 > 0:44:54from a distance of a few hundred metres.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56Gosh, I would be safe.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58- THEY LAUGH - Um, good point!
0:44:58 > 0:45:00Beware. Yeah.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04Anyway, so this is something an ordinary man would carry around. It's very easy.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08It looks like actually a belt, and just think, you can put it...
0:45:08 > 0:45:10Oh, I see. You just wrap it round.
0:45:10 > 0:45:12..wrap it around, maybe around your head.
0:45:12 > 0:45:13- Yes.- And you're safe.
0:45:13 > 0:45:17And I think this is something, uh, till this very day...
0:45:17 > 0:45:22- Yeah.- ..it is carried, a way against animals, against beasts,
0:45:22 > 0:45:24against humans, against soldiers.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28So basically, I shouldn't be surprised that the disciples were armed.
0:45:28 > 0:45:32It's just carrying stuff that they would ordinarily carry
0:45:32 > 0:45:34- to protect themselves in the wilderness.- Absolutely.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37- It doesn't send a message that we are dangerous people.- No.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39We just want to protect ourself.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42That puts that whole story into place for me, Guy.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44- Thank you so much. - It's a pleasure.- Really.
0:45:49 > 0:45:51I suppose what I've learnt is that
0:45:51 > 0:45:54my own perception of this incident was slightly wrong.
0:45:55 > 0:45:57It wouldn't have been surprising
0:45:57 > 0:45:59for the disciples of Jesus to carry weapons.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03They would have done so naturally, to protect themselves.
0:46:03 > 0:46:09No, what we see is Peter cutting off the earlobe of the slave
0:46:09 > 0:46:14of the high priest - possibly for mutilation, I don't know -
0:46:14 > 0:46:17but definitely not to kill him, and that's important.
0:46:19 > 0:46:23No, what I see is Peter, the impulsive, active fisherman,
0:46:23 > 0:46:26coming to the defence of his very dearest friend.
0:46:32 > 0:46:37Jesus was arrested and taken to the house of the High Priest Caiaphas
0:46:37 > 0:46:38for further questioning.
0:46:38 > 0:46:43Peter followed into the courtyard to see what would happen next.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46Close to where it's thought Caiaphas lived, archaeologist
0:46:46 > 0:46:50Shimon Gibson has uncovered a large first-century house.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52Now what we're going to do
0:46:52 > 0:46:55- is we're going to go down to the lower level here...- Yes?
0:46:55 > 0:47:00..which dates back 2,000 years to the houses from the time of Peter.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04You're a seasoned archaeologist, I can see.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07These are mansions.
0:47:07 > 0:47:09These are very large houses,
0:47:09 > 0:47:12but the dining hall was probably at an upper level.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15We're downstairs here, you know, you have upstairs and downstairs.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18- Yes. And we're downstairs.- We're downstairs.- We're with the cooks.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20We're with the cooks and the servants and...
0:47:20 > 0:47:22Yeah, that's the place to be.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24I'd rather be with them than with the nobs upstairs, I think.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27- Yes, yes.- I'd be more comfortable. - Yes. But it's quite interesting
0:47:27 > 0:47:30when you think about that story of Peter,
0:47:30 > 0:47:32- when he comes into the courtyard... - Yes.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35and it's... There's a reference to Jesus being taken to
0:47:35 > 0:47:36the upper room, you see.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39- So he's been taken to the level where...- Yes, he is.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42..the high priests are sitting, and of course Peter,
0:47:42 > 0:47:44he's at the level at the bottom there
0:47:44 > 0:47:47where you have all the servants moving around.
0:47:47 > 0:47:52There are some soldiers, and different sort of individuals.
0:47:52 > 0:47:56But none of them belonging to the higher ranks of society.
0:47:56 > 0:47:57- Yeah.- They were all upstairs.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01There were the serving girls in the courtyard, wasn't there?
0:48:01 > 0:48:04- Exactly.- That would have been in a place like this?- Like this.
0:48:04 > 0:48:05Oh, how interesting.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07Haven't found any money!
0:48:07 > 0:48:09I know. We should find some coins here.
0:48:09 > 0:48:10Maybe they held it all upstairs.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12Probably. This is downstairs after all.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14This is downstairs, yeah.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16'Shimon's work here is still ongoing.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19'So to get a better idea of what Caiaphas's courtyard may have
0:48:19 > 0:48:23'looked like, he took me to the basement of a modern building
0:48:23 > 0:48:25'where excavations in the 1970s
0:48:25 > 0:48:29'uncovered a similar first-century priestly home.'
0:48:30 > 0:48:32So where are we now?
0:48:32 > 0:48:36This is a house which dates back 2,000 years...
0:48:36 > 0:48:37- My goodness!- ..to the time of Peter.
0:48:37 > 0:48:42- Wow!- We're standing within the internal courtyards.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44Oh, my goodness. But it's tiny!
0:48:44 > 0:48:46I know. But this is the way they used to be.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49The sort of courtyard that Peter could have come into?
0:48:49 > 0:48:50I think so. I think so.
0:48:50 > 0:48:55But looking at this, er, there's nowhere to hide, is there?
0:48:55 > 0:48:57I mean, there's no pillars, there's no...
0:48:57 > 0:48:59He would have had to be very courageous.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01I mean, just assume for the moment that you're Peter.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03- Right.- I'm a Roman soldier.
0:49:03 > 0:49:04You're going to walk in.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07I'm going to see you straight away and I'm going to say, "Who are you?"
0:49:07 > 0:49:10- You know. "What are you doing here?" - Yeah.
0:49:10 > 0:49:11So he put himself into jeopardy.
0:49:11 > 0:49:13Yes. Yes.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16So you could use some excuse. You could say, "I'm a tradesman".
0:49:16 > 0:49:18You could say, "I'm a family friend".
0:49:18 > 0:49:21You know, you could invent some of these sort of excuses.
0:49:21 > 0:49:22- That's...- But he doesn't.- No.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24But what's interesting what you said was,
0:49:24 > 0:49:26the ideal thing for Peter to be able to say is,
0:49:26 > 0:49:29I mean, obviously the... "What are you doing here?"
0:49:29 > 0:49:31He'd say, "Oh, it's just a friend of mine gone up there,
0:49:31 > 0:49:34"I'm just waiting to see." But that's what he doesn't say!
0:49:34 > 0:49:36He said... When asked him, "Is he a frie...
0:49:36 > 0:49:39"is that man a friend of yours?" He says, "No".
0:49:39 > 0:49:40- Yes.- "No, no, no."
0:49:40 > 0:49:42And Peter, by the time he came into this courtyard,
0:49:42 > 0:49:48was already going through so many disillusions, as Jesus keeps
0:49:48 > 0:49:52doing things that Peter feels is not right for the Messiah to do.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55This was a person who was going to usher in the end of days.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57- Absolutely. - And that's the end of it.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00So what does he... Why is he having these arguments with...
0:50:00 > 0:50:03- Yes.- ..Caiaphas. This, I think, mystified him.
0:50:03 > 0:50:05I think Peter was confused.
0:50:05 > 0:50:07He was confused about this, and that's why
0:50:07 > 0:50:11he hung around in this kind of, sort of, small courtyard, you know...
0:50:11 > 0:50:13- Yes.- ..trying to puzzle things out.
0:50:16 > 0:50:20What happens next is the drama of Jesus's crucifixion.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23But Peter and the other disciples are nowhere to be seen,
0:50:23 > 0:50:27presumably hiding in fear of their lives.
0:50:27 > 0:50:34Then, just 36 hours later, Peter is told the tomb is empty.
0:50:34 > 0:50:35For over a thousand years,
0:50:35 > 0:50:39millions of Christians have made their pilgrimage here,
0:50:39 > 0:50:42where tradition says that Jesus was buried.
0:50:42 > 0:50:43The Holy Sepulchre.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57There once was a rock-cut tomb on this spot.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01Whether it ever contained the body of Jesus is hard to say.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04Nothing of the original has survived.
0:51:04 > 0:51:07But this early 19th-century monument
0:51:07 > 0:51:09remains the most holy site in Christendom.
0:52:02 > 0:52:06So to get a better understanding of what Peter might have experienced
0:52:06 > 0:52:10when he returned to the tomb, I must look elsewhere.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23Archaeologists have found about a thousand rock-cut tombs
0:52:23 > 0:52:25in and around Jerusalem.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29And these at Akeldama, just below the old city, are fairly typical.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31I'm going to go inside one.
0:52:39 > 0:52:40My goodness me!
0:52:42 > 0:52:44This is much bigger than I expected.
0:52:53 > 0:52:55It's quite light in here.
0:52:55 > 0:52:59And this...this ledge here is obviously where the body
0:52:59 > 0:53:03would have been laid out, and it would have been embalmed
0:53:03 > 0:53:08and wrapped around with cloths and they would have laid him out there.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10Er...
0:53:10 > 0:53:13Oh...I don't believe it!
0:53:13 > 0:53:16Oh, dear. Ooph! Look there.
0:53:21 > 0:53:22Two pieces of human bone.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29Anyway, the body would have been laid there and I'm told that
0:53:29 > 0:53:32they would have left the body there for about a year,
0:53:32 > 0:53:34and then the family would have come down,
0:53:34 > 0:53:35to put the bones in an ossuary,
0:53:35 > 0:53:42a box, and then placed it in this area, and probably down there.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48This is probably... probably a family tomb.
0:54:01 > 0:54:06It must have taken a very long time to cut this.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09And when you think how many there are.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11And that's quite ornate really,
0:54:11 > 0:54:16because there's an arch above the main ledge.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23The leader of the family or the clan would be there -
0:54:23 > 0:54:25sort of the place of prominence.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30I think I'm speculating - I wouldn't know.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33It's my first time in!
0:54:33 > 0:54:36And probably my last, if I can get out.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47The discovery of the empty tomb of Jesus is really very intriguing.
0:54:47 > 0:54:50New Testament tells us that Mary Magdalene and the other women
0:54:50 > 0:54:55who went there early in the morning found the tomb completely empty,
0:54:55 > 0:55:00and they ran back to tell Peter and the other disciples.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02And they thought it was nonsense.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05But then we come to John's Gospel, and we learned that
0:55:05 > 0:55:09when Mary Magdalene told Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved,
0:55:09 > 0:55:12we're not quite sure who this other disciple was,
0:55:12 > 0:55:17a very sort of mysterious person, they ran to the tomb.
0:55:17 > 0:55:22And the other disciple got there first. It was like a running race.
0:55:22 > 0:55:24Peter got there, joined him,
0:55:24 > 0:55:28went inside and they both witnessed these strips of cloth
0:55:28 > 0:55:32that would be wrapped around the body, just folded in on itself.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36Just poooff! Just as though it collapsed.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40The other disciple looked and we're told that he believed.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43Peter, however, left the tomb marvelling
0:55:43 > 0:55:45and wondering about it all.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49It would seem that he still didn't quite get it.
0:56:13 > 0:56:17At this point I wonder what Peter must have been thinking.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22He'd left his livelihood as a fisherman,
0:56:22 > 0:56:24and his family, to follow Jesus.
0:56:26 > 0:56:31And perhaps he was going to bring in the end of Roman rule.
0:56:31 > 0:56:33Perhaps he WAS the Messiah,
0:56:33 > 0:56:37and was going to free the Jews from their oppressors.
0:56:37 > 0:56:41And over time, perhaps he even thought that Jesus was something else.
0:56:41 > 0:56:46But he always seemed totally confused as to what the something else was.
0:56:47 > 0:56:49And no matter how hard he tried to get things right
0:56:49 > 0:56:53for his dear friend, he always managed to get them wrong.
0:56:56 > 0:57:04And now he must be looking back with enormous sadness, regret, and guilt
0:57:04 > 0:57:08over what happened that early morning when Jesus was put on trial.
0:57:10 > 0:57:14He actually denied knowing his dear friend...three times.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20He must be thinking, "What if I'd stayed?
0:57:20 > 0:57:22"I might have been able to help. I might have been a witness.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25"I might even have saved his life, who knows?"
0:57:27 > 0:57:31So now in all probability, Peter's going back to Galilee
0:57:31 > 0:57:35to start his life all over again as a fisherman
0:57:35 > 0:57:38and put these three years of following Jesus down to
0:57:38 > 0:57:41one of life's great experiences and that's all.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47So, how does Peter get from this,
0:57:47 > 0:57:51the possible lowest point in his life,
0:57:51 > 0:57:56to becoming what some people will call the first Pope of Rome?
0:58:06 > 0:58:10Next time, with the Jesus movement leaderless
0:58:10 > 0:58:13and lacking direction, Peter and the other disciples
0:58:13 > 0:58:15seek a way to move forward,
0:58:15 > 0:58:19carrying the message out beyond Jerusalem to the pagan world,
0:58:19 > 0:58:23and into a dangerous and uncertain future.