A list of things we know about Jesus (from N. T. Wright)

In Jesus and the Victory of God, in Chapter 5, N. T. Wright gives a short list of things we know about Jesus. The bare-bones nature of the list speaks to me. Here's a condensation:

• ... most likely born in what we now call 4 BC
• ... grew up in Galilee, in the town of Nazareth
• ... spoke Aramaic, some Hebrew, and probably at least some Greek
• ... emerged as a public figure in around AD 28
• ... summoned people to repent
• ... announced the kingdom, or reign, of Israel's god
• ... journeyed around the villages of Galilee
• ... effect[ed] cures, including exorcisms
• ... shar[ed] table-fellowship with a socio-culturally wide group
• ... called a group of close disciples
• ... incurred the wrath of some elements in Judaism, notably ... of the high-priestly establishment
• ... was handed over to the Romans and executed in the manner regularly used for insurrectionists
• ... followers claimed ... that he had been raised from the dead
• ... [followers] carried on his work in a new way

In subsequent paragraphs, he adds these items:

• ... engaged in an itinerant ministry
• ... [ministry] took him into synagogues, into private houses, into the open countryside
• ... sometimes ... met with his followers in secret
• ... often to be found in prayer..., sometimes in lonely places
• ... ate and drank with all sorts and conditions of people
• ... kept company with people normally on or beyond the borders of respectable activity

In these opening paragraphs of Chapter 5, Wright describes Jesus as one might observe his actions. He purposely is attributing no god-like attributes to him. I find this useful as I think about the way I observe the times I live in. In some way, the list gives clarity to how I should live and tells me, at the same time, that I cannot, with certainty, understand the full measure of those around me. The list describes a man who is focused, who understands what he is about, whose eyes are on some goal that perhaps isn't always clear to those around him. Yet, we don't see the man apologizing for who he is; we don't see him backtracking and changing his ways to be more acceptable to society around him. This man seems convinced that he is on the right path. For me, it's a powerful list.