Two thousand years ago, in the Roman province of Judea, Jesus was crucified by imperial troops. Thousands before him had suffered the same fate. But unlike his predecessors on the cross, Jesus did not disappear from history. Instead, his memory was kept alive by a small band of Jews - men and women who held fast to their conviction that Jesus was the Messiah.
Episode 1
With their Messiah executed, their dreams crushed, and their cause deemed subversive by the strongest empire the world had ever seen, Jesus' followers faced a bleak future. Their movement seemed destined for extinction. Incredibly, though, Jesus' survivors turned defeat to victory; devastation to jubilation.
Episode 2
Spread outside Judea by missionaries like Peter and Paul, the Jesus movement caught on quickly among Jews and non-Jews around the Roman Empire. With success, however, came challenges: challenges from hostile locals; challenges from imperial forces; and challenges from conflicting ideas within the movement itself.
