Unraveling the Family History of Jesus is a scholarly attempt to identify all of the persons related to Jesus from 100 BC through 100 AD. Almost all of the significant persons mentioned in the New Testament were in fact related to Jesus in one way or another Starting with the earliest Kings of Judea from 100 BC Mr. Norris shows exactly which Kings were his great grandparents.

In making this discovery he puts “flesh and blood” on the names mentioned in the genealogy of Luke and Matthew. In particular, he discovered that “Matthat”, the great grandfather of Jesus named in Luke’s gospel, was in fact Antigonus Mattathias II, the last King of Judea. “Matthat” was his nickname, named after his Jewish name Mattathias, but his name in all ancient history, and especially in Flavius Josephus’ works, was Antigonus. He thus has remained “hidden” from Biblical scholars for nearly 2000 years.

Once this identity is known, however, it becomes clearer just how Jesus had a legitimate claim to the throne of Judea. By learning about the larger family of Antigonus Mattathias we also learn about Jesus’ great uncles and aunts and find that they were deeply involved in the events that led to the rise of Jesus, his death and resurrection, and the eventual destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Similar revelations are presented on the other side of Jesus’ family, the extended family of his supposed father Joseph of Nazareth.

In addition, Mr. Norris shows clearly that Joseph was not a “poor carpenter” but was in fact a rabbi and a scholar and was undoubtedly quite wealthy (his father was the Patriarch of Jerusalem who received tax funds from the Roman Empire). When this is all presented it shows a much clearer picture of the surroundings in which Jesus taught and explains how he was able to be an ” itinerant preacher” and not have to work for a living.