Jesus, the helpless Jew: A forgotten portrait of Jesus in the “Third Quest”

This work surveys the “Third Quest” (TQ) of the historical Jesus with a focus on the various portraits of Jesus within the first century using the historical-critical method. It argues that such studies and portraits of Jesus have overlooked a significant portrait of Jesus, which sets Jesus in the first-century socio-economic context as being helpless, an additional portrait to the various existing portraits of Jesus. A search for the true historical Jesus should recognize Jesus being a helpless Jew as revealed in the Gospels, for such a portrait stands a chance of redefining the entire life of the critical historical Jesus and still places Jesus within the confines of the Gospels.