In the first century CE, there lived a man named Jesus in Judea, a Roman province at the time. The humble peasant was considered by some to be a prophet, others saw him as a madman, and some considered him as a threat to the safety of the land. In his last days, he preached in Jerusalem about the imminent destruction of the holy city and its temple. He gained notoriety, and his warning had an eerie feel about it. His prophecy included parabolic language. Jesus spoke, according to sources, about the wind that carried signs, possibly echoing the words of the prophet Isaiah, and enigmatic parables about the wedding groom and his bride. Some people found his words offensive and had him arrested and flogged.

Unsure what to do with him, the temple authorities handed him over to the Roman procurator. When Jesus was before him, Rome's governor questioned him and asked him what was all that he was prophesying about, but the prisoner did not utter a single word. The procurator had him whipped again, but Jesus did not complain or shed a tear. He did not curse the guards who made fun of him and beat his crushed body. Jesus lamented once again for the fate of the people of Jerusalem, and it was there, not far from the temple, that he was killed by a catapult.

There are no other details about Jesus, the son of Ananias, or Jesus ben Ananias, who died near the temple of Jerusalem in 70 AD when a stone thrown by a Roman ballista hit him in the head, except that his last words were “Woe to me”. This doomed prophet was active four decades after a much more famous predecessor, Jesus of Nazareth, who was not knocked down by a stone near the temple but crucified outside the city around 30 AD. It’s even possible that both individuals once crossed paths.

For the most part forgotten, they were “the other” prophets, miracle workers, and messiahs - in some cases acclaimed as kings – and they were certainly contemporaries of Jesus of Nazareth. The New Testament does not deny the existence of such characters; in fact, it gives subtle but unequivocal clues to their presence. 

Like Jesus, other prophets, miracle-makers, and aspiring messiahs were active in Judea under Herod and his sons, and then under Rome´s prefects, like Pilate. They felt that the authority of the Highest was with them; they proclaimed that there was no other king but God, and they promised their followers they would see miraculous signs and God's deliverance if they only resisted just a little longer.