This is an historical novel, so it remains true to the history of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels, but is also a novel in which Martin Down uses the novelists license to explore the inner life of its characters, including that man Jesus, his morivations and reactions. It is a study of a human being working out his unique sense of calling from God.

A justification of Martin Down’s belief in the historical reliability of the biblical Gospels can be found in his companion volume, ‘The Gospel Truth’.