What if your brother was the most controversial figure in the history of the world and your job was to protect him? That's the challenge faced by Rabbi James of Jerusalem, whose kinsman, the Nazarene prophet, Jesus, is stirring debate and anxiety. James' only hope of fulfilling a deathbed promise to his father, Joseph, is his relationship with Pilate, the Roman governor, who turns to James for guidance in matters of Jewish law. Protecting Jesus becomes the focus of James' life as his brother runs afoul of temple authorities, and Zealot rebels attempt to exploit his growing popularity-their goal to foment a revolution against the hated Romans. But even such a widely admired man of honor and learning as James can't calm the fears of change aroused by Jesus and his movement, or counteract the forces of greed, corruption and violence that loom over a nation ready to explode.