To most of the people of his time Jesus was a preacher, teacher, healer, and prophet from ancient Judea. However, his disciples believed him to be much more than that: they believed that Jesus was God's one and only son who was sent down to earth to die on a cross for their sins. The man said to be his father, Joseph, was a carpenter. Jesus was executed by being nailed to a cross (or crucified) under Pontius Pilate, the local Roman governor at the time. His life and followers are written about in the New Testament, part of the Bible. Christians consider the Bible, both the Old Testament and New Testament, as sacred. The Gospels or "The Good News" are the first four books of the New Testament and are about the life of Jesus, his death, and him rising from the dead.