Players take on the role of Jesus’ Disciples, traveling with Jesus through Palestine and performing deeds consistent with His teachings. But the actions the players will take will not always be received favorably by the three factions that will determine the fate of Judea — the Jews, who alternate between loving and resenting Jesus; Rome, which is not interested in Jesus but simply wants to impose civility and order, and the Pharisees, who abhor Jesus and who, as their anger increases, are looking for a member of Jesus’ inner circle to betray Him…
Each turn, players receive 4 actions, which they may spend traveling to one of the cities in Palestine, drawing action cards, spending action cards to perform a Deed in a city, or requesting Jesus to perform a Deed. Deeds come in four categories (preach, heal, exorcise a demon, or show compassion), and the cost of performing a Deed increases with each Deed performed in that category. But players can call on Jesus to perform a Deed, which resets that category's cost track and awards players present in the area with Gospel tokens. Most of the Deeds also result in consequences on one or more of the political tracks, representing the crowds, the Pharisees, or Rome.
The game ends either when the Rome track reaches its end (indicating that Jesus and the Disciples have attracted too much attention and Rome decides to intervene), or when the player who was dealt the Judas card elects to end the game, and receives the payout indicated on the Pharisees track.
The players' score is comprised of victory points received from the Deeds they performed, the Gospel tokens they accumulated, and the conditions described on their secret Goal cards that they received at the start of the game.