The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem [Unabridged] [Audible Audio Edition] Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B004XXVSKQ | Format: PDF, EPUB
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Top Jesus scholars Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan join together to reveal a radical and little-known Jesus. As both authors reacted to and responded to questions about Mel Gibson's blockbuster The Passion of the Christ, they discovered that many Christians are unclear on the details of events during the week leading up to Jesus's crucifixion.
Using the gospel of Mark as their guide, Borg and Crossan present a day-by-day account of Jesus's final week of life. They begin their story on Palm Sunday with two triumphal entries into Jerusalem. The first entry, that of Roman governor Pontius Pilate leading Roman soldiers into the city, symbolized military strength. The second heralded a new kind of moral hero who was praised by the people as he rode in on a humble donkey. The Jesus introduced by Borg and Crossan is this new moral hero, a more dangerous Jesus than the one enshrined in the church's traditional teachings.
The Last Week depicts Jesus giving up his life to protest power without justice and to condemn the rich who lack concern for the poor. In this vein, at the end of the week Jesus marches up Calvary, offering himself as a model for others to do the same when they are confronted by similar issues. Informed, challenged, and inspired, we not only meet the historical Jesus, but meet a new Jesus who engages us and invites us to follow him.
Books with free ebook downloads available The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem [Unabridged] [Audible Audio Edition] Epub Download
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 7 hours and 45 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Audible.com Release Date: April 26, 2011
- Whispersync for Voice: Ready
- Language: English
- ASIN: B004XXVSKQ
There are many reasons to read this book, but for the sake of brevity I will emphasize three. The authors rely upon the Gospel of Mark to tell the story of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem, and in the process explain why and how this gospel was written. For a long time I've held the belief that the gospels were simply a collection of orally circulated stories that the authors wished to preserve in writing. In order to provide some type of cohesive logic, they placed the stories within a loose narrative framework. Thanks to Borg and Crossan, I now understand that Mark wrote a carefully crafted, concisely written book that has a specific purpose --- to demonstrate for Christians that to follow Jesus means to follow him on THE WAY. For Jesus, the road to Jerusalem led to death and resurrection. Those who follow Jesus on this path will also be resurrected to new life. In short, this book greatly enhanced my understanding of Mark. Ever wonder why Jesus condemned a fig tree that bore no fruit out of season? Or why Jesus was so impressed with the woman who anoited his head with oil? Who exactly was in "the crowd" that called for Jesus' execution? Read this book to find out. My second reason for reading the book is the most obvious one. You will understand what happened in Jerusalem and why Jesus died. As Christians we are taught to believe that Jesus was somehow mindlessly fulfilling Biblical prophecy by going to Jerusalem, as if he had no say in the matter. The truth is that in an act of tremendous personal courage, Jesus chose to confront the powerful elite of the city --- the Roman imperialists and their temple collaborators --- and demand an end to oppression and injustice. This is why he was crucified.
"Two processions entered Jerusalem on a spring day in the year 30. It was the beginning of the week of Passover." From the East came a peasant procession with Jesus of Nazareth riding on a donkey and cheered by his followers. From the West came the Roman governor of Idumea, Pontius Pilate, who had come up from Caesarea Maritima. That the two processions occurred on the same day is not recorded in the Bible and, in fact, the two processions may not have happened on the same day. However the Roman governor did travel from Caesarea Maritima for festivals such as Passover. Most of all, for Mark, the procession of Jesus was clearly counter to the procession of Pilate.
The inevitable confrontation may be described as the "domination system" which had developed in Jerusalem. Borg and Crossan explain that domination system is a shorthand for political oppression, economic exploitation, and religious legitimation. Jerusalem had become a society where only a few ruled, the monarch, the nobility, and the wealthy. A high percentage of the society's wealth came from agriculture. Structures of laws of land ownership, taxation, and indenture of labor, put between a half and two-thirds of all of the wealth into the coffers of the few. In ancient societies, these structures were legitimized by religious language: the monarch ruled by divine right and the social order was the will of God.
The day after Jesus made his procession into Jerusalem, he drove the moneychangers from the Temple and aroused the severe wrath of the temple priests. The next day, Tuesday, was a day of challenges. Jesus returns to Jerusalem. As he is walking Jesus is challenged by the chief priests, scribes, and elders who want to know the authority he has for committing his prophetic act in the Temple.
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