The Week That Changed the World: The Complete Easter Story

The Week That Changed the World: The Complete Easter Story

Beginning with Palm Sunday, the gospels record every day of Jesus’ life up to the time of his death and resurrection. These eight days are unparalleled in the canon of Scripture for their narrative power, their detail, and their focus. A unique synthesis of the four gospel accounts of the passion and resurrection of Christ is provided in this seamless and elegant narrative account of the Easter events, including every detail mentioned in all four Gospels, but without any unnecessary repetition or distracting references. A chapter is assigned to each of these days to facilitate devotional reading and study during the days leading up to Easter. Two chapters are added on either side of the eight days to round out the story. A study guide is also included. The book invites reader to experience the events of Christ’s passion as they happened, thus fully entering into the drama of the Easter story. More than anything, this book is an invitation to join Jesus and the disciples in walking the road that leads to Jerusalem, and to experience the events that happened there in an intimate and life-changing way. “If you want to be touched by God incarnate and have your life changed forever, it will only happen when you meet Jesus as the man who did for you what you cannot do for yourself. Tim Roth weaves the parallel stories of Jesus’ final days into an original and brilliant unified text that lifts the ancient story right into your own.” ―Robert E. Webber (1933-2007), theologian, prolific author, and former president of the Institute for Worship Studies in Jacksonville, Florida “This book is an exceptional gift for Holy Week, meditation, and prayer. Tim Roth has done us an extraordinary service in bringing together all the gospel accounts and enabling us to comprehend and become immersed in the vastness of Christ’s sufferings. The complete Easter story fills us with unshakeable hope! Above all, my heart and life were deepened in gratitude.” ―Marva J. Dawn, theologian, musician, educator, and award-winning author of twenty books, including Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for This Urgent Time “This book is an exceptional gift for Holy Week, meditation, and prayer. Tim Roth has done us an extraordinary service in bringing together all the gospel accounts and enabling us to comprehend and become immersed in the vastness of Christ’s sufferings. The complete Easter story fills us with unshakeable hope! Above all, my heart and life were deepened in gratitude.” ―Marva J. Dawn, theologian, musician, educator, and award-winning author of twenty books, including Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for This Urgent Time Timothy Dean Roth is a writer, theologian, and artist who lives in Ridgefield, Washington. He holds degrees from Wheaton College and Duke Divinity School. This project was developed in cooperation with Zondervan Press, which provided publishing rights for the TNIV translation. The Week That Changed the World The Complete Easter Story By Timothy Dean Roth Seabury Books Copyright © 2009 Timothy Dean Roth All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-59627-106-7 Contents Chapter One The Raising of Lazarus Our story begins in December. Jesus is in the temple courts in Jerusalem for the Hanukkah festival, which celebrates God's deliverance of Israel from Greek oppression and the rededication of the temple after it was desecrated by the Greeks. Many of the women and men who followed Jesus are gathered here among the massive pillars of Solomon's Colonnade, bracing themselves against the cold. They watch as Jesus paces back and forth in front of the religious leaders, his voice echoing off the polished stone, and they listen. It is here in the temple, in this moment, that Jesus barely escapes being stoned to death for his radical claim to be Israel's Messiah. It will be his last visit to the temple until the events of Holy Week. After this confrontation, he and his disciples leave Judea to take refuge in Perea, a district on the eastern side of the Jordan River, far from the tempestuous climate of Jerusalem. The gospels do not tell us much about those dark winter months, only that a short time later, Jesus' friend Lazarus died. Even though Bethany, the home of Lazarus, lies within walking distance of Jerusalem, Jesus went there to bring back his friend. Within these two events we find the themes of death and resurrection, of decay and rebirth—themes that will continue throughout the rest of the story. * * * Now the Festival of Dedication had come at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon's Colonnade. The people there came and gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sh