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.
