Jesus of Nazareth. Vol II

Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection

The follow up to Pope Benedict XVI's best-selling book, Jesus Of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration.

What happened during the final week of Jesus of Nazareth's earthly life? How did the man whom many hailed as the Messiah on Palm Sunday come to be rejected by the leaders of his own people just a few days later? Was he a political revolutionary? Who was respon­sible for his death — the Romans or the Jewish authorities ... or both? How did Jesus view his suffering and death? How should we? And most importantly, did Jesus really rise from the dead? In Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week – From the Entrance Into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, Pope Benedict XVI takes up these and other crucial questions. He dares readers to grapple with the meaning of Jesus' life, teaching, death, and resurrection.

In this new work, Benedict challenges readers to contemplate the meaning and impact of Jesus' life. He looks at the days from Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem — to the herald of followers — to his suffering and death a few days later . . . and his resurrection and appearances to his apostles and disciples for another 40 days.

The Holy Father tackles many of history's most volatile questions about the final week of Jesus' earthly life:

• Who killed Jesus?
• Was Jesus a political revolutionary?
• Was he the Messiah, the Son of God?
• What did Jesus teach about the end of the world?
• Did Jesus establish a community of disciples — the Church — to continue his work?
• How did Jesus interpret his death?
• What does the evidence tell us about Jesus' ultimate fate? Did he really rise from the dead?
• Did the early Christians believe Jesus would return immediately?

Benedict answers those questions and more. The figure of Jesus that emerges from this study is of someone who is both divine and human; God's self-disclosure in his Son, who tells us about God but also about ourselves.