Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection

by Pope Benedict XVI

For Christians, Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, who died for the sins of the world, and who rose from the dead in triumph over sin and death. For non-Christians, he is almost anything else--a myth, a political revolutionary, a prophet whose teaching was misunderstood or distorted by his followers. Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, and no myth, revolutionary, or misunderstood prophet, insists Benedict XVI. He thinks that the best of historical scholarship, while it can't "prove" Jesus is the Son of God, certainly doesn't disprove it. Indeed, Benedict maintains that the evidence, fairly considered, brings us face-to-face with the challenge of Jesus--a real man who taught and acted in ways that were tantamount to claims of divine authority, claims not easily dismissed as lunacy or deception. Benedict XVI presents this challenge in his new book, Jesus of Holy From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection , the sequel volume to Jesus of From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration. Why was Jesus rejected by the religious leaders of his day? Who was responsible for his death? Did he establish a Church to carry on his work? How did Jesus view his suffering and death? How should we? And, most importantly, did Jesus really rise from the dead and what does his resurrection mean? The story of Jesus raises many crucial questions. Benedict brings to his study the vast learning of a brilliant scholar, the passionate searching of a great mind, and the deep compassion of a pastor's heart. In the end, he dares readers to grapple with the meaning of Jesus' life, teaching, death, and resurrection. "Only in this second volume do we encounter the decisive sayings and events of Jesus' life . . .  I hope that I have been granted an insight into the figure of Our Lord that can be helpful to all readers who seek to encounter Jesus and to believe in Him."
-Pope Benedict XVI

Genres: Theology

384 pages, Paperback

Published April 5, 2023

About the author

Originally Joseph Ratzinger , a noted conservative theologian before his election in 2005, Benedict XVI strove against the influence of secularism during his papacy to defend traditional Catholic teachings but since medieval times first resigned in 2013.

After Joseph Ratzinger served a long career as an academic and a professor at the University of Regensburg, Pope Paul VI appointed him as archbishop of Munich and Freising and cardinal in 1977. In 1981, he settled in Rome as prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, one most important office of the Roman curia. He also served as dean of the college of cardinals.

Benedict XVI reigned 265th in virtue of his office of bishop of Rome, the sovereign of the state of Vatican City and the head of the Church. A conclave named him on 19 April 2005; he celebrated his inaugural Mass on 24 April 2005 and took possession of his Lateran cathedral basilica of Saint John on 7 May 2005.

Benedict XVI succeeded Saint John Paul II, predecessor and his prolific writings on doctrine and values. Benedict XVI advocated a return to fundamental Christian values to counter the increase of many developed countries. Relativism denied objective truth and moral truths in particular; he viewed this central problem of the 21st century. With the importance of the Church, he understood redemptive love of God. He reaffirmed the "importance of prayer in the face of the activism" "of many Christians engaged in charitable work." Benedict also revived a number and elevated the Tridentine Mass to a more prominent position.

Benedict founded and patronized of the Ratzinger foundation, a charitable organization, which from the sale of books and essays makes money to fund scholarships and bursaries for students across the world.

Due to advanced age on 11 February 2013, Benedict announced in a speech in Latin and cited a "lack of strength of mind and body" before the cardinals. He effectively left on 28 February 2013.As emeritus, Benedict retained the style of His Holiness, and the title and continued to dress in the color of white. He moved into the newly renovated monastery of Mater Ecclesiae for his retirement. Pope Francis succeeded him on 13 March 2013.

(more info on Ratzinger Foundation: https://www.ewtn.com/library/Theology...)

Reviews

[Matt Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent read. While I read the series out of order, I highly recommend Pope Benedict's Jesus of Nazareth series to anyone looking to get to know Jesus better.

It's so tempting to view Jesus as a guy who came to spread an ideology, or even to narrow him down to one figure/leader among many in history, but he is definitively not that. He actually doesn't allow us to view him that way when you examine what he actually said (see C.S. Lewis's 'trilemma').

This book is great to read during Lent (and likely for a bit of time following Lent). Benedict truly facilitates an encounter for the engaged reader to walk with Jesus from Palm Sunday through the Resurrection.

I found this passage from the chapter on the Resurrection to be quite powerful:
"Why [does God appear] only to Abraham and not to the mighty of the world? Why only to Israel and not irrefutably to all the peoples of the Earth?
It is part of the mystery of God that he acts so gently, that he only gradually builds up his history within the great history of mankind; that he becomes man and so can be overlooked by his contemporaries and by the powers that shape history; that he suffers and dies and that, having risen again, he chooses to come to mankind only through the faith of the disciples to whom he reveals himself; that he continues to knock gently at the doors of our hearts and slowly opens our eyes if we open our hearts to him."

Jesus knocks gently on the doors to our hearts. It's up to us to let him in.

[Michael J · Rating 5 out of 5]

The entire Jesus trilogy is worth a second or third read. B16 had a unique way of looking at the entirety of each scene in Christs life a d relating it directly to the reader.
My books are filled with highlights and notes.