Q. Throughout this study the theme of risk comes up, in the title of each chapter. And at the end of the study you remind “Entering the Passion means risk-taking; it means facing our fears, our failures, and our faults, and addressing them. Whom have we betrayed? Denied? Condemned” (p. 142). It seems to me that one way to draw a parallel with that uncomfortable last supper meal would be to ask the question— Why do so many people wish... Read more

Q. I take Lk. 22.38 to mean ‘enough of this (nonsense)’. In other words, Jesus’ is exasperated with the pathetic response of the disciples when he is about to be taken away. That is… he is not suggesting violent action on his behalf ever (if only the Crusaders has paid attention). To what degree do you think Jesus is calling his own disciples to a life commitment of non-violence? A. There are various ways of understanding Luke 22.38, but it... Read more

Q. I found your interpretation of the rending of the temple veil intriguing— you say it is a sign of God mourning over the coming loss of his Son (p. 135)? And so it is not a follow up to Ezekiel’s ‘the spirit of God left the building’, leaving the building to be destroyed later? Frankly, I like your interpretation rather better. You draw an analogy with the rending of a garment in mourning. So… does God see Jesus’ death... Read more

Q. One of the most helpful insights that recurs in this study is that a fuller reading of the OT texts alluded to or cited in the Passion narrative, provides a richer understanding of the story in the Passion narrative. For example, the citing of ‘the poor you have with you always’ from Deut. 15.11, as you rightly point out, goes on to exhort the audience in Deut. to open one’s hands to the poor. In other words, Jesus is... Read more

Q. On p. 97ff. you make much of the fact that women were able to be ‘bread-winners’ on their own in early Judaism, and that stereotypes about Jesus liberating women from the oppressive patriarchy of early Judaism go too far. Leaving stereotypes out for the moment, it does seem to be true that Jesus attracted women of all sorts to be his followers and helpers and they seem to have been more loyal to him even unto being present at... Read more

Q. As you note, in the Markan anointing story, the word myridzo rather than some form of the word christos is used in reference to the woman anointing Jesus, even though the anointing is on the head, like a kingly anointing. Why do you think Mark doesn’t make more out of Jesus being the anointed one of God in this story, especially since it is in Passion Week, which could also be called unveiling the Messianic secret week? A. Mark... Read more

Q. One of the first lessons we learn as scholars is not to conflate or amalgamate different persons and different stories into one. Thus Mary Magdalene is not Mary of Bethany is not the sinner woman of Luke 7. In your otherwise helpful discussion of the anointing of Jesus by women and the following of Jesus by women, in the video the impression is given that for some reason you seem to conflate the story in Luke 7, set during... Read more

Q. One of the most poignant and telling sections of your study is your reflections on the widow who gave two lepta into the temple treasury. Jesus offers her as an example of whole-hearted giving of self to God (‘she gave her whole life’). I liked the way you saw this as foreshadowing what Jesus was about to do. Somehow in Christian tradition, stories like this have been used to romanticize poverty, as if it was a means of becoming... Read more

Q. I like how you contrast the Jerusalem Temple with a modern church. It was not a quiet place, especially not when sacrifices were being offered. And the Temple was even a place where Jesus felt it appropriate to express anger. I agree with you that there is a place for righteous anger, but that one can go too far in which case the verse ‘being angry but sin not’ applies. Righteous anger is not the same as irrational rage... Read more

Q. The Temple scene is the one place where Jesus uses physical force as an expression of his righteous anger. But anger about what— graft and corruption, usurping the Gentile’s place of prayer, turning the Temple into a marketplace? Was it actually a cleansing, or was it a prophetic sign act? It seems to me that it must have been the latter, since it was done on a small scale it would appear. But a prophetic sign of what, a... Read more