Skip to main content

The Third Day


The Third Day
 
 
 
The Third Day: The Gospel of Luke Chapters 22-24 by Alex Webb-Peploe and Andre Parker (Scripture from the HCSB)

This new comic book, The Third Day, by Alex Webb-Peploe and Andre Parker, taken from Luke 22-24 (HCSB) is a wonderful depiction of the world, the characters, and the events leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection.  The opening prologue brings us face to face with Luke’s narrative eyewitness accounts of the events of Jesus.  Taken in a series of snapshot artistic frames, these opening scenes portray well the faces of the apostles, the chief priests, and the events that took place in the ministry of Jesus.  What you get as you read through this is an intimate portrait of the moving events and characters of the story and their emotions as the death of Jesus nears and his resurrection comes to take place.  The illustrations provided in the book are worth every penny and even were captivating to my young daughter.  You really won’t want to miss this illustrative rendering of Jesus’ last days.

The emotions upon the faces of the high priests and of Judas revealed the extreme nature of the plot to kill Jesus.  Dressed in the garb of holiness but putting on the face of ruthless enemies of Jesus, these leaders sought nothing less than to erase Jesus from the annals of history.  The story takes us into the meeting with Judas as he plots to betray Jesus with the reward of silver at his hands.  We see the grimace of Judas change as Satan enters him and he meets with the chief priests.  We also see the action of Peter in cutting off the ear of the guard.  Peter is shown as seeking to do anything to protect his Lord but acting in a manner out of step with Jesus’ command.  The depictions take us right into the heart of the apostles who run the gamut of emotions from despair and sadness to jubilation.

The portrayal of Jesus in the book was done very well.  Without being relegated to Caucasian status or any one specific ethnicity, we see Jesus as bearing up under the weight of betrayal, enduring suffering, and walking toward the cross.  One of the things we see in the book is Jesus’ compassion for his people evident in his ministry to them and his plight toward the cross.  It seemed to me that the authors very much wanted us to be reminded of the Isaiah’s Suffering Servant as we looked upon Jesus and his road to the cross.  Pilate is also seen in these pages as a man with his own reputation to keep intact, rather than to free Jesus.  The only thing I thought was a bit misleading is the panel in which Pilate is seen hands cusped in his head regretting full well the decision to hand Jesus over to die.  But, you can imagine how it might have felt freeing a guilty man and dooming a man to die who had done nothing wrong.

I think many people especially young readers will find The Third Day a very compelling and illuminating work.

Thanks to Cross Focused Reviews and The Good Book Company for the review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Saving Casper

Saving Casper: A Christian and an Atheist Talk about Why We Need to Change the Conversion Conversation by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper http://www.amazon.com/Saving-Casper-Christian-Conversion-Conversation/dp/1414364881 Many readers will quickly know the authors of this book from their previous release Jim and Casper Go to Church.  Jim and Matt’s new book entitled Saving Casper focuses on the way we talk about conversion in the church and the devastating ways we have pushed away atheists and other non-believers by our posture.  Both Jim and Matt traversed the national landscape, meeting in churches and asking hard questions about faith, conversion, and life. The basic premise of the book and travel is laid out here in their words, “Part of what Casper and I are trying to achieve when we speak to a group of Christians is to help people move a little bit on their “judgment meter.”  This capacity, while intellectually and often theologically uncomfortable,...

Essential Christian Doctrine

  Essential Christian Doctrine , General Editor John MacArthur Pastor John MacArthur has for years been teaching the Word of God in both pulpit ministry, books, and conferences with an aim to displaying God’s revelation to his listeners in a winsome and foundational manner.  This new book, Essential Christian Doctrine takes an entire life of teaching and preaching and encapsulates the main contours of the Christian faith for its readers.  John in a systematic way highlights the most necessary teachings from Scripture including God’s Word, the Trinity, while also including sections on Man and the Future. One of the most helpful ways the authors bring to light biblical truth and theology is the way in which they group together particular themes.  In the section on the Holy Spirit, instead of a complex discussion of personhood, word pictures of the Holy Spirit are introduced in a discernible and profitable manner.  The metaphors for the Holy Spirit include fir...

Wisdom for All

Interpreting the Wisdom Books: An Exegetical Handbook by Edward Custis Among the many wonderful books on the OT wisdom literature, this fine new book helps the reader interpret, exegete, and apply God’s Word to his people in succinct and helpful way.  The book is laid out nicely with bolded words that emphasize necessary themes in the study of the wisdom books and short chapters that get to the point of the biblical books.  This series of exegetical handbooks is a great treasure for students and pastors because it synthesizes much of the academic work on a biblical book into digestable portions helpful  for preaching and teaching. The opening chapter on the wisdom books brings out a helpful grid for understanding wisdom literature.  Custis writes, “Biblical wisdom, in contrast to Israel’s neighbors, reflects “Yahwistic theology” through its regular use of terms like “fear of the Lord,” its affirmation of God’s providence, and its recognition th...