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
Post a Comment