The Scriptures, the Cross and the Power of God: Reflections for Holy Week

by N.T. Wright

This collection of nine meditations from renowned biblical scholar and Anglican Bishop Tom Wright carries Holy Week from its solemn beginnings to the dramatic conclusion on Good Friday and Easter. "I hope that these addresses," Wright says in his preface, ". . . will contribute both to the enriched understanding, and also to the empowered living out, of the vital and inexhaustible events at the heart of Christian faith." The writings for Palm Sunday through Maundy Thursday morning, as well as the Easter Vigil, focus on texts from the Gospel of Matthew; Maundy Thursday evening, Good Friday, and Easter morning focus on texts from the Gospel of John.

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction, Christianity, Spirituality

96 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2005

About the author

N. T. Wright is the former Bishop of Durham in the Church of England (2003-2010) and one of the world's leading Bible scholars. He is now serving as the chair of New Testament and Early Christianity at the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews. He has been featured on ABC News, Dateline NBC, The Colbert Report, and Fresh Air, and he has taught New Testament studies at Cambridge, McGill, and Oxford universities. Wright is the award-winning author of Surprised by Hope, Simply Christian, The Last Word, The Challenge of Jesus, The Meaning of Jesus (coauthored with Marcus Borg), as well as the much heralded series Christian Origins and the Question of God.

He also publishes under Tom Wright.

Reviews

[Kyle Rapinchuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short book by N.T. Wright is a collection of reflections for devotional study during Holy Week. Beginning with Palm Sunday and working toward Easter morning, these nine reflections (one per day, two on Maundy Thursday) look into Jesus' final week and highlight, as the book's title suggests, how Jesus' death was both the fulfillment of Scripture and a demonstration of the power of God. Wright does a phenomenal job of exploring these texts in their gospel contexts while also providing profound insight into the meaning of these events in a larger biblical and historical context. He especially notes the way in which Jesus is the one who brings heaven and earth together, both at the cross (which symbolizes this union) and in his resurrection (which serves as the dawning of a new creation). This is an excellent way to reflect during Holy Week and to prepare for Easter celebration.

[AK HAMILTON · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal explanation to the modern evangelical of how the crucifixion was always and remains the climax of history; thus, he clearly calls believers to action. I’m better for having read this scripturally-driven guide to Holy Week.

[Al Gritten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I generally enjoy Tom Wright's books and this was no exception. It is an outstanding devotional walking the reader day by day through Holy Week, holding hands with the scripture and pointing the believer to Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the cross where the power of God is revealed fully and finally as the love that overcomes the world and overcomes death. For the preacher (I am) it has some wonderful insights that can provide fodder for sermons (it will) as well as material for study groups or just moving devotionals as we reflect and prepare for Holy Week. An excellent book for any believer and a must read for almost all preachers, priests, and ministers.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Holy Week devotional.

[Clint · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good little book.

[JC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent devotional for Holy Week. These are addresses given by N.T. Wright at Durham Cathedral during Holy Week 2005. Wright returns to themes he’s quite well known for, particularly emphasizing Christ as the site where Christians see heaven and earth intersecting in a cosmic way, and Christians as agents participating in what Christ began — actualizing this new creation on Earth as it is in Heaven. Beautifully important resistance to the escapist forms of Christianity that lack a life-affirming orientation and a particular urgency to care for those suffering in this ‘present life’. It rightly problematizes a Christianity that cares only for some vague and almost unbiblical notion of ‘heaven’ as an escape from earth, which serves only as a backdrop for proselytizing in the most crass notion of the term.

The first few days begin with texts from Matthew. Wright brings a special clarity to difficult texts that show up between Palm Sunday and Easter, especially those strange, troubling, and unsettling parables. By the end of Holy Week the texts shift to John’s gospel, and there’s some very interesting parallels drawn between the Genesis creation narrative and John’s gospel (particularly with the sixth day of Creation and Good Friday’s “It is finished.”)

I’ve come back around on N.T. Wright. I lapsed after reading his book in collaboration with Marcus Borg. At the time, I thought Wright lacked the clarity of Borg, and I couldn’t get past some of his social and theological conservatism. I’ve come to see that in being too dismissive I’ve missed out on some of his profound insights. I have a United Church minister to thank for returning to Wright’s work.