Entering the Passion of Jesus: A Beginner's Guide to Holy Week

by Amy-Jill Levine

Author, professor, and Jewish scholar, Amy-Jill Levine dives deep into the biblical texts surrounding the Passion story in Entering the Passion of Jesus. Levine looks into characters such as Judas, Pilate, Caiaphas, the disciples, and the women around Jesus to understand their relationships and roles in the Passion story.

The books six chapters include:


Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem The Temple Incident The Anointing of Jesus and the Role of Women Jesus' Teachings in the Temple The Last Supper Traditions Gethsemane Additional components for a six-week study include a DVD featuring the engaging teaching style of Dr. Levine building on the topics and themes found in the book and a comprehensive Leader Guide.

Genres: Religion, Christianity, Nonfiction, Theology, Christian, Spirituality, Faith

144 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 18, 2018

About the author

Amy-Jill Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School and Department of Jewish Studies. Her books include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus; Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi; four children's books (with Sandy Sasso); The Gospel of Luke (with Ben Witherington III); and The Jewish Annotated New Testament (co-edited with Marc Z. Brettler). Her most recent books are The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently (co-authored with Marc Z. Brettler), Sermon on the Mount: A Beginner's Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven; and The Kingdom of Heaven: 40 Devotionals. In 2019 she became the first Jew to teach New Testament at Rome's Pontifical Biblical Institute. Professor Levine, who has done over 300 programs for churches, clergy groups, and seminaries, has been awarded grants from the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Council of Learned Societies. Institutions granting her honorary degrees include Christian Theological Seminary and the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest.

Reviews

[Cathryn Conroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't let the subtitle of this incredibly perceptive book mislead you. I am no beginner to Holy Week, but I still learned SO much. This is a short book that sparkles like a rare gemstone. After reading it, I will forever read the Passion stories in the four Gospels in a whole new, more enlightened way.

The author of this book is Amy-Jill Levine, an Orthodox Jew who is a New Testament scholar, professor, and author. Drawing on this unusual dichotomy, Levine explains not only the history behind the stories of Jesus's last week, but also the underlying meanings from the Hebrew scriptures in so much of what he says and does. This is very important. Jesus's first-century audience would have understood those meanings without any kind of explanation because they were Jewish. But we 21st century Christians can't claim the same understanding. In addition, Levine dissects words—words we take for granted as to their meaning—explaining what they mean in Hebrew and Greek. (Example: "Truly" means "Amen" in Greek, so when Jesus begins a sentence with "Truly" as translated in the NRSV, he's really beginning with "Amen.")

The book's six short chapters cover Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday, his righteous anger in the Temple, several of Jesus's Temple teachings (including the Greatest Commandment and the widow's mite), the dinner where a woman anointed his head with nard, the Last Supper, and his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and subsequent arrest. Levine is expert at analyzing a single story that appears differently in all four Gospels, explaining its deeper meaning from the different vantages.

This book, which is (obviously) ideal for Holy Week but can be read any week of the year, is astute, brilliantly insightful, and just filled with "a-ha!" moments. It truly has changed how I will read these well-known stories from now on.

[conor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Amy-Jill Levine's work and approach to Jesus and the New Testament. Her scholarship and 'outsider' status give her a perspective that's refreshing and insightful. Lots of great nuggets packed in here and provocative questions posed. I expected something a little different for the "guide to Holy Week" part, something that walked through the days of Holy Week more explicitly perhaps. BUT I think overall the approach that Levine takes here is probably better and more customizable, but with a little more effort on the part of the reader.

[M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amy Jill Levine is a Jewish New Testament scholar, a teacher of Brant Pitre. This beginner guide highlights the difference between the four gospels at least leading up to the arrest of Jesus.

Her reading is typological and her general vision respectful of Christian beliefs, in fact its the framework by which she decides to read this book. Truly more of a retreat mode as a refreshment of things I studied for the most part but worth it all the same.

Only four stars because I was expecting an analysis on the events of the crucifixion itself that never came, but it's an amazing summarizing power.

[Laura Kisthardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very engaging and well organized Lenten study on the events of Holy Week. AJ Levine is a brilliant scholar who shines new light on these familiar Gospel stories. Paired with weekly video clips and leaders guide. Recommend for other churches looking for a Lenten weekly study.

[Harry Allagree · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, by one of my favorite New Testament scholars/authors, is subtitled "A Beginner's Guide to Holy Week", the yearly Christian celebration of the Passion [suffering & death] of Jesus. "Beginners", and even seasoned readers of the Scriptures, will find the book helpful. Amy-Jill Levine clarifies, often with a refreshing humor, particularly, the meaning of key words in Scripture which may differ in translation from the languages in which they originated & in which they were written. She sets right many common misunderstandings, both of language & of Jesus' actual actions. Above all, Levine asks an abundance of questions of the reader in each of the six chapters for personal reflection & application to real life.

On the last two pages she leaves readers, who will or might celebrate Christian Holy Week, with a number of very practical suggestions:
- "Entering the Passion means risk-taking..."
- "Entering the Passion means asking questions rather than settling for what we have always been taught..."
- "Entering the Passion means taking seriously, really seriously, what it means to be in Communion..."
- "Entering the Passion means seeing old stories in new ways..."
- "Entering the Passion should give us courage -- courage to lament, to embrace righteous anger, to see the course to the end."
- "And entering the Passion should give us comfort as well -- comfort of knowing that death is not the end of the story..."

[JC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Levine’s Advent primer this past Advent, and having found it rather useful, decided to go through this Holy Week book the past few days. As a Jewish feminist, Levine approaches the ‘New Testament’ texts with insights and preoccupations that are not as common to many other ‘New Testament’ scholars who are more often Christians, agnostics, or atheists. So Levine’s knowledge of how contemporary Judaism functions in relation to Second-Temple Judaism is especially enlightening, especially with respect to Jewish holidays and festivals or various aspects of religious practice, and what that means in the texts of early Christian writings. For example, Levine points out the connection between Palm Sunday and Sukkot, something that I had never known about. I actually only learned about Sukkot around a year ago from a pen pal who is Jewish. There is so much more depth to these Christian texts when read in light of Jewish praxis because the earliest Christians were all Jewish, even if some had rather heterodox views or wacky ideas about Jesus being the Messiah.

As a Christian, I do view Jesus as Messiah but recognize that it’s a very odd thing to do that totally collapses the notion of what a Messiah is and evades so many contradictions that emerge if one holds that view. But the story of the woman anointing Jesus with the perfume really got to me this year, as one might know Messiah (Christ) means ‘anointed’. It was the first sermon I heard in the series my church did leading up to Easter. But the gravity of this story never really arrived until I listened to something Rev. Michiko Bown-Kai said in an interview with SCM Toronto that Jesus was anointed (ritually made Messiah) by a sex worker and that’s especially important in light of the recent shootings of Asian massage workers that happened in the US.

I had a number of thoughts reading Levine’s take on this story in the Gospels and wanted to leave some of them here. I think the liberal move, which Levine makes is to emphasize that there’s no reason to believe the woman who anointed Jesus with perfume was a sex worker because that is not specified in the text. There’s also the move in the news cycle now to speculate that the Asian massage workers murdered were not sex workers because most of them were fairly old, in their sixties or seventies. I don’t know what the case is, but I certainly think that poor women whether sex workers or not (though women with reputations that leave a question mark with respect to sex work) were at the center of Jesus’ political project and his very identity as a ‘Messiah’. And certainly Jesus did mix with ordinary poor people including people who were specifically identified as sex workers. This is something the Young Lords emphasized during their church occupation to demand space for a breakfast program to feed poor children in the city. Juan Gonzalez said Christ “walked among the poor, the poorest and most oppressed, the prostitutes, the drug addicts of his time.”

I also think it’s interesting that in John’s gospel, in the chapter directly following Mary of Bethany anointing the feet of Jesus, Jesus washes the feet of his disciples as an act of service to them. Yet in some sense it is an anointing of his disciples also, who will rule together with him in the future kindom of God. It is the second body of the king that Agamben talks about in his work, the extended body politic, a sort of dictatorship of the proletariat – or more accurately a kinship of the proletariat, all starting with Mary (or the unnamed woman) anointing Jesus with an extravagant aroma pleasing to the Lord (the way sacrifices are described in the Tanakh).

I’m going to continue this tangent for the rest of my reflections here so I apologize in advance. I wanted to remark how it was only after watching Pier Paolo Pasolini’s film “The Gospel According to St. Matthew” where I noticed that Judas decides to betray Jesus directly after the lavish anointing of Jesus with this immensely expensive perfume. Judas is infuriated that the perfume is not monetized for the sake of the poor, which I was actually very sympathetic towards while watching Pasolini’s cinematic rendering of this scene. Of course John justifies shit-talking Judas by saying Judas didn’t actually care about the poor, but was laundering money from the public purse shared among the followers of Jesus and just wanted the money for himself. Yet what is interesting is Judas is the perfect ‘effective altruist’, maybe even thinking he could give the thirty pieces of silver to help the poor, but in the end he sadly decides killing himself is 'the most good he can do'. But what I think Jesus’ affirmation of the woman/Mary does is completely demolish the sort of ‘exchange value’ that Marx locates in the exchange of commodities. It is a destruction of the value system that creates idolatrous gods out of the objects we humans have deemed useful. It is an immensely important stage setting for the coming crucifixion, where the perfume is a preparation for Christ’s body before burial according to Jesus in the narrative. I think this is very fascinating in light of how Adorno and Horkheimer identify sacrifice as the precursor to the modern exchange economy of capitalism as I recently encountered in Terry Eagleton’s “Radical Sacrifice”. Jesus completely frames his death as one that totally abolishes the monetary value system (rendering to Caesar what is Caesar's) that assigns particular values to commodities as well as bodies, and inaugurates a radically different political order that anoints the masses to rule together with him and serve the people with him in an extravagantly loving way. That is the act of washing each other’s feet, it is an act of anointing, of rendering each other Messiah together with Jesus – to participate and partake in the body of Christ.

[Carla H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing and challenging read that helped me rethink some of my long-held assumptions (and some things I had actually been taught - perhaps inaccurately, or at the very least, with an inappropriate slant.) I am ready for the intermediate guide!!

[Jesus Portillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fresh look at Easter week brings new perspectives. Well done.

[Meggan Manlove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book with lots of gems. I look forward to reading it again with others-could lead to good discussions.

[Lisa Lewton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Audrey McMacken for sharing this one. Amy-Jill Levine is a wise guide into the scriptures. Highly recommend as a group read. Good thoughts and questions included.

[Faith DQ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ju know it was good, but i thought it would be more a prayerful meditation type thing - but the cultural relativity that the author brought forward was goood

[Keith Beasley-Topliffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amy-Jill Levine has become one of my favorite New Testament scholars largely because she brings her knowledge of Judaism around the time of Jesus to bring new life to passages that have often been used as sources for Christian anti-Semitism.
This book is a look at the Passion narratives intended for bible study groups of laity. She moves slowly through the week, choosing a primary gospel for each chapter with cross references to how the other gospels handle the same subject matter. Her scholarship is evident, but not so in-your-face as in her more technical .

[Brian White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every book I have read by A-J Levine has been provocative and insightful. This book is no exception. This has been a great Lenten read and I have enjoyed studying it with a group. Good observations. Good questions.

[Sydney Avey · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent perspective

Under Amy-Jill Levine’s tutelage, a careful reading of differing Gospel accounts of Holy Week events helped me appreciate Christ’s passionate determination to complete His mission.

[Cindy Blonk Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Levine is an amazing scholar with so much to share! I am the pastor of a UCC church and we just finished a 6 week study in Levine’s book. We all learned so much about Jesus, the last week of his life, and the God who loves us so very much!

[Belinda Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entering the Passion

An amazing and awe inspiring study of The Passion from a Jewish perspective. AJ offers insight and her own passion to the cornerstone of Christian faith.

[Bob Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

AJ Levine is one of the most profound New Testament scholars today. She brings insight into the material, the background, the theology and the meaning of the text, all while not being a Christian.

In her small book, Entering the Passion of Jesus, Levine gives her account of the events surrounding the last week of Jesus' life. We encounter Jesus as he enters Jerusalem, cleanses the temple, speaks about parables, offers a last meal and then prays in the garden. Each of these events constitutes a chapters packed with biblical insight and meaning. She examines what each of these events would mean in light of the first century and gives insight in their meaning for today.

Her writing is popular, clear and articulate. While basing her writing on immense education, her writing is free from academic jargon or technical terms.

Overall, this book, along with Pope Benedict's book on Holy Week should be on every Christian's 'to read' list for Holy Week and Easter.

I recommend this book for all Christians and those who want to know more about Jesus.

Grade: A

[Laura Balcom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always gain new insight when I read New Testament commentary written by a Jewish scholar who rightfully sees the New Testament as Jewish literature. This book is no exception. As a lifelong Christian, seminary graduate, and ordained minister, I will admit that I am pleasantly surprised when I come across new insights and thoughts about the passion narrative (or narratives), and so was the case with this book. I read this book with other members of my congregation as a Lenten study, as the six-chapter book seems designed for, given the six weeks of Lent. It is full of insights out of the author’s Greek and Hebrew scholarship, Jewish experience, sympathy toward her seminary students, and outsider’s perspective toward Christian tradition, and she offers plenty of very thoughtful questions for discussion and contemplation. I highly recommended it for a church Lenten Bible study or for a pastor who needs some fresh ideas for preaching.

[Beth Foote · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was our Bible second study series that we did on Zoom with Amy-Jill Levine. We really enjoyed the accompanying video with professor Levine. She raised many open-ended questions for us to discuss. I was moved by her comments about Mary Magdalene, who, over the centuries, has been typecast as a prostitute. I’ve often tried to separate Mary Magdalene from her reputation but Levine says that Mary Magdalene would probably not mind the labeling because she would have wanted to reach out to women in the sex trade. Chapter Four on the anointing of Jesus was especially thought pro coming about the role of women in the Gospels. I wish there was another chapter on the Passion itself. She does such insightful comparing different gospel accounts, I would like to hear what she would say and what questions she would pose.

[James Klagge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book in connection with an adult Sunday School class that studied it along with the companion DVD. It went pretty well. It was a discussable book, which is what you are looking for in that context. I didn't feel I learned too much from it. A lot of the attention was on how the different gospels offered different accounts. But not much was done with that other than to point it out. For my own purposes I got more out of reading The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem.

[Cindy Brookshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have been reading A-J Levine's book for our Wednesday Lenten Series, which started out as a weekly evening dinner/program but quickly dispersed as the church closed, and the series became Zoom meetings due to the pandemic. Our Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina has a Rabbi in Residence, Rabbi Raachel Jurovics, so she joined us each week to watch A-J Levine's accompanying videos and lead a conversation afterwards with Rev Dr Jim Melnyk (so many of us were new to the Zoom format only a few posed questions in the discussion). This book was the perfect launching point to contemplate Jesus's journey as we prepared for Holy Week, all the more so from the isolation of our homes, and as we face our own difficult journeys ahead.

[Chels Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is rather wonderful for following lent or the week of the passion a bit more deeply. But it is at times basic or over explained.

But that can be good, as all the quotes and passages that one may need to understand can be found in this book. And as it is an introduction, this should be so.

There are a few personal stories of the author’s own in this which makes it more for lay people than an academic read. But the written is so conclusion based that makes it difficult to debate or come to your own convolutions.

For that reason alone it’s 4 stars. I am reading it for a bible study at church. And although there is a teaching guide, it doesn’t invite debate. Just agreement.

[Steven D. Cron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is subtitled a "Beginner's" Guide to Holy Week. I'm no beginner, as I have an M.Div. degree and over the course of 40 years of ministry have read and studied many a book on the scriptures in general and the gospels in particular. My point is: This book is not just for beginners! I learned much! My Kindle told me that I wrote 23 notes and had 194 highlights, indicating how many insights and helpful observations Levine had for me in her book. I particularly appreciated how she applied past events to present circumstances, drawing out the implications the passion of Jesus has for us today. So, beginners, yes, read this book, but don't let the title deter non-beginners from reading it too.

[Jeff Garrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

The unique perspective of this book is that it's not written by a practicing Christian. Levine is a practicing Jew and her perspective allows some interesting insights into the events of Jesus' last week of his earthly ministry. She does a good job bringing together the four gospel accounts of the week, pointing out their similarities and differences. However, I felt the book was rather abbreviated. She ends the book with the prayer in the garden, before Jesus was arrested, which leaves the reader hanging as to what happens next (arrest, trial, and death).

[Neal Tognazzini · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was looking forward to this as a Holy Week read, especially because the author is a very well-respected Jewish professor of New Testament studies. (I was interested to hear that perspective on the gospels.) But it’s pretty disappointing. Dumbed way down - I guess maybe it’s intended for reading groups or something? - and pretty haphazard, jumping from one topic to the next, filled with rhetorical questions that I guess are supposed to make you think deeply or something. It’s a weird mix of historical tidbits and feel-good self-helpy stuff.

[Susan Gemperline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to recommend this book by Amy-Jill Levine. It is an excellent book for Lenten reflection. The author is a renowned Jewish scholar of the New Testament. She helps Christian readers of the New Testament see Jesus and those around him in their own 1st century Jewish context. She helps us to understand what the Gospels were saying about Jesus and also connects it to our own way of being faithful (or not) to the good news. It is very easy to read, even though packed with insight. It can be used for parish groups or for individual Lenten reflection. I highly recommend it.

[Nevan Hamid · Rating 1 out of 5]

I struggled to read this book from the beginning till the end. It could be ok for high school or college students to read when writing an essay about the passion week. The author tried to link the passion story with lessons to take and lead our present day lives, to take risks and tolerate each other
It was exhausting moving between the gospels and comparing what was mentioned in each one considering that I attended Bible classes and discussions over the years. At the end I was relived that it is finally over!
Sorry 😞

[Justin & Danette Edgar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gospel Voices

I very much enjoyed Professor Levine’s work. She did an excellent job with the Scripture text itself. The comparison and contrast of each Gospel writer, and the perspective they bring to Holy Week was very helpful in entering into the narrative of the cross. I appreciated the emphasis on letting the Gospel writers each speak. It also was done in a clear and expedient way.

[Angela Armold · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an incredible teacher! So full of heart, honesty, love, and warmth, I will listen to her wisdom any day. The doors she opens are ways to clearer understanding of history, better love for neighbor, deeper faith in God, and a higher life of holiness. This book in particular was well done for a Lent season group study, and I recommend the videos as they do not merely reiterate the chapter contents.

[Francine Apollo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was chosen by my Bible Study group. It is the 2nd of A.J. Levine's books that we have read. I am a fan now!
Thoughtfully and clearly expressed, this book should be read in groups, in parishes and on its own if necessary. We all enjoyed it. I am 1 of 2 Catholics in our group, most are Methodist, 2 are former Catholic. This book touched us all. We had great discussions, rotated leadership roles and came away with greater understanding of Holy Week and the Triduum.