As the week-long Passover ceremony began in springtime, some 2,000 years ago in Israel, the people of Jerusalem waited at the city gates for the arrival of Jesus of Nazareth. Most Hebrews had, over the past year and a half, come to believe that this descendant from the house of David was their long-awaited Messiah, or Massach: A person of great skill, courage, and wisdom, personally chosen by their god Yahweh to end a long era of oppression. Inspired, they sang out ancient songs, waved palm leaves, dropped to the ground in to kiss the feet of this Chosen One . . . what Greeks called The Christos . . . who had humbly arrived atop a sad little donkey.

Six and a half days later, those same citizens were allowed by Rome’s overseer Pontius Pilate to choose which of two prisoners would die on a cross or be set free. As history (the New Testament and other sources as well) tells us, they cried out: “Give us Barabbas.” So it was that a serial killer walked free, while a beloved rabbi carried a crossbar over his shoulders to Golgotha, there to suffer an inconceivably painful death.

Why? What happened during the long, complex, eventful week to turn those who had cheered the arrival of Jesus into a massive jury that demanded his execution?

Diverse ancient texts (again, the Bible included) list the many occurrences during those days and nights. None, scripture included, allows for an understanding of the relationships between those seemingly random happenings that, once woven into a web, explain not only what took place but why the Crucifixion was destined to happen.

PLANET JESUS Book Three: Hope and Glory addresses and explains such motivations for the first time. Also, a re-examination of the year-and-a-half mission leading up to that moment studies each of the Miracles as not only a spiritual event for the faithful but also a scientific occurrence for those who demand intellectual and rational analysis in order to ‘believe’ that they occurred.

by Doug Brode
Page Count: 318
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Publish Date: July 19, 2020
Imprint: Ars Metaphysica
Genre: Science Fiction