Customer Reviews

The Murder of Jesus

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1 star:		(5)

 

 

Crosses are everywhere: Jewelry, Tattoos, Bumperstickers, church ornamentation, artwork, etc. Almost so commonplace as to be trivialized. This welcome book reminds us just what the Cross was all about: the awesome price the Lord of Glory paid on our behalf to satisfy the justice of God. It wasn't nails that held Jesus on the Cross, but His great love for us and obedience to the Father. But the nails, the wounds, the bloodletting, the scourging, the tortuous thirst, the splinters, the agonizing rejection, the humiliation, the full attacks of Satan, the suffocation, the forsakenness - all were part of a very human, very evil conspiracy, kangaroo court, mock trial and miscarried justice: Murder in the Supreme Degree! Yet what evil made into Wicked Friday, God turned Good: Sunday was coming! "I will rise again". This book is a solemn reminder of just how serious it is to neglect, downplay, overlook,fail to appreciate, take for granted Christ's work of redemption. A rereading of Hebrews would wonderfully supplement this work, as well as Lee Strobel's Case For Christ, where forensic medical interviews are conducted to detail the horrors of Roman crucifixion. You will never be the same after reading this book - prayerfully, reflectively, humbly, gratefully.

Many Christians blame the Jews for killing Christ, but what few really know is that Christ was slain by God. This book corrects wrong theories of the Crucifixtion and examines the passion that Christ had for us. Through His shedding His blood for us and laying Himself down as a living sacrifice, paying for our sins and reconciling us back to God, His love is exposed. John F. MacArthur catches this love suberbly by studying Jesus' words on the cross! Even in His most humble moments, He pitied man and pleaded with the Father on our behalf. In fact, it takes the anger that many wrongly have towards the Jews away by revealing that Christ wasn't killed by them! He had a mission when He came, and the Jews and Romans were merely vessels used by God to fulfill this mission. This book has the definite ability to move any reader to tears, stirring great emotion and reality in a believer. When one fully grasps what Christ went through to atone us, he or she will truly be a different person. John F. MacArthur takes all of these sensitive subjects and brings them out in such a way that brings the reader closer and closer to Christ. The intimacy with the Lord that you'll feel while reading this book is unparallel. If you are a believer that is completely unfeeling when thinking about Christ's work on the cross, this is the book for you. Or even if you do have feeling and are close to God, this is THE book that will further improve your relationship with Jesus.

I read MacArthur's book in hopes of gaining a better understanding of the physical torture that crucifixion brings. I finished the book with a deeper and keener awareness of what Jesus Christ endured for me and EVERY other mortal human being who has lived, is living and will live on this earth.

When reading Scripture, I've found that unless you know the contextual background, you won't realize the Word's full impact. Study aids help to understand cultural, grammatical and traditional customs of biblical times. MacArthur provides that and much, much more. In reference to the Passion Week, he smoothly blends top-notch research with the holy narrative to illuminate the goings-on in Jerusalem, detailing the mechanisms of Jewish law, Roman law and how the two should work together. He unveils the Jews' blatant disregard of the government in conspiring to kill the Son of God and the reckless, desperate abandon and hypocrisy they used to do so.

MacArthur makes you feel like an eyewitness to the events, offering emotional insights that will pull on your heart, water your eyes and drop a lump into your throat. The disappointment in the apostles, the Lord's physical fatigue and the bloodthirst of the Jewish leaders smacks you in the face!

You can't help but notice a difference when you read the crucifixion accounts after reading this book. Besides reintroducing you to your need for God's salvation through Christ, MacArthur gives you a moment-by-moment description of every slap, whip, spit, thorn, nail and spear that should have been borne by ALL of us. He spurs you to meditate why Jesus, being perfect, holy and righteous in all things, volunteered to receive the treatment, punishment and fate of common criminals and miscreants.

MacArthur allows you to feel the humiliation, disgust and agony in your spirit. Therefore, he helps you to appreciate even greater how much God loves us. This book will revolutionize your spiritual thinking and humble you at His feet with awe, submission and gratitude.

I was never made so aware of the absolute feeling of isolation that Jesus went through when He, for the first time EVER, was separated from the Father. ("I and the Father are one.") And it suddenly made sense...the anguish in the garden and Jesus' prayer about having the cup pass from him. It was never the crucifixion he was praying about...(He was made for that moment...) but rather the cup of the wrath of God that He took all to Himself so that we would not have to experience that. And the awful anguish at the reality that He, for the first time, would be totally separated from the love of His Father.

It is no wonder that JESUS is the only way. Once He had endured all of that for our sakes, it's the least we could do to step forward and acknowledge Him.

Our God is an awesome God! Truly. JESUS IS LORD.

This book should be required reading at every seminary, in every Sunday School Class, and in sermons from the pulpit. I felt that emotion pouring from page to page and found myself in tears over His physical and spiritual death. He died in my place. This book made that fact profoundly evident.

This is an excellent book for anyone who wants a clearer understanding to what the cruxifiction was about. This book opened my eyes to the reality of the sufferings he bore for us on the road to Calvery. This book has gifted me with a much deeper appreciation of what Jesus did for me, especially during this Easter season. The cruxifiction was not just a man hanging on a cross. Jesus did not "Just" die on the cross. This book helps the reader understand, and emotionally feel, the undescribable pain and suffering Christ bore for our sins and for the salvation of the world. A must read for all!

This book will no doubt answer the questions that many people will raise after they see Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion of the Christ." Jesus allowed Himself to be murdered for God's divine purpose, and it was the greatest act of love the world has ever, or will ever experience. The question of "why" it was necessary for Jesus to be crucified is answered clearly.

With the recent release of the movie, The Passion, there has been a renewed interest in the events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In this wonderful book, which was originally published in 2000, pastor and teacher Dr. John MacArthur takes a broad look at these events. Beginning with the plot hatched against Jesus in Matthew 26, Dr. MacArthur weaves the Gospel accounts together to produce a coherent narrative that fills in all of the details.

As with all of Dr. MacArthur's works, this book is a work of Biblical exposition excellence. He does an excellent job of covering all of the events, and explaining all of the details. Overall, I found this to be a fascinating read, and a wonderful book of devotions. If you are interested in reading what all the Bible has to say about the judicial murder of Jesus Christ, then I cannot think of a better book for you to read. I give this book my highest recommendations!

While I admire John MacArthur for his doctrinal orthodoxy and his willingness to stand for Biblical truth, however unpopular that may make him, what I most admire about him is his remarkable ability to teach from the Scriptures. I have found few people who are better able to carefully and accurately exposit God's Word. Because of this ee has become one of my most trusted teachers.

The Murder of Jesus showcases exactly what I most admire about MacArthur. The Murder of Jesus is a fascinating study of last hours of Jesus' life, beginning with the Last Supper and concluding with his death. It is no coincidence that I decided to read this book around the time that The Passion of the Christ was released for it covers the same period of time, though in far greater detail and with superior accuracy. The book is filled with interesting insights concerning the plot to kill Jesus and the way the story unfolded. The author's research leads us through all of the gospels, many of the prophecies concerning Jesus' death and even into the writings of early historians. While he covers the events, he also shows the theological importance of each of them, whether there were in fulfillment of prophecies or because they supported Jesus' claim to divinity.

I would unreservedly recommend this book to anyone who is seeking a deeper understanding of the meaning of Jesus' death. If you have seen The Passion of the Christ and are looking for answers to your questions about the movie, you could not do much better than this book - it is the best treatment of the subject I have found outside of the Bible.

I bought the audio version of the book, and it was really interesting and insightful to listen to events leading to the death of Jesus. I never really put as much thought of the cruxifiction of Christ as being an act of 'murder', especially as it was being committed by the Father Himself. But that just shows you the loving nature of God, He would sacrifice His Son, as an offering to redeem the world for it's sins. It goes in detail of the injustice of the trial of Jesus with the Pharisees, Pontius Pilate, and the rowdy mob who participated in the death of Christ Jesus. This presentation by John MacArthur broadened my horizons and woke me up to truths, according to the infallible Word of God, about the murder of the Son of God.

This is an excellent book, well written and easy to follow and understand by people from all walks of life. John MacArthur has done a very good job in explaining why Jesus had to be executed. Aside from the theology and Christian reasoning as to why God the Father permitted such execution, MacArthur gets ten stars instead of five when explaining about all of the social injustices, i.e., government corruption, police misconduct, abuse of authority etc., that are currently happening in today's society. Being a federal criminal investigator for over 20 years and having spent a few years as a city cop, and now being involved with my church and being a "man of the cloth" - I agree with MacArthur's views of social injustices from the Old Testament times to our present human condition in society. We are still depraved human beings. I am sure MacArthur is happy knowing that thanks to new DNA technology more and more innocent convicted felons on death row are being freed thanks to DNA showing they were wrongly arrested, indicted and convicted. Thank you Dr. MacArthur for keeping up the good work!

Rev. Dr. Miguel A. Contreras
Mission Assembly of God
www.missionassembly.org
Yuma, AZ