Summary: A new book entitled Passionate about the Passion Week: A Fresh Look at Jesus’ Last Days has just been released and provides fresh insights on the final week of Jesus’ ministry. This article is an interview with author and professor, Dr. William Varner.
Preparing for Easter: New Perspectives on the Passion Week
Christians around the world are building up to Holy Week and Easter, this year celebrated on April 12th. In advance, a new book entitled Passionate about the Passion Week: A Fresh Look at Jesus’ Last Days has just been released and provides fresh insights on the final week of Jesus’ ministry. Written by a trusted pastor and scholar, the book addresses a variety of important historical, cultural, and textual issues, including the following:
“The Gospels record Jesus’ last days leading up to his crucifixion, but how attentive are we to the details of the account? Should we speak of Palm Sunday, or Monday? Have we misunderstood the Pharisees? Why do the four Gospels present the resurrection in different ways? Were the Jews really ‘fickle?’ Varner focuses carefully on the details of the Gospels that we often overlook. This lively and carefully nuanced account of the Passion Week timeline will bring you to a renewed sense of devotion for the Savior.”
After leading over 50 tours to the Holy Land, heading-up the Israel Bible Extension Campus of The Master’s University for over twenty years, and teaching the subject matter for decades, Dr. Will Varner sat down with us to discuss his new project.
Author Introduction: Dr. William Varner
RICKETT: Dr. Varner, thanks for taking the time to give us an introduction to your new title, Passionate about the Passion Week. It has just been released so that our readers can get it in time to prepare for this year’s Easter celebrations.
For people who do not know you personally, they may be surprised to learn that you are probably best known for your energetic and engaging style of teaching. The first time that I heard you speak was in 1996 when you delivered a sermon at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles. I still remember that sermon and am quite sure I’ll never forget it.
Many years later, less than two years ago in fact, my wife and I travelled to Israel with you. We visited Bethlehem together, took a boat onto the Sea of Galilee, stood together on the Mount of Olives, visited the Garden tomb, as well as explored many other locations.
RICKETT: As you’ll recall, that year in Jerusalem, we celebrated your 50th tour of Israel, and it was one of the greatest experiences that we have had. In fact, that experience with you is one of the reasons why we are featuring this interview. I wanted to give readers a better introduction to you and to your work on this important topic.
RICKETT: Can you tell our readers a little about your background and how that has prepared you to write on this topic?
VARNER: After my theological and Jewish education I served as a pastor for seven years. Then, I served with the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry for 17 years where I visited Israel about 25 times. In the last 23 years here with the Master’s University, I directed our campus in Israel, called IBEX (Israel Bible Extension) and continued to lead groups to Israel.
Last June I visited Israel for the fifty first time. That last trip was the catalyst for this book, which I relate in the Introduction. I have walked these sacred steps many times and often met with the Lord as I pondered these sacred events that took place there.
RICKETT: You refer to your “Jewish education.” I’ve always been curious about this. Can you tell us a little more and how this has impacted your insight into the Passion Week?
VARNER: I was ministering with a Jewish mission called The Friends of Israel and teaching at their Institute of Biblical Studies when I enrolled in the Dropsie College of Hebrew Studies in Philadelphia. I received an MA in Jewish Studies, studying under rabbis and an Orthodox Jewish female scholar. It greatly enhanced my understanding of the Jewish background of Christianity and the New Testament.
Importance of the Passion: Yesterday and Today
RICKETT: For a lot of Christians, Easter takes a back seat to Christmas, or the Nativity, and they may not be as familiar with the terminology of “Passion Week.” What is the Passion Week and why was it important for you to write a book about it?
VARNER: Christians refer to this 8-day period as Holy Week or Passion Week or Easter Week. It begins on the traditional day of Jesus’ triumphal entry in to Jerusalem, often called “Palm Sunday.” It continues through the busy and dramatic events that lead up to the crucifixion on “Good Friday” and culminates with Easter or as some would prefer to call it, Resurrection Sunday.
RICKETT: I remember standing with you at the Model of Jerusalem at the Israel Museum. You gave a talk on the interplay between Herod and Pilate the night of the crucifixion while you traced out the movement of Christ and the soldiers on the giant map of Jerusalem. Does your book get into those kinds of background matters that are often missed?
VARNER: Yes it does. I write especially about Jesus’ appearance before Herod (Antipas) and how the ruler mockingly asked him to do a miracle like He had done in Galilee. Of course Jesus refused because He was not interested in doing a “magic trick” for the entertainment of Herod’s birthday guests.
Texts and Traditions: A Fresh Look
RICKETT: You mentioned that you address background events that are often missed. What specific events or traditions related to Easter, or the Passion Week, need to be re-examined?
VARNER: I believe that we need to look again at the timing of Jesus’ entry in Jerusalem, since a number of reasons point to a Monday instead of a Sunday entry, although I still firmly hold to a Friday crucifixion and a Sunday resurrection.
Readers of the book may also be surprised to learn that the phrase “Garden of Gethsemane” appears nowhere in the Gospels and that there is no mention at all of a “hill” or a “mount” called Calvary. This is just a start of the insights that can be gained by a closer look at many of our traditions.
RICKETT: OK, so many Christians have visited the Garden of Gethsemane; it’s quite a beautiful and inspiring place. In fact, we were there together in 2018. Are you going to disappoint us here?
VARNER: Readers should not worry. I do stress that the Gospels only refer to it as “Gethsemane” which simply means “olive press.” A cave is there which has evidence of an olive press inside of it. Jesus was sheltering in the “Cave of the Olive Press” with His disciples.
Judas had stayed with Him there the night before, so he knew where to lead Jesus’ abductors. While I hold very firmly to the redemptive significance of the death and resurrection of Jesus, there are a number of other traditional readings that need to be re-examined.
Passionate about the Passion Week: Accessible or Academic?
RICKETT: There have been other books of an academic flavor written on this subject. Is this one of those? What, if any, new insights will your book add to scholarly discussions?
VARNER: While I believe that I have done the hard academic work of looking into the language and cultural background of the Gospels, I have written this book for the interested layman. My wife often exhorts me to lay aside my academic tomes and “write a book for the rest of us.”
This is one of those books that anyone, whatever their academic background, can read and understand. I also have dug deeply into the Messianic significance of these events, specifically how the prophecies were fulfilled from Sunday to Sunday.
For example, most Christians may be familiar with the prophetic role of Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 in the Passion events, but many are probably unaware that Psalms 110 and 118 also play a huge role throughout the week. In this regard, the last chapter is titled “Prophecy and the Passion.” Jewish readers especially would benefit from meditating on these themes.
RICKETT: All of that sounds interesting, but maybe a little technical in places. If I just want to meditate on the Lord’s passion, is this a book for me?
VARNER: Absolutely. These events are simply too important for the believing Christian to be examined only for academic reasons. Jesus’ suffering in Gethsemane, as well as the crucifixion and resurrection, are at the very heart of the Christian life. “God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14).
Therefore, at the end of every chapter, right after suggesting some additional reading resources, I offer a prayer that focuses on the spiritual meaning of the events just studied. I highly recommend that this book be read and prayed through in conjunction with the reader’s walking through those events during Passion Week this April and every year.
RICKETT: In advance of Easter, many of our readers may want to take a fresh look at the events surrounding the Passion of Jesus. Here is a link to the publisher’s page for Passionate about the Passion Week. Check it out and see if it is right for you. I am confident that it will help you prepare. As always, KEEP THINKING!
TOP PHOTO: The city of Jerusalem. (© 2020 Patterns of Evidence, LLC.)
