The Crucifixion in all Jesus’Glory

The Crucifixion of the King of Glory is the perfect read for Holy Week.

Written by Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou Ph.D., this amazing book provides surprising insight into Jesus’ ministry and the reason for his crucifixion based on Orthodox traditions.

I’ve been teaching Bible study for 40 years. I’ve often written about Holy Week and Jesus’ crucifixion. Reading this book opened my eyes to historical truths I had never known or seen before.

This book revolutionized how I see Holy Week.

My copy is tabbed with colorful Post-it notes.

I don’t even know where to begin describing this book!

What is the Crucifixion of the King of Glory about?

Here’s the official description:

The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ are central events in our salvation. Yet few Christians have a good grasp of the first-century historical and religious context in which the Crucifixion took place. No matter its true significance for the people of that time-and hence for our time as well.

Biblical scholar and attorney Dr. Jeannie Constantinou [sic] puts modern readers in the center of the events of Christ’s Passion. She brings the best of modern scholarship to bear while keeping her interpretation faithful to the Orthodox Tradition.

Constantinou page on Amazon

I bought the book after listening to Constantinou’s interview with Eric Metaxas. He raved. I’m raving. The scholarship is spectacular, and what Dr. Jeannie reveals thrills.

Reading the Gospels through historic and traditional lenses

Using her expertise as a lawyer, Biblical scholar, long affiliation with the Greek Orthodox church, and innumerable advanced degrees, Dr. Jeannie shares things folks without her background wouldn’t know.

I appreciate how she reminds us that the New Testament writers are reliable.

In summary, eyewitnesses like the apostles were primary sources. They described what they saw and personally experienced.

In the first century, they could only recount their own responses — individually, not as a group or a church.

Early Believers knew only what they learned from the apostles. It wasn’t an organized faith; it was people telling their stories.

Any interpretation of what Jesus did was what Jesus explained to them.

Hundreds of people saw Jesus, both before and after his death.

The apostles and other early Christians traveled throughout the world, telling their stories and discussing Jesus’ life.

No one had written the Gospels yet; it was all word of mouth.

While the Bible is obviously the best and most reliable source, other early writers also wrote about the events. They would understand what happened–what was true and what was not–more than anyone writing 2000 years later.

Reading the Crucifixion story with fresh eyes

I appreciate how Constantinou began by explaining how we view events 2000 years ago differently from those who lived them. Too often our modern linear thinking (based on western Enlightenment influences, not the Eastern thinking of the Hebrew Bible writers), makes us question things we cannot hold in our hands or reason out.

Too many of us base our Biblical knowledge on Sunday school lessons or movies like The Ten Commandments. (Surprise, Charlton Heston was younger than Moses when he made the movie!)

Details of the crucifixion, in particular, that may be missed:

• Did you know the sky went dark when Jesus died, and stayed black for three hours?
• How many of us missed the earthquake recounted as His death?
• Personally, I am intrigued by the Temple’s curtain tearing from top to bottom. Those were significant events prophesied to occur.
• The Jewish High Priest decreed Jesus’ crucifixion with the statement. “It is better for you that one man dies for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

How many of us recall that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead the day before Palm Sunday? Was it significant?

Oh, yes. (Page 35)

Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead was the reason for Palm Sunday’s excitement!

Surprises for this long-time Bible teacher

• Palm Sunday is the only day Jesus was publicly acknowledged as the Messiah.
• The Pharisees dismissed Jesus as a rabbi because he never attended a rabbinical school or studied under a rabbi. Instead, he lived in an obscure village, building things.
• Jerusalem’s temple was the largest temple complex in the entire world.
• Parallels between Abraham and the potential sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah with Jesus’ crucifixion.
• The corruption of the Temple Sanhedrin–in particular in their treatment of non-High priests.
• Why was Jesus’ seamless robe valuable?
• How the Romans controlled the Sanhedrin.
• The curious deal with the High Priest’s robes.
• Was the earthquake part of the reason the Temple veil tore?
• Special treatment for Jewish crucifixion victims.

Reactions to the crucifixion after reading this book

Constantinou’s footnoted book gave me plenty to reflect upon during Holy Week 2022.

I thought about the crucifixion while I sang an Easter cantata on Palm Sunday.

Suddenly, words I’d sung many times took on a more poignant tone than before.

When we sang about Jesus hanging from a cross, tears welled up. The whole story of Holy Week we sang looked different. Someone in the audience told me my face reflected my emotions.

Truly, Jesus is the Son of God.

A Greek Orthodox Presbytera (wife of a priest), Constantinou remarked on the crucifixion:

The cross perfectly, profoundly, and wordlessly communicates the limitless, irrational, undeserved, and inexplicable love of God.

The Crucifixion of the King of Glory, p.331

Thank be to that same God.

A blessed Holy Week and Easter.

Tweetables

A tremendous, detailed examination of Jesus’ last week by a Greek Orthodox Presbytera. Click to Tweet

Surprising insights into Jesus’ Holy Week experience–even to a longtime Bible study teacher. Click to Tweet