Scenes From The Last Journey

By Richard P. Zimmerman

Four voices narrate the last 24 hours of the life of Jesus. These four Gospels tell what happened in far greater detail than at any other time in his life. Scenes From The LastJourney provides a way to prayerfully read through the narratives. Taken from Richard P. Zimmerman's own original blended translation, Down The Last Road,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Novo Civitas Books and Resources
• Release date: Mar 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9780578868141

Richard P. Zimmerman

Richard P. Zimmerman is Stated Clerk of ECO's Presbytery of the Northwest. Following 18 years of pastoral service to congregations in Alaska and Oregon, he began leading churches through transition. His degrees include a BA from the University of Washington, an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary, a ThM from Regent College, and a DMin from Columbia Theological Seminary. He writes from 25 years of pastoral experience and his journey of leading two churches through pastoral transitions.

Book preview

Scenes From The Last Journey

14 Points On The Way Of The Cross

Novo Civitas Books and Resources

Novocivitas.com

Copyright © 2021 by Richard P. Zimmerman

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the author, with the exception of brief excerpts for the purpose of review.

PAPERBACK ISBN 9780578868134

EBOOK ISBN 9780578868141

  G

o to dark Gethsemane,

Ye that feel the tempter’s power;

Your Redeemer’s conflict see,

Watch with him one bitter hour;

Turn not from his griefs away,

Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.

Follow to the judgment-hall

View the Lord of life arraigned;

O the wormwood and the gall!

O the pangs his soul sustained!

Shun not suffering, shame, or loss;

Learn of him to bear the cross.

Calvary’s mournful mountain climb;

There, adoring at his feet,

Mark that miracle of time,

God’s own sacrifice complete:

It is finished! hear him cry;

Learn of Jesus Christ to die.

Early hasten to the tomb,

Where they laid his breathless clay;

All is solitude and gloom;

Who hath taken him away?

Christ is risen; he meets our eyes;

Saviour, teach us so to rise!

James Montgomery

Contents



Line

Where The Sorrow Began

Walk

Guidance For How To Use This Book

An Opening Prayer

1 Jesus Predicts The Betrayal

2 Prayer In The Garden

3 The Arrest

4 Trials

5 Peter Denies Knowing Jesus

6 Jesus is Scourged And Crowned

With Thorns

7 Pilate Washes His Hands

Jesus Is Condemned To Death

8 The Road To Crucifixion

9 The Soldiers Crucify Jesus

10 Jesus Speaks From The Cross

11 Jesus Cries Out

12 The Last Breath

13 Jesus Is Taken Down From The Cross

14 Jesus Is Laid In A Tomb

A Closing Prayer

Appendix 1: A Word About

This Translation

Appendix 2: The Traditional 14

Stations Of The Cross

In Gratitude

Bibliography



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Where The Sorrow Began

Sometimes the Gospel writers tell us about who Jesus is by showing what he has done. Sometimes they report his words. Sometimes they throw his character into sharp focus by describing episodes of opposition, and insights arise by seeing what kinds of people were set against him and why. Though the Gospel writers generally leave their own personalities out of their Gospels, each one brings a certain perspective to the story. This is mostly done by choosing to include particular episodes and leaving out others, but sometimes a comment is included as well.

This is true throughout each Gospel. Matthew shows wise men traveling a long way from lands far to the east in response to a star in the night sky. Luke reports the visitations of angels from heaven at important moments of confirmation. Mark unfolds healing stories in staccato fashion, showing the power of Jesus over the forces of death. And John tells us directly from the beginning that Jesus is the eternal Word of God in human form, a revelation of God’s glory, and that he is full of grace and truth.

Full of grace and truth. This phrase is delivered in the beginning of John’s Gospel as a promise of what anyone will find who explores the real nature of Jesus. It is as though John is saying, Read this book and you will find something you have never before encountered: a person who is full of grace and truth.

This is most pointedly true as the story intensifies during the last hours of Jesus’s life.

Grace and truth are both challenges. We all think we are in favor of grace and truth but it is not too long before grace and truth become uncomfortable. Many people fight for the truth as they perceive it and for grace for their own failures. But when the truth confronts them, or the grace is poured out for an enemy, the story takes a turn. This is what happened to Jesus when he came his own with a message of grace and truth.

The last 24 hours of the life of Jesus tell the story of the forces of evil turning violent against the grace and truth he offered. Since four voices narrate the last 24 hours of his life., and since these four Gospels tell what happened in far greater detail than at any other time of his life, we have a great deal