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As we have reached Palm Sunday, I wanted to provide links to previous writings here on The Good Word blog and one found at the Bible Junkies blog. Please also go The Word to find the most recent columns for Palm Sunday and Easter.

The Palm Sunday post is a reflection on how quickly our attention can turn from intense interest and focus on Jesus to distraction in the context of a supposed evaluation by an athletic scout. When things do not turn out the way we expect, are we willing to be challenged to follow Jesus in all circumstances?

For a more traditional take on Palm Sunday, in the context of Jesus’ mission and Old Testament prophecy, please see Act 5, Scene 1 in the Gospel of Mark Commentary.

The next four blog posts were posted at the Good Word during Holy Week 2011. They are written from the point of view of a disciple who was “there,” reflecting on the events as they are happening.

Before the Supper in Jerusalem.

 

The Death of Jesus.

 

On Saturday.

 

He is Risen!

I pray that these reflections might aid you in your own spiritual journey from Palm Sunday through Easter.

 

John W. Martens

 

I invite you to follow me on Twitter @Biblejunkies

John W. Martens is an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn,where he teaches early Christianity and Judaism. He also directs the Master of Arts in Theology program at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. He was born in Vancouver, B.C. into a Mennonite family that had decided to confront modernity in an urban setting. His post-secondary education began at Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kansas, came to an abrupt stop, then started again at Vancouver Community College, where his interest in Judaism and Christianity in the earliest centuries emerged. He then studied at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, and McMaster University, with stops at University of Haifa and University of Tubingen. His writing often explores the intersection of Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman culture and belief, such as in "let the little children come to me: Children and Childhood in Early Christianity" (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009), but he is not beyond jumping into the intersection of modernity and ancient religion, as in "The End of the World: The Apocalyptic Imagination in Film and Television" (Winnipeg: J. Gordon Shillingford Press, 2003). He blogs at  www.biblejunkies.com and at www.americamagazine.org for "The Good Word." You can follow him on Twitter @biblejunkies, where he would be excited to welcome you to his random and obscure interests, which range from the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, to his dog, and 70s punk, pop and rock. When he can, he brings students to Greece, Turkey and Rome to explore the artifacts and landscape of the ancient world. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and has two sons. He is certain that the world will not end until the Vancouver Canucks have won the Stanley Cup, as evidence has emerged from the Revelation of John, 1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, and 4 Ezra which all point in this direction.