Jesus and the Holocaust: Reflections on Suffering and Hope

by Joel Marcus, Ellen T. Charry (Foreword by)

Overview

Good Friday, April 14, 1995, may unexpectedly go down in history as the day when the world found a spiritual salve for its war-torn wounds. As Christians solemnly remembered the Crucifixion of Jesus, as Jews reenacted the Passover, and as the world observed the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II and the Holocaust, something special transpired at St. Mary's Cathedral, in Glasgow. In the seven homilies he delivered there, author Joel Marcus humbly offered his reflections on the hope of healing the world's aching heart--especially the pain of the Holocaust.

Collected in Jesus and the Holocaust are Dr. Marcus's meditations on the sufferings and death of Jesus, examined under the dark shadow of the Holocaust two thousand years later. Reflecting on Bible passages in light of stories and poems of the Holocaust, the author comes to realize what Jesus has to do with the Holocaust. Through difficult personal reflection, Marcus--a Jew by birth, Christian by choice--discovered that in the shared suffering of Christians and Jews, a common bond exists for healing the hurt all have experienced through the death of Christ and the horror of the Holocaust. By recognizing this bond and empathizing with one another, the cycle of blame and violence can be stopped.

This short series of meditations is ideal for reflections throughout Lent and will be a signal to the world that hope springs from suffering. Both Jews and Christians will find encouragement in these soul-searching homilies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467446655
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	03/27/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	153
File size:	885 KB

About the Author

Joel Marcus is professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Duke Divinity School and author of the two-volume Anchor Bible Commentary volume on Mark.

Table of Contents

Illustrations ix

Foreword Ellen T. Gharry x

Preface to the 2017 xiv

Edition xiv

Preface xx

Acknowledgments xxiii

I The Suffering Servant 1

The Secret Mission (Yaffa Eliach) 3

Homily 6

II "You Are Being Dehumanized" 17

Isaac (Amir Gilboa) 19

Homily 21

III An Atheist in Five Minutes 31

There's a Certain Slant of Light (Emily Dickinson) 33

Homily 35

IV "Father, Forgive Them" 45

"This Cruelty Too Will End" (Anne Frank) 47

Homily 49

V The Dying of the Light 59

I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died (Emily Dickinson) 61

Homily 63

VI It Is Finished! 71

A Hill in Bergen-Belsen (Yaffa Eliach) 73

Homily 76

VII The Earthquake 87

The Holy Feat (Emmanuel Levinas) 89

Homily 91

Final Thoughts 109

The Gravestones in the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague (Joel Marcus) 111

Homily 112

Notes 119

Permissions 128

Editorial Reviews

Collected in this little book are Joel Marcus's meditations, delivered originally on Good Friday, 1995, at St. Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow, Scotland, examining the connections between Christ's death and the deaths of six million Jews that occurred more than 2000 years later. Marcus, an American Jew by birth who in his early 20s converted to Christianity, reflects upon scriptural passages, poetry, photographs and Holocaust narratives to explore what for him is the "mysterious relation" between Christ's crucifixion and the Holocaust. Marcus, a lecturer in Biblical Studies at the University of Glasgow, is well aware of the dangerous ground he treads. Among the questions he asks in these meditations are: Was the Holocaust God's will? Can we still believe in a good God after such a horror? How can we forgive those who perpetrated these awful crimes? Marcus approaches the answers to his questions by pointing to the redemptive act of Jesus, who forgave his murderers. In the words of a 19th-century rabbi, God himself suffers when the innocent suffer. Building on this idea, Marcus notes that "...God suffers in all human misery, and in the brokenness of the world." And Marcus points to the "mystery of God's own suffering in the suffering of his Son" as a way of approaching the mystery of the suffering of the innocents. His own understandings of the ways that God works in the world are wrought out of the fabric of deep struggle to reconcile the answers offered by both Judaism and Christianity in these religions' attempts to justify the ways of God to man.

Publishers Weekly - Cahners\\Publishers_Weekly

Collected in this little book are Joel Marcus's meditations, delivered originally on Good Friday, 1995, at St. Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow, Scotland, examining the connections between Christ's death and the deaths of six million Jews that occurred more than 2000 years later. Marcus, an American Jew by birth who in his early 20s converted to Christianity, reflects upon scriptural passages, poetry, photographs and Holocaust narratives to explore what for him is the "mysterious relation" between Christ's crucifixion and the Holocaust. Marcus, a lecturer in Biblical Studies at the University of Glasgow, is well aware of the dangerous ground he treads. Among the questions he asks in these meditations are: Was the Holocaust God's will? Can we still believe in a good God after such a horror? How can we forgive those who perpetrated these awful crimes? Marcus approaches the answers to his questions by pointing to the redemptive act of Jesus, who forgave his murderers. In the words of a 19th-century rabbi, God himself suffers when the innocent suffer. Building on this idea, Marcus notes that "...God suffers in all human misery, and in the brokenness of the world." And Marcus points to the "mystery of God's own suffering in the suffering of his Son" as a way of approaching the mystery of the suffering of the innocents. His own understandings of the ways that God works in the world are wrought out of the fabric of deep struggle to reconcile the answers offered by both Judaism and Christianity in these religions' attempts to justify the ways of God to man. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Ellen T. Charry
— from the foreword
"By giving authentic voice to the dead voices of the Holocaust refracted through the agony of the original crucified Jew, Joel Marcus brings Christians into the suffering of his people that Jews and Christians may weep together. He has blessed all the people of God, both the Jewish people and the Christian church."

From the Publisher