The Undoing of Death

The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus comprise the two-part event at the heart of the Christian story. Because of its unique meaning and the intense emotions it invokes, Holy Week brings high expectations on the part of congregations and places unusual demands on those who deliver the messages. It takes a specially gifted preacher to communicate the profundity of Christ's Passion and its supreme relevance for our contemporary world.  
  
Fleming Rutledge is just such a preacher. Heralded by congregations and peers alike as one of today's most compelling and powerful Christian voices, Mrs. Rutledge is also a best-selling author whose previous collections of sermons have touched readers deeply. This new volume, representing twenty-five years of Holy Week and Easter preaching, offers a wide-ranging vision of the Cross and Resurrection that will inform and inspire committed believers and serious seekers alike.  
  
Divided into seven sections that progress through Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Good Friday to Easter and on through Eastertide, these sermons incorporate the biblical themes of sacrifice for sin, vicarious suffering, victory over evil and death, and the new creation arising out of eternal love. Many of these sermons are brand-new; others — especially those for Good Friday — have been rethought and reworked over a period of years. None have ever been published before. All of them consistently display Mrs. Rutledge's startling ability to bridge the message of the ancient biblical texts with the distinct needs of modern people.  
  
Intellectually engaging, pastorally wise, and beautifully written, *The Undoing of Death* is accented with thirty-three artistic masterpieces depicting the events of Holy Week, making it a feast for the eye as well as the soul.  
  
**Table of Contents  
  
PART ONE  
The First Day of Holy Week: Palm Sunday**  
The Tears of Palm Sunday  
The New World Order  
Lead Us to Calvary  
**PART TWO  
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week**  
The King’s Ransom  
The Messiah Comes to His Temple  
The Lamb of God  
**PART THREE  
Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday**  
Lord, Not My Feet Only  
Night of Shame, Night of Glory  
The Lord Looked at Peter  
**PART FOUR  
Good Friday  
Seven Meditations**  
The Man with No Trousers  
Shame and Spitting  
Scapegoat and Sacrifice  
The Common Criminal  
Somebody Has Got to Pay  
The Accursed Messiah  
The Heart That Broke  
Six Meditations  
Despised and Rejected  
God Made Jesus to Be Sin  
Outside the Camp  
Not Bad But Good  
TheCurse and the Substitution  
The Stealth Bomber  
Three Meditations: The Three Signs on Calvary  
Darkness at Noonday  
The Temple Veil  
The Open Tombs  
More Sermons for Good Friday  
The Hour of Glory  
The Great Exchange  
The Crucifixion of Self-Help  
September 11, 2001: A Cross at Ground Zero  
**PART FIVE  
The Day of Resurrection: Easter Day**  
Midnight in the Kingdom of Death  
Face to Face, Hand in Hand  
**PART SIX  
Easter Week**  
Beyond Possibility  
Recognizing Jesus  
The Undoing of Death  
Out of Our Control  
Refreshment Time  
**PART SEVEN  
Eastertide**  
My Taste Was Me  
The Peace from Somewhere Else  
It Ain’t Necessarily So  
The Hidden Pathway to JoyRead less