The Day I Met Jesus: The Revealing Diaries of Five Women from the Gospels

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25007056-the-day-i-met-jesus" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Day I Met Jesus: The Revealing Diaries of Five Women from the Gospels" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1440096632m/25007056.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25007056-the-day-i-met-jesus">The Day I Met Jesus: The Revealing Diaries of Five Women from the Gospels</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/96732.Frank_Viola">Frank Viola</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1356717231">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This book fleshed out five women who personally, directly encountered Jesus. It looks at the Biblical events from the female point of view, particularly that of first century women. For all the progress we've made toward a more egalitarian relationship between the sexes, it is obvious that even in the most enlightened parts of the world, we have a long way to go. First and foremost, Jesus approached these women as human beings, created in G-D's image, and a delight to Him because of that. He also held the men who accused accountable for their actions, something pretty much unheard of in the first century CE. I think what stands out more than anything else is Jesus' love and his justice and mercy. Justice without mercy is brutality. Mercy without justice cannot exist. I felt I became closer to Jesus through these five accounts. Thank you to the authors for a wonderful read.
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Even if you are not Christian, this is a good read.  I think the one thing we sometimes forget is that, when we encounter Jesus, he offers forgiveness, but he also asks of us accountability for our actions.  We are called to be like him, and that scares most people.  Because it is personal.  It is not a political agenda, it isn't "those people" ruining society - we are called to PERSONAL ACCOUNT for what each of us does.  Jesus is, in fact, one scary dude.