An Easter journey in nine stories – Paula Gooder
A thoughtful imaginative (re-)telling of the stories of nine women who encountered Jesus in the final week of his life (and afterwards).
In a similar style to her longer books, Phoebe and Lydia, Gooder gives us nine short stories based on women who appear briefly, if at all, in the gospel texts. She gives the women some back-story which is sensitive to and consistent with what we know from the gospels, and reflects on how their various encounters with Jesus changed their lives.
The first three introduce us to Holy Week and tell of ‘Miriam’ who was in the Palm Sunday crowd and is not identified in the gospels, ‘Sarah’ who is the wife of the teacher of the law who Mark describes interrogating Jesus about the greatest commandment, and ‘Anna’ the widow who Jesus saw putting two small coins into the temple treasury.
The middle three related incidents known from the gospels, shedding new light and possibilities, such as the disciples sent ahead to prepare the upper room for the Last Supper being women.
The last three are three Marys – Magdalene, the wife of Clopas, and Jesus’ mother – telling well-known gospel stories from their point of view. Gooder places Clopas and Mary as the disciples on the Emmaus road, challenging the usual assumption that they are both men.
Overall this is a lovely resource to use in Holy Week, or any time, to see perhaps well known (well worn?) Bible stories in a fresh way.