Characters of the Crucifixion

Characters of the Crucifixion

Robert Wilkerson. Enumclaw, Wash.: WinePress Publishing, 2011. 144 pp. (Hardback).

The introduction to “Characters of the Crucifixion” promises to deal “with the lives of the men and women involved with the crucifixion of Christ.”  

It does, but not in the way you might expect. There is little history here, and limited footnoted information.

The author, a retired pastor, evangelist and North American Mission Board missionary who lives in Alabama, has chosen instead to select a facet of each person’s life or character and turn it into a sermon—or, as he writes later in the introduction, a devotional message. 

For example, the chapter on Mary, the mother of Jesus, focuses on love, while the chapter on Peter deals with grace and forgiveness after failure. There are 19 chapters in all, dealing with 18 characters; two chapters focus on Jesus.  

If you are looking for a historical study, keep looking. If you are looking for an easily read devotional book that presents food for thought in an interesting format, this could be the one.