As Jesus faces his imminent death in the final week of his earthly life, he reveals that the end goal of history is marriage. We'll learn in what way Jesus considers his relationship with us a marriage, why we wont be married to our spouses in heaven, and how to fight the darkness that threatens to swallow us whole while we wait for the wedding.

As the incarnation of of Son of God approaches its most dramatic moment, Jesus urgently decides to... tell some stories. In this episode, we'll learn why the stories Jesus tells in the last week of his life actually are very urgent, and why Jesus focuses here on stories about work. Along the way, we'll learn what kind of "boss" God is, what kind of work he expects us to do, and what's at stake if we fail.

We return to Jerusalem on the morning after Jesus's triumphal entry as he curses a fig tree. We'll learn why he did such a strange thing, why he insisted to Greeks that he himself was a grain of wheat, and what all of this reveals about the Garden of Eden - and ourselves. This episode is all about the “nature logic” of the Gospel, and the way the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is woven into the very fabric of the cosmos.

You have to die before you can live. Jesus' paradoxical teaching about the "grain of wheat" may seem strange at first, but as St. Cyril of Alexandria, Pope Benedict XVI, and Larry Chapp point out, it's written all over the natural world for us to see plainly, foreshadowing the redemptive suffering of Jesus on the cross and echoing the eternal life and love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• 00:00 Introduction

For more content from Benedictine College, visit media.benedictine.edu

The Extraordinary Story is a podcast about the life of Jesus Christ, who entered the maze of our world to transform it into a path to Him, today and always. The Extraordinary Story is produced by Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and is written and hosted by Tom Hoopes.

This week, we follow Jesus in his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and discover the raw power of Jesus alone on a donkey. We'll learn why a donkey is a more kingly steed than a chariot. We'll learn what it means that God's kingdom is "already, but not yet." And we'll learn what the wrath of God looks like from God's perspective.

Today's episode begins the story of the single week that changed all of history. It is a story about a conqueror who commanded no army, had no weapons, and made no attempt at self-defense - a conqueror who did nothing but teach, and pray, and suffer, and die.

• 00:00 Introduction

The Extraordinary Story is a podcast about the life of Jesus Christ, who entered the maze of our world to transform it into a path to Him, today and always. The Extraordinary Story is produced by Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and is written and hosted by Tom Hoopes.

Welcome back to The Extraordinary Story, a podcast about the life of Christ. Season Four will guide us through the final week of Jesus’ life as he approaches the ‘hour’ for which he came: death on a cross. But Tom Hoopes has done some thinking during the break, and returns with a fresh perspective to share with us about why all of this even matters in the first place.

Why does Jesus need to die at all? Is God just so angry at humanity that he needs to kill his Son to calm down? (Spoiler: He’s not.) We’ll learn about Tom Vander Woude’s heroic death and how it reveals a deep truth about Jesus’s sacrifice. In addition, we’ll get a glimpse at the big picture of salvation history, how Christianity changed (and changes) everything, and why the “Our Father” is God’s game plan to bring back Eden, forever.

• 0:00 - Introduction

Tom Vander Woude’s Legacy: https://media.benedictine.edu/you-pull-ill-push-tom-vander-woudes-legacy

A Father’s Sacrifice (Focus on the Family): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im9_iAQhd5E

Jesus is back at dinner again with Martha, her sister Mary, and Lazarus. There's a growing sense of doom in the air. It's the feeling we all know too well - that something is about to go terribly wrong, and we're not sure what. Mary takes out a jar of ointment, and everyone would have been impressed when they saw it, because it was worth a year's wages all on its own. They are even more astounded when she pours the whole thing out on Jesus's feet. Suddenly, the hidden menace they felt all along takes on a face and a voice as Judas Iscariot himself speaks up.

The Extraordinary Story is a podcast about the life of Jesus Christ, who entered the maze of our world to give us his Cross as a ladder up and out. The Extraordinary Story is produced by Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and is written and hosted by Tom Hoopes.

Jesus has been headed to Jerusalem: determined, relentless, and unstoppable. He has been telling anyone who would listen that he is going there to die, but no one is listening. Just before they reach the top of the Mount of Olives with a view of Jerusalem he stops to tell them a strange parable.

This week Tom Hoopes dives into the Parable of the Talents, which shows us God's attitude towards our spiritual efforts. If we let it, this parable can change our lives by teaching us faithfulness to the generous God who has given us all we have, and inspiring in us diligence to work hard for His Kingdom.

The Extraordinary Story is a podcast about the life of Jesus Christ, who entered the maze of our world to give us his Cross as a ladder up and out. The Extraordinary Story is produced by Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and is written and hosted by Tom Hoopes.

Jesus is headed to Jerusalem and nothing is going to stop him- certainly not on the rough and dangerous Jericho Road. A multitude joins Jesus on the path, and as they proceed to Jericho a crazed voice calls out to him: "Son of David, have mercy on me!" In the city, a little man hangs out of a tall tree staring at him. And suddenly, Jesus isn't so unstoppable after all.

In this episode, Tom Hoopes focuses on the healing of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, and the conversion of Zacchaeus, the prominent tax collector. Through each story, Jesus reveals that his plan to save humanity includes the healing of each one of us whom he encounters on the road.

The Extraordinary Story is a podcast about the life of Jesus Christ, who entered the maze of our world to give us his Cross as a ladder up and out. The Extraordinary Story is produced by Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and is written and hosted by Tom Hoopes.

"They are going to kill me," Jesus told his disciples. It was his third great prediction of how it was all going to end: "We are going to Jerusalem where they will condemn me to death." At this moment James, John, and their mother decided to approach Jesus and demand places of honor in the Kingdom. Jesus's response was not what they were expecting.

In this episode, Tom Hoopes unpacks Christ's instruction to his disciples to "take the lowest place" and explores its relevance to our Christian witness, our daily suffering, and our relationship to an all-powerful God who took the "lowest place" for us and calls us to join Him there.

The Extraordinary Story is a podcast about the life of Jesus Christ, who entered the maze of our world to give us his Cross as a ladder up and out. The Extraordinary Story is produced by Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and is written and hosted by Tom Hoopes.

Jesus is devastated. His friend is dead. He is crying. He stands before Lazarus' tomb and cries out. Was his voice startlingly strong, or broken with the pain that had finally reached a fever pitch? We don't know how he said it, but we do know what he said: "Lazarus, come forth."

In this episode, Tom Hoopes explores Jesus' relationship with the family of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Lazarus' death and raising shows us what it means to be a friend of Jesus Christ, who is Himself the Resurrection and the Life.

The Extraordinary Story is a podcast about the life of Jesus Christ, who entered the maze of our world to give us his Cross as a ladder up and out. The Extraordinary Story is produced by Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and is written and hosted by Tom Hoopes.