Ever wonder what it was like to be alive when Jesus walked the Earth? Me too! Well, the good news is Ted Dekker, one of our favorite authors wondered that as well. In order to share his thoughts on that perspective, he wrote A.D. 30 and A.D. 33. This captivating story of a young woman on a journey to save her people. During her journey, she unexpectedly encounters an enigmatic teacher. One that speaks of a way in this life that offers far greater power than any kingdom on earth can offer. His name? Yeshua (Jesus).
I won’t spoil the series for you. I will, however, tell you that these books offer a great perspective that I would have never thought of. As Christians, we often don’t really think about what it was like to be on the outside of the Bible’s telling of Jesus’s time on Earth. We just see His time through the eyes of his followers and their documentation of what God inspired them to record.
A.D. 30 & A.D. 33 offer us a unique viewpoint of Jesus’s ministry. Maviah, the main character, is an outcast to her own people. Due to a betrayal, she is the only one left in her house that her father, the skeihk trusts to go for help. During her journey, one of the guards sent with her tells of a king that his people prophesied of years ago. This guard promises to get Maviah to her destination but asks for one stop to be made along the way. He wants to find this king his people saw in the stars.
Most everyone knows the story of Jesus’s life and all the many miracles He worked while here. These books open your eyes to another side of the story. From what I can find, nothing contradicts the Bible. I am not a Bible scholar though so there could be something that doesn’t match up. At the back of the books, Ted Dekker explains that all of the teachings spoken by Yeshua in these books come directly from his teachings reference in the appendix at the back of the books.
In the appendix, you will find the Bible verses that correspond to the teachings mentioned in each chapter. It is broken up by chapter so as you are reading you can go to the appendix and find what verse that teaching was taken from. Ted Dekker also notes that there is little agreement in the scholarly community regarding the specific dates for certain events.
What really matters is the events themselves, not necessarily when they happened. Therefore he took a little liberty to write about different events as they fit into the storyline of the books. Rather than forcing the storyline to match up to how the events were laid out Biblically.
Thank you for reading!
Hopefully, you have enjoyed this post! If you decide to check out A.D. 30 & A.D. 33, let us know what you think! If you have any suggestions on books for us to read, leave us a comment! We’d love to hear about some of your favorite books! Don’t forget to check us out on social media. We are on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Youtube. For more family-focused posts, click here. Again, thank you for reading! God Bless!
