Sample Interview Questions

NOTE TO INTERVIEWERS

These sample questions are provided in hopes of making the prep work for your interview with Jason a little easier. Feel free to ask different questions or adapt the ones listed here. In fact, such customization is encouraged.

GENERAL QUESTIONS

  • What inspired you to write Fight Like Jesus?
  • How is your book different from other Christian books on peacemaking / nonviolence?
  • How is your book different from other books on Holy Week?
  • You claim that Holy Week is best understood when viewed through the lens of peacemaking. Why do you say that? What are the implications of this claim?
  • Historically, the church has focused on the Sermon on the Mount when wanting to study Jesus’ peace teaching. But you suggest there is no better way to learn Jesus’ approach to peacemaking than to study Holy Week. Why Holy Week?
  • Most books on Holy Week focus primarily on the second half of the week. Why do you dedicate so many pages to the first half of Holy Week?
  • What’s the biggest takeaway you hope readers receive from this book?

CHAPTER-SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

  • PALM SUNDAY: In your chapter on Palm Sunday, you state that the crowds wanted Jesus to be the Hammer of God, but he revealed himself to be the Lamb of God. Can you unpack this observation? Where does this imagery of hammers and lambs come from?
  • MONDAY: One of the events that seems to most undermine your depiction of a nonviolent, enemy-loving Jesus is his use of a whip to drive out the money changers and animal sellers on Monday of Holy Week. Yet in Fight Like Jesus, you argue that this event actually advances our understanding of how Jesus makes peace. What causes you to say this?
  • TUESDAY: You start your Tuesday chapter by pointing out that most Christians cannot name a single thing that happened on Tuesday of Holy Week, despite the fact that it is the most talked about day in the Gospels. Why do you think we ignore this day? Can you give an overview of the day’s events? What can we learn from Tuesday of Holy Week about Jesus’ approach to peacemaking?
  • WEDNESDAY: On Wednesday of Holy Week, Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin met behind closed doors to plot Jesus’ death. Why did the Sanhedrin want Jesus dead? What is their stated motive in the Gospels?
  • THURSDAY: In the first half of Thursday’s chapter, you unpack the communal implications of Jesus’ new love command. Why is it crucial for Christians to engage in peacemaking as part of a community and not just as individuals?
  • FRIDAY: You write that the choice between Barabbas and Jesus represents the fundamental decision each of us must make on Friday of Holy Week. Why do you say this? Can you share with us the story you tell at the start of Friday’s chapter? Was the camp speaker correct? Is God like a hammer?
  • SATURDAY: You write, “When you contend for peace in places where it is painfully absent, most days feel like Saturday of Holy Week: silent, confusing, hopeless.” What can Saturday teach us about peacemaking?
  • EASTER SUNDAY: In your final chapter you state that as people of the resurrection, Christians are meant to cultivate the future promised by God in the messiness of the here and now. What are the implications of living in this way?