Jerry Jenkins Holding Heaven

Holding Heaven

Jerry Jenkins

Integrity Publisher, Oct 2005, $16.99, 144 pp.

ISBN 1591452184

A father sits up with his son late one night so the mother can get some rest and thirty years later that same son is staying with his dying father. These two men are extraordinary people because they are Joseph and Mary's son Jesus.

As a baby, Jesus had two types of crying, one when he is hungry and thirsty or needs changing and one that sounds like he is crying for mankind. It is an eerie sound but Joseph knows why Jesus is crying and accepts that he weeps for a sin-filled world. When Joseph is dying, he asks Jesus what is to become of him and he shows his earthly father what his heavenly father wants him to do. He will do it knowing that he will be betrayed. Joseph's hearts breaks when he learns this because he knows he will not be there to give his son his strength.

The love between Joseph and Jesus is so palpable that readers can feel it and the bond they share is that of an ordinary father and son even though Joseph knows Jesus is part Divine, sent by the one true God to save mankind. It is a beautiful story, one that will bring tears to the readers for Joseph's dying lament as much as for Christ's future suffering. This is very different than the Left Behind series but it is also a tour-de-force.

Harriet Klausner