It starts with a fifth grade field trip, and a pair of magic sandals. Arthur and Rosa can somehow “become” Ben and Rachel who lived around the time of Jesus. As they figure out how their sandal traveling experiences are interconnected, they hear Jesus’ message through the eyes and ears of his followers.
For Arthur, it is nice to have a friend like Rosa, who will say and do things that he would never think of doing. But this time it was Arthur who got them involved in the mystery of the Galilean sandals. Of course, it didn’t take long before Rosa was involved too. By stepping into the sandals with the proper mindset, they could magically experience lives of either Ben or Rachel who lived in the time of Jesus. Arthur and Rosa learned of some of the difficulties of life 2000 years ago, as they handled (and caused) their own difficulties.
Within this magical tale of two children from present day Washington DC, the book weaves together many of the sayings of Jesus together with their historical context. It ends with notes for adults, giving the Biblical references to each of the sayings of Jesus, and other references to historical Jesus scholarship that motivated each scene. To allow readership of Christians and as well as non-Christians, no sayings implying the divinity of Jesus are in the book. Instead the focus is on the seminal social sayings (‘turn the other cheek’, ‘love your neighbour as yourself’, ‘whoever is sinless should cast the first stone’), and parables (the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son).
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