Philip Yancey had the same problem I did: he was raised on the stories of a six foot brown-haired Jesus who wore a halo and a sweet smile, had a pale face, and long tapered hands which patted children and held sleeping lambs. He never uttered a cross word and certainly never offended anyone. That is not the picture the Gospels paint. Part of it is the baggage we bring to the Gospels from those childhood Bible classes as well as America's picture of a mealy-mouthed Jesus. Another part is a complete failure to understand the culture and times Jesus lived in. In The Jesus I Never Knew Philip Yancey sets things right.
Suddenly you will see the tactless Jesus, the frustrated Jesus, even the angry Jesus, all done without sin, and you will understand. You will read the Sermon on the Mount and realize how difficult it was for those people to even begin to accept, "Love your enemies," when those enemies were just as likely to invade your village and kill men, women, and children just to satisfy some Roman leader's notion of punishment or revenge. What enemies do we have? The driver who cut us off in traffic? The neighbor who turns up his stereo too loud? We look down on these people for not "figuring it out," when in the same circumstances I wonder if we, if I, would have done any better.
This book is a challenging read, but if you dare, you may understand the Gospels better than you ever have before, and see things you have missed with your culture-blinded eyes. Maybe that's the way to get you to read it—I dare you!
The Jesus I Never Knew is published by Zondervan Publishing House.
Dene Ward
Suddenly you will see the tactless Jesus, the frustrated Jesus, even the angry Jesus, all done without sin, and you will understand. You will read the Sermon on the Mount and realize how difficult it was for those people to even begin to accept, "Love your enemies," when those enemies were just as likely to invade your village and kill men, women, and children just to satisfy some Roman leader's notion of punishment or revenge. What enemies do we have? The driver who cut us off in traffic? The neighbor who turns up his stereo too loud? We look down on these people for not "figuring it out," when in the same circumstances I wonder if we, if I, would have done any better.
This book is a challenging read, but if you dare, you may understand the Gospels better than you ever have before, and see things you have missed with your culture-blinded eyes. Maybe that's the way to get you to read it—I dare you!
The Jesus I Never Knew is published by Zondervan Publishing House.
Dene Ward
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