I
just finished reading this book written by Philip Yancey, a Christian
journalist, editor, and author. He
decided to write a book about Jesus from the point of view of those folks who lived
during that time in history, using the Gospels as source material and attempting
not to allow modern day preconceptions to color the result.
Mr.
Yancey discovered that Jesus was a totally different person than the Sunday
School flannel graph character he had learned about when he was a child. Much
more than a “gentle Jesus, meek and mild,” this Jesus taught radical ideas of
loving your enemies, yet had no qualms with throwing the money changers and
animal sellers out of His Father’s house. Loving your enemy wasn’t easy to
swallow if your country had been under the boot of Rome for generations plus this Galilean was speaking of Yahweh as his Father!
Jesus’
ideas of the kingdom of heaven didn’t mesh with the legalistic lives the
Pharisees and teachers of the Law subscribed to, either. It’s no wonder Jesus
spoke of the useless attempt of putting new wine into old wineskins, for this new
“philosophy” burst asunder all the jots and tittles that the religious rulers
had added in order to “properly” obey the Law
This
book is particularly appropriate to read during the Lenten/Easter season,
especially the chapters on Jesus’ final week and His resurrection, “The Morning
Beyond Belief.”
I
found myself jotting down quotes which are too numerous to use in this post so
I will end with an especially poignant one in relation to Christ’s wondrous gift
of salvation. As He hung on the cross, He was taunted by many to save
himself if He was really the Son of God. However, “for Jesus to save others…he
could not save himself.”
And
then Easter morning, the most awesome miracle in history was made known: He is
alive!.
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