Jesus
just won't go away – no matter how hard some have tried to get rid
of him. His influence has been so great in our world, one has to
ask, “Who is this man?”
Ortberg
takes us through the life and influence of Jesus. He explores Jesus'
birth, comparing him with Herod and reviewing the future of babies in
that era. He looks at the events of Jesus' life, identifying his
revolutionary compassion and his revolutionary attitude toward women.
He looks at Jesus as teacher, his humility in an era of status, and
his revolutionary command to love one's enemies. He writes on Jesus'
teaching on one's relationship to government, on the nature of
goodness and being a good person, and the change Jesus brought in the
understanding of marriage.
Ortberg
give lots of evidence about the influence of the followers of Jesus,
beginning with the disciples and going through to our time, including
the influence in art and music. He gives many thumbnail sketches of
people whose lives have been changed by Jesus, the good they have
done, and how they evidence the character qualities of Jesus.
Ortberg
presents a wealth of background information in each of these areas.
He really helps us understand the culture of Jesus' day. I was
interested in his writing about how women were treated then. I had
read some and knew quite a bit about the topic but found out more from Ortberg's
book.
This is
another in the line of books verifying that Jesus is who he said.
The strength in this book is the vast amount of background material
Ortberg has provided. It would certainly be a close-minded person
who could still believe Jesus was only a regular human after reading
this book.
John
Ortberg is the pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo
Park, California. He is the best-selling author of several books.
He and his wife have three grown children. See more at: http://zondervan.com/ortbergj
Zondervan,
220 pages.
Find out more at: http://zondervan.com/9780310275947
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