God in the Flesh: What Speechless Lawyers, Kneeling Soldiers and Shocked Crowds Teach Us About Jesus - Hardcover

Everts, Don

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0830832874 ISBN 13: 9780830832873

Publisher: IVP Books, 2005

Synopsis

"They were amazed at his teaching." "They fell down before him." "He touched her hand." "They left their nets." Often when we read the New Testament accounts of Jesus' life, we focus on his teachings and stories. But Don Everts draws our attention to the seemingly insignificant "stage directions" of the Gospels that describe the activity surrounding him. Everts writes, "It's significant that in the Gospels we don't just have a bullet list of quotes from Jesus." We also have observations of what he did and how people responded to him. By examining these simple phrases and casual comments, Everts assembles a startlingly fresh portrait of who Jesus was and is. While no one has seen the invisible God, when we look at the life of Jesus, we discover what his early followers discovered--that Jesus is the very flesh of God. Features & Benefits

* Focuses on what Jesus did and how people responded to him

* Offers a fresh perspective on Jesus through Scripture

* By the author of Jesus with Dirty Feet (over 70,000 sold)

* For seekers and believers alike

About this title

From the Author

IVP: How did you find yourself interested in studying the "boring" verses or stage directions of the Gospels in relation to Christ's life? What led you to write God in the Flesh?

Don Everts: I began to study the Gospels slowly and in detail because I was in a very exhausting season of life. And in the midst of that there was nothing that refreshed me like staring at Jesus. I started writing the book because of how refreshing it was to have my own blurry view of Jesus brought into focus. And I finished the book because of how sad and infuriating it was to see how much our enemy relishes blurring everyone's image of Jesus these days. IVP: How does your book on Jesus stand out from other books that study him?

Everts: In content I limit myself wholeheartedly to only what is found in the New Testament, and this sets this book apart from many emergent/postmodern theologies. But in form, I use a language, style and pace that come out of a postmodern posture, setting this book apart from many wonderfully orthodox books about Jesus that are simply unintelligible to postmodern ears. IVP: What encouraged you the most from the lessons you learned looking at the crowds' reactions to Jesus?

Everts: I'm still reeling from seeing how many people fell at Jesus' feet. But there's something about dwelling in those descriptions of kneeling that the Gospel writers left for us that has fundamentally altered my understanding of Jesus' authority. That has been a grace to me.

From the Inside Flap

"Boring verses. Common verses. With plain words. They are what I consider the 'stage directions' of the Gospels. Verses that tell what happened in between all the action. Helpful if you're making a screenplay but not the usual fodder for worship songs or sermons or memorization. Blue-collar verses, I guess. Simple words that describe earthy things.

"The more time I spent in these blue-collar verses, the more I realized they weren't really boring at all. In fact, themes started to emerge. Powerful themes that surprised me. Almost shocked me. Caught me off-guard. I had read these verses before, of course, during various Bible studies, but they had never really struck my eyes as significant.

"But when I got enough of these boring verses together, Jesus seemed to jump right off the page in ways he never had before. I saw new sides of him--his strangeness, his mercy, his brilliance, his sacrificial nature. And there's just something about seeing Jesus clearly. It makes your heart pound and your eyes grow wide and you find yourself living differently." --from God in the Flesh

About this edition

• Publisher: IVP Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0830832874
• ISBN 13: 9780830832873
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 176