N. T. Wright’s Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters
As few authors can do, Wright delves into some of the deepest, most transcendent themes of the Scriptures and presents them in terms that can be appreciated by any reader. This book will take you deep, deep, deep into the Word. And in so doing, you’ll get to know Jesus far better than before.
In fact, the next time I have some free time to do some reading, I’m going to read it again. And maybe for a third time. It’s that good. (And I had to pay for this one myself.)
[Christianity] isn’t about “religion” in the sense the Western world has imagined for over two hundred years. This is about everything: life, art, the universe, justice, death, money. It’s about politics, philosophy, culture, and being human.”
Wright draws together several Old Testament themes that point toward Jesus. He then presents Jesus as King, the dawn of the Kingdom, and shows how the New Testament makes so much better sense when read from that perspective. Many authors have tried to explain Kingdom theology, but Wright does it best because he sees the Scriptures most globally. He helps the reader see how everything fits together. It’s powerful.
[I]t will not do to suppose that Jesus came to teach people “how to get to heaven.” That view has been immensely popular in Western Christianity for many generations, but it simply won’t do. The whole point of Jesus’s public career was not to tell people that God was in heaven and that, at death, they could leave “earth” behind and go to be with him there. It was to tell them that God was now taking charge, right here on “earth.”
The coming of the Kingdom of God is the doctrine most American churches have forgotten. It ties Paul closely to the Gospels. It unites the Old and New Testaments. And it forces us to reconsider what the church and Christians are here for.
Jesus—the Jesus we might discover if we really looked is larger, more disturbing, more urgent than we had ever imagined. We have successfully managed to hide behind other questions and to avoid the huge, world-shaking challenge of Jesus’s central claim and achievement. It is we, the churches, who have been the real reductionists. We have reduced the kingdom of God to private piety; the victory of the cross to comfort for the conscience; Easter itself to a happy, escapist ending after a sad, dark tale. Piety, conscience, and ultimate happiness are important, but not nearly as important as Jesus himself.
And when it comes to hard questions, it helps us keep our heads on straight, by understanding why it is that Jesus had to die and why faith in Jesus is so very important.
The gospels are not about “how Jesus turned out to be God.” They are about how God became king on earth as in heaven.
The whole point of Jesus’s public career was not to tell people that God was in heaven and that, at death, they could leave “earth” behind and go to be with him there. It was to tell them that God was now taking charge, right here on “earth.”
This is what I see as I have studied Jesus for the past decade. What I don’t see is how God is doing that with and among the people that I know and where I worship. At least I don’t see it quite as clearly as I think I should. I see more of the “leaving earth behind” idea. Have we abandoned the great commission to take over the earth for Christ? You have convinced me that this is a book I should read.
I’ve read this book in bits and pieces, and now I’m in the final chapter. What a challenging book! The one thought that Wright repeats over and over is the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray: “Thy kingdom come… on earth as it is in heaven.”
His view of earth and heaven as being two parallel universes that “intersect” at various points and times is interesting. It keeps “heaven” from being ‘far away’ and brings it near, even into the heart of the child of God as God lives there through His Spirit. In the Old Testament, the intersections occurred, for example with Abraham in his encounters with God or with Moses at the burning bush. It occurred with Israel as they followed the cloud and pillar of fire – and especially in the Tabernacle and later the Temple.
While Jesus was on earth, the voice from heaven at His baptism, the transfiguration, the miracles, and especially the resurrected Jesus also show intersections of earth and heaven. To Wright, history is moving toward “earth and heaven becoming one” as the new creation reaches its fulfillment. That new creation began with Jesus, continues as we, who are in Christ, are also outposts of the new creation on earth today, and will ultimately mean the redemption of the earth itself in the new heavens and the new earth.
Wright’s perspective on what Christians are to be doing now on earth is also challenging, as we are to take the good news that Jesus is King of the world even now to all the world and call people to serve Him as king. This will inevitably bring the disciples of Jesus into conflict with the powers that be on the earth when those powers demand that we accept their vision of reality and of how we should behave. Witness, for example, the current conflict between the Catholic bishops and President Obama about the sort of benefits their health care packages should offer. There are many such examples where Christians should stand their ground and not yield to the forces of darkness that are ruling as rivals to King Jesus.
This book deserves more than a cursory read. It needs to be absorbed and digested. It is rich in Biblical teaching that ties the Old and New Testaments in a way that few in the Campbell tradition are able to do.
It has been on my Kindle Fire since Christmas… I will move it up to the front of the queue.
*sigh* “When we buy books, we imagine that we’re buying the time to read them.”
I loved Simply Christian. I’ll have to read this one as well. Thanks for the review.
Obtaining books is one practice that creates hope in our lives. Reading is aspirational.
“The whole point of Jesus’s public career was not to tell people that God was in heaven and that, at death, they could leave “earth” behind and go to be with him there. It was to tell them that God was now taking charge, right here on “earth.”
Jhn 14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
NLT
“I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches. He has no power over me,
“God was now taking charge, right here on “earth.”
I don’t know that was the message here.
Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven.
When is this supposed to happen, surely you are not suggesting that it has happened.
Jesus sure preached a good sermon of instruction on the mount, to never have mentioned ,
“that God was now taking charge”
Hmm it appears like your blog ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess
I’ll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new to everything. Do you have any recommendations for newbie blog writers? I’d definitely appreciate it.
Mr. Bean,
Sometime back, Jay gave 30 tips for Christian bloggers. It was helpful to me when I first started blogging. Perhaps you will enjoy it as well. You can find it at:
/index-under-construction/30-tips-on-christian-blogging/
The LIFE Group that my wife and I are in has been studying this work a chapter per week and we’re up to chapter 11 tomorrow. What a challenge and blessing!
Is there any more challenging “job description” for the followers of Jesus Christ than participating in Kingdom living and demonstrating that Jesus is indeed, right now, Lord? If the thoughts, words and deeds of ALL believers were to reflect that “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” fewer people could argue that His kingdom has come.
Wright’s description of the times in which Jesus lived and fulfilled His mission should be required reading for all believers! In the midst of “a perfect storm” He kept His focus on who He (as the Son of Man) was, why He had come and what was required of Him to accomplish the restoration. I came away from the book with a greater love for and desire to worship Jesus. It is definitely worth repeated readings.