Book Review: The Message of Jesus

 Information about the book

The Message of Jesus: Words that hanged the World by Adam Hamilton.  Abingdon Press. Nashville.  2024.

Summary

From Amazon: More than 3 billion people claim to follow Jesus. But aside from a few verses, how many actually know what he taught? In fact, much of what people think Jesus taught, he never said. 

In this six-week study, pastor and best-selling author Adam Hamilton explores six of the most important themes in Jesus's teachings, why they matter, and how they speak to us today. The book will explore Jesus’s preaching on the Kingdom of God, the Sermon on the Mount, the parables, the “I am” sayings in John, and more. Jesus's message is not only life-changing, but world-changing. Join Adam Hamilton in studying The Message of Jesus: Words That Changed the World. 

Other components for the study include a leader guide, teaching videos, and sermons and worship.

Impressions

The book is divided into six chapter which makes it easy to adapt to a Lenten study.  The structure flows from the kingdom of God, the beatitudes, parables, I AM statements, final words, and post-resurrection messages.

As usual, Hamilton's writing is engaging. I enjoyed reading it and encountered several "ah ha" moments.  I particularly enjoyed the chapter about the Kingdom of God.  He quotes Gordon Fee: "You cannot know anything about Jesus, anything, if you miss the kingdom of God... You are zero on Jesus if you don't understand this term.  I'm sorry to say it that strongly but this is the great failure of evangelical Christianity.  We have had Jesus without the kingdom of God, and therefore have literally one Jesus in."

A few more quotes from Hamilton:

• "When we pray the Lord's Prayer, we say, "Thy kingdom come, They will be done." And every time we say The or Thine, instead of my and mine, we are yielding our lives and our will to God. That is the essence of life in the Kingdom."
• "We are to love our neighbor, to love our enemies, and to love one another. This is the defining mark of the Christian life. It is not a feeling, but a way of living and being."
• "The challenge is that often the most vocal Christians seem also to be the least loving some of them seem more interested in using Jesus to further their causes, than in Jesus using them to further his causes."
• "I believe the death of Christ is less like a judicial transaction, and more like poetry.  It is a word from God about human brokenness and sin and the lengths to which God will go to heal and forgive us...."

I would recommend this book.