cover image JESUS REVEALED: Know Him Better to Love Him

JESUS REVEALED: Know Him Better to Love Him

Mark D. Roberts, . . WaterBrook, $13.99 (256pp) ISBN 978-1-57856-539-9

Few Christians would take issue with Roberts's premise—that the majority of mainstream followers of Christ have a limited understanding of Jesus' complexity. Using a wide selection of Scriptures to unpack Christ's myriad character qualities, both divine and human, pastor Roberts does an exemplary job soliciting the details found in biblical texts to assist believers in knowing Christ more fully. Roberts covers the field as he ambitiously describes Jesus as a rabbi, prophet, holy one of God, Son of Man, Messiah, Savior, Lord, Son of God, Word of God and light of the world. Using modern-day scenarios as lead-ins, Roberts brings the ancient Christians' understanding of Christ to bear on today's conceptions. He claims that Jesus, the ultimate paradigm-shatterer, was never afraid to dismantle people's understanding of who he was. Unlike the teachers of the day who waited to be sought out by potential students, Jesus reversed this tradition and went after his own disciples. Christ also forsook the oral tradition of referring to the wisdom of acknowledged learned men when he spoke to followers. Rather, he voiced his own thoughts without relying on oral interpretations of former wise leaders. Roberts's book will be a great help to those interested in gaining a more biblically accurate picture of Christ, but it can be dull reading; the prose is not lively enough to capture and maintain the attention required for such a multifaceted, in-depth study. (Aug.)