Jesus Journey is a look at the humanity of Christ by Trent Sheppard.
Book Synopsis:
Jesus was human, like you and me. If the gospel is true, he still is.
Christians worldwide believe that Jesus is God. But this belief
wasn’t the starting point for Jesus’ earliest followers. While Jesus’
humanity was a given for the disciples, his divinity was a truth they
grew into believing—it was a journey of faith. As Christians today, we
are also called into a faith journey—this time, to rediscover Jesus’
humanity.
Yes, we believe that Jesus is God, but do we truly believe that Jesus
is human? And if so, how does that transform our own experience of
being human?
Through eye-opening yet down-to-earth reflections, Jesus Journey
invites you to encounter Jesus again—as if for the first time—by
experiencing his breathing, heart-beating, body-and-blood,
crying-and-laughing humanity.
Join Bible teacher and storyteller Trent Sheppard as he shines new
light on the vibrant humanity of the historical Jesus through an
up-close look at Jesus’ relationships with Mary and Joseph, with the God
he called Abba, with his closest friends and followers, and how,
ultimately, his crucifixion and resurrection finally and forever
redefine what we mean by the word God. Come encounter the human who
radically transforms our view of God.
Come encounter the God who forever changes what it means to be human.
What do you get?
A book divided into five sections.
40 separate chapters covering topics such as Joseph and Jesus, Intervention, Nicknamed, Holy Fury, No Escape, Biology 2.0, and Ascension.
My Thoughts:
I tried, I really really tried but I had to stop part way through the book, I just couldn't continue to read this book.
Points I struggled with:
1. Text taken out context.
2. Text changed without it making sense why he was changing the traditional understanding.
3. Too focused on the humanity of Christ to see the Godness of Christ as well.
4. When he did use text, he often stopped it too soon OR miss the point of the passage.
5. He makes too many suppositions. Such as at the wedding at Cana he assumes there was a special look that passed between Mary and Jesus...when we have no sign of that AND he misses the point that the wedding is about God's glory at work in Jesus.
6. He seems to want to bring Jesus down to our level instead of bringing us up to his. Jesus shows us what true humanity is all about.
7. I dislike the almost exclusive use of paraphrases throughout this treatise.
What I liked:
As a devotional Mr. Shepherd adds three points to the close of each chapter
Ponder - He'll give a point to think on.
Pray - He's gives a point of prayer, something we can ask for usually.
Practice - How to put into practice the lessons learned.
Many of these three points I liked, particularly the practice ones. It's good to think on ponder on who Jesus was.
I have to admit... I thought the idea of the book was intriguing, but the fact is this... Jesus was so interlinked, his humanity with his divinity that its one of those mysteries you just can't really understand. How can God cry? Can God skin a knee? Yes, if he's also fully human. Jesus wept, got hungry, got tired, just as we do. Just as Jesus did, we need to grow in maturity in the sight of God and man. Jesus is that perfect example of weakness held within strength.
Now.. just because I couldn't finish this book doesn't mean it's not at all worthy to read. I can easily see this book being used in a group study as a way to think differently about a subject and to talk out some of his points. To read different translations, to get the full gist of what the bible passages are talking about and to look for how Jesus shows us how living as the humans that we are can be better.
Jesus Journey: Shattering the Stained Glass Superhero and Discovering the Humanity of God.
Trent Shepherd
Zondervan
256 pages
softcover
8 x 5
Reviewed for: booklookbloggers
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