Kim Gentes

The central character of all Christendom is, of course, the person of Jesus. Yet, across even the Christian community there is much conjecture about some of the main tenants of the faith. An understanding of who Jesus is, why he came and what he accomplished are essential. Historian and theologian N.T. Wright approaches this subject as both a scholar and pastoral leader by combining the major points of his thesis from "Jesus & the Victory of God" (a complex scholarly graduate-level book) and the summarizing of "The Challenge of Jesus" (a much smaller book for local churches). Wright attacks the questions that people have about Jesus as a real, historical figure and the claims which Christians often take as "normal" for the faithful. But rather than deep technical renderings of logic and argument (such as his repudiations of others such as Dominic Crossnan in "Jesus & the Victory of God"), Wright focuses simply on explaining most of his reasoning from the scriptures themselves and drawing the backdrop from his work in history.

Wright does a brilliant job of explaining what he considers is the "real Jesus", one based on the historical context of the social, political and religious forces at work in the time of Jesus on earth. He does this primarily by explaining the three main forces driving the context for the narrative of the Gospels. The first force is the Roman empire and its dominating political and military control that crushes down on the middle east and the people of Israel. The second force is the ethos and history of the Jews, especially as it has been galvanized by the Maccabean dynasty, whose rebellious origins are the archetype for a series of nationalistic uprisings meant to free the Jews from a stream of dominating overlords (including the Greeks/Persians, Egyptians, Syrians, Parthians and Romans). The last great force is the self-critical voice of the prophetic tradition of the Jewish prophets. Wright explains each of these "forces" as a type of storm system which come together in the time and story of Jesus appearance to contribute to a kind of "perfect storm". Jesus positions his message- the kingdom of God- as the singular clear response to this perfect storm.

It is in the midst of this meteorological metaphor that Wright explains Jesus vocation with this brilliant language:

And with that, the sea is lashed into a frenzy; the wind makes the waves dance like wild things; and Jesus himself strides out into the middle of it all, into the very eye of the storm, announcing that the time is fulfilled, that God’s kingdom is now at hand. He commands his hearers to give up their other dreams and to trust his instead. This, at its simplest, is what Jesus was all about.1

What I love about this book is that the author is very clearly speaking to "everyman" here, and yet he still takes the opportunity to teach valuable history and theology.  This book is poignantly underpinned by Wright's foundational understanding of Jesus as the herald announcing, enacting and resetting our definition of God as the new king progressively taking over earth. Jesus reconstitutes the sacred symbols of temple and time around himself, which is the ultimate repudiation of Jewish religious systems and leaders- which is what leads to his death. Wright also makes it clear that Jesus was calling for a complete revolution and was himself a revolutionary leader in every aspect of the word- except military. Jesus announcement of a "new kingdom" could not, and would not, be seen as non-political, and the degree to which it was reinforced the Roman engagement (along with the Jewish leader's angst) in Christ's eventual crucifixion. The author doesn't say that it is only political, but that Jesus was calling for a new king in charge- God himself- in every aspect of cultural, familial and political sphere. 

The final, short section of the book deals with the results of Jesus claims as they are played out in the lives of his disciples and the early church.

I very much enjoyed this book by N.T. Wright. I feel it has more accessibility than many of his books, and obviously that is the intent here. He succeeds. It is also a very convincing coalescence of several of his themes presented in other books (the aforementioned, as well as "How God Became King"). He does this through his well paced metaphor (perfect storm) without descending into the depths of critical historical argumentation.

Amazon Link: http://amzn.to/16KZMgH

I highly recommend this book.

Review by Kim Gentes

1. Wright, N. T. (2011-10-25). Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters (p. 56). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.