If
you've been in church very long, you've heard sermons on 5 special women: the woman
caught in adultery, a woman with a past, the woman at the well, the woman with
the bleeding issue, and Mary the sister of Lazarus. Over the years I've heard
several such sermons, and even preached a few of them. But they were never
anything like this.
In
"The Day I Met Jesus: The Revealing Diaries of Five Women from the
Gospels" ( Baker Books, 2015) Frank Viola and Mary DeMuth have taken the
stories of these 5 women and personalized them in such a way that they truly
come alive for us. Each chapter is
broken into several sections. First is the 'diary': a fleshing out of the
story, full of details about the culture of the time and some extra-biblical
facts woven into a compelling narrative that grips the reader's attention. The diary is followed by the 'Sacred
Text" the actual Biblical account from one or more of the Gospels; that is
followed by "walking it out" - the exegesis and application to our
times and our lives.
The discussion
questions at the end of the book make this an ideal resource for a small group
or a bible study.
And there
is a common theme: We love, because he first loved us. Jesus loved these women
for who they were and the called them to be transformed; even though from a cultural standpoint he had no
business even talking to them. An adulterous woman, a woman with a 'past', a
Samaritan woman, a woman who was ceremonially unclean, and yes, even Mary the
sister of Lazarus had a bit of a history, and she bares her doubts about the
Messiah.
Jesus loved
the unlovable of his day, and he continues to love the unlovable (us) today. I
think it's pretty near impossible to read this book with an open mind and not finish
it full of hope.
I
received a copy of this book from Baker Books in exchange for the review.
5/5
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