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The inescapable Jesus
Book review: Who is this Man? by John Ortberg (Zondervan, 2012)
John Ortberg says he prefers teaching to preaching, though most of us who have seen him in action would suggest he’s equally accomplished at both. He has also written 15 books, including the popular If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get out of the Boat (see the Christian Science Sentinel, December 29, 2003).
His latest book is Who Is This Man? subtitled The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus, which pretty much says it all. With his totally predictable and inescapable humor, Ortberg suggests that Jesus is as hard to nail down as Jell-O. In Jesus’ day, no one knew quite what to make of him. But, says Ortberg, when you understand more about his life, you awaken as if from a dream to realize his influence is something you always somehow knew: “His life and teaching simply drew people to follow him. He made history by starting in a humble place, in a spirit of love and acceptance, and allowing each person space to respond.”
Similarly, Ortberg allows readers of any religious persuasion to respond in their own way to his summary of the largely unknown influence on every facet of life of this most dominant historical figure of the last two millennia.
He relates Jesus’ teaching to many aspects of life in the 21st century including what he calls “the truly old-fashioned marriage,” the role of women in the church today, power struggles, and the intricacies of good leadership (which Ron Heifetz described as “the art of disappointing people at a rate they can stand”).
Ortberg devotes many pages of Who Is This Man? to the role of forgiveness, even of the seemingly unrepentant, and tells a deeply moving story of a woman who came to live next door to a man who took her only child’s life. He describes how they were able eventually to give “each other gifts that neither would ever have known without the miracle of forgiveness.”
Ortberg suggests that Jesus is as “hard to nail down as Jell-O.”
In contrast, Ortberg never hesitates to regale his readers with jokes they may have heard before (including Woody Allen’s and Yogi Berra’s). But one of his cutest stories is about a group of Sunday School kids who were asked during a children’s sermon, “What were Jesus’ first words to the disciples after he was raised from the dead?” Before the pastor could give the Bible’s answer, a little girl waved her hand. “I know,” she said, “Ta da!”
Ortberg pokes gentle fun at his own family, and delights in his loyalty to the Chicago Cubs despite the triumph of his “hometown” San Francisco Giants in baseball’s 2012 World Series. He can never resist sporting analogies, but uses them well to clarify spiritual lessons.
He reminds us that the hope of resurrection strengthened by Jesus’ teaching is woven into a thousand stories. His favorite is the movie The Shawshank Redemption to which he devotes three full pages, homing in on that word redemption.
But for me none of Ortberg’s observations shines more brightly and succinctly than his conclusion that “Jesus outlasted, outmaneuvered, and outthought every group, every power. But not just that. Mostly he just out-loved everybody.”