"Consider Jesus," by Johnson

¶ … Jesus by Elizabeth a. Johnson Consider Jesus, by Elizabeth A. Johnson, begins with a preface that addresses Christianity and the common and important themes that it is facing today. Chapter One focuses on the living tradition of Christ, and how He is both dead (in Heaven, and gone from this world), and alive (because there is life after death). He is part of an amazing tradition, but not one that is no longer practiced or that does not provide current and future value.

Instead, He is part of a living tradition, where a number of followers of His ways still carry on in His name and strive to be more like Him every day. In Chapter Two, the author addresses the humanity of Jesus. While He was God, He was also God made man. Because of that, He struggled with humanity to some extent and had human feelings as well as an understanding of more Godly things.

For example, several times before He was crucified He asked God to remove the burden from Him. He did not want to die, which was a very human component to His existence. This was emphasized more in Chapter Three, where the self-knowledge Jesus had was brought to light. He knew who He was as the Son of God, but He also knew who He was as a human being, and that brought both great joy and great conflict to His life.

What He was able to do for the people around Him in the miracles He performed and the parables He told made many believe in Him, but regardless of who believed or did not believe, Jesus knew who He was and that never wavered. Chapter Four tells the actual tale of Jesus -- His history from His birth in the manger up through what He would become.

While most Christians know this history quite well, someone who is new to Christianity or just wants to learn about it may not be as clear on the timeline of events that took place in Jesus' life. For those people, it is important to show the historical happenings of the era. One of the most important issues with which Jesus involved Himself in His time on Earth was justice, and that is discussed in Chapter Five.

He stated that the meek would inherit the Earth, because they were wise and humble, and were not greedy. He also went into the temple and chased out the money-changers, and he rebuked people who were doing wrong with no remorse. But He also forgave, such as the time He talked to the woman at the well. She had been married five times, and she felt she was such a sinner that she was lost forever. Jesus forgave her, and requested that she sin no more.

His justice was not the same as the justice of the world, in that it was pure, holy, and true. Chapter Six and Seven both focus on specific types of Christology -- Liberation and Feminist, specifically. It is important to understand that what Jesus has offered to the world has been discussed, changed, modified to fit certain ideas and times, and twisted by groups with their own agendas. Right or wrong, each person sees some things in the bible and in the life of Christ a bit differently than others.

Chapter Eight moves to the heart of the matter, by talking about God and the Cross. God sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believed in Him would have eternal.