Who Is This Man? The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus
is the most recent book written by John Ortberg, who is the pastor of Menlo
Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California. He is the bestselling author of many other
books such as The Life You’ve Always
Wanted and If You Want to Walk on
Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat.
Who Is This Man?
is a book about Jesus without looking directly at him. It’s more like looking at Jesus by using your
peripheral vision. The focus of this
book is the impact Jesus has had on the world and how it has never been the
same because of him. Most people,
including Christians, have no idea how much we live in a Jesus-imprinted
world.
“On the day after Jesus' death, it
looked as if whatever small mark he left on the world would rapidly disappear. Instead, his impact on human history has been
unparalleled. After his disappearance on
earth, the days of his unusual influence began…Rightly seen, this effect on
past and current history will cause any thoughtful person- apart from their
religious ideas about Christianity- to ask, ‘Who was this man?’”" (pg. 11)
Ortberg gives examples of tangible issues that Jesus has imprinted
throughout the centuries including art, architecture and literature. He also shows that the way certain groups of
people have been treated has been revolutionized. For example, children didn’t usually get
named until the eighth day and up until then there was a chance they would be
killed or left to die of exposure- especially if the child was deformed or of
the un-preferred gender. This began to
change because Jesus’ followers remembered how he valued children.
Who Is This Man?
also shows how Jesus affected intangible issues such as leadership, government,
how to treat your enemies, the world’s view of qualities like humility and many
others. We even get a glimpse of Jesus’
effect on death through the practice of burial in cemeteries (a word which
means “sleeping place” hinting at the hope of resurrection) and crosses that mark
them (which are reminders of the death of Jesus).
Ortberg writes in a style that is easily accessible for
those who have not read much extra-Biblical material about Jesus, yet is
insightful enough to challenge the thinking of those who have done copious
amounts of reading about Jesus. He
combines quotes and examples of Jesus’ impact throughout history along with the
contemporary results.
In Mark 10 the
scribes asked Jesus which commandment is the most important of all and Jesus
quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5 "You must love the Lord your God with all your
heart, all your soul, and all your strength." But Jesus added one more aspect of our
humanity with which we are to love God- our minds. What does that mean? That means we need to think about him often,
deeply and from a variety of perspectives.
This is what I think the strength of this book is: it causes us to think
about Jesus from a perspective we may have never considered before.
There are over 1,500 books about Jesus published each year
(which in itself is another example of Jesus’ continuing impact on this world)
which can lead any person wondering where to go next? Ortberg’s book is a good place to start.
-Chris Curtis, Golden Strip Campus Pastor