I buy a ton of books. My wife gets annoyed with me sometimes because I have more books than shelf space so most of them sit in boxes in closets and the garage. Most of the books that I buy I pick up in the sale bin for less than $5. My latest great find is a book called, Discovering Jesus by William Barclay.

Discovering Jesus isn’t particularly riveting or revolutionary. There are some great statements and the book is designed in a way that allows the reader to interact with maps, charts, pictures, lists, etc. and in that way I really like it. It is a great book to help one discover or re-discover again the life of Jesus. At Sonlife we love talking, thinking, wondering, conversing, etc. about Jesus. Within the context of the entire narrative of God, we find Jesus emerging at what we at Sonlife hold to as the model for our life and ministry.

Barclay uses the following six mini-episodes to walk the reader through an exploration and investigation of the major events of Jesus’ life:

1. Preparation
2. Conflict
3. Recognition
4. Tragedy
5. Triumph
6. His Body the Church

Barclay’s insights, background summary’s and thought provoking questions encourage the reader to skim through the life of Jesus in a reverent but “highlighted” fashion. His six episodes are a great way to teach through the life of Jesus in a large or small group setting — or even a one on one situation. If you are nearing upon a series on the life of Jesus, let this little 95 page book be your guide. I think it will really help you put forth an accurate, narrative based depiction of Jesus.

Here is an interesting excerpt from the Conflict episode:

“This story [the temptation of Jesus] might be called the most sacred story in the New Testament — for this reason, that there is only one possible origin and source for this story, and that is Jesus himself. No one was there; he was alone in the wilderness. Therefore this story must have been told by Jesus himself to his disciples on some occasion when he wished to help them.” (pg 19)

Have you ever thought about when and why Jesus would have felt the need to teach his disciples based on his personal experience of the temptation events? Clearly, Jesus must have told them of his experience in order to have it recorded for our discovery and growth today — and for centuries past. I wonder when and why Jesus chose to share this story with his disciples…