For years my heart was kept aloof from the Nazarene lest He get too close and discover the truth: that I did not measure up to His holy standard. But then came the moment when my eyes opened to His unconditional love. Now enters Yancey. He presents Jesus from a contemporary perspective, so fresh and alive that I can see Him walking the streets of my own community. I see Him as a revolutionary challenging the values and systems of my society. I see Him as a strong man with great love and compassion.
For me, the most important passage of the book came near the end. "The story of Jesus is the story of a celebration, a story of love. It involves pain and disappointment, yes, for God as well as for us. But Jesus embodies the promise of a God who will go to any length to win us back. Not the least of Jesus' accomplishments is that he made us somehow lovable to God" (p. 269).
Yancey has confirmed what I already had discovered for myself: that Jesus speaks to men and women of every age, and that His message is always the same: I love you. Yancey has written of Jesus in a way that can speak to those hearts that may have grown weary of hearing the story. Pastors could use it to warm their own souls or to share with seekers.
