Confronting Jesus
What happens when you meet face-to-face with Jesus? In Confronting Jesus, Rebecca McLaughlin gives nine encounters with the hero of the gospels.
Christian Claims
At just around 200 pages, this book will make you wrestle with the actual claims of Christianity. Looking at the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, McLaughlin shares these eyewitness accounts to illuminate Jesus’s identity.
Chapter 1 begins by looking at Jesus the Jew. McLaughlin goes to the Old Testament to tell of Jesus‘ cultural background. In fact, the book often returns to the Old Testament to show how Jesus summons words and metaphors from Hebrew scripture to present himself.
Good News
I was most moved in Chapter 4, when I was reminded that our good news is that of a king. Our king is different than what the world would imagine. He spends his time with the weak and lowly. And he dies a death on the cross like a common criminal. But he was raised, and he is coming again. This gives a reason for Christians to rejoice.
What McLaughlin does exceptionally well is make connections with movies. From Hamilton to Shang-Chi, Gladiator and Harry Potter — she finds the common threads. This helps give interest to the book while helping her get her points across. This book acts like a succinct survey of the gospels.
Servant and Sacrifice
Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 are connected in subtle ways. When talking about Jesus the Teacher, McLaughlin shares about her own same-sex attraction and how Jesus’ teachings are inseparable from who he is. He loves across differences, money, and sex. And we find him to be the ultimate and true lover — a sacrificial friend just as great as sexual and romantic love. I appreciated McLaughlin’s vulnerability as well as her disposition of hope.
Towards the end of the book, the two chapters on Jesus as Servant and Jesus as Sacrifice serve as a climax. After seeing and meeting the true Jesus in the previous chapters, these landed like a hammer. McLaughlin ends with a plea to trust him, and she has made a powerful call and testimony to Christ.
Jesus is Lord
The last chapter proclaims Jesus as Lord, positioning it directly with his resurrection. Knowing that we will all face death, we all must confront Jesus — the one who claims to be the resurrection and the life. After reading this book, I find myself not only confronting him — but clinging to him.
I received a media copy of Confronting Jesus and this is my honest review. Find more of my book reviews and follow Dive In, Dig Deep on Instagram - my account dedicated to Bibles and books to see the beauty of the Bible and the role of reading in the Christian life. To read all of my book reviews and to receive all of the free eBooks I find on the web, subscribe to my free newsletter.