Book Review - Simply Jesus by N. T. Wright

A “grown-up” Christian faith begs a question.  Is what it says about Jesus true?  N. T. Wright’s Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters says that it is true.  Wright’s thoughts suggest a new vision of Jesus, which he hopes will help people understand their lives today in a new way.

The book has three parts.  It defines Wright’s questions about Jesus and suggests that they are difficult to answer.  It then explains the focus, goals, and method of Jesus public career.  Finally, it suggests why Jesus still matters.  

Wright uses the image of a “perfect storm” coming from three directions.  The first direction is Rome.  Rome was the primary world power.  It considered Caesar divine and called him the “son of god.”  Rome also needed the Middle East – where Jesus lived – for grain supplies.  The second direction is the Jewish people.  Rome thought the golden age was in the past.  The Jews thought it was yet to come.  The Jewish people looked forward to a time when a good rescuer would oppose an evil oppressor.  The third direction is how Jesus thought he fit with the first two directions.  Israel expected the messiah to come in power and glory.  Jesus claimed to do so, but had a completely different definition of power and glory.  Jesus stood in a line of prophets who said that Israel’s vision for itself and God’s vision for Israel were at odds.

Simply Jesus can now propose questions.  First, Jesus did nothing that people expected the king and messiah to do.  He was also crucified with the mocking title “King of the Jews” above his head.  Why should anyone take this title seriously then?  Second, how do we say that Jesus is in charge while the world seems to be completely out of his control?

For Wright, the answers begin with the idea of Jesus initiating a “new Exodus.”  The Jewish people knew the Moses account well.  There was an oppressive ruler against a chosen leader for the Israel.  God was victorious, sacrifice was necessary for rescue, rescue gave Israel a new way to live, God was present, and Israel received the Promised Land.  

In the new Exodus, Jesus was the rescuer.  He announced that God – instead of Caesar – is king.  Jesus was initiating a campaign to implement a new kingdom.  In this Exodus, Jesus’ is the representative of Israel, but the oppressive ruler is greater than Caesar.  Instead, evil itself is the oppressor and Jesus’ kingdom opposed evil through repentance and faith.  Jesus’ kingdom would fix the world, fix people, welcome the wrong sorts of people, and offer forgiveness.

Because the oppressor is evil in general instead of a specific person (no doubt though that Caesar and Pharaoh were part of this evil), Jesus’ death becomes a necessary part of the battle.  In Jesus’ death, the creator God absorbed the worst of anti-creator evil.  God’s Kingdom came because Jesus led the new Exodus through death.  His resurrection was the beginning of a new creation.    

Wright’s suggestion is that we view life through the perspective of this new creation.  We must make a choice.  Some people choose the old creation and its methods – selfishness and revenge.  Others say that this does not work and choose Jesus’ new creation and is methods – love, reconciliation, hope, and forgiveness.  If we choose Jesus’ new creation, we call Jesus Lord.  We also recognize our role in how Jesus exercises his rule.  That is why Jesus rescues us.  Acknowledging this is how we worship God.  The church says that only God is sovereign.  This certainly contradicts normal respectable society, but the church must be willing to stand behind the statement.  The church, it seems, is how God intends to exercise his rule.  It will absolutely make mistakes while trying to choose Jesus’ new creation, but this does not negate the reality of the new creation.  We must be willing to listen to our own prophets while we strive to reflect God to the rest of creation. 

I am glad I read this book and see a couple points of value.  First, Wright provides a good explanation of why talking about Jesus is difficult.  Jesus lived as if he were in control and redefined rules.  We are not used to seeing this type of behavious.  His context also had a different worldview than ours.  In addition to a different context, he spoke in a way that challenges our assumptions, primarily in his use of the word “god”.

This summary is important because it can help provide language for how we think about Jesus.  Let’s apply this idea to how Christian teaching can lead its followers to become advocates for social justice.  Jesus’ description of God, for example, suggests a personal being that is concerned with how we treat one another.  The parables of The Sheep and the Goats and Lazarus and the Rich Man demonstrate this.  An interested God who is concerned about how we treat each other stands in contrast to two dominant gods today – the god who is over there without much interest in what happens here and the god who isn’t particularly concerned with what we do as long as we say “sorry” afterwards.  Only one of these three Gods would demand justice.

The second value is that the book helped as I continue to reflect on Wright’s teaching about why Jesus’ life before his death and resurrection is important for Christians.  (Still, if any readers notice a problem with my understanding, please help me out in the comments section.)  Wright’s use of the word “campaign” was helpful.  Jesus was starting a new balance of power in the face of an existing regime.  Jesus’ life before Easter matters because of the value he places on forgiveness in his new balance.  Forgiveness removes people from exile.  Jesus’ life demonstrated that having God in the role of King would characterize the regime change Jesus initiated.  Jesus’ life matters because it shows what a world that abandons evil will look like.  

This is a challenging book.  It is well worth the challenge and I recommend that you give it a look.