{"id":1228,"date":"2025-09-08T15:50:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T15:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/?p=1228"},"modified":"2025-10-09T15:01:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T15:01:19","slug":"the-disturbing-galilean-essays-about-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/the-disturbing-galilean-essays-about-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"The Disturbing Galilean: Essays about Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Malcolm Tolbert<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

–<\/p>\n\n\n

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Buy Book<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The late New Testament scholar with a pastor\u2019s heart begins this collection of essays with a simple yet important affirmation: \u201cI am captivated by Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He notes that \u201cthe memories of Jesus were communicated orally\u201d for the decades between Jesus\u2019 death and the writing of Mark\u2019s Gospel. Yet we are able to know \u201cthe kinds of things he said and the kind of person he was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In repeatedly teaching the Greek texts of Jesus\u2019 Sermon on the Mount, said Tolbert, led to an ongoing and needed confrontation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver and over again, I came under the spell of the sayings of Jesus that I found to be so difficult to incorporate into my daily living,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The essays reflect on a few of vignettes drawn from the Gospels \u2014 with the hope that his \u201ctreatment\u201d of these passages help readers seeking \u201cto be genuine followers of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biblical thread of justice that runs throughout the Gospels starts with Jesus\u2019 place of birth among the animals, Tolbert observes. \u201cThere are no social barriers in a barn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The call for following Jesus faithfully runs through this insightful book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe way we show our love for God is by loving our neighbors,\u201d he reminds readers. \u201cNo pious activity or churchly duty can substitute for that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His chapter on \u201cJesus and Rome\u201d is very helpful \u2014 noting the \u201cthree different approaches to governmental authority\u201d offered by Paul, Revelation and Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in a warning to not try to force an ancient text into a contemporary setting, he writes: \u201cBelievers in the first century could not have imagined that church members would someday have the possibility of choosing fellow Christians to serve as officials of the state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of particular value to Christians today are Tolbert\u2019s essays on discipleship. Like Jesus, he doesn\u2019t attempt to soft-sell that calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJesus was certain that average humans who opened themselves to the presence of God were capable of fulfilling the challenge he gave them,\u201d writes Tolbert. \u201cAt the same time, he was realistic, aware that they faced the real danger of failing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, it is no surprise that so much that is portrayed as \u201cChristian\u201d today lacks any semblance to how Jesus called his followers to live. The same calling to faithfulness Jesus issued to his first disciples is extended to all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tolbert\u2019s book serves as a good reminder of that calling. It is fitting for personal reading, group conversations or as sermon fodder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Review by John Pierce, director of the Jesus Worldview Initiative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Malcolm Tolbert – The late New Testament scholar with a pastor\u2019s heart begins this collection of essays with a simple yet important affirmation: \u201cI am captivated by Jesus.\u201d He …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-booksintro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1228"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1572,"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228\/revisions\/1572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesusworldview.org\/resource-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}