The Gospel of John: When Love Comes to Town (Resonate Series)

The Gospel of John: When Love Comes to Town (Resonate Series)

The Resonate series recovers the ancient wisdom of Scripture and helps us understand how it resonates with our complex world. The stories and insights of each book of the Bible are brought into conversation with contemporary voices of hope and lament--the cultural messages we interact with on a daily basis. The Scriptures become a meeting ground where God speaks to the pressing concerns of our day, and we are confronted in turn with a fresh experience of God's truth. In this journey through the Gospel of John, Paul Louis Metzger wrestles with the question of what happens when God, who is love, comes to town and takes up residence among us. For some this new neighbor love is welcome; for others, unusual; for still others, suspect--even dangerous. We learn from John's Gospel what it means to be called friends and lovers of God, what it means to put love to death and what it means for love to rise again in our midst and in our lives. "Metzger addresses the question of what happens when God, who is love, comes to town and lives among us. Some may welcome him, some may question His presence, and others may even consider him a threat. John's Gospel teaches readers what it means to be friends and lovers of God, what putting love to death is, and what it means for love to rise again." (Kathleen Samuelson, CBA Retailers Resources, November 2010) "In this book, Paul Louis Metzger has provided a fresh and yet profound look at one of the most beloved accounts of Jesus' time on earth. Metzger has rendered the oftentimes mysterious words of Jesus in the Gospel of John into a structured set of essays that explain and instruct just as the Savior intended. As he does this, he paints a very different picture of what it means to follow Jesus, the real Jesus--the One who 'comes to town,' looking for his to love." (Seda Mansour, Stanford University) "Thank God! A charmingly written, culturally engaged, theologically informed and spiritually captivating book. This spiritual commentary on John's Gospel is for those who don't just want to know about the meaning of the text, but who want to encounter afresh the triune God to which it bears witness. Metzger draws readers in and opens up the text--but not so that we see only the text, but so that we see through the text to God, so that God speaks through the text to us. Theology for the church to the glory of God!" (Robin Parry, author of Worshipping Trinity and Lamentations (The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary)) "Here is a lively, modern mind colliding with a divine, ancient text. We know what a commentary is, and this book is not one (though it does explain and expound the text of John like conventional commentaries). We know what a sermon is, and this book is not one (though it does apply the Word of God to our lives and our culture like good sermons do). Nor is it a commentary with sermons spliced in; give up trying to fit it into existing categories. Metzger's take on John, as the initial offering in the Resonate series, is a genre-defying performance that provokes, interrogates and ponders, and invites the reader to join in the process." (Fred Sanders, associate professor of theology, Torrey Honors Institute, Biola University) "Paul Metzger's exposition of John's Gospel is the ideal resource for students or those who want to take a step deeper into the Gospel beyond reading the Bible itself. Easy to read, filled with popular examples, and accurate on cultural and historical detail, Metzger has offered a practical and beneficial tool for believers in the modern church." (Gary M. Burge, professor of New Testament, Wheaton College) "This combination of pop culture, social critique and serious evangelical theology would probably become a discordant mess in less skilled hands. But Paul Louis Metzger blends them into a highly readable harmony in this thought- and heart-provoking book." (Tom Krattenmaker, USA Today Board of Contributors and author of Onward Christian Athletes) "InterVarsity Press is to be congratulated in sustaining and expanding their three series of Bible commentaries now into a fourth venture, called Resonate. Promoting biblical theology has been their consistent purpose. Dr. Metzger, the series coeditor of these new Resonate commentaries, 'vibrates' a thematic approach to John's Gospel, with contemporary culture, to effectively open 'the strange world' of John's profound Gospel to the modern reader, whether already versed in Scripture or not. Metzger's able scholarship and passionate evangelism conjoin to reach both the heart and mind of the reader. Its unique genre is controlled by the trinitarian mystery of God, in producing a reliable yet stimulating introduction to John's Gospel that many of us will want to share with our youth, Christian or non-Christian alike." (James M. Houston, founding principal and Emeritus Professor of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver) "By taking seriously distinct voices from contemporary culture and bringing