God in the Flesh: What Speechless Lawyers, Kneeling Soldiers and Shocked Crowds Teach Us About Jesus [Hardcover]

Don Everts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2005

Winner of a 2006 Logos Book Award!A Likewise book."They were amazed at his teaching.""They fell down before him.""He touched her hand.""They left their nets."Often when we read the New Testament accounts of Jesus' life, we focus on his teachings and stories. But Don Everts draws our attention to the seemingly insignificant "stage directions" of the Gospels that describe the activity surrounding him. Everts writes, "It's significant that in the Gospels we don't just have a bullet list of quotes from Jesus." We also have observations of what he did and how people responded to him. By examining these simple phrases and casual comments, Everts assembles a startlingly fresh portrait of who Jesus was and is. While no one has seen the invisible God, when we look at the life of Jesus, we discover what his early followers discovered--that Jesus is the very flesh of God.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

IVP: How did you find yourself interested in studying the "boring" verses or stage directions of the Gospels in relation to Christ's life? What led you to write God in the Flesh?

Don Everts: I began to study the Gospels slowly and in detail because I was in a very exhausting season of life. And in the midst of that there was nothing that refreshed me like staring at Jesus. I started writing the book because of how refreshing it was to have my own blurry view of Jesus brought into focus. And I finished the book because of how sad and infuriating it was to see how much our enemy relishes blurring everyone's image of Jesus these days. IVP: How does your book on Jesus stand out from other books that study him?

Everts: In content I limit myself wholeheartedly to only what is found in the New Testament, and this sets this book apart from many emergent/postmodern theologies. But in form, I use a language, style and pace that come out of a postmodern posture, setting this book apart from many wonderfully orthodox books about Jesus that are simply unintelligible to postmodern ears. IVP: What encouraged you the most from the lessons you learned looking at the crowds' reactions to Jesus?

Everts: I'm still reeling from seeing how many people fell at Jesus' feet. But there's something about dwelling in those descriptions of kneeling that the Gospel writers left for us that has fundamentally altered my understanding of Jesus' authority. That has been a grace to me.

From the Inside Flap

"Boring verses. Common verses. With plain words. They are what I consider the 'stage directions' of the Gospels. Verses that tell what happened in between all the action. Helpful if you're making a screenplay but not the usual fodder for worship songs or sermons or memorization. Blue-collar verses, I guess. Simple words that describe earthy things.

"The more time I spent in these blue-collar verses, the more I realized they weren't really boring at all. In fact, themes started to emerge. Powerful themes that surprised me. Almost shocked me. Caught me off-guard. I had read these verses before, of course, during various Bible studies, but they had never really struck my eyes as significant.

"But when I got enough of these boring verses together, Jesus seemed to jump right off the page in ways he never had before. I saw new sides of him--his strangeness, his mercy, his brilliance, his sacrificial nature. And there's just something about seeing Jesus clearly. It makes your heart pound and your eyes grow wide and you find yourself living differently." --from God in the Flesh

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830832874
• ISBN-13: 978-0830832873
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #807,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Don Everts is Minister of Outreach at Bonhomme Presbyterian Church in Chesterfield, Missouri, where he spends time cultivating relationships with people who are generally skeptical Christians with a passion for evangelism and global justice. He previously served as an area director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Boulder, Colorado.

Most of Don's books are inspired by students. Jesus with Dirty Feet came from a summer of pick-up basketball with a group of Boulder locals. The Smell of Sin came from helping college men through temptations. The One Guy's Head Series came from an argument with a friend.

In college, Don majored in English and enjoyed courses in philosophy, religion and sociology. He loves books and reads broadly--from Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky to cyberpunk writer William Gibson. National Geographic and Wired are among his favorite magazines. Don Everts's latest work for Likewise is the One Guy's Head Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple - without biased dogmas, April 30, 2006

By 

B. Thompson (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God in the Flesh: What Speechless Lawyers, Kneeling Soldiers and Shocked Crowds Teach Us About Jesus (Hardcover)

In both his books and his ministry, Don Everts breaks Christianity down to it's simple, grassroots fundamentals. He explores Jesus not as the center of a religion, but rather as an engaging individual who, by his very nature, caused inexplicable, powerful reactions of all those around him. Everts approaches Jesus not by what Jesus said in Scripture but instead he explores all the verses that Jesus didn't say. The simple accounts of the people around him. Everts calls these verses the, "stage directions." From these easily overlooked and forgotten words, Everts paints a picture of a man that simply was. Wasn't concerned with religious doctrine or appropriate religious customs. Instead we see people going out of their way to touch a simple carpenter walking down the street. Common, smelly fishermen, leaving their livelihoods to walk along his side. The most scholared religious men dumbfounded by his wisdom. Don's words remind us of what lies at the heart of true Christianity. Just a simple man that asked others to follow him.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple...Fresh...True..., September 5, 2005

By 

Marilyn Duenas (Hillsboro, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God in the Flesh: What Speechless Lawyers, Kneeling Soldiers and Shocked Crowds Teach Us About Jesus (Hardcover)

I like the way this author explains Jesus. He explains Jesus as he really is. His writings about Jesus are simple and fresh and true. I read the first few pages of this book and it sucked me in because everything he said about Jesus was refreshing to my mind. I definitely recomend this book!

4.0 out of 5 stars A Relook at the Black Text of Jesus' Life, July 31, 2010

By 

bookworm1858 (San Diego) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: God in the Flesh: What Speechless Lawyers, Kneeling Soldiers and Shocked Crowds Teach Us About Jesus (Hardcover)

God in the Flesh by Don Everts
InterVarsity Press, 2005
160 pages
Inspirational; non-fiction
4/5 stars

Summary: We've heard many of the stories and words said by Jesus (sometimes represented in Bibles with red font) but Everts asserts that by looking at the responses to what Jesus said (the black words), we can learn anew about Him.

Thoughts: I really love the intro where Everts says that he tried not to write this book because did we really need more books and obviously we don't want to waste trees. And yet, Jesus is just so beautiful that it's difficult not to talk and write about Him. That made me laugh!

Each chapter is in the same format. It opens with similar passages of scripture, such as those were Jesus reached out and literally touched people. Then Everts expands on what these show us, shares personal anecdotes, and challenges us to go deeper with God. It really helped condition me to think about Him in a different way.

Overall: Good; short but worth savoring.

Cover: A good reminder of Jesus as human and someone who welcomes us to Him.