Customer Reviews

The Innkeeper

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a beautiful gift from John Piper. It was an advent poem written for his congregation in Minneapolis. It will touch your heart deeply and then, at the end, the gospel! I have given this book to many as a gift. Buy it for anyone you wish to bless with the gift of Jesus. The illustrations are beautiful sketches by John Lawrence. It may be given as a gift to a child with caution. (read it yourself first and decide.)

As I write the review of this short novel, I am punched with it's huge impact leaving me nearly breathless. I am assured again that "good things come in small packages." I can honestly say I pray my great-great grandchildren will be reading "The Innkeeper" with their families on Christmas Eve's yet to be.

John Piper imagines what if Jesus stopped to see the "Innkeeper" who housed Joseph and Mary in his stable? In melodic, vivid, poetic verse he shares the tale. Accompanying his elegant prose are hauntingly beautiful paintings by Glenn Harrigton. It takes maybe 30 minutes to read the first time and a lifetime to reread. In this richly conceived tale is such passion, such pain, such glory, all will be touched that chose this anthem for Jesus.

Thank-you most talented John Piper for poetry that stung yet soothed my heart in tandem. Thank-you, Glenn Harrington, for pictures viewed with utter amazement. Thank-you, Jesus, for this book and the gifts you gave these two men who shared them for Your glory.

Buy this book and have it as a family keepsake. I want you to have the experience I just did.

Bless all of you this holiday season and for all the Christmas's to come.

Every year John Piper writes an Advent poem as a gift for the congregation of Bethlehem Baptist Church. This one tells a fictionalized story of the innkeeper who housed Joseph and Mary.

Most Nativity retellings emphasize the fact that there was "no room in the inn," interpreting this to mean the innkeeper had no eyes to see the meaning of the Nativity. But Piper takes a different tack, giving a historically plausible interpretation that Jesus' poverty-stricken parents would have been grateful for a free place in the godly innkeeper's stable, and that the innkeeper and his wife understood that they had housed the Messiah.

In this story Jesus, on his way to be crucified, visits the innkeeper and hears his account of the Nativity. His story goes on to dramatically describe Herod's Slaughter of the Innocents (Matthew 2:16-18), in which the innkeeper lost his entire family and his right arm. He lived on in lonely grief, never understanding why God would allow such evil to happen. Jesus grieves with the man and promises that after his crucifixion he will defeat the serpent who has the power of death, and raise this man's family to life again.

Piper draws together the stories of a joy-filled family and a terrible evil. We expect sentimentality at Christmastime, but his poem has none. The story actually strikes a discordant tone with its portrayal of dread and horror, but this problem is answered with the sure hope that Jesus brings to those who suffer under the reign of death and evil.

Because of the violent content of the story, it may be best suited to teenagers or mature grade-schoolers.

This book was an incredibly short read for me who is usually a slow reader. But the impact was felt long after the cover was closed, and I will return and read it again. Powerfully moving, filling in between the lines of the gospel in an area that the apostles didn't give much detail.

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What happened to the keeper of the inn that had no room for Joseph and Mary? Did God condemn him for turning them away. Did God bless him for allowing them to stay in his stable?

John Piper's poem, The Innkeeper, is one man's image of the rest of the story. Many questions surface when we think of the possibilities. First, did anyone, other than the shepards and the three wise men, even know of Jesus birth? Scripture is silent on that point. If they knew, how did the people of Bethlehem or the Roman soldiers react to Jesus' birth?

The Innkeeper gives us one view of the story. This an excellent poem and a creative approach to the rest of the Christmas story. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a Christmas tale and anyone who would like meditating on the life of Jesus.

This inspirational poem, filled with hope for those who have suffered loss, has been re-issued with remarkable and beautiful illustrations that enhance the text. This would make a lovely gift--but don't neglect to read it for yourself before you wrap it up.

No thoughtful insights, no really new ideas, no...well, nothing. It's a decent poem, but that is all.

I didn't not like it, but I didn't really like it either. In fact, I was a bit disappointed.

But I'll give it a three star rating because it's okay--not really bad, but not really good either.

I have to admit that I REALLY wanted to love this story. I love the concept, Jesus going back to speak to the innkeeper of the inn where he was born. As a pastor of families who have lost children, I sincerely appreciate the message that it conveys ... we don't know the answers here, but I have come to bring restoration.

And, I am happy to accept potential stories (fictional) based on what might have happened if:
If it had been an actual inn instead of a guest room
If Jesus went back to visit the scene
If Jesus spoke to the villagers

That is, after all, a part of retelling the story of Jesus ... what would happen today IF.

But there are a couple of things that made this book less than I expected ...

First, it repeated that his wife and children were killed, and he lost his arm "because he housed the savior there." And yet even within the story, there is no support that he was in any way singled out. His wife, his children, his arm were all because of Herod's decree. It was based not on knowing for sure that the Savior was born there, but rather based on the visit from the Wise Men and the prophesies.

Second was his questioning ... "Why would he disappear and never come to help?" How could a newborn, carried away by his parents be expected to help?

To somehow blame the killing of the innocents upon the infant Jesus is to ignore the fact that there is evil in the world. To focus on the story of Jesus in this way seems to create a bit of a sense of survivor guilt ... why did THIS infant survive when mine did not? It was after all "his fault."

It does a good job of addressing the story of the killing of the innocents. As it is dedicated to any parent who has lost a loved one, it does an excellent job of addressing the restoration that Jesus brings. And, while I can't "preach it" like it is told, it has given me a wonderful idea of Jesus visiting, not the innkeeper, but the town. Any book that makes me think is a good thing.

For those who are reading this book because you have lost a child, my heart is with you. I have lost two nephews and know the heartbreak and share it. Read this book for what it is, a story of hope, and forget that some of the details aren't perfect, the moral is a good one.

I would suggest that this is more of an adult tale than a children's story.

The Innkeeper by John Piper is a truly difficult book to review for me. I love the idea of the story, but I find it truly hard to express my thoughts on this one. On the one hand, it's beautiful and on the other hand, it's disturbing.
I love the compassion Jesus showed while listening to the man's story..as I imagine He would have done if this were a true story. He always showed such compassion to the hurting, therefore that much of the story is very compelling to me and I thought it was told very well. However, it seems that too much of the story is dwelling on what the innkeeper sacrificed for Jesus (15 pages to be exact) and very little (only a few sentences) on what Jesus would sacrifice for him in just a few days time. God gave His Son willingly as a sacrifice for all mankind and His suffering was greater than any this man or anyone else has ever suffered. I just wish that more of the gospel had come through in the end.
The illustrations are exquisitely done! It's a very beautifully designed book and I know it will touch many hearts.

When I was growing up I always enjoyed "backstories" for the Bible. If I read someone's account of what really happened in the Inn before Joseph & Mary showed up and Jesus was born, I was thrilled with the imagination of a true event. Think the Christmas carol "Little Drummer's Boy," or the movie, "The Robe."

This poem although beautifully begun and exsquisitely illustrated falls FLAT! It begins with the dedication for "anyone who has lost a child." I lost a child almost 11 years ago so as I opened the pages I was eagerly anticipating reading something inspiring and beautifully detailed to fill in some of the blanks from the Navitiy story and warm parts of my own broken heart. It never happened. There are a few sweet passages with some wonderfully imaginative suggestions but it misses the mark again and again. The flow of the poetry rhythmns are choppy and although the story is there, it's done as though an amateur was writing, offering lame attempts to enlarge what could have been a marvelous story.

The author had a great idea but his follow thru dopped the ball big time. Think of the movie, "Ben Hur," without the finale of the crucifixion and Christ's intervention to climax the entire story. It's nothing like the small book "Perfect Present" that I opened years ago with a minimal expectation but was royally rewarded with an impacting story that I've never forgotten.

"The Innkleeper" held such potential but fell flat all too soon. Darn!!!Don't waste your money!