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The book, Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears reminded me of one huge Chick tract but with great theology, wonderful humor and questions that any non-believer (or even old believer like myself) would ask.  Trust me, it is a good thing.  (I think I was looking for that analogy due to the really cool cover to the hardcover.)

Oh yes.  I understand that Driscoll wants to make sure that the point is not only made but it sinks into your heart.  I think he does a wonderful job in doing so.  He does it with a humor that is a bit courser than what most people are used to.  I have read many reviews where the reviewer cries out, “oh why did He have to make that joke” and to others, it was a giggle and simply moved on i.e. a non-factor.  If the term “Mary did not knock boots with God” (yes, some religions teach that God had sex with Mary to conceive Jesus Christ) offends you, don’t read this book.  Otherwise, the humor is great and a non-issue to you.

Moving on to the juicier stuff…

This book is the counter attack to so many thoughts and ideas about who Jesus is, what did He do on this earth and did He really do what the Bible teaches.  The book nicely sums up the impact that Jesus had on human history.

The only secondary issue I had was the teaching of what Jesus did immediately after He died on pages 121-122. Driscoll/Breashears teaches that Jesus went into Paradise or Abraham’s side, which it is true:

Jesus went into the heart of the earth:

Matthew 12:40 (ESV) For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

He went into hell to grab the keys to death and hell:

Revelation 1:17-18 (ESV) When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

Grabbed the saints from Abraham’s side and made His way back up to Heaven with a pit stop on earth:

Matthew 27:50-52 (ESV) And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.  And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised,

Remember in John 20:1-18 where Jesus appeared in the early morning of His resurrection (three days after His death) to Mary Magdalene.  Jesus told Mary in verse 17, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’“ (Because Jesus intercedes for us to the Father, we are now able to have a personal relationship with God the Father.)

Okay, then right after that passage in John 20:19, it reads “On the evening of that day…”.  So between the wee morning hours of the first day and the evening of that same day, something happened.  It says in the verse 17, “I am going to my Father and your Father…”.

But what exactly happened when He went to go see the Father?   Well, he wasn’t going alone.  He had all the saints from Paradise.  What was He going to do with all those saints?

Judgment upon Satan as the ruler of this world:

John 12:31 (ESV) Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

Jesus worries not. Satan was the previous ruler and now Jesus is:

John 14:30 (ESV) I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me,

God the Father holds court:

Daniel 7:9-12 (ESV) “As I looked,

thrones were placed,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat;
his clothing was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
its wheels were burning fire.
A stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.

“I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

Then Jesus Christ is now given dominion over this earth:

Daniel 7:13-14 (ESV) “I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.

Thus, the kingdom of God is now:

Daniel 7:21-22 (ESV) As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.

Other than that (very very minor), I love the book.  Can’t wait to give it away to loved ones.