The Jesus I Never Knew
Copyright ©1995 by Philip Yancey
Contents
Part One
Who He Was
1. The Jesus I Thought I Knew
2. Birth: The Visited Planet
3. Background: Jewish Roots and Soil
4. Temptation: Showdown in the Desert
5. Profile: What Would I Have Noticed?
Part Two
Why He Came
6. Beatitudes: Lucky Are the Unlucky
7. Message: A Sermon of Offense
8. Mission: A Revolution of Grace
9. Miracles: Snapshots of the Supernatural
10. Death: The Final Week
11. Resurrection: A Morning Beyond Belief
Part Three
What He Left Behind
12. Ascension: A Blank Blue Sky
13. Kingdom: Wheat Among the Weeds
14. The Difference He Makes
Thanks .. .
To the class I taught, and was taught by, at LaSalle Street Church in Chicago.
To Tim Stafford, Bud Ogle, and Walter Wangerin Jr., whose perceptive comments
caused me to rewrite this book several more times than I would have on my own.
To Verlyn Verbrugge, for his careful technical editing on matters of biblical accuracy.
To my editor John Sloan, who patiently endured, and helped improve, all those drafts.
THE
JESUS I
NEVER
KNEW
Part One
Who He Was
1
The Jesus
I Thought I Knew
Suppose we hear an unknown man spoken of by many men. Suppose we were puzzled to hear
that some men said he was too tall and some too short; some objected to his fatness, some
lamented his leanness; some thought him too dark, and some too fair. One explanation . . .
would be that he might be an odd shape. But there is another explanation. He might be the
