Description
Author: Jonathan Cope. 232 pages soft cover. Published by The Christadelphian 2021.
For faithful disciples of our Lord and Master, “looking unto Jesus” is an essential part of everyday life. They consider his example, seeking to learn from him, attempting to live like him. They rejoice in his greatness, his mercy, his love, his gentleness. They see in him one who – whilst bearing the nature of his fellows – manifested his God and Father to perfection. Right throughout God’s word, we find prophecies of Jesus Christ, and allusions to his work. Such things abound with encouragement, with challenges, with promises for us. Do we look unto him? Do we long for his coming as we should? And will he find faith on the earth when he comes again?
The author takes numerous examples from the scriptures, and from them teaches us to look for Jesus almost everywhere in the Bible. The Master is certainly always there, sometimes in the most unexpected places. This should not surprise us, as the Lord Jesus Christ is at the very centre of God's purpose with his creation.
BOOK REVIEW
“Jesus on every page” has become a mantra in many evangelical churches which seek to promote the concept that the Lord Jesus Christ is central to the message of the Old Testament. This idea is not novel for Christadelphians: our community has always recognised that fact. One speaker expressed it this way: the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.
It is a long-standing tradition in our community to consider words of exhortation as part of our breaking of bread service. These exhortations, drawn from the Bible, are intended to encourage, edify and admonish as necessary with a view to helping brothers and sisters in their walk to the kingdom. Ideally, they will help to focus the minds of listeners on our Lord and his sacrifice.
As a community we also have a long tradition of publishing collections of exhortations in written form. These may be used in personal meditation or at meetings where a brother may not be available or able to prepare and deliver an exhortation. In 2021, under the title Looking unto Jesus, The Christadelphian continued that tradition by publishing a volume of 30 exhortations written by Brother Jonathan Cope.
A wide variety of topics is covered in this collection. Some of the exhortations are based on a specific passage, while others are thematic, drawing lessons from a range of passages. They all bring out the relevance of the topic to the work of our Lord. Each chapter is relatively short, and all are self-contained. This makes the book ideal for casual reading; it can be picked up at any time an opportunity arises for a few minutes of thoughtful meditation.
As you might expect, the tone of the material presented is exhortational, but it incorporates many insightful expositional gems which readers will find of interest. Amongst these are some interesting observations about Ezekiel’s ministry, Ahab, Zacharias and Nicodemus. Brother Jonathan also offers some intriguing comments on Genesis 1:3,4, and a particularly insightful comment on the text of Genesis 33:9. His analysis of the references to John Mark is worthy of close consideration; it includes a twist that may surprise.
Of course, not every reader will agree with every suggestion offered by the author, but there will many other points with which they concur. Iron sharpening iron by its nature must involve a degree of friction if there is to be any benefit from the exercise. Readers at all stages of their pilgrimage will find this book thought-provoking and encouraging. It also would make an excellent gift.
Geoff Henstock
This review appeared in the Testimony March2022