The Jesus You Really Didn’t Know: Rediscovering the Teaching Ministry of Jesus
Ebook
The problem with too much Christianity today is that we replace the person of Jesus with a doctrine of grace. Living in denial of Jesus' teaching on judgment and holiness, too many Christians take refuge from the sayings of Jesus in doctrines of forgiveness that they hope will bolster up their sense of self-worth before God. Andy Angel tackles this dysfunctional spirituality head-on, opening up the journey of learning and love into which the living Lord Jesus invites us all. Unpacking the Gospel of Matthew, he encourages us to rediscover the teaching ministry of Jesus in our own lives, and in doing so, to recover the riches and freshness of the gospel message and to rediscover the depths of love Jesus has for each one of us.
“Every once in a while, it’s good to take a fresh look at some
of our well-worn assumptions about what Jesus is recorded as saying
in the gospels. Sometimes this involves scraping off the
interpretive layers we may have been using to cover up things we
wish weren’t there. Andy Angel does just that by exposing afresh
Jesus’ words about judgment and obedience, allowing them to
question—and deepen—our understanding of the God-with-us of grace
and love. Working his way thoroughly and systematically through the
gospel of Matthew, Angel explores what kind of teacher Jesus really
was. He challenges readers to reexamine their attitude to five
‘dirty words’ that are central to Jesus’ teaching: authority,
teaching, obey, command, and judgment. Taking these words seriously
requires communities of believers to exercise humility, kindness,
gentleness, and forgiveness with a new resolve. They give a
Spirit-propelled momentum and energy to following Christ in the way
of holiness that is good news because it is a way that changes
lives. Read this book and allow your relationship with Jesus to be
challenged and deepened.”
—Eeva John, Enabling Officer for the Conversations on the Teaching
Document on Human Sexuality for the House of Bishops of the Church
of England
“This fresh, provocative book argues powerfully that the
popular understanding of Jesus as one who welcomes us with open
arms and expects little change from us is deeply and fatally
flawed. Not only that, this view of Jesus is dangerous to people’s
lives and their standing with God. Dr. Andy Angel leads us
thoughtfully through Matthew’s Gospel to see why this is so, and
what the real Jesus is like—a Lord who teaches, encourages, and
supports believers to walk with him and be transformed as they
follow him humbly and obediently. Read and act on it!”
—Steve Walton, Professor of New Testament, Trinity College,
Bristol
“How we have needed this book! On almost every page a powerful word
leaps out putting succinctly the truth we have avoided for so long.
This is a prophetic challenge to a church culture which so often
ignores Jesus’ words on judgment and finds them unacceptable. Andy
takes us carefully through the teaching. Then he demonstrates how
Jesus, as one always alongside us, with both gentleness and
humility, teaches us to be fully obedient disciples, those who will
joyfully stand on the day of judgment. Who would not want
this!”
—Graham Dow, Assistant Bishop in the dioceses of Chester and
Manchester, former Bishop of Carlisle
“Few topics are as difficult to negotiate as Jesus’ teachings on
judgment and forgiveness. Yet Andy Angel has produced a remarkably
accessible book that shows how these teachings fit together. I
especially appreciate Angel’s informed reading of Matthew’s Gospel,
and his genuine, pastoral concern that Christians reflect the Lord
Jesus in their lives and communities. He convinces us that the
Jesus we think we don’t want to know—who preaches obedience and
judgment, forgiveness, and grace—is actually the Jesus we really
need and have really wanted to know all along.”
—Elizabeth E. Shively, Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies,
St. Mary’s College, University of St. Andrews
“In this challenging book Andy Angel persistently makes us listen
to Jesus’ teaching on judgement, and therefore on holiness, deeply
seriously. He rightly makes us re-look at the ease with which we
slide into both ‘cheap grace’ and ‘love as a feeling’ rather than
the truth of costly grace and love being obedience. I echo his own
words and encourage us to keep discovering that ‘Living with
Jesus as my teacher has been exhausting, frustrating,
nerve–wracking and, time and time again, has stretched me beyond
anything I thought I could manage, but it has been
great.’”
—Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham, UK
“Andy was one of my New Testament lecturers and he would often
teach the gospels with a tear in his eye. In this book he guides us
through the words of Jesus in the Scriptures, and endeavors to
match the Jesus we encounter there with the Jesus we’ve constructed
and interpreted in our minds. This is a richly theological book but
not just that; it is a book about devotion, obedience and
discipleship; encouraging us to take Jesus at his word. Jesus is
too holy and too kind to leave us with our watered-down versions of
Himself.”
—Ben Woodfield, Church Planter, The Antioch Network, Manchester
Diocese, UK
“Who would have thought that the grace of God could become an idol?
Well, not the grace itself, but, as Andy Angel points out with
cutting insight, a doctrine of grace that takes the place of that
love for Jesus which, according to Jesus himself, requires obeying
his commandments. For a long time, I have felt that the hallowed
sola, ‘by faith alone,’ has been subverted into a subtle mechanism
for avoiding Paul’s own insistence that the gospel is not there
merely to be believed but to be obeyed, with what he twice calls
‘the obedience of faith.’ Paul and James are in full agreement,
precisely because (naturally) they agree on the teaching of Jesus
himself. And it is that teaching, and its central place in what it
means to be a disciple, and to make disciples, that Andy Angel so
effectively explores in this book. If Jesus truly is Lord as well
as Savior (and what else is the essence of the gospel?), then it is
at our peril (seriously) that we ignore Christ's words about
judgment, and fail to do as well as to hear. Yet Andy’s purpose is
not merely to correct this imbalance in contemporary cultural
Christianity (in the west at least), but to encourage a better and
wiser and more honest pastoral practice. It’s a word that needs to
be heard and heeded.”
—Christopher J.H. Wright, Langham Partnership
“Every time a new Anglican minister is licensed, they make an oath
exhorting them to ‘proclaim afresh the faith to each new
generation.’ This worthy aim is potentially undermined if the
proclamation so panders to cultural context that faith itself is
undermined in the re-telling. In this super book, Andy exhorts us
to look afresh at some of the hard sayings of Jesus that are
precisely the ones ignored or distorted in order to make the faith
appear more commendable. It is a challenging but essential read if
we are faithfully to preach the gospel as Jesus delivered
it.”
—Richard Jackson, Bishop of Lewes, UK
“There is a perennial danger—even among Christians—of seeing Jesus
of Nazareth as the epitome of kindness but ultimately someone
bland. For the Gospels and the broader New Testament tradition, on
the other hand, there is something vital and visceral at stake in
the life and ministry of Jesus. In his most recent book, Andy Angel
brings his considerable knowledge of Second Temple Jewish
apocalyptic traditions, as well as his experience as teacher and
pastor to bear in situating Jesus within traditions of Torah
interpretation, and exploring the difficult dimensions of the
gospel that are precisely its very life.”
—Séamus O'Connell, Professor of Sacred Scripture, St Patrick's
College, Maynooth
“Andy Angel’s new book is direct in its approach and broad in its
scholarship. Jesus the teacher is re-presented in his context.
Jesus’ teaching on practical holiness is reiterated with vigor and
challenge. Drawing in particular on Matthew’s Gospel, Andy
addresses the difficult question of judgment and how it relates to
Jesus’ authority as teacher. Overall the book is a tour de force
that goes to the heart of who Jesus is and his message.”
—Tim Dakin, Bishop of Winchester
Product Details
- Title : The Jesus You Really Didn’t Know: Rediscovering the Teaching Ministry of Jesus
- Author: Angel, Andy
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Publication Date: 2019
- ISBN: 9781532644948
Andy Angel is the Vicar of St Andrew’s Church, Burgess Hill, UK and was formerly a lecturer in New Testament. He is the author of Playing with Dragons: Living with Suffering and God (2014) and Intimate Jesus: The Sexuality of God Incarnate (2017).