People living in first-century Palestine flocked to hear Jesus teach. But how can we know what he actually meant when he told his famous parables? Burge digs deep into the customs, literature, and values of the ancient world to reveal the hidden meanings of Jesus' messages. Includes colorful maps, photographs, and illustrations. 112 pages, softcover from Zondervan.
The parables of Jesus come alive as never before when Gary M. Burge uncovers the culture that gives them their deepest meaning. His expert, illustrated guide shows in everyday terms how the customs, literature and values of the ancient world can inform and grow your faith in today’s digital age.
Average Rating: 4 out of 5 stars(4 out of 5 stars)
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4 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Roy Underwood (Livingston, AL), September 25, 2009
This is an insightful commentary on the parables, offering a perspective that is not found elsewhere. The use of the mores and beliefs of first century Israel is particularly helful.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Debbie @ ChristFocus Book Club (Alpena, AR), September 06, 2009
"Jesus, the Middle Eastern Storyteller" is a useful Bible reference book. It gave some basic information on Middle Eastern storytelling techniques of Jesus' time period, then discussed cultural background information and the meaning of several parables: a friend that comes at midnight, a father's gifts, the great banquet, the good Samaritan, the servant forgiven of a huge debt, the lost sheep, the lost coin, the prodigal son, and the foolish rich farmer.
The information was interesting and filled out what was happening in the parables, but most of it was not new to me and only once did it change my understanding of the meaning of the parable. I was a bit confused by how the author often stated that Westerners assume or teach certain things about a certain parable, yet I've never assumed that or heard such taught about it.
The author also gave mini-sermons on how to apply the lessons of the parables to our own lives. The book contained lovely color photographs that illustrated what the text was referring to.
Several times, the author briefly referred to details of an Old Testament story but gave the wrong information. (For example, he states Jacob sold his heritage for a pot of stew, yet it's Esau who sells his birthright. And he has Cain claiming to take a sevenfold revenge when it's God who makes that promise.) Fair or not, this made me wonder how carefully the author checked the accuracy of the other things he stated.
Overall, the book was a quick read and easy to understand, and it's a good book on the parables of Jesus for those who can't get enough of this type of information or who wouldn't bother with a longer book.
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