A Review of The Passion of Jesus Christ
This volume should be a priority for believers to pass out to people to whom they are witnessing.
- Byron Snapp
Who crucified Christ? According to John Piper, in light of Biblical testimony, God the Father did. After turning the reader’s attention to scriptural testimony, Piper comments on fifty reasons why Christ came to die.
Each reason begins with an appropriate New Testament passage and is followed by two pages of commentary on the text. Interestingly and importantly, the first reason Piper presents is to take God’s wrath for sinners onto Himself. This sets the tone for the following chapters. Piper is committed to showing something of the awfulness of our sin in the eyes of God and the greatness of God’s holiness. This aspect of God’s holiness is one that cannot be presented visually. In his comments, the author weaves together God’s justice and God’s love. The Father’s love is shown in that He sent His eternal Son, who came voluntarily. God poured out His wrath, which sinners justly deserve, onto His Son.
Although Piper focuses on one or a few verses for each reason, he regularly brings in additional, appropriate verses for further explanation.
Readers familiar with Piper’s writings will find herein another valuable tool and source of encouragement for their own spiritual life and their ministry to others.
With the recently released movie on Christ’s Passion, the suffering of Christ and the reasons for it are being discussed more now than in recent years. This provides an opportunity for Christians to explain the meaning of Christ’s life and death to those without an understanding of it.
This volume should be a priority for believers to pass out to people to whom they are witnessing. It is also a good book for Christians to read, inspiring believers to meditate on the manifold reasons given in Scripture for Christ’s suffering and death.
- Byron Snapp
Byron Snapp is a graduate of King College (B.A.) and Reformed Theological Seminary (M.Div.). He was Associate Pastor at Calvary Reformed Presbyterian Church, Hampton, Virginia, from 1994 until his retirement in December 2014. He is a native of Marion, Virginia. He has had pastorates in Leakesville, Mississippi, and Gaffney, South Carolina. He served as Assistant Pastor in Cedar Bluff, Virginia prior to his ministry at Calvary Reformed. He has served as editor of the Presbyterian Witness and was a contributor to A Comprehensive Faith and Election Day Sermons. He is currently a member of Westminster Presbytery in the PCA. He and his wife Janey have 3 children and several grandchildren.