THE CROSS OF JESUS:
How Christ understood His crucifixion
By Warren W. Wiersbe
10Publishing. 210 pages. £4.99 (free eBook
from publisher’s website)
ISBN 978 1 913 278 328
The book began life as seven evangelistic sermons, one for each of the seven words from the cross.
They are preceded by four new chapters, one dealing polemically with the claim that neither Jesus nor God intended the cross to happen, and three on reasons for the cross (‘that we might live through, for and with Him’ respectively). An epilogue discusses how Christians should live in the light of the cross.
The subtitle and back cover describe the first four chapters, while the remaining eight are unedited outreach addresses. Despite the title, the book is therefore no treatise on the cross. An occasional page needs to be read generously, and the forays into Greek can serve as a warning to other preachers.
Of its time?
It is a good, light and edifying read, and the challenge is identifying the intended audience. It was originally published in 1997 and it shows its age through the assumptions it makes of its readers: it would have been the perfect book to give me that year! It is written for the churched (or at least the Sunday Schooled) who already know the basic plot of the crucifixion and can find their way around a Bible. It assumes an awareness of the need to be saved and that one is a sinner. The final chapter (on what to do after trusting in the cross) makes no mention of joining a church, in keeping with the rest of the book, which probably assumes that one is already attending one. The problems addressed (especially in the opening four chapters) assume that one has been troubled by mainline liberal theology.
For that audience, it is an excellent book, addressing directly and winsomely the need of the reader to put their personal trust in Christ alone for the atonement of their sins.
