Jesus: An Interview Across Time

A psychiatrist looks at Christ's humanity

Clarifies Importance of Humanity of Jesus

The Scriptures clearly teach Christ's humanity is crucial in redemption — that only as a man could Jesus remove the curse of death from humankind and redeem us. (Hebrews 2:14) Hodges underscores the importance of Christ's humanity in the two-step process to atonement. First Jesus had to enter the human race, play by our rules and live out the perfect life in the face of the greatest temptations any man has ever faced in order to be eligible to atone as the perfect man and perfect sacrificial Lamb. Only then was his sacrifice worthy of redeeming all of humankind from evil. Additionally, applying his work with the depths of the human mind, the author reveals how deep down everyone secretly cries out for forgiveness based on atonement - despite the frequent denial of that very need. Hodges clarifies how such denial is secretly behind the opposition to projects like Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ.

How to Use Jesus: An Interview Across Time

For the seeker or the convinced believer wanting to deepen his spiritual life and his awareness of Jesus. Perfect for private or family devotions with brief chapters; an ideal discipline for Lent (a chapter a day); and the book offers striking opportunities for dramatic readings. Readers' have repeatedly said, "I never realized Jesus was so human, it makes me so much closer to him. And the crucifixion came alive as never before." It's the type of book readers return to over and over.

Context of Jesus: An Interview Across Time

Looking back, it took five centuries for the early church to establish that Christ was both fully God and fully man. Today we still underemphasize Christ's humanity. Some have feared that focusing on Christ's humanity will undercut his deity but Hodges insists the exact opposite is true. Jesus' humanity exalts his great deeds because very simply the harder the task the greater the accomplishment. If Jesus was truly tempted as a man, not knowing exactly what temptation was coming next, his deeds were that much greater, offering their own testimony that only an extraordinary man with divinity at his core could have achieved them. And if Jesus lived with the lifelong dread of mission, yet submitted to will of father, we can appreciate how truly magnificent his atonement actually was.

Major Contribution to Biblical Scholarship:

Despite its accessible easy reading style, the book offers original insights into the life of Jesus: his development, how he could have been both divine and human, and the crucial role the Scriptures, particularly the messianic prophecies, played in his life from beginning to end—in actuality they were his script. The messianic 40th Psalm (v7) declares that all the Old Testament Scriptures point to the messiah. Now Dr. Hodges, drawing on his expertise in decoding forensic documents, believes he has uncovered messianic prophecies that reveal new information about Christ’s missing years and development — prophecies he feels certain Christ himself would have seen.

The author explores the human development of the most important man in history - which has gone virtually overlooked — and reveals how intertwined Jesus' life was with the messianic prophecies. Jesus saw that God had taken the most holy book in the world and left him messages, truly intending for his only begotten son to live on the Word of God. The author shows how the Scriptures came alive for Jesus in a natural way and guided him his entire life — teaching him who he was as a young boy of 12; clarifying his shocking mission as the suffering Messiah (when everyone wanted the conquering Messiah); clarifying in his mind his divine identity; providing Jesus a clear sign as to when he was to begin his public ministry; leading him to fast for 40 days after his baptism; leading him to perform his first miracle and as well to clean out the Temple; teaching him which disciple would betray him; showing him what to teach and names to describe himself (Bread of Life, Light of World, the Good Shepherd); preparing him for the crucifixion by revealing to him all the details beforehand; and promising him absolutely that he would be resurrected.

Different View of Jesus:

Many modern biblical scholars portray Christ as tentative, uncertain of his mission, confused, and an aberration — a strange coalescence of ability and circumstance. Their focus is often on what he didn't know and what we don't know about Jesus. Such limiting and inadequate views of Jesus are largely due to a weak view of the Scriptures which are seen as largely historically inaccurate, reflecting a partisan view and put together haphazardly by primitive unsophisticated people. Under the guise of scholarship many theologians overvalue historical context and particularly their ability to interpret it, claiming only those who truly grasp the culture of Jesus' day can understand him and the Scriptures.

In contrast Hodges clarifies the overlooked messianic context of the entire Old Testament. While prophecy is a forbidden word to modern scholars the messianic prophecies demonstrate not only the remarkable accuracy of Scripture but as well God's intent for Jesus to see himself in the unchangeable stories of the Old Testament Scripture. Such insight enabled Jesus to discover unmistakably who he was, what his purpose was, and how he was going to carry out his mission. Both the overt and embedded messianic prophecies offer their own validation of Scripture and explain why Jesus insisted that "man shall live on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." Definite Scriptures produce a definite confident messiah who lived with the understanding for years that he had come to be the lamb of God — exactly the picture of Jesus that comes to us from the pages of the gospels. The Old Testament seen through the eyes of Jesus comes alive as never before.