If John is the favorite Gospel of many of the world’s Christians, Frances Taylor Gench’s insights into this Gospel — its author and our Lord — are some of my favorites.
Her latest volume, Encounters with Jesus, grows out of her years of teaching in the classroom at Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary and Union-PSCE, her 2000-2001 Horizons Bible study on this gospel, and the resulting conversations with folks across our denomination. The outcome is an accessible look at more than a dozen crucial passages this pastor considers invaluable for sermon preparation. More importantly, each chapter on its own is a meaningful and challenging Bible study, quite useful for private devotional reading or background preparation for classroom teaching. It is suitable for lay and clergy alike.
Dr. Gench takes us on a journey of encounters with Jesus all the way from “in the beginning” with her exposition of John’s first chapter to encounters with the risen Lord in John’s last two chapters. Her rich insights into Jesus’ character as a paradoxically divine/human Savior bring to life the Scriptures in which he shows the value of those whom society valued the least — the Samaritan woman at the well, the woman accused of adultery, the blind — as well as those who were not always openly thrilled with what he had to say or what he did. Nicodemus came to him by night. Mary anointed Jesus’ feet and Judas rebuked them. Jesus washed the disciples’ feet and Peter rebuked Him. This book enlightens and amplifies our traditional understandings of these incidents and many more. The endnotes are extensive, and constitute an excellent bibliography that includes a broad range of biblical, theological, and homiletical resources.
At the end of each chapter are numerous “Questions for Discussion or Reflection,” purposefully posed to enhance the experience of reading Scripture. These questions bring more depth to whatever basic understanding I might have had of a passage, and challenge me to share that depth with the congregation in a fuller and fresher way. For example, in chapter 11, “Sovereign in Life and Death,” Gench discusses the passion narrative in John 18-19. One of the questions at the close of the chapter draws on the work of Raymond Brown, who reflects on the different depictions of Jesus’ crucifixion in the four gospels, asking about how these differing narratives might speak to persons of diverse spiritual needs. There’s a whole sermon in that one question!
I have kept Frances Taylor Gench’s studies on Hebrews, James, and John with the commentaries on my study shelves and used them extensively over the past decade. I am delighted to add this latest in-depth work to those volumes, as well!
Leigh B. Gillis is pastor of Cann Memorial Church in Elizabeth City, N.C.
