After Emmaus: How the Church Fulfills the Mission of Christ. Brian J. Tabb. 2021. [November] 208 pages. [Source: Review copy]
First sentence: This is a book about reading the Bible with a focus on Christ and the church's mission in his name.
Tabb continues, "I seek to show that Jesus's teaching about his suffering, resurrection, and mission in Luke's gospel anticipates his paradigmatic summary of the Scriptures in Luke 24:46-47. I also explain that the apostles and their associates follow the risen Lord's model for reading the Law, Prophets, and Writings with concerted focus on the Messiah and his mission. Finally, I contend that the church today should adopt the same hermeneutical lens in our Bible reading, for it grounds our gospel message and galvanizes us to participate in Christ's global work."
The good news is that the preface tells you EXACTLY what to expect from this book. It also does well in showcasing the narrative style. One gets a sense right away that this will be a scholarly read with big words that add complexity and depth to the subject.
The concept is simple enough: CHRIST IS TO BE FOUND IN ALL OF SCRIPTURE. In the Law, the Prophets, the Writings. All of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Christ is the center of it all. But this book seems to dress up this super simple concept that is essential to the faith (in my opinion) and complicates it with scholarly analysis and precision.
I do agree with the basics of this one. "We all need the proper lenses when we read God's word so that we do not fail to see what is really there." Jesus is that lens.
So After Emmaus is a scholarly analysis of LUKE and ACTS (more Luke than Acts perhaps). Tabb argues that a proper understanding of LUKE is the KEY to "getting" the gospel message and mission right. Everything we need to know about the GOSPEL and the MISSION of the church can be found in Luke (and Acts). One can use Luke/Acts to help unpack the rest of Scripture.
The focus throughout remains on Jesus the Messiah.
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