In ‘Journeys with Jesus’, Johnson (via the abridgement by Richard B Ramsay) provides readers with an excellent resource which will help and equip ones understanding of interpreting Scripture correctly and as Johnson hopes in the same vein as the Apostles’ examples as we find recorded in Acts and the Epistles and Letters.

Every Christian who reads the Scripture automatically applies some form of hermenuetic. Therefore, it is vital that Christians are equipped with the proper resources to enable them to properly interpret the text, applying a biblical and faithful hermenuetic.

In publishing an abridgement of Johnson’s earlier work (‘Walking with Jesus through His Word’), P&R have furnished ‘ordinary’ laymen with a great resource and this book would make a valuable contribution to the shelves of any Bible reader.

Johnson will help readers appreciate the bigger picture of Scripture and the Redemptive-Historical move throughout the pages of Scripture revealing the unfolding plan of the coming Redeemer who would once for all deal with sin.

Johnson also aims to guard against moralistic applications and ‘bible stories’ from the Old Testament, seeking to rather point readers to where they are in redemptive history at that given point in the great story.

Readers will also be able to learn how to identify key interpretive components, such as Covenant, as well as Christ’s Threefold Office as Prophet, Priest, and King.

Through the book readers will develop and learn the skills necessary to properly look at, and understand a given text before them, and understand the various aspects and facets at work in Scripture, aiding readers to read the Scripture more faithfully and accurately, hopefully therefore being able to digest and pass on the teaching of Scripture more faithfully to the intended meaning of Scripture.

The book is well presented throughout and Johnson’s arguments are robust and well articulated. The overall presentation is therefore desirable for those interested in wanting to faithfully interpret the Scripture and would be a very helpful ‘guidebook’ to keep close by for referral.

I would recommend purchasing a copy of this, even if it is for your own help in reading Scripture and helping develop a more faithful understanding of the various concepts at play which need our consideration.

I received a free review copy of this book from the Publisher in return for an honest review. I was not obliged to give a positive review.

Not what I expected. By the description and title, I expected to have a book that explained how and where the OT pointed to Jesus, i.e., specific passages. Not necessarily prophecy, but typology, etc.

However, it's more of a book on how to study the OT, which is fine, if that's what you're looking for. I did get some good insights on this, but it definitely wasn't what I was looking for.

I do believe that some people will get a lot of good info out of this book.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, who provided this book for my review.

Andy Stanley's comments about unhitching the Old Testament from the Christian faith has really caused a stir in recent months. It has many theologians defending the validity of the Old Testament and why Christians need it. Thankfully, there are few books that have come out at the right time showing the Bible is one story which includes the Old Testament.

Dennis E Johnson's latest book, Journeys with Jesus shows us how the Bible connects to Christ. Johnson, like many others, stated that Jesus is the main hero of the Bible. In today's culture, many keep putting themselves as the center of the Bible when it is all about Christ. Jesus pointed out to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus that all of scripture from Moses to the prophets were about Him.

Johnson shows how God fulfilled His covenant in Christ which was prophesied in the beginning of redemption history. Johnson also shows us how we can take a Biblical passage and apply it to our day showing the Bible is relevant for our day and time. Then he shows the fulfillment of all the signs that God gave to His people through the Scriptures.

Once again, a timely book where many who claim to be believers are questions the sufficiency of scripture and even its relevance.

Journeys with Jesus

Every Path in the Bible Leads Us to Christ

by Dennis E. Johnson; Abridged by Richard B. Ramsay

P & R Publishing

Christian

Pub Date 31 May 2018

I am reviewing a copy of Journeys With Jesus through P&R publishing and Netgalley:

Each of the Bible’s sixty six books tells the story of a hero trying to serve God while going on heroic missions. Each story is the individuals story of a personal relationship with God.

Dennis Johnson shows us how these recurring things in the Bible in both the old and new testaments are pointing us to Jesus Christ. This is the fulfillment of God’s promises and the longings and hopes of humanity’s. He shows us how to be alert and aware of what we are reading.

I give Journeys With Jesus five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Not precisely a devotional book, but this is an explication and discussion of finding the path to Christ and His teachings in all of scripture that may be inspirational. The author uses Mr. Spurgeon's parable of all roads leading to London as a way of explaining all scripture leads to the savior. The author also takes us through the gospels, explaining and illustrating their meanings according to Jesus. The author also provides additional questions and sources to help in our personal searches. I appreciated the historical context in parts of the book, and the thorough examinations of Old and New Testament passages. These assist in fortifying the premise that through scripture we learn how to study scripture. The most important lesson gleaned from this for me was how focusing on seeing Christ in scripture, we can become more like Him. I wish that would happen for all believers. Hopefully this book will reach a wide audience.

"Journeys with Jesus" describes how passages in the Old Testament point to Christ and His mission. Jesus taught his disciples on the road to Emmaus about where the Old Testament spoke about Him and what He had suffered. This author believes that this information was also taught to the other disciples, and we find the these teachings in the New Testament. He believes that it is important to read the Old Testament with this in view.

The author started by explaining the importance of covenants and how they were given and grew more detailed as the overall story of the Bible progresses. He also explained how we need to look at the context of a passage, its meaning to the original audience, and its place in the unfolding plan of God's Redemption. He also explained how to identify prophecies, people, and events that foreshadow Jesus and his mission. He also looked at the roles of prophet, priest, and king and how those roles (and the sacrifices) are fulfilled Christ. The author provided many examples of all of these things.

He also explained the role of the Holy Spirit to teach and guide us as we read Bible. Overall, I'd highly recommend this book for its solid, clear teaching on this important and exciting way of studying your Bible.

First sentence: THE TITLE OF this book implies an audacious claim: all sixty-six books in the Bible, which were written by many people over many centuries, are united by one central theme, a single plotline, and a unique Hero, Jesus the Messiah.

Journeys with Jesus: Every Path in the Bible Leads Us To Christ is an abridgment of Walking with Jesus Through His Word: Discovering Christ in All the Scriptures by Dennis E. Johnson.

I loved, loved, loved the longer book and I loved the abridged version as well. The premise of both is great.

The premise is simple: Christ can be found in all of Scripture--not just the New Testament. Believers can benefit greatly by understanding HOW Christ can be found in each and every book of the Bible. Sometimes, Johnson argues, Christ can clearly be seen. For example, when New Testament writers under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, clearly connect Old Testament passages with Jesus Christ the Savior. He can be seen as the Seed, the Branch, the Passover Lamb, the Son of David, etc. Other times Christ's presence is more subtle and takes a little effort. For example, he can be seen in the covenants, with a covenantal understanding of the Bible. He can be seen in the roles of priest, prophet, and king. Johnson guides his readers into a proper understanding of how to read the Bible. He covers all types and genres of the Bible.

One of the things I appreciate most about the book is how natural it is, how he believes that believers should learn how to read the bible by reading the bible. In other words, he argues that the New Testament writers show us how to read the Bible, how to approach it, how to interpret it. Also by letting bible texts shed light on other bible texts.

I also loved how substantive it is. It isn't intimidating or super-academic yet there is a weightiness to it that is needed.

If you know me then you’ll know that I love the Old Testament, I enjoy reading the more seemingly obscure and difficult parts of Scripture. Over the last few months the majority of sermons that I have preached have been from the Old Testament, in Genesis and in Joel, it has been both a great joy and a very stretching and challenging task.

When it comes to the Old Testament sometimes Christians can think “can we not just preach Jesus? Why bother with the Old Testament?” Reading, teaching and preaching from the Old Testament can sometimes feel like an uphill battle, but if we are to preach the whole counsel of God then that includes the Old Testament, even the most difficult parts.

Johnson has written a book that is built on the solid foundation that the whole of the Old Testament points to Jesus. Journeys with Jesus doesn’t only help the reader see different ways to get to Jesus from the Old Testament, but it also warns the reader of how not to go about getting to Jesus. As Christians our desire should be to learn from the Word of God properly, to teach it well, and to understand the applications of its message for our lives today, to understand how and how not to get to Jesus properly, as God intended, from each passage.

There are many books out there on this topic, a lot of which are academic studies, but Johnson takes a much lighter approach which makes this book packed full of great truths whilst also being understandable.

Johnson doesn’t just give you the answers though, as many similar books do, instead he takes you with him on this journey to find Jesus. This book will encourage you to read and excite you about the Old Testament, something that is missing in many churches today, but more than that it makes you think about how Jesus saw the Old Testament and how he used it to teach and to draw people to himself from it.

The Bible is not a document compiled of sixty-six different books that have nothing in common, but the Bible has a melodic line running through it, a red string that you can trace all the way through. From Genesis to Revelation you can walk through the Bible and all the while learn about Jesus who is only given a name when you hit the New Testament.

This book will make you want to learn and grow in principles that will help you understand the Bible, and it is full of helpful insights into how to unpack what the Bible is teaching.
Johnson uses the imagery of a journey with valleys and mountains, with springs and rivers and as you journey through this terrain trying to get to Jesus from words penned hundreds of years before his birth you will find that like those on the Road to Emmaus your heart will burn as you understand the Scriptures.

If you want to know God’s Word more, if you want to love the Old Testament and refer to it as often as Jesus did, then this book is a good place to start. It is not too long and it is not too short, it is not too academic and it is not a ‘dummies guide to the Bible’, but it is a well-balanced and well thought through book that will make you want to study the Old Testament more.

Rating 5/5