The Heart Of It All

Part of my Lenten reading has been The Heart Of It All by Samuel Wells. It's a great book, and I have really enjoyed it. It is sub-titled 'The Bible's Big Picture'. In the first part Wells provides a reduced or summarised Bible. As always, in that kind of project, it is interesting not only to see what is included, but also to see what is omitted. I like the way he creates a flowing story as he joins up thinking in a helpful way. It does help one to reflect on what is really important in the Bible.

Then, in the second part, he offers a commentary on what has been. Again, there are some very interesting pointers here. One important point that emerges strongly is the value of human relationship with God. He explores this through the experience of wilderness and the idea of covenant. "The wilderness was about one question: was Israel prepared to depend utterly on God? That’s the question that runs through the whole of the Old Testament. Covenant is perhaps the single most important word in the whole of the Old Testament, and so it becomes the theme of the second section of the narrative. Covenant is about the permanent intersection of the holiness of God with the fitful faithfulness and wanton waywardness of Israel."

He goes on to see how the same ideas and themes are worked out in the incarnation. "Incarnation plays the same role in the New Testament that covenant plays in the Old: it’s the embodiment of God’s faithfulness and the guarantee that there is no destiny for God separable from the commitment to be with Israel and the creation."

Wells points to the death and resurrection of Jesus as the key to much of that with which we engage, noting the important place this story has in the retelling undertaken by the Gospel writers with particular reference to Mark. "Mark’s gospel has been called a passion narrative with a long introduction, and there’s no question that the gospels see the last week in Jerusalem as the focus of Jesus’ whole ministry. It’s the time par excellence when we see the wonder of who God is and the truth of who we are. The three strands of Jesus’ story – the close relationship with the twelve, the wider engagement with the crowds, and the constant disputes with the authorities – coalesce in the events of these days."

"Resurrection isn’t the end of the story, however: the body of Christ on earth is to be the church, which is founded and empowered by the dramatic events of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit makes Christ present and clothes the church with grace to live the redeemed life and power to share the gospel with the nations."

Wells' perspective in this book is a great contribution to seeing the relevance of the Bible, and looking to something of how we can work that out in our lives.

I wonder which of the Bible stories you think are the most important ones.