Matt Mikalatos
Mikalatos begins The First Time We Saw Him with a disclaimer: "Remember, the point is not to breathe new life into the Scriptures. It's to remind us that they're already alive." And, boy, are they ever!
Let me also include a disclaimer: I have been a Christian my entire life. There have been moments that I have "taken off" my WWJD bracelet (or attitude), but there is no possible way for me to separate myself from Christ. I know that. BUT . . . I find that the stories, the parables, can get a bit stale. I've read them so many times that I feel like I know them by heart. There's a danger then in hearing what they are saying to you . . . or even listening long enough to believe they might have anything to say.
The truth is, that I'm exactly the kind of person for whom Mikalatos was writing this book. Awakening to the wonder. That's what so many of us need. Not adding wonder, or uncovering wonder. Awakening to it. Because the wonder is there. It's in every word, and every story Jesus told.
Using modern language, names, and situations, Mikalatos retells Jesus' story as recounted in the Gospels. From Jesus' birth to a young girl named "Miryam" ("Mary" in Aramaic), through the miracles and signs and wonders, to his resurrection and ascension, each story comes alive with beauty and wonder. And conviction. Mikalatos writes lovely prose, and he captures the heart of the reader, bringing us in to the story where we eavesdrop on the lessons and can even nearly glimpse the eye of Jesus Himself as He looks deeply into our hearts, piercing our souls with conviction and grace. When needed, he adds his own thoughts and narration. When that will get in the way, he simply lets the retelling of Jesus' story speak for itself.
As he is wrapping up this short book, Mikalatos retells the Great Commission. For his purposes, he refers to it perhaps more accurately as "The Great Thing Entrusted to Us," where he suggests Jesus' commission to us is more than that. It's a command and a blessing and a promise and an invitation, all rolled in to one. This was perhaps my favorite chapter in the book. It was the heaviest on author narration, because I think we often misunderstand what Jesus was saying and doing as He stood on the mountain with his closest followers. Where often this message gets bogged down in guilt, Mikalatos reminds us there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. This isn't an order or a guilt-driven demand. This is an invitation. It's an empowering. It's a gift that we get to share.
I began my review with a quote from the beginning of the book, and I'll end it with two from the end:
[The new believers] are watching [Thom], leaning forward, eager to hear what he might say. He smiles and begins another story of what he has heard, what he has seen with his eyes, what he has looked at, and what his hands have touched.
And they stay with him until long after dark, gathered around the great light and enveloping warmth of his stories.
Mikalatos is talking about Thomas and the missionary work he did following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. But he could as easily have been describing how I felt about this book--and what we, as believers, are invited to share in our love and spreading of the Gospel. Stories of what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at, and what our hands have touched.
One last note. When Mikalatos closes the Epilogue, he subtly addresses Communion in one of the most beautiful ways I can imagine.
Pete lifts his wine glass. "In his memory," he says, and we toast together, and we drink, and we tell stories long into the night, and there is raucous laughter and there are tears and comforting arms and hymns and on the way home we link arms and hold car doors for one another and there are kisses on cheeks and warm hugs and we tuck into our beds warmed by our memories and, when the sun wakes us, we rise to make another day of memories together with him, here, in the real world, where he lives.This, friends, is our world. The place where we live, and the place where He lives, and the place where we still get to make memories together. Thank you, Matt Mikalatos, for awakening me to the wonder of that gift.
{I received this book free from Baker Books through the Baker Book Bloggers program. I have expressed my own opinions, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.}
