Bringing the Gospel of John to Life (Our Sunday Visitor)

Today, I am reviewing Bringing the Gospel of John to Life. This is the fourth and final book of George Martin's series, with each of these thick and meaty books being published by Our Sunday Visitor. The book is a whopping 600+ pages long and is what you would call a verse-by-verse commentary. The book and some of the other chapters begin with the author providing us some orientation to the Scripture passage we are about to read. Each chapter is then broken down into sections with the Scripture passage first, followed by some cross-references to other Scripture passages. After this, each verse is given a commentary on the meaning of the passage with focus on language, symbolism, and relation to other passages in Scripture. There are also little "bonus" sections sprinkled throughout the book entitled Background which covers a wide variety of topics, including Bethany, Capernaum, Satan, etc.

This book is brilliantly written and provides a thorough exposition of the Gospel. The whole four volume set is one that belongs in any student of the Bible's library. What I like best about this book is that it includes the Scripture and the commentary. Therefore, you don't need to go back and forth between your Bible and this book, but have it all in one convenient volume. Another great thing about this book is the language used. A lot commentaries, which are great, can overwhelm you with knowledge and be just too deep for most people. This commentary, however, is straightforward and to the point. George Martin spells out the Gospel in black and white and makes it accessible for everyone. I recommend this book (or any of the other three in this series), but recommend you read through them slowly and absorb as much knowledge as you can.

This book was provided to me by Our Sunday Visitor in exchange for an honest review.