King's Cross, by Tim Keller

Tim Keller does another wonderful job of communicating the truths of God in this devotional commentary on Mark. This is not an in depth, verse by verse exposition. Instead it takes each chapter of Mark and develops the themes that Mark was trying to convey about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 

It is Keller's view, as well as most scholars, that Mark is merely the scribe for the Apostle Peter in the retelling of this the ministry of Christ. Thus you find the stories come with an eyewitness feel even though John Mark was not an eyewitness of the events. It is also believed that Mark was written for the Christians of the persecuted church in Rome, thus more for a Gentile audience than a Jewish audience. Further, Mark is the first of the Gospels that was written, but also the shortest. Mark doesn't spend time developing major story lines as much as just reporting what happened. 

I have been amazed at how often Mark says, "immediately" to express how something happened. There is an urgent feel to the work and Keller does a good job of picking up on that. 

Keller is a great communicator of the truth of God's word. While we would often say he brings new light to this material I would prefer to say that he gives us the ability to connect in new understanding to this material. There is nothing new here, just the newness of a great communicator who has wrestled with the text and given us an explanation that is rich yet easy to understand. 

Read through the Gospel of Mark in one sitting, it shouldn't take you overly long even if you are a slow reader. Then go back and start in on Keller's book and you will be refreshed by the insights that you gain and the understanding you pick up about the different stories that are related. 

I very much appreciate how Keller handles the story of the rich young ruler. He does not tell us that wealth is wrong, what he tells us is that our priorities of how we live our lives is what makes the difference. Jesus came to serve. He asks us to serve. To do that effectively we have to not be putting our trust in our wealth or our material belongings, instead we have to be committed to giving all that up if necessary to be able to love others the way that Christ loved us and calls us to love others. 

Christ had all the wealth possible. He is God, He dwelled in the heavenly places, He had everything under his control. But he willingly gave all that up so that He could come and love us enough to die on a cross for us to present us to Himself as a bride without blemish. Christ understand fully what he was asking the rich young ruler to do, because He had done it. 

That is just one short part of this wonderful book. You won't be disappointed with how Keller communicates and how he develops the theme that this King, Jesus came for a Cross not a throne. 

Enjoy!