John for Everyone: Part One, Chapters 1-10 by Tom Wright

John for Everyone: Part One, Chapters 1-10 Reviews

• 
  Neil R. Coulter

  Another excellent volume of N. T. Wright's "For Everyone" guides to the books of the New Testament. I've loved working through this book with our evening Bible study group, and I look forward to the second volume of John's gospel.
  
  John shows us the "signposts" of Jesus's ministry, challenging us to ask questions and really listen to the answers Jesus gives. As the gospel moves forward, Jesus faces more and more intense scrutiny and criticism, and again and again he turns what is initially meant to be a trial against him into a case against those who are attacking him. The questions thrown at him are the same that we all still wrestle with today: Sure, you do good things—but are you really the son of God? If so, how is that possible? And what does it mean for our understanding of the world and our place in it?
  
  Throughout John's gospel, we see that Jesus always has time for people who come to him sincerely wanting to know him and be close to him. But those who only want to confirm their own authority and power, find his responses much different.
  
  Wright's commentary brings out all of these themes, section by section, in a personable and engaging way. The end result is that I am totally in awe of Jesus and eager to keep learning more.
• 
  Jon

  If you want top-notch scholarship in a supremely readable format, this commentary series is for you. Tom Wright (a.k.a. N.T. Wright) has forged a reputation as a world-class historian of first-century Roman and first-century Jewish culture, and simultaneously as a world-class theologian. His "For Everyone" commentaries bring all that knowledge into a slim volume for each book of the New Testament (two volumes in a few cases, like John's Gospel). I have enjoyed using this book and others as devotional reading which challenge both my mind and my heart.
  
  As with all the commentaries in this series, John for everyone breaks the book up into small, digestible sections. Each 3-6 page chapter starts with Wright's own, highly readable and excellent translation of the section of text. Then it really kicks off with a small anecdote or illustration which Wright brilliantly uses to illuminate the text in its original cultural and rhetorical setting for a few pages. No footnotes or quotes in German, Latin, or even Greek throw impediments in your way. If you want access to those, you can get Wright's other commentaries and 800-page theological tomes with footnotes aplenty.
  
  A massive hazard of theology or any Bible study is intellectual learning divorced from any personal application, and Wright shows his reverence for the scriptures by ending each section with a few paragraphs of challenge to live the text he's just covered.
  
  I'm working my way through the New Testament For Everyone series, and after ten or so books I continue to find them fresh, challenging, and highly informative.
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  Larada Horner-Miller

  What a truly amazing study of John. N. T. Wright starts each section off with a contemporary story to reveal the deep teaching of the gospel. What a fascinating method to bring the gospel of John alive, repeating the question, “Is Jesus the Messiah?”
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  Travis Bow

  A pretty decent study book to get some more info about John, with some detail on the subtleties and looks at the big picture. Unfortunately it's somewhere in the no-man's-land between being a quick, light devotional read and a serious theological commentary. It's too long and detailed to be a quick get-to-know-John book and it's too vague to be much use for interpreting the tricky theological parts of John.
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  Bridget

  I read almost all of this book as a way to gain more from my Bible study. While I didn't like NT Wright's use of his own translation in addition to the commentary, he offered many insights that I had never thought of. One of the things I liked best was how he made a lot of Old Testament connections. I found myself flipping back to the OT and having a lot of ah-ha moments.
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  Andres LeonRangel

  Good. Profound. Hard to follow and connect the stories
  
  I like the book. Sometimes the connecting stories are missing something. The bridge that is built to connect the chapter sections is unclear and sometimes non existent. Besides this point I like the book. The way the gospel of john is splitted and the conclusion for each chapter are quite fascinating.
  Thanks for writing this sir.
• 
  Christine Ottaway

  This a real treat of a book which helps unpack the Gospel of John. I love the insights and how Tom Wright never loses sight of the overall story and vision. Each section is perfect for a busy day but you can enjoy several sections on a less busy day.
  
  Inspirational and perceptive. I've been a Christian years and I am blessed and encouraged every day. I'm now working my way through book 2 and loving that just as much.
• 
  Glenn Crouch

  I do enjoy Wright’s “for Everyone” books, and this one doesn’t disappoint. Whilst he is more of a specialist in the writings of Paul and of the Synoptics, I appreciate his approach to John’s Gospel in this devotional commentary.
  
  Looking forward to continuing with the second half of his journey through this Gospel.
• 
  Anna Hardin

  Reading with new eyes
  
  Another excellent commentary! I've read John's gospel multiple times, but Wright's vision of it has given me new eyes to see beneath the surface. Ready for Part 2!
• 
  Robert Lloyd

  Good commentary
  
  I really enjoyed this commentary which helped me more fully appreciate the Gospel of John. The author not only gave good historical perspectives, but also very useful devotional perspectives as well about how John can relate to me personally.
• 
  Christopher Trend

  A well written commentary on the first 10 chapters of John’s Gospel. It combines scholarly themes and clear English. This makes it very accessible for both private & group study. The themes of John’s Gospel are clearly brought out.
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  Tim Norman

  Great little guide. It would be best for someone looking for help in reading the Bible devotionally. I love that the insights from one of the leading biblical scholars in the world are balanced with a heart to help people experience the goodness of knowing Jesus.
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  Ashley Ethridge

  Absolutely brilliant...the analogies that he makes to explain so many parts of scripture is truly remarkable and opens your heart completely. This book is truly written for everyone to read and highly recommend it.
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  Tabitha

  Written for those with limited knowledge of the Bible, but still packed full of insights and truth and beauty. Wright always helps me see Scripture with fresh eyes.
• 
  Brenda Seefeldt

  Recommended commentary series.
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  Eric

  An excellent small volume of commentary on this extraordinary Gospel literature.
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  Joe Valenti

  I love these little popular commentaries. They are the perfect option between the scholarly commentary and a shallow devotional. Perfect for digging a little deeper during quiet time.
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  Amy Jacobsen

  I enjoy this series. Great resource for my year focused on the Gospel of John. Looking forward to reading the second book!
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  benebean

  I haven't read almost any commentary before, and I wasn't completely sure what to expect or even exactly what I wanted from it. I *think* this one is generally much more readable than many of them. It's a gentle walkthrough the book of John- which I guess is what you would expect from a commentary on John. I suppose I was just hoping for something that was startlingly insightful, which this wasn't for me. Perhaps I've just heard all the things he had to say before.
  
  So far I've only had a few minor complaints. Also, considering that I think commentary is really supposed to help interpret/interpret it's not really fair for me to complain "but that's just what you think it means. It could mean something else." But I was still peeved when the author assumed the woman at the well was being evasive to distract from her shame when she asked a theological question. I mean, maybe she was just really curious about the question, especially since she just realized she was in the presence of a great religious teacher. After all if you ever wanted to know the answers to the great theological questions, how many chances would the average ill-reputed samaritan woman get to ask someone they perceived as a great prophet? I mean I can see her as being evasive too but I didn't think the narrative made it conclusive that evasion was her motive. So with all that being said, I wished the author had not been so firmly certain in his interpretation and at least mentioned the curiosity possibility. So it's various things like that, that left me a little bit disappointed at parts.
  
  overall, I applaud N.T. Wright for making an entire series of sound commentary accessible to to non-theologians.
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  Becky B

  NT Wright breaks down the first half of the book of John pericope by pericope. After providing his own English translation of the passage, Wright gives an anecdotal story that he will then relate to as he breaks down the meaning and point of the passage. He does all of this in easy to read language while not skimping on the richness and depth of the text. It is a unique (and happy) medium between the two extremes of Biblical commentaries: the more scholarly expository-style commentaries that require you to dig through massive tomes of scholarly language including some Greek and Hebrew, and the more fluffy surface-level commentaries that barely touch on any historical context or word studies but give nice thoughts based on the text. Wright obviously takes into account the original language and historical/social context, but he only relates what is necessary for proper understanding of the main points and keeps the writings on each pericope to 3-4 pages.
  
  I have a Bible minor plus an emphasis in Bible, so the fluffy devotionals don't really cut it for me. I really appreciated this as part of my daily devotions giving me enough to chew on along with the text, and helping me see things in John I've never noticed or heard (thanks to Wright's scholarly background to pick up on it). I'll be continuing to use more of the For Everyone series in my devotional times.
• 
  Christopher

  Continuing through my reading of N.T. Wright's popular commentaries on the New Testament, I have now come to the last book of the Gospel narratives, John. Mr. Wright chooses to split his commentary into two parts and this one covers the first 10 chapters of John. Personally, considering how Mr. Wright was able to fit his entire commentary on Luke into one book and that, thus far, this is the shortest commentary in the series, I think splitting this commentary into two was unnecessary. Still, that is only a minor gripe and could be blamed more on the editor(s) or publisher(s) than on Mr. Wright himself. And, like the previous commentaries, Mr. Wright never strays too far from his main point: that the story of Israel, of humanity, has reached its climax in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And perhaps in no other Gospel is Mr. Wright able to tease this theme out more than here. His writings on the John's gospel are both inspiring and inspired. And like the previous commentaries, Mr. Wright takes a block of verses and dedicates about 3-4 pages on expounding upon it. It is never too burdensome and almost always comes with a nice anecdote to illuminate Mr. Wright's, and the Gospel's, main point. I still continue to recommend this series for anyone interested in delving into the New Testament a little deeper.
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  Christopher Goins

  Douglas Wilson once said that N.T. Wright is good on Jesus and very muddled or confusing on Paul. This book, focusing on Jesus in the Gospel of John, would be an example of that.
  
  At the end of the book of John (not covered by this book) we read: "But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written." Something similar could be said of the the number of gems in this book. Of course, they can fit into this slim but jam-packed book.
  
  When I was an undergraduate religion major and began to study the person of Jesus in-depth, I came to the exhilarating conclusion that Jesus of Nazareth was a "religious genius." "John for Everyone: Part One" draws me to that same conclusion. Jesus was a rabbi who was -- unlike the other rabbis who studied "under the feet" of other rabbis -- an apprentice of God. And Jesus uses everything that the Father taught him in polemical dialogues with the pharisees. That is, at the very least, the picture I get of Jesus from Tom Wright's explication of those first 10 chapters of the Book of John.
  
  As usual, Tom is pastoral -- a scholar with a pastor's heart. And in this volume he provides crucial Middle Eastern context to understand and appreciate the parables.
• 
  Ben

  N.T. Wright has the wonderful gift of being able to write in a very gentle accessible way whilst getting across a lot of ideas and inspiration. This commentary is a great example of that. Littered with many illustrations from modern life he traces the key question of Jesus' identity through the Gospel, drawing on John's symbolism and his use of and illusion to Old Testament scripture. It is this aspect which I found most helpful having never spotted such parallels before such as between the feeding of the 5000 and Jesus walking across the water with the Exodus story with the provision of the manna and the crossing of the red sea. N.T. Wright's formidable knowledge of the Old Testament as well as the context of the Holy Land in the First Century that makes this guide so helpful. Recommended!