The Message of John (The Bible Speaks Today Series)

I will begin by making it clear -- I am neither a pastor nor a Bible scholar. I am a retired college professor and senior citizen with time now to devote to personal Bible study and with a special love for the Gospel of John. I have read many commentaries of John. So I was thrilled to come across this, by Milne, with whom I was not previously familiar. I am barely into this book and am already discovering a commentary which is so much "to the point" -- profoundly so -- that I can hardly take it in. It reads like an expository sermon,, from a man who is totally smitten - enthralled - by the way the Apostle has captured the eternal spiritual essence of Jesus Christ. I cannot "speed read" through this book. Every sentence is so carefully constructed to lift out and reveal subtle yet essential points about Jesus that every Christian needs to grasp and hold on to in his own understanding of the Word of God - the Word made flesh - who came, by the divine and perfect will of the Father, to mingle with and infiltrate into the world of sinful men, to offer them a saving solution to the otherwise insoluble, and inevitable, eternal death they (we) all face without Him. I believe that John 1:14 and John 3:16, together, capture the essential Gospel of Jesus Christ that the entire Bible speaks of. As is quite clear, I do enthusiastically recommend this commentary to anyone who loves the Gospel of John and really desires to understand, and thus perhaps love, it even more. I was not given this book for a review. I paid for it, and I love it.

The Bible Speaks Today (BST) commentary series is an extremely good Bible resource. Under the editing supervision of J.A. Motyer (Old Testament) and John Stott (New Testament), the BST yields consistently high quality expository writing, tight exegesis, and sound Reformed Evangelical theology in a very easy to read format. Bruce Milne's commentary on the Gospel of John is a wonderful example of those features and I highly recommend it and other books in this series.Milne is an organized author who expounds Scriptural passages with clear and concise commentary that never gets bogged down in technical analysis. His outline supports but never overwhelms the commentary, and the commentary never outruns the Biblical passage. Milne uses topic sentences to summarize key points in a verse or passage and lets his commentary flow from those leads. He is careful to weave his commentary into a narrative that follows the movement in John's gospel. Authors in other Bible commentary sets often touch upon a verse and then go far afield in an excursus that never really coheres with the passage. Still other authors tend to lose the reader in the exegetical weeds. With all that meandering, it's difficult for the reader to mentally summarize the key theological points of the section he has just read. "I just read three pages of commentary but what did I learn?" In contrast, Milne, and other BST authors, really excel at writing Reformed commentary that is both meaty and memorable. The editors do a remarkable job in delivering a series of Reformed theological commentary that can be truly characterized as "page-turners".I would like to add one final recommendation. The BST has recently introduced a new series, "The Bible Speaks Today Theme Series", which is devoted to surveying major Biblical topics. This series really highlights the strengths of the BST editors--tight, coherent, readable commentary from solid Reformed theologians. Some "Message of" selections include "The Message of the Holy Spirit", "...Creation", ...Trinity", "...Resurrection", and "...Salvation". My favorite book in this series is entitled "The Message of Evil & Suffering" by Peter Hicks.  The Message of Evil & Suffering: Light into Darkness (Bible Speaks Today)  If you like Milne's book, you'll love this series as well.

I have many of John Stott's commentaries on various books of the Bible, and they have been excellent. However, this one is just okay.

I love the gospel of John so I was really looking forward to getting this. I am not disappointed. I am not a scholar just an ordinary Christian who loves the Word of God. I do have several commentaries and read a lot. This commentary has been wonderful for a "simple Christian". It gives you great understanding of John's gospel. I read it with my pen and my Bible. And I've found that I can then quote it to friends. It isn't too scholarly just enough.

extremely well written, acknowledges and addresses the more important issues about this gospel in a helpful even tempered way and conveys the power of the gospel at the same time.

Cool

David Jackman's in depth knowledge of the whole Bible is clear when one reads this book on John's letters.Two of the letters we are told, were no more than one page long, yet there is so much held within them which is vital to our understanding of what is happening in the world today with regard to the work of the devil. It has always been thus, and John shows the path for us to take in order to live within the Grace of God and how to understand the real truth of the love of God and how we can grow in faith and love against the evil one.A compelling read based on David Jackman's deep knowledge of his subject. I have had the great privilege of hearing him preach. His clarity of mind and ability to put across the truth of the Bible in its entirety is simply astonishing. But this clarity comes from a deep love for God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God coupled with the importance of The Holy Spirit within us as a result of being true Christians.A must have and read again and again book which explains so much with clarity of mind born from great knowledge of the Bible as a whole and its truth of meaning to us all based on facts which cover a period of more than five thousand years to the present day. Extraordinary!

This is a good book for serious study of John's gospel. My wife is using it to help lead a group of ladies who meet weekly to open up the Bible and learn together. This book helps her to prepare well for the weekly meetings. As a used item, it arrived in good condition with unmarked pages and an undamaged spine.

Scholarly, well written, and in places absolutely revelatory. A real boost to one's understanding of the Gospel message, and can only help to deepen faith.

Excellent book, great insights, but not as shown, mine was older version but well worth money as are all in this series

Just as described thanks