The Cross in the New Testament by Leon Morris

The first Bible commentary that I ever read was by Leon Morris. It was on the Gospel of John, and was so clearly written and helpful that I still measure the value of commentaries based on that book. I snapped this up at Half Price Books when I saw it in a stack of new but remaindered books for a great price. I then proceeded to not read it for quite some time, which I know because I found the receipt in it dated August 2003. Anyway, I'm glad I finally did read it, because it too is a well-written, easily-understood and nontechnical book.

Morris goes through the theology of the cross as seen from the standpoint of each author in the New Testament. Of course, these (along with the OT) make up a complete theology of the cross, and not several separate and unique understandings of the work of Christ in his death. Still, each author emphasizes different aspects of that theology based on the points that they were trying to get across to their readers at the time. And so the cross is shown to have practical implications that arise from the theology. One author may emphasize the redemptive aspect, another may emphasize that through his death Jesus earned the right to give the Holy Spirit to his followers, for example. Each has his purpose for those emphases, and Morris draws them out and exposits the theology contained in each.

Morris is careful in his analysis, never force-fitting to a predefined theory. And that attitude is a good reminder for someone who teaches on occasion.

I read this over the course of late 2011 through late 2012, with lots of starts and stops as I read other things. While it is simply written, it's not one to read as you go to sleep, which is when I tend to read the lighter items on my list. I'll be hanging onto this.