The Family of Jesus {Review}
Have you ever wondered about the family of Jesus? The Bible tells us a little about several members of His family but nothing in great detail. I’ve often wondered what their daily lives were like, or what they thought about the world around them. With Karen Kingsbury new book, The Family of Jesus, she explores and tells the story of 6 different family members: Joseph, Zechariah, Elizabeth, John the Baptist, James, and Mary.
America’s favorite inspirational novelist offers a fictional view of six of the family members of Jesus, all anchored by Scriptural truth, creating a life-changing and unprecedented emotional connection to the Bible.
Through The Family of Jesus, readers will develop an emotional connection to the family members of Jesus, learning about their lives and falling in love with Scripture along the way. Bible studies and devotionals abound, and in churches everywhere people gather to seek a deeper understanding of God’s word and its application to their lives. But too often these studies engage only the analytic approach to Bible learning.
In The Family of Jesus, #1 New York Times bestselling novelist Karen Kingsbury will make you laugh, cry, and ultimately care more deeply about the Bible by helping you grasp the truths in Scripture not just with your mind, but with your heart. The characters in these short stories were among those closest to Jesus—Mary, Joseph, Jesus’ brother James, John the Baptist, Zechariah, and Elizabeth. Each has a compelling tale to tell. Kingsbury intersperses fictional, emotionally gripping details anchored in Scripture with historical and theological insights and questions that will guide soul-searching and reflection.
The Family of Jesus not only provides a deeper understanding of the relatives of our Savior, but also helps readers acquire tools that will draw them closer to Christ, to the Scriptures, and to each other.
I love that the author explores what life would have been like for each of these family members. Such as Joseph, Jesus’ stepfather, the man who married the pregnant Mary even though it wasn’t his child. Or Mary, who gets pregnant out of wedlock through extraordinary circumstances and has to watch her son die on the cross. What about Zechariah, Jesus’ uncle, who’s doubt caused him to lose his voice? His wife, Elizabeth, who longed for a child while others thought her to be too old.
We also get to “peek” into the lives of John the Baptist, whose very passion, teaching others about Jesus, would lead to his death. And James, Jesus’ brother, who doubted his older brother himself, became one of His disciples.
While I understand this is a work of fiction, it is based on Scripture as well as historical insights to keep it as close to the truth as it could be. I fell in love with each character, and I now see them in a different light, instead of just names on a page in the Bible. What a neat concept, to explore the roles and bonds of family, as this book covers for the reader.
At the end, there is also a section of weekly applications (one for each character) that has thoughtful points and questions to consider as you study the Bible verses, as well as group discussion questions to use for your small group studies. I found these to be very helpful, so that I could gain even more knowledge and details about how to apply their lessons to my own life.
I can’t wait for the next installments of this series, which will cover the friends of Jesus, followers, and first hand encounters of Jesus.
I also am giving away a copy of this book! Go to the giveaway page to enter!
You can buy your own copy of The Family of Jesus. Let me know what you think after you read it in the comments!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Family Christian Books to aid in my honest review.
Katrina Weghorn says
I enjoyed this book; not completely surprising since I enjoy Karen Kingsbury’s works anyway, but the Family of Jesus was a really neat “spin” on a dear subject matter.
To consider the thoughts and feelings of Joseph or Jesus’ aunt and uncle, as they went through their own issues but also lived through Jesus’ life and the ripples it surely had on their lives.
I was pleased to read there are 3 more books in the Family of Jesus series coming out over the next few years. I’ll pick them up too.
ashley @irishred02 says
Very interesting idea for a book. I love historical fiction! Thanks for sharing!
Tammy Kindig says
Karen Kingsbury is one of my all time favorite authors. This would be a good book to add to my collection. And yes, I have often wondered what it would have been like to be part of Jesus’ family. The feelings that Joseph and Mary must have dealt with…as she becomes pregnant? The feelings Joseph must have been going through knowing he had not laid with Mary and now she is having a baby. He was going to become a dad. What must John the Baptist been thinking as he lead the way for Jesus. Karen has a way of writing that almost always makes me think a bit deeper and feel a bit deeper. Thank you for the chance to win ….
Sherryl says
I loved this book. I am so looking forward to the next in the series.