Preaching the Hard Sayings of Jesus

By James R. Carroll and John T. Carroll

Book Overview

"Challenge" has routinely been associated with the message of Jesus—and rightly so. But beyond the challenging words of Jesus come the "hard sayings"; these persist in shaking us out of our easy... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565632303
• ISBN13: 9781565632301
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Hendrickson Publishers
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A Must-Read for Pastors!

This is an excellent book for pastors! It is co-written by a father and son -- father James R. Carroll is a retired Presbyterian minister, and son John T. Carroll is a professor of New Testament at a Presbyterian seminary. They have teamed up to tackle some of the hardest sayings of Jesus. For each passage, professor John gives a 3- or 4-page exegesis (under the heading "An Interpretation"), and then pastor James spends 3-4 pages helping us move from the desk to the pulpit (under the heading "Text to Sermon"). They have divided the book up as follows:Chapter 1 -- The Scandel of Grace (Luke 10:30-35 The "Good Samaritan": Reimaging an Enemy; Luke 18:10-14a The Pharisee and the Tax Collector at Prayer: The Scandel of Grace for Sinners; Matt 20:1-15 All in a Day's (Or an Hour's?) Work: When Grace is Not Fair; Luke 15:11-32 On Being a Prodigal Father) ** Chapter 2 -- The Cost of Grace: Demands of Discipleship (Luke 14:26/Matt 10:37 For the Love of Family; Luke 16:18/Mark 10:11-12/Matt 5:31-32,19:9 On Divorce, Remarriage, and Adultery; Mark 9:42-48 Self-Abuse for the Sake of the Kingdom) **Chapter 3 -- The Offense of Judgment (Mark 3:28-29 The Sin Not Forgiven; Matt 22:1-14/Luke 14:16-24 On Being Left Out at the Final Banquet; Matt 18:23-35 When Mercy Fails: The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant; Luke 16:19-31 Wealth: Barrier to Bliss? The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus) **Chapter 4 -- A Jesus Hard to Understand: Two Elusive Parables (Luke 16:1-8a Honestly Now! In Praise of a Dishonest Manager?; Luke 11:5-8 Help at Midnight) ** Chapter 5 -- The Offense of Jesus' Humanity (Mark 9:1, 13:30 Jesus and the End of Time: Was He Mistaken?; Mark 14:36/Matt 26:39,42/Luke 22:42 Was Jesus Afraid to Die?; Mark 15:34 Were You There (God) When They Crudified My Lord?) **I have used this book for the basis of my preaching several times, and the congregation has loved it. This book has given me a lot to think about -- it truly deals with the hardest sayings of Jesus, well-researched and well-written by this pastor-father and scholar-son.