Trent Sheppard - Jesus Journey: Shattering the Stained Glass Superhero and Discovering the Humanity of God

I found myself nodding, underlining, and muttering Yes! on almost every page. Jesus Journey has a vitally important message. Intelligent, relevant, and passionate, Trent Sheppard exposes our dualisms, provokes dead religion, and liberates our deepest humanity. This book has the power to reintroduce you to the one you always longed to know.

PETE GREIG, 24-7 Prayer and Emmaus Road

In this immersive experience of a book, Jesus life leaps right off the page and into our lives with disruption and hope and healing. Jesus Journey reminded me of not only why I follow Jesus but why I love him so.

SARAH BESSEY, author, Jesus Feminist and
Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith

Trent Sheppards new book, Jesus Journey, is a wonder. Its an invitation for both Christians and non-Christians to explore the incidents, people, and circumstances of Jesus life to understand how they impact our lives today. Anyone interested in a well-grounded exploration of both the historical Jesus and the Christ of faithfor they are one and the samecant find a better guide than this book.

ROBERT J. HUTCHINSON, author,
The Dawn of Christianity and Searching for Jesus

Like Paul commended Titus to the church in Corinth and Phoebe to the church in Rome, I commend my friend Trent Sheppard to you. Trent is the real deal. Hes taught multitudes, and his mind runs deep with the things of God. His message will inform, inspire, and ignite your walk with Jesus. Read and be blessed!

LOREN CUNNINGHAM, founder, Youth With A Mission

Read this book and see Jesus from new angles; he lives on its pages. Trent Sheppard brings us into the wonderfully unsettling place of drawing near and seeing Jesus more clearly.

THE REVEREND TIMOTHY CLAYTON, Rector
of Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church on Bostons
North Shore; author, Exploring Advent with Luke

My good friend and kingdom-coconspirator Trent has authority in painting a portrait of Jesus because hes fought so hard to stay right on his heels. I want to see and know the man I have given my life to following, and Jesus Journey adds a beautiful brushstroke to my portrait of the real, raw, relatable, freckled, passionate, all-powerful King Jesus. I will joyfully never see him the same.

BRAD CORRIGAN, member of the indie band Dispatch;
founder and president, Love Light & Melody

In a time when the church is waking up to our call to image God to the world, this book is a gift. Through brilliant storytelling and without compromising the divinity of Jesus, Trent brings the reader face to face with this unique, compelling, Jewish man from Nazareth. Be prepared to gaze upon Jesus in ways that will change you forever.

MAUREEN MENARD, Director of Christian Formation and
Discipleship, University of the Nations, Youth With A Mission

Jesus Journey opened the eyes of my heart to see the Word who became flesh like never before. Its such a tragedy that we can become so familiar with Jesus story that we miss the majesty and wonder of who he truly is. Jesus Journey took my heart on a journey from familiar to fascinated. This is the kind of book that goes beyond just filling your head with information; it leads your heart into an encounter with the real and living God.

JONATHAN HELSER, singer-songwriter
of the viral hit No Longer Slaves

Jesus is and always will be the greatest leader the world has ever seen, and Trent explores the practical, faith-in-action elements of Jesus life and humanity that should inspire each of us to go and make an impact in our communities. Jesus is the transformer of lives, and Jesus Journey shows us what it practically means to follow him in a deeper way.

BRAD LOMENICK, former president, Catalyst;
author, H3 Leadership and The Catalyst Leader

In an age of division within the church and tension with the world, Trent Sheppard draws us back to the compelling personality and beautiful humanity of Jesus. Beyond being a beloved campus minister, Trent Sheppard is a theologian rich in profound godly insight. While reading, I recalled my first love for Christ. After reading, I love him more. A gift to the church and the world.

KELLY MONROE KULLBERG, coauthor and editor,
Finding God at Harvard; founder, The Veritas Forum

Here is iconoclasm: recovering the real Jesus out of religious iconography.

VISHAL MANGALWADI, author,
The Book That Made Your World

ZONDERVAN

Jesus Journey

Copyright 2017 by Trent Sheppard

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

ISBN 978-0-310-34776-7 (softcover)

ISBN 978-0-310-34772-9 (ebook)

Epub Edition January 2017 ISBN 9780310347729

Unless otherwise marked, Old Testament quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible. Copyright 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise marked, New Testament quotations are from The Kingdom New Testament: A Contemporary Translation by N. T. Wright. Copyright 2011 by Nicholas Thomas Wright. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked The Message are from The Message. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design: Charles Brock | Faceout Studio

Cover photo: Zwiebackesser / Shutterstock

Interior design: Kait Lamphere

First printing December 2016 / Printed in the United States of America

For Bronwyn
and
Mira, Blaze, and Petra

Religion without humanity is very poor human stuff.

SOJOURNER TRUTH (17971883)

Did you know that Saint Nicholas (yes, that St. Nick) once punched a guy? According to tradition, it all went down at the Council of Nicaea in AD 325.

Church bishops were gathered from all over the empire. One of the main reasons they were in Nicaea was to discuss the nature of Jesus divinity. A popular and increasingly influential teacher named Arius was claiming that Jesus had been created by the Father, and Jesus the Son was lesser than and not equal to God.

But old St. Nick wasnt having any of it.

In a fit of fury that flies in the face of our cherished images of Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas became so irate during the debate that he lost his cool and smacked Arius in the face. (Talk about the Santa I never knew.)

While I strongly disagree with St. Nicks methodologysettling a debate with violenceI do agree with his conclusion: that Jesus, the Son of God, is one with and equal to the Father.

The reason I tell you this story about Saint Nicholas and Arius is to emphasize two critical points: (1) people of faith have been wrestling with and discussing the humanity and divinity of Jesus for a very long time, and (2) that discussion can get a little heated.