The Last Word

The Last Word
By Wallace Benn
Christian Focus Publications. 192 pages. £5.99
ISBN 1 85792 079 1

Any Christian should be able to read this exposition of John's Gospel 13-17, but it does not lack theological depth. Indeed, it is striking to reflect on how little writing of this quality is available.
The title The Last Word indicates the importance of these chapters in John's account of Jesus' ministry. However, the Farewell Discourse is not easy to read and understand, so Wallace Benn is to be congratulated on making it very accessible. The wealth of illustrations throws light on what the biblical text is saying, and clearly comes from someone who has much experience in the pastoral ministry. Christians today sometimes complain that biblical exposition is hard going and requires too much effort, but if they are unable to digest this volume then the fault lies entirely with them!
The author is very alert to current controversies over the work of the Holy Spirit and this exposition is particularly helpful in handling these. For example, he carefully distinguishes what is meant by the Spirit's 'guiding into all truth' (John 15.13), pointing out that these words were primarily addressed to the apostles and only spoken in a derivative sense to believers today. There is a similarly careful explanation of the concept of the disciples doing greater works than Jesus (John 14.12). Wallace Benn's firm conclusion that these greater works refer to people being born again to resurrection and eternal life needs to be more widely recognised.
The author is familiar with the leading commentaries on John's Gospel and includes judicious quotes from them, but he is not afraid to rely on his own conclusions where necessary. I was encouraged to see that he tackles chapter 14 on the basis of the questions which the disciples put to Jesus. It was only recently that this was pointed out to me as being the obvious way of tackling that passage.
At the end of the book is a section with questions for each chapter. This will enable the individual reader to gain more from the text, as well as making it suitable for a series of housegroup-type Bible studies. All in all, this is a book which the ordinary Christian should find heart-warming and helpful, yet it is one to which the preacher could well turn in search of ideas for application based on sound exegesis. It could well be a congregation's 'book of the month' and it certainly deserves a wide circulation.

Mark Burkill