JOHN: Jesus Christ is God
By William F. Cook
Christian Focus. 300 pages. £9.99
ISBN 978 1 789 197 176
This commentary on the Gospel of John is published in the Focus on the Bible series by Christian Focus.
Like the many other commentaries in this series it seeks to present the reader with a faithful and straightforward explanation of the Bible text. This aim is met well by this edition on John, with the commentary being relatively concise and free from a great deal of technical detail. The intended readership is the non-specialist, as the author makes clear in the preface.
The commentary goes through the Gospel of John in 36 reasonably short chapters, each of which deals either with a whole chapter of John, or a sizeable chunk of material. Each chapter has a brief opening description of the passage under consideration. The exposition is then given, usually split up into smaller sections of the passage. Then a ‘reflection’ section is given, in which the author seeks to apply the teaching. Finally, each chapter closes with about four or five study questions, designed to highlight the key themes discussed.
Helpful, clear, faithful
While the exposition is not verse by verse, it is helpful and clear, with a faithful presentation of the main thrust of the passage in question. There were a number of points where I found myself wanting more detail, though. While reading through, the feeling was not uncommon that the author had been too strict with himself in sticking to the aim for a concise explanation. The short ‘reflection’ application sections are relevant and the study questions often helpful.
There are, of course, far more detailed commentaries on John available. Certainly any reader using this commentary with the aim of preaching or teaching on John would need to supplement their study with one of the more detailed expositions. In summary, though, this commentary is a faithful guide to the book of John, aimed at the Christian wanting to deepen their knowledge, but without getting into lots of technical issues.
