The Jesus I Never Knew

1.Yancey borrows from J. B. Phillips the image of a senior angel showing a younger angel the universe, then pointing to a tiny, obscure planet and saying, "He went there." What does this cosmic perspective add to your understanding of the Christmas story? Does it change how you feel about it?

1.Yancey emphasizes that Jesus was thoroughly, unambiguously Jewish — shaped by the Torah, the Psalms, the prophets, the synagogue, and the political tensions of first-century Palestine. How much does that Jewish context shape the way you read the Gospels? What do you miss when you ignore it?

1.Yancey argues that each of Satan's three temptations was a genuine and reasonable-sounding alternative strategy for Jesus's mission: use bread to win followers, use spectacle to prove his identity, use political power to establish his kingdom. In your own words, what was wrong — or insufficient — with each of these approaches?

1.Yancey surveys the wildly different artistic portraits of Jesus across the centuries — the Byzantine Pantocrator, the blond European Christ, the African Jesus, the revolutionary icon of liberation theology. Why do so many cultures remake Jesus in their own image? What does this impulse reveal about us — and what does it risk doing to our understanding of him?

1.Yancey notes that the Beatitudes declare blessed the very people that the ancient (and modern) world considers cursed: the poor in spirit, the mourning, the meek, the persecuted. How does this list strike you — as inspiring, unrealistic, or genuinely disturbing? Be honest.

1.Yancey opens by noting that Mahatma Gandhi, Leo Tolstoy, and many other non-Christians have expressed profound admiration for the Sermon on the Mount while most Christians quietly ignore large sections of it. Why do you think the Sermon is more honored in theory than in practice — even among devout believers?

1.Yancey describes the miracles as "advance signs" of the kingdom — previews of what the world will look like when God fully restores it. How does this frame change the way you think about healing miracles, nature miracles, and resurrections? What do they collectively point toward?

1.Yancey describes Jesus's parables as designed to get past our defenses — like the prophet Nathan's story to David, they draw us in before delivering the verdict. Can you think of a parable that worked that way on you — that caught you off guard and landed somewhere you weren't expecting?

1.Yancey traces the rising tide of popular enthusiasm for Jesus — the crowds wanting to make him king after the feeding of the five thousand (John 6:15) — and then Jesus's deliberate deflation of that enthusiasm. Why did Jesus consistently resist the role of popular hero? What was wrong with the crowd's vision of what he could be for them?

1.Yancey notes that the Gospels devote a disproportionate amount of space to Holy Week — roughly one third of the total text. What does this editorial choice tell us about what the Gospel writers believed was most important about Jesus? What does it tell us about where Christian faith is ultimately anchored?

1.Yancey begins by noting the strangeness of the resurrection appearances — Jesus appearing in a locked room, being unrecognized on the road to Emmaus, cooking breakfast on the beach. Why do you think the resurrection appearances are so odd and understated, rather than dramatic and public? What does this style of self-revelation tell us about Jesus?

1.Yancey notes that the Ascension is theologically awkward — Jesus leaves, and the disciples are told to wait. Why do you think the Ascension receives so little attention in contemporary Christianity? What do we lose by treating it as merely a transition scene between the resurrection and Pentecost?

1.The book is titled *The Jesus I Never Knew*. Looking back across the whole study, what is one thing about Jesus that you genuinely did not know — or did not fully appreciate — before you read it? How has your picture of Jesus changed?