Jesus, the Middle Eastern Storyteller

by Gary M. Burge

Storytellers made history, and Jesus was the greatest of them all. But how can modern readers know what he actually meant in such iconic parables as the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan? Jesus, the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0310280451
• ISBN13: 9780310280453
• Release Date: July 2009
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Length: 108 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Very good information

If you've read books by Kenneth Bailey you will find this very familiar and, worthwhile. Although not as in-depth as Bailey (by choice) Burge has offered great insights into the world of the NT, from which we particularly in the the West are far removed. Burge elaborates culture, geography, achitecture, climate and some language to help us make sense of how Jesus spoke to his audience of 2000 years ago. By better understanding the context and social customs present in Jesus' day, we can get a much clearer and fuller understanding of what Jesus meant. This book is a little "lighter" reading than those by Kenneth Bailey on the same topics but it is replete with many high quality pictures and high gloss pages.

Simply Brilliant--Biblical Backgrounds for the average joe

Today I will be reviewing "Jesus, The Middle Eastern Storyteller" by Gary Burge, the second volume in Zondervan's new 'Ancient Context, Ancient Faith' series. (I have already reviewed the first volume in this series, "The Bible and the Land," which was also written by Burge) As can be clearly deduced by the title of this second volume, "Jesus, The Middle Eastern Storyteller" has everything to do with the parables of Jesus. Before delving into the particulars of the book, let me draw your attention to a few overarching practical implications of this book for modern day preaching. It is one thing for a church to land a good communicator as a pastor, it is another for a church to land a good teacher, but I have come to realize that it is just as easy to find a four-leaf clover as it is to find a preacher who excels at combining the skills of both oration and teaching. While good orators generally lack any sort of substantial depth, good teachers generally lack any sort of substantial accessibility; while good orators generally only offer nutritionless styrofoam for spiritual food, good teachers generally shoot fatty foods over the heads of those in the pew. How rare is it to find a man of God who can stimulate a crowd full of both children and scholars with the same message, simultaneously stretching, both intellectually and spiritually, those at the extreme ends of the spectrum! In the Gospels Jesus sets a precedent for preaching for all who would follow after (and all God's kids are preachers to at least one degree or another, regardless of calling or vocation--see Romans 10:14-15). Jesus was a master communicator. His communication lacked in neither depth nor accessibility. And the most striking feature of the teachings of Jesus was that they were plastered full of stories. In fact, Burge states that one-third of His teachings were 'in the form of parables.' (pg. 19) He explains that a parable is simply "an illustrative story that creates a vibrant contrast or image for the listener." (pg 19) Unfortunately, story-based teaching, even among the most biblically literate, has wrongly become associated with shallow simplicity in today's present day Christian economy. The reason for such a stigma, I believe, is because of the reality stated above: good orators are generally not good teachers, and thus most Christians feel that they are forced to choose between the followable, yet shallow, orators and the undecodable theological complexity of the teachers. But in Jesus Christ we see the arts of oratory and teaching coming together. He confounded the Pharisees and all of the religious leaders on a regular basis, and yet He did so in a way that would make a twelve year old say, 'OHHH... Who's your daddy now?!' I suppose the reason why good oratory and good teaching are not considered kissing cousins is because it would demand the communicator to be a dual expert; he must master both the content of the Scriptures and the clear and riveting communicat

Excellent Read: Highly Recommended

It is unfortunate that Debbie (the reviewer) of this book didn't read it with a bit more discernment and care. I think that the author may know that Esau traded his birthright for some stew but here he is using irony: imagine Jacob doing the same thing. An argument isn't made for Jacob doing this; it is simply one sentence implying that the shock of the prodigal son's request to take his inheritance is similar to having Jacob do such a thing. Imagine that. The same follows her remark about Cain. The book refers to the idea in Matthew 5:21 that we should forgive 7 times 70 (or 77 times, see the text). And then the book says this: "This is an echo of a most remarkable commitment to revenge, noted in several places in the Old Testament: Claim can claim a sevenfold revenge." In Genesis 4 God makes this pronouncement for Cain's protection but happily no doubt Cain can claim this for the rest of his life. It is quite a claim since it's backed up by a divine promise. This author likes subtlety. Debbie may not. It is so often unfortunate that a random review from one person can impugn an author's intent. Discerning readers know better.

Good But Brief Study

Author Gary Burge takes until on a brief journey into Jesus' ancient context in Jesus, the Middle Eastern Storyteller. He answers questions like, "How should a father react when his son asks for his inheritance?", "What happens when a friend arrives at midnight seeking food?", and "Was Jesus a skilled storyteller among the rabbis?" You'll learn how shame and honor were the top items of concern during Jesus's time. You'll discover some of the background to enhance your understanding of the parables that Jesus used. And you'll get to enjoy full colored pictures on every page of this tall and narrow book. For a short work, this book has some great information to further your biblical studies.

great reintroduction to familiar stories

Gary Burge has done something quite interesting, and quite difficult. He has helped make what are often well-known, well-studied, and over-analyzed parables into something new for readers. He isn't doing this by complicated word study or text analysis or any kind of alienating exegesis. Instead, he writes in the way the parables were given to the original audience. He invites the reader to join him in the stories. We read the parables of Jesus and we bring to them our own experiences or culture or Sunday School training. Our apparent over-familiarity leads us to move quickly over these very important teaching tools, or ignore them all together because we think we've gotten the point. And maybe we have, for the most part. But, we don't hear them like the original listeners did, and Jesus taught how he did because of the particular culture and issues of his time and place. Burge illuminates a selection of parables by helping us see each aspect as the people of Jesus' day would have seen them. This isn't by complicated academic language, rather Burge is an extremely understandable and approachable writer. He draws on an immense amount of knowledge concerning the Biblical texts and the Middle Eastern cultures of the past and present. He has long been a favorite teacher of the Bible at Wheaton College, and his teaching skills which have made him popular there are in great evidence here. He helps us to see better, hear better, listen better. The book has seven chapters. The first is an overall introduction to the culture of Jesus. The next six each focus on a particular parable. While this book is certainly written with a popular audience in mind, I think it would very interesting to people of all background and training. I'm a seminary graduate now seeking more advanced study and I found it wonderfully interesting. The text is widely spaced and there are a lot of color pictures throughout that help illustrate the particular topics being discussed. This is a great book to read as a devotional, a great book for small groups to read together and discuss, or a great book for anyone hoping for a sharper understanding of what Jesus was getting at, and what he meant in his stories. At the beginning we are told this is the first of a new series on Ancient Context, Ancient Faith. It would be absolutely amazing if the following books were as good as this one.