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We Called Him Yeshua
“It may be hard to feel close to a God,” Anna said, “but it’s easy to feel close to a person.”
You may know him as the Son of God, by his Greek name, Jesus Christ. Anna knew him as a person, by his Hebrew name, Yeshua.
We Called Him Yeshua is a journey, following Anna and others, who all find freedom in the love and compassion of the wandering prophet. For Anna, the farther she follows Yeshua and the closer she gets to him, the stronger her love grows. Yet for other reasons, so grows her fear.
Many Christians may know about Jesus by what they read in the Bible or hear in a sermon. But Anna and the others knew Jesus by the warmth of his hand on their shoulder, by the thrill of his healing touch freeing them of an illness, and by the kindness in his voice.
What do you think it would be like to know Jesus as they did? To walk with him, as his disciples did? To talk with him, as his friends did? You can. And maybe that journey begins right here.
Escape the world around you. Fly back to the time when Jesus walked the roads of ancient Israel. Walk with him. Follow him. Listen to him. And through the other characters in this story, FEEL him—his love, compassion, and understanding. They called him Yeshua. Maybe you can call him friend.
And like Anna, you may come to say, “If he weren’t so human, if he wasn’t so full of love and humility, I wouldn’t love him so much.”
You may know him as the Son of God, by his Greek name, Jesus Christ. Anna knew him as a person, by his Hebrew name, Yeshua.
We Called Him Yeshua is a journey, following Anna and others, who all find freedom in the love and compassion of the wandering prophet. For Anna, the farther she follows Yeshua and the closer she gets to him, the stronger her love grows. Yet for other reasons, so grows her fear.
Many Christians may know about Jesus by what they read in the Bible or hear in a sermon. But Anna and the others knew Jesus by the warmth of his hand on their shoulder, by the thrill of his healing touch freeing them of an illness, and by the kindness in his voice.
What do you think it would be like to know Jesus as they did? To walk with him, as his disciples did? To talk with him, as his friends did? You can. And maybe that journey begins right here.
Escape the world around you. Fly back to the time when Jesus walked the roads of ancient Israel. Walk with him. Follow him. Listen to him. And through the other characters in this story, FEEL him—his love, compassion, and understanding. They called him Yeshua. Maybe you can call him friend.
And like Anna, you may come to say, “If he weren’t so human, if he wasn’t so full of love and humility, I wouldn’t love him so much.”
271 pages, Paperback
Published March 25, 2020
19 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
C.J. Penn
3 books6 followersAfter becoming an almost-every-Sunday Christian churchgoer in his mid-thirties, CJ Penn eventually volunteered for the challenging task of helping lead the church junior high youth group. Then, in his late-forties, CJ left church and joined the ranks of the de-churched. He soon discovered he wasn’t alone.
Shortly after becoming another church refugee, CJ fell into writing as a way to express his devotion to Jesus, a devotion that, if anything, grew after he stopped attending church. This devotion motived CJ to follow the advice of his favorite Christian author, Andrew Murray, and tangibly (not symbolically) surrender himself to Jesus. He’d gotten tired of trying and often failing to lead his life in any way that felt meaningful and beneficial to others, especially those he loves. And he figured Jesus could do a lot better job of leading his life than he could.
CJ’s writing first took the form of a blog he started back in 2008. Then, just as the pandemic erupted, CJ published his first book, which he’d put four years of effort into. Since then, he’s continued working on multiple books, which remain his preferred form of what many call outreach.
More recently, CJ retired from his longtime technology career, finally allowing him to devote much more time to his writing. He no longer gets up at 4:30am to squeeze in some prayer and writing before heading off to his day job, and he’s grateful for that. In fact, “gratitude” pretty much captures how he feels about his life, his family, his friends, and his relationship with God and Jesus.
Shortly after becoming another church refugee, CJ fell into writing as a way to express his devotion to Jesus, a devotion that, if anything, grew after he stopped attending church. This devotion motived CJ to follow the advice of his favorite Christian author, Andrew Murray, and tangibly (not symbolically) surrender himself to Jesus. He’d gotten tired of trying and often failing to lead his life in any way that felt meaningful and beneficial to others, especially those he loves. And he figured Jesus could do a lot better job of leading his life than he could.
CJ’s writing first took the form of a blog he started back in 2008. Then, just as the pandemic erupted, CJ published his first book, which he’d put four years of effort into. Since then, he’s continued working on multiple books, which remain his preferred form of what many call outreach.
More recently, CJ retired from his longtime technology career, finally allowing him to devote much more time to his writing. He no longer gets up at 4:30am to squeeze in some prayer and writing before heading off to his day job, and he’s grateful for that. In fact, “gratitude” pretty much captures how he feels about his life, his family, his friends, and his relationship with God and Jesus.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 4, 2021
A good read for this time of the year. There were some words and phrased that were used too often. Troubled the the word church was being used before Jesus died.
May 28, 2020
I really enjoyed reading this book as it brought the characters of the Bible to life. It seemed like I was reading personal diaries of some of the people that Jesus lived with and miraculously changed. It really brought the Bible into a real life story of many of the people we read about, and how Jesus dealt with each of them as both man and Son of God.
May 4, 2022
We Called Him Yeshua is a collection of possible perspectives from some of the men and women Christ healed. Penn takes readers on a journey from their depths of despair to the joy of salvation. Some of the miracles in this book are the wedding where Christ turned water into wine and restored sight to a blind man. None of the other main characters have a religious background. They feel they cannot be cured of their physical or emotion wounds or escape from their immoral lives. One day, they hear about a man who is becoming popular through his teachings and inexplicable healings. They feel drawn to Him. Once they encounter Christ’s unconditional love and healing power, they become some of His most faithful followers and encourage others to seek Him. Moreover, their journeys are reminders that Christ can heal the most troubled souls. Also, we can still witness miracles and redemption.
Penn also devotes a few chapters to the perspective of Christ Himself. The details in each chapter allow readers to understand the characters’ transformations from suffering to accepting themselves as worthy of God’s blessings.
A free copy of this book was downloaded in return for an honest review.
Penn also devotes a few chapters to the perspective of Christ Himself. The details in each chapter allow readers to understand the characters’ transformations from suffering to accepting themselves as worthy of God’s blessings.
A free copy of this book was downloaded in return for an honest review.
September 30, 2021
New take on biblical times, not told by Apostles or leaders. This is people at the time reacting with shock, disbelief or love for the miracles they have heard or seen. Amos has a lovely story. It hasn’t registered for Benjamin yet.
This isn’t just a rehash of Biblical books. There is a storyline with Jared and Mattheius and other characters.
Enjoyable story with a mix of religion and fiction storytelling.
This isn’t just a rehash of Biblical books. There is a storyline with Jared and Mattheius and other characters.
Enjoyable story with a mix of religion and fiction storytelling.
December 29, 2021
Was an interesting read. When Jesus made contact with people, it was clear He wanted their wellbeing. He displayed an engaging personality and His influence on other characters was great. One character loved His company. Yeshua had an unsuspected sense of humor. Some characters began to change their behavior as a result of His interaction with them. The prose was excellent. Is an unusual book.
July 27, 2023
This is a cleverly-constructed retelling of particular characters found in the four Biblical gospels, focussing on those ‘ordinary folk’ whose lives were touched by Jesus when He saw their need and healed them, either physically or emotionally - often both.
Each chapter is centred around one particular character who seeks out His touch, although there are many other familiar ones interacting with Jesus in all manner of ways, who often pop up and then remain as part of the ongoing narrative right up to His crucifixion.
The storyline is mainly gentle and quietly compelling as you find yourself eavesdropping on conversations and then witnessing the loving touch of this Son of God walking the earth in human form, changing lives for the better, however some portions are rough and raw, illuminating the horrific circumstances some of these well-known characters find themselves in.
A few in articular are unsure of their growing feelings for Him after experiencing His love and compassion for their circumstances, especially two of the women who have been shunned and degraded for the choices they’ve made. I found these reactions perfectly understandable and empathised with the struggles they had reconciling feelings of earthly love for the Son of God.
His compassion for their circumstances is plain to see and yet, as a man, he too must have been tempted by feelings of earthly love. The following prayer supposedly uttered by Jesus close to the end of this book, sums up this aspect in a touching and thought-provoking way…
“Oh Father, I fear those that follow will see only my divinity, and not my humanity, and love me only as God, not man. But I’m both. Yet they may forget, and love me with a distant love, a fearful love, a weak love. If they could see and feel my humanity – if they could know how I struggle as they struggle, and how much alike we truly are – then they could love with an intimate love, a hungry love, a love that opens the door and lets me in.“
Hebrews 4:15 says ‘Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin.’ (Contemporary English Version). It’s not hard to imagine that ‘the man’ Jesus would have felt a form of love for one or more of His female followers, but as that verse states, as the Son of God He never gave into the temptation to satisfy that need, but instead set His mind and will on God’s ultimate and everlasting purpose to save mankind from the works of Satan.
I give this novel 8 out of 10 stars for the intimate portrayal of so many familiar stories while revealing the determination of Jesus to fulfil His true purpose in the form of one of us rather than as God alone, because I believe it helps us as humans to understand the excruciating pain and suffering He went through to ensure each of us could experience life everlasting if we choose to follow Him. If He’d died as the Most High God alone, it would be much harder for mankind to be able to empathise with Him.
Each chapter is centred around one particular character who seeks out His touch, although there are many other familiar ones interacting with Jesus in all manner of ways, who often pop up and then remain as part of the ongoing narrative right up to His crucifixion.
The storyline is mainly gentle and quietly compelling as you find yourself eavesdropping on conversations and then witnessing the loving touch of this Son of God walking the earth in human form, changing lives for the better, however some portions are rough and raw, illuminating the horrific circumstances some of these well-known characters find themselves in.
A few in articular are unsure of their growing feelings for Him after experiencing His love and compassion for their circumstances, especially two of the women who have been shunned and degraded for the choices they’ve made. I found these reactions perfectly understandable and empathised with the struggles they had reconciling feelings of earthly love for the Son of God.
His compassion for their circumstances is plain to see and yet, as a man, he too must have been tempted by feelings of earthly love. The following prayer supposedly uttered by Jesus close to the end of this book, sums up this aspect in a touching and thought-provoking way…
“Oh Father, I fear those that follow will see only my divinity, and not my humanity, and love me only as God, not man. But I’m both. Yet they may forget, and love me with a distant love, a fearful love, a weak love. If they could see and feel my humanity – if they could know how I struggle as they struggle, and how much alike we truly are – then they could love with an intimate love, a hungry love, a love that opens the door and lets me in.“
Hebrews 4:15 says ‘Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin.’ (Contemporary English Version). It’s not hard to imagine that ‘the man’ Jesus would have felt a form of love for one or more of His female followers, but as that verse states, as the Son of God He never gave into the temptation to satisfy that need, but instead set His mind and will on God’s ultimate and everlasting purpose to save mankind from the works of Satan.
I give this novel 8 out of 10 stars for the intimate portrayal of so many familiar stories while revealing the determination of Jesus to fulfil His true purpose in the form of one of us rather than as God alone, because I believe it helps us as humans to understand the excruciating pain and suffering He went through to ensure each of us could experience life everlasting if we choose to follow Him. If He’d died as the Most High God alone, it would be much harder for mankind to be able to empathise with Him.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews