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The Nazarene: Forty Devotions on the Lyrical Life of Jesus
Jesus' life is a song that still resonates down through the ages. His deeds and words speak with beauty and mystery, both comforting and confounding us. Who is this man? Over the course of his career, singer-songwriter Michael Card has explored the depths of Scripture by bringing together biblical study and the power of the imagination. Now he sheds light on the life of Jesus through lyrical reflections on the four Gospels. These forty meditations lead us to a place where Jesus becomes real and we can hear him with both hearts and minds. Listen again to the life of the Nazarene. And discover anew the music of Christ in your soul.
168 pages, Paperback
Published November 24, 2020
26 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Michael Card
114 books97 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Michael Card (born April 11, 1957) is an American Christian singer-songwriter, musician, author, and radio host from Franklin, Tennessee. He is best known for his contributions in contemporary Christian music, which couple folk-style melodies and instrumentation with lyrics that stem from intensive study of the Bible. Since his debut in 1981, he has sold more than 4 million albums and has written 19 No. 1 singles.He has also authored several books, including Gold Medallion Book Award winner A Sacred Sorrow.
http://www.michaelcard.com/#/about-mi...
Michael Card (born April 11, 1957) is an American Christian singer-songwriter, musician, author, and radio host from Franklin, Tennessee. He is best known for his contributions in contemporary Christian music, which couple folk-style melodies and instrumentation with lyrics that stem from intensive study of the Bible. Since his debut in 1981, he has sold more than 4 million albums and has written 19 No. 1 singles.He has also authored several books, including Gold Medallion Book Award winner A Sacred Sorrow.
http://www.michaelcard.com/#/about-mi...
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 10, 2020
Summary: The author helps us consider Jesus through lyrics from his songs and biblically informed reflections.
Michael Card has been singing and writing about Jesus for over thirty years. I first encountered his music in the late 1980’s and was struck with the depth of the lyrics that made the biblical text of the gospels come to life. Later on, he began writing more about the biblical texts that had informed his lyrics in books like Scribbling in the Sand, and commentaries on the four gospels titled The Biblical Imagination Series. Last year, his book Inexpressible made my “Best of the Year” list (review).
This work is a series of forty devotions, nearly all associated with lyrics from his music, beginning with his title “The Nazarene.” They are grouped in four groups of ten based on each of the gospels. Each of the devotions can be read on its own or in conjunction with listening to the recordings (not included with the book).
Each section begins with an imagined reflection on each of the attributed gospel writers. Matthew is found reflecting on the expulsion of Jewish Christians from the synagogues. This gives added meaning to his reflection on Jesus’s words, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” His last devotion on the Kingdom reflects on the hidden and revealed, its smallness and enormity, its nearness and far off character.
In Mark, the devotion on “A Great Wind, A Great Calm, a Great Fear” brought to light the demonic character of the storm, enroute to the encounter with the Gadarene demoniac. Most fearsome was not the storm but the authority of the one who calmed it. It raises for me the question of whether I want Jesus to be that powerful. This is followed up with the devotion on “The Stranger” and how we the real Jesus may be a stranger to us. I think of the many times of reading the gospels, and asking, along with Card, “who is this Jesus?”
For me, one of the most thought-provoking of the reflections from the Luke section was number 26 on “The Bridge.” He writes:
From the head to the heart
From the heart to the mind
The Truth must make a journey
He believes that the “bridge” from heart to mind is the imagination–that we often read scripture only with our hearts or only with our heads. He proposes that the parables of Jesus help bridge these. It seemed to me that this devotional captured the essence of Card’s work–a life of studying and meditating on the word and using the imagination in lyric and writing to enter deeply into the narratives of Jesus.
Finally, in John, I felt Card brought to life for me the significance of Jesus’ proclamation on the last day of the feast, “come to me and drink” in the context of the Feast of Tabernacles. He also takes us deeply into the shortest verse in scripture, “Jesus wept” and why he did so at the death of Lazarus.
This work comes out just in time for Advent but equally would make a great collection of Lenten readings. More than that, Card invites us to join him in singing the songs of the Savior. When asked why he writes all these lyrics about Jesus, Card responds, “How can you not sing about him?” Perhaps amid a pandemic and after contentious election, we don’t want to sing at all, and perhaps if our worship is online, it has been a while since we’ve sung the songs of Jesus. This book will restore those songs, and perhaps help us approach with wonder the Jesus we thought we knew, but knew so little.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review galley of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
Michael Card has been singing and writing about Jesus for over thirty years. I first encountered his music in the late 1980’s and was struck with the depth of the lyrics that made the biblical text of the gospels come to life. Later on, he began writing more about the biblical texts that had informed his lyrics in books like Scribbling in the Sand, and commentaries on the four gospels titled The Biblical Imagination Series. Last year, his book Inexpressible made my “Best of the Year” list (review).
This work is a series of forty devotions, nearly all associated with lyrics from his music, beginning with his title “The Nazarene.” They are grouped in four groups of ten based on each of the gospels. Each of the devotions can be read on its own or in conjunction with listening to the recordings (not included with the book).
Each section begins with an imagined reflection on each of the attributed gospel writers. Matthew is found reflecting on the expulsion of Jewish Christians from the synagogues. This gives added meaning to his reflection on Jesus’s words, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” His last devotion on the Kingdom reflects on the hidden and revealed, its smallness and enormity, its nearness and far off character.
In Mark, the devotion on “A Great Wind, A Great Calm, a Great Fear” brought to light the demonic character of the storm, enroute to the encounter with the Gadarene demoniac. Most fearsome was not the storm but the authority of the one who calmed it. It raises for me the question of whether I want Jesus to be that powerful. This is followed up with the devotion on “The Stranger” and how we the real Jesus may be a stranger to us. I think of the many times of reading the gospels, and asking, along with Card, “who is this Jesus?”
For me, one of the most thought-provoking of the reflections from the Luke section was number 26 on “The Bridge.” He writes:
From the head to the heart
From the heart to the mind
The Truth must make a journey
He believes that the “bridge” from heart to mind is the imagination–that we often read scripture only with our hearts or only with our heads. He proposes that the parables of Jesus help bridge these. It seemed to me that this devotional captured the essence of Card’s work–a life of studying and meditating on the word and using the imagination in lyric and writing to enter deeply into the narratives of Jesus.
Finally, in John, I felt Card brought to life for me the significance of Jesus’ proclamation on the last day of the feast, “come to me and drink” in the context of the Feast of Tabernacles. He also takes us deeply into the shortest verse in scripture, “Jesus wept” and why he did so at the death of Lazarus.
This work comes out just in time for Advent but equally would make a great collection of Lenten readings. More than that, Card invites us to join him in singing the songs of the Savior. When asked why he writes all these lyrics about Jesus, Card responds, “How can you not sing about him?” Perhaps amid a pandemic and after contentious election, we don’t want to sing at all, and perhaps if our worship is online, it has been a while since we’ve sung the songs of Jesus. This book will restore those songs, and perhaps help us approach with wonder the Jesus we thought we knew, but knew so little.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review galley of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
April 3, 2021
Over the past decade, Michael Card has released four albums based on the four Gospels*, which he calls the "Biblical Imagination" series. (His entire discography involves biblical imagination.) In The Nazarene, he presents the lyrics to each song and a brief reflection on them. Untrue to my name, I rarely incorporate music into my devotional life, so I enjoyed listening to a song each day of Lent and being drawn into biblical imagination through Card's insights.
- Jesus was very similar to the Pharisees. Like them, he believed in the resurrection. He quoted the prophets and writings, like they were known to do. At that time in second temple Judaism, "rabbi" was a term used by Pharisees, and people called Jesus "rabbi." We perhaps misread them as "bad guys," but Card notes that Jesus' interactions with them were much more encouraging--and in line with the way they practiced the Jewish faith--than we can easily tell in the 21st century.
- When Jesus stayed in the temple at the age of 12, he'd have been considered fully grown. (This is roughly the age Jewish boys have their bar mitzvahs today.) I wonder who was Jesus's tutor, teaching him to read and write Hebrew, grilling him on the Tanakh? Did that man believe--did he see the prophecies fulfilled in his own student?
- In the first century, even husbands would not speak to their own wives in public. Each time Jesus speaks with a woman, he breaks social taboo.
- Card postulates that Jesus' washing of the disciples' feet was such a socially humiliating act that only John, the final Gospel writer, could bear to write it down.
I read the physical version, which has the benefits of being attractively put together and including indexes of Card's entire discography with coordinating Scripture passages, from Genesis (The Beginning) to Revelation (An Unveiled Hope). If you're looking for a song to go along with a lesson or sermon on a particular passage, this index is a good resource. However, listening to the songs while reading the printed lyrics left a little to be desired. The lyrics in the book don't match the recordings 100%. Only minor differences, but still distracting. I wonder if someone, Card or someone else, wrote the lyrics down from memory rather than by listening to the songs. My parents are listening to the audiobook together. Card reads the reflections, and the recordings substitute the lyrics. If not for the index at the end, I'd recommend the audiobook over the physical book. Card has the most gentle voice, and hearing the recordings without looking at misprinted lyrics sounds less distracting than my experience.
I'd consider re-reading this during Lent in the future. A wonderfully enriching look at Jesus that helps me imagine him better in prayer and Scripture. Ignatius would love this book.
*Card previously released a three-album set on Jesus' life in the 1980s: Known by the Scars, Scandalon and The Final Word, released together as The Life. In the Biblical Imagination series, Card enters the voices and perspectives of the different Gospel writers, trying to capture their unique angles on Jesus' life. It is also a much more personal look at Jesus' life, more contemplative than theological.
- Jesus was very similar to the Pharisees. Like them, he believed in the resurrection. He quoted the prophets and writings, like they were known to do. At that time in second temple Judaism, "rabbi" was a term used by Pharisees, and people called Jesus "rabbi." We perhaps misread them as "bad guys," but Card notes that Jesus' interactions with them were much more encouraging--and in line with the way they practiced the Jewish faith--than we can easily tell in the 21st century.
- When Jesus stayed in the temple at the age of 12, he'd have been considered fully grown. (This is roughly the age Jewish boys have their bar mitzvahs today.) I wonder who was Jesus's tutor, teaching him to read and write Hebrew, grilling him on the Tanakh? Did that man believe--did he see the prophecies fulfilled in his own student?
- In the first century, even husbands would not speak to their own wives in public. Each time Jesus speaks with a woman, he breaks social taboo.
- Card postulates that Jesus' washing of the disciples' feet was such a socially humiliating act that only John, the final Gospel writer, could bear to write it down.
I read the physical version, which has the benefits of being attractively put together and including indexes of Card's entire discography with coordinating Scripture passages, from Genesis (The Beginning) to Revelation (An Unveiled Hope). If you're looking for a song to go along with a lesson or sermon on a particular passage, this index is a good resource. However, listening to the songs while reading the printed lyrics left a little to be desired. The lyrics in the book don't match the recordings 100%. Only minor differences, but still distracting. I wonder if someone, Card or someone else, wrote the lyrics down from memory rather than by listening to the songs. My parents are listening to the audiobook together. Card reads the reflections, and the recordings substitute the lyrics. If not for the index at the end, I'd recommend the audiobook over the physical book. Card has the most gentle voice, and hearing the recordings without looking at misprinted lyrics sounds less distracting than my experience.
I'd consider re-reading this during Lent in the future. A wonderfully enriching look at Jesus that helps me imagine him better in prayer and Scripture. Ignatius would love this book.
*Card previously released a three-album set on Jesus' life in the 1980s: Known by the Scars, Scandalon and The Final Word, released together as The Life. In the Biblical Imagination series, Card enters the voices and perspectives of the different Gospel writers, trying to capture their unique angles on Jesus' life. It is also a much more personal look at Jesus' life, more contemplative than theological.
December 14, 2020
Michael Card has been one of my favorite musicians and teachers from the beginning – of his career and of my spiritual journey. I was profoundly impacted with his book Immanuel: Reflections on the Life of Christ and also from a three-hour long radio program from many years ago called The Life. Card’s teaching made quite an impact on my spiritual development. Between then and now, Card has released scores of songs and so many books that I have lost count.
His music has helped me through the toughest times in my life because most of his music is directly related to scripture. I memorized Job 13:15 when I listened to his piece called “The Job Suite.” Little did I know that this scripture would present itself to my heart and mind when my husband passed very suddenly. When I’m low and desperately need encouragement, I listen to a song like “That’s What Faith Must Be” or “Tell the World that Jesus Loves you.”
The Nazarene, his new release, is a devotional book that can be read straight through or segmented as part of our worship and fellowship with the One who made the universe. As with his other work, this book is a tender look at Jesus of Nazareth both in his divinity and his humanity. I love this little book and am sure I will reread it again and again. Thank you, Mr. Card, for your ministry. Your perceptions and views have impacted my spiritual walk with Jesus. #TheNazareneBook @michaelcardmusic @michaelcard @ivpress
His music has helped me through the toughest times in my life because most of his music is directly related to scripture. I memorized Job 13:15 when I listened to his piece called “The Job Suite.” Little did I know that this scripture would present itself to my heart and mind when my husband passed very suddenly. When I’m low and desperately need encouragement, I listen to a song like “That’s What Faith Must Be” or “Tell the World that Jesus Loves you.”
The Nazarene, his new release, is a devotional book that can be read straight through or segmented as part of our worship and fellowship with the One who made the universe. As with his other work, this book is a tender look at Jesus of Nazareth both in his divinity and his humanity. I love this little book and am sure I will reread it again and again. Thank you, Mr. Card, for your ministry. Your perceptions and views have impacted my spiritual walk with Jesus. #TheNazareneBook @michaelcardmusic @michaelcard @ivpress
January 31, 2024
This was just plain excellent. We listened to the audio version narrated by Michael Card himself, and most of the chapters were accompanied by a recording of the song starting each chapter. We used it as an evening devotional by listening to a chapter or two each night. We highly recommend this book.
June 13, 2025
Beautiful journey through all four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) using Michael Card’s lyrics, devotions and songs. Loved hearing his voice read the audiobook. Each chapter ends with a song he’s written. His writing transported me to each scene and I loved the feeling of being there.
December 22, 2020
Excellent read. Deep, moving, and beautiful. I especially loved the theological depth matched with the insightful song lyrics. Very highly recommended!
March 18, 2023
I listened to this devotional as an audiobook and loved it. So delighted with Card’s gentle, thoughtful, and insightful curiosity about the life of Jesus in these reflections and songs.
October 31, 2024
Don and I read each chapter as a daily devotional. This book is well suited to this. Such a rich exploration of the life of Jesus, using music and lyrics.
December 1, 2020
It is hard to measure the impact of Michael Card in my life through his music, writing and teaching since first being introduced to his music via his 1984 Known by the Scars album, when I was still a relatively new believer. A special highlight for me was our church being blessed to host him for two of his Biblical Imagination conferences/concerts several years back, and my wife and I travelling to Ohio for another.
This new book is divided into four parts, with one part for each of the four Gospels, with ten devotions included in each part. Each devotion begins with a scripture passage(s) that the devotion aligns with, as well as the lyrics from one of Card’s songs from his Biblical Imagination series albums. Each devotion concludes with a key lyric from the song that Card comments on.
As you approach the book, you can choose to simply read the song lyrics, or as I did, listen to the song. You can also choose to read one devotional each day, or read several at a time, as they are relatively short. Listening to the songs and following along with the lyrics gave me a new appreciation for the skill in which Card brings scripture into his song lyrics. This is something that I have for too long taken for granted.
Card describes the book as being the result of a lifetime of fragmented attempts to listen to the lyrical life of the Nazarene. He tells us that the goal of the book is that in the end we put it away and open our Bible.
The book concludes with a helpful “Musical Overview of the Bible”, with scripture references, Card’s songs and the album the song was included on.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book of song lyrics and devotional writings about Jesus. I would also commend to you his four Biblical Imagination books and corresponding albums (one for each Gospel).
This new book is divided into four parts, with one part for each of the four Gospels, with ten devotions included in each part. Each devotion begins with a scripture passage(s) that the devotion aligns with, as well as the lyrics from one of Card’s songs from his Biblical Imagination series albums. Each devotion concludes with a key lyric from the song that Card comments on.
As you approach the book, you can choose to simply read the song lyrics, or as I did, listen to the song. You can also choose to read one devotional each day, or read several at a time, as they are relatively short. Listening to the songs and following along with the lyrics gave me a new appreciation for the skill in which Card brings scripture into his song lyrics. This is something that I have for too long taken for granted.
Card describes the book as being the result of a lifetime of fragmented attempts to listen to the lyrical life of the Nazarene. He tells us that the goal of the book is that in the end we put it away and open our Bible.
The book concludes with a helpful “Musical Overview of the Bible”, with scripture references, Card’s songs and the album the song was included on.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book of song lyrics and devotional writings about Jesus. I would also commend to you his four Biblical Imagination books and corresponding albums (one for each Gospel).
November 23, 2020
What I love most about Michael Card’s teaching ministry is that he encourages his readers and listeners to open their Bibles, to engage their imaginations, and to ask questions.
Is there a better topic to explore — and use your imagination with — than the life of Jesus? Who is this man? This is the big question!
This book encouraged me to pull out my journal and write about things that I didn’t expect to write, and I found myself asking more questions. It also encouraged me to open my Bible and interact with it in a way that was exciting. I was presented with a unique view — a challenge to see Him through the eyes of the ones who knew Him best. I was challenged to imagine what they saw, heard, and felt — as well as imagine what Jesus experienced in return. I’ve read books on the gospels before, but none of them have encouraged me to pour out my heart to our Savior in my journal — and specifically, to do so with questions and with awe — like this one did. I am thankful for the opportunity and privilege that I had to preview this book and provide this review. It was a book that I had a hard time putting down!
In the pages of “The Nazarene, Forty Devotions on the Lyrical Life of Jesus,” Michael Card invites us into Jesus’ world. He invites us into the world that Jesus knew while He walked in human flesh in order to truly see Him, listen to what He was trying to say, see what He saw and feel what He felt. In these essays based on song lyrics, we are invited to be with Jesus through music and song!
Is there a better topic to explore — and use your imagination with — than the life of Jesus? Who is this man? This is the big question!
This book encouraged me to pull out my journal and write about things that I didn’t expect to write, and I found myself asking more questions. It also encouraged me to open my Bible and interact with it in a way that was exciting. I was presented with a unique view — a challenge to see Him through the eyes of the ones who knew Him best. I was challenged to imagine what they saw, heard, and felt — as well as imagine what Jesus experienced in return. I’ve read books on the gospels before, but none of them have encouraged me to pour out my heart to our Savior in my journal — and specifically, to do so with questions and with awe — like this one did. I am thankful for the opportunity and privilege that I had to preview this book and provide this review. It was a book that I had a hard time putting down!
In the pages of “The Nazarene, Forty Devotions on the Lyrical Life of Jesus,” Michael Card invites us into Jesus’ world. He invites us into the world that Jesus knew while He walked in human flesh in order to truly see Him, listen to what He was trying to say, see what He saw and feel what He felt. In these essays based on song lyrics, we are invited to be with Jesus through music and song!
December 28, 2020
This is a book I wish I had shared in time for Advent 2020, but lyrical reflections from the Gospels, particularly on the life of Jesus Christ, deserve a place in our reading at any time of year. Author and musician Michael Card has described himself as “the broccoli of Christian music.” With wry humor, he shares that his listeners tend to recommend his music to others prescriptively as a panacea for whatever ails them. Could this be true of his books as well?
Card has brought his songwriter’s heart and his scholarly mind to the creation of The Nazarene. Having written extensively about the life of Jesus in his song lyrics, he has gathered the stories, the parables, and the essence of Jesus’s luminous life on earth into short essays based on those song lyrics.
Whether used in conjunction with the songs or simply as brief devotionals for meditation, Card’s writing is designed to create a thirst for the sacred text, to send readers running for their Bibles to follow the stream of God’s loving kindness directly to the Divine Headwater.
Many thanks to the publishers for providing copies of these books to facilitate my reviews, which, of course, are offered freely and with honesty.
Card has brought his songwriter’s heart and his scholarly mind to the creation of The Nazarene. Having written extensively about the life of Jesus in his song lyrics, he has gathered the stories, the parables, and the essence of Jesus’s luminous life on earth into short essays based on those song lyrics.
Whether used in conjunction with the songs or simply as brief devotionals for meditation, Card’s writing is designed to create a thirst for the sacred text, to send readers running for their Bibles to follow the stream of God’s loving kindness directly to the Divine Headwater.
Many thanks to the publishers for providing copies of these books to facilitate my reviews, which, of course, are offered freely and with honesty.
December 3, 2020
This beautiful book is a devotional guide through Michael Card’s 4 albums on each of the gospels. It gives you a deeper, richer look at these moments of Jesus’s life that Card captures so elegantly through song. You will walk away challenged and renewed—struck with awe and humbled by the limits of your understanding of Jesus. Card is a master with the poetry of his lyrics and the devotions. Get this book, listen to the albums, and then read his books on the gospels. They are a must-read.
September 10, 2022
Michael Card’s Book is an amazing take on the Gospels. Reading this book has provided me new insight in the Life of Jesus, and a better understanding for the authorship of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It is best absorbed by reading the passage of scripture indicated, listening to the song that coordinates with the “devotional”, and then reading the description.
December 13, 2023
I really like the concept--reading during Advent or Lent, meditating on Card's songs and accompanying Bible passsages--but I got frustrated. The writing wasn't very clear and he was also making theological/historical claims I wasn't sure about, so I decided to pass.
January 31, 2024
What a wonderful devotional! Each reading corresponds with one of the artist's songs, and teaches about Jesus in a lyrical way. I recommend the audio version, because the author reads each entry and then includes the recording of the song that was highlighted.
April 6, 2021
A perfect book to have read during lent. Michael Card knows music and the Gospels. This books looks at Jesus life in parts of each of the four Gospels using lyrics from 40 of Michael Card's songs.
March 8, 2023
Excellent! I'm recommending this devotional book to others.
May 27, 2023
I love books that place music along with the readings and the gospel story was truly spectacular.
October 25, 2023
Excellent devotional book.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews