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Into the Mess and Other Jesus Stories: Reflections on the Life of Christ
He was a disrupter and a peacemaker, a rebel and a rabbi. His friends were the riffraff, and his enemies the religious elite. He was the wounded man who healed the sick, the homeless man who fed the hungry, the convicted criminal who released the captives, and the dead man who conquered the grave. The stories he told were scandalous, and the stories he lived changed the world. To reflect on the Jesus of the Gospels is to reflect on paradox, mystery, wonder, and messiness. It is to find God in the shadows, the tensions, and the ambiguities of life on earth as it is. These essays on the stories of Jesus are invitations to faith in all its complexity and untidiness. The Jesus who emerges here is not the sanitized Christ of piety and platitude, but the Christ of complicated joys and transcendent sorrows. The Christ who weeps, wonders, loses, learns, and seeks. These are the stories of the Incarnate God who finds and loves us in the messiness of our lives.
307 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 17, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 16, 2023
The most wonderful reading I have done for morning prayer ever! Thomas is the ultimate theologian. A book I am going to save for future bible reading and study..
July 25, 2022
Over the years, I’ve always enjoyed Debie Thomas’s essays, faithfully written week after week, following the gospel lectionary readings, on her site Journey with Jesus. In Into the Mess and Other Jesus Stories: Reflections on the Life of Christ,, Thomas brings 50 of her best essays to in a new format to a new audience.
What questions drive Thomas? She states them in her introduction: How can I bring the ancient stories of Jesus to bear on the messy circumstances of contemporary life? What grace, meaning, and challenge might the Gospel stories offer, as we inhabit our own narratives of love and loss, hope and fear? And then seeks to answer them, for herself and for her readers.
Thomas is a gifted story-teller; a master of creative writing. She has a way with words as she presents evocative and provocative angles to the gospel stories we may have heard hundreds of times, but never read—or experienced—the way Thomas lovingly brings them to life.
This was especially well done when it came to the “miracle stories.” Thomas digs deep, and finds the “miracle” beyond the supernatural. In this way, Thomas spends less time futilely convincing her readers the gospel stories are all literal in every detail, and more time digging beneath the surface to uncover their meaning—in Jesus’s time, and in ours.
Throughout the collection, Thomas turns some traditional understandings of Jesus’s parables upside down, challenging the reader to read them, learn from them, experience them, and accept their challenge. Without insisting that her interpretation is the one correct one, Thomas writes, “Maybe we’re supposed to let [the parables’] meanings open out, wider and wider and wider. Maybe the truths the parables reveal are various and infinite, impossible to lock down.”
Thomas writes with courage, honesty, and vulnerability, disclosing her own secrets and naming her own demons. This makes her writing more compelling and relatable.
This book would best be read as an accompaniment to the liturgical readings associated with the church calendar, or as a once a day/week devotional, with a journal close at hand.
All in all, a beautiful collection of stories, highly recommended.
What questions drive Thomas? She states them in her introduction: How can I bring the ancient stories of Jesus to bear on the messy circumstances of contemporary life? What grace, meaning, and challenge might the Gospel stories offer, as we inhabit our own narratives of love and loss, hope and fear? And then seeks to answer them, for herself and for her readers.
Thomas is a gifted story-teller; a master of creative writing. She has a way with words as she presents evocative and provocative angles to the gospel stories we may have heard hundreds of times, but never read—or experienced—the way Thomas lovingly brings them to life.
This was especially well done when it came to the “miracle stories.” Thomas digs deep, and finds the “miracle” beyond the supernatural. In this way, Thomas spends less time futilely convincing her readers the gospel stories are all literal in every detail, and more time digging beneath the surface to uncover their meaning—in Jesus’s time, and in ours.
Throughout the collection, Thomas turns some traditional understandings of Jesus’s parables upside down, challenging the reader to read them, learn from them, experience them, and accept their challenge. Without insisting that her interpretation is the one correct one, Thomas writes, “Maybe we’re supposed to let [the parables’] meanings open out, wider and wider and wider. Maybe the truths the parables reveal are various and infinite, impossible to lock down.”
Thomas writes with courage, honesty, and vulnerability, disclosing her own secrets and naming her own demons. This makes her writing more compelling and relatable.
This book would best be read as an accompaniment to the liturgical readings associated with the church calendar, or as a once a day/week devotional, with a journal close at hand.
All in all, a beautiful collection of stories, highly recommended.
March 16, 2023
Into the Mess by Debie Thomas is a well-written exploration of familiar Bible passages. Sometimes when I’m reading a book, I find myself automatically re-writing sentences as I go, adjusting for clarity or word order. The writing in this book is so lively, humorous, and engaging that I instantly shut off my internal editor and relaxed into the lovely prose. Many times, I thought, “Wow! I wish I’d written that sentence!”
This book is provocative, in a good way,. Thomas’s perceptions may shake up readers who have avoided thinking analytically about the Bible stories taught in Sunday school. And, for those readers whose faith journey is filled with questions and skepticism, Thomas’s take on thorny issues may provide comfort. For example, here are her thoughts on the beheading of John the Baptist: “Christians are often trained to slap redemptive meaning on tragedies… What if, instead, the ‘point’ of John’s story is to prepare us for the way of Jesus, which is a costly way? A narrow way? A risky way?” She goes on to write, “Maybe the point is that we don’t have to slap meaning on every human experience in order to prove that we are pious and God is good. Maybe some things are just plain horrible. Period.”
Debie Thomas treats scripture with respect and at the same time confidently offers readers refreshing, new perspective. I highly recommend this book.
This book is provocative, in a good way,. Thomas’s perceptions may shake up readers who have avoided thinking analytically about the Bible stories taught in Sunday school. And, for those readers whose faith journey is filled with questions and skepticism, Thomas’s take on thorny issues may provide comfort. For example, here are her thoughts on the beheading of John the Baptist: “Christians are often trained to slap redemptive meaning on tragedies… What if, instead, the ‘point’ of John’s story is to prepare us for the way of Jesus, which is a costly way? A narrow way? A risky way?” She goes on to write, “Maybe the point is that we don’t have to slap meaning on every human experience in order to prove that we are pious and God is good. Maybe some things are just plain horrible. Period.”
Debie Thomas treats scripture with respect and at the same time confidently offers readers refreshing, new perspective. I highly recommend this book.
September 21, 2023
You will be blessed as you read this beautiful book about Jesus
So powerful & penetrating. Helped me further search the Bible to experience Jesus! You will want to share it with friends & loved ones!
So powerful & penetrating. Helped me further search the Bible to experience Jesus! You will want to share it with friends & loved ones!
November 28, 2025
Love, love, love Debie Thomas and her beautiful insights into familiar stories. Her insights are profound and helpful. I am buying this book for many friends this holiday season as a gift of love. Debie is open, accepting, loving of all people and a person of color herself.
March 30, 2024
I will be savoring this book for a long time to come. I haven’t read such beautiful reflections on Jesus’ life and teachings for a very long time!
April 5, 2024
Truly amazing
April 8, 2024
Wonderful
A love the way Debie writes, I love the way she thinks about faith, and I love that she can always find hope.
A love the way Debie writes, I love the way she thinks about faith, and I love that she can always find hope.
March 24, 2025
Beautiful and insightful. I heard the stories of Jesus in new ways. Thank you.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews