Following Jesus, the Servant King: A Biblical Theology of Covenantal Discipleship

Written by Jonathan Lunde

Narrated by Tom Casaletto

What does the Bible say about who Jesus is and what he asks of us, his followers?

Throughout the Old Testament and into the New, God not only demands righteousness from his people but also showers on grace that enables them to act. Jesus, of course, provides the ultimate fulfillment of these twin aspects of God’s relationship to humanity. In biblical terms, Jesus is the King who demands righteous obedience from his followers, and Jesus is the Servant who provides the grace that enables this obedience.

In Following Jesus, the Servant King, Jonathan Lunde makes plain how having a strong understanding of covenantal theology opens us to greater discipleship. From the angle of biblical teaching, Lunde tackles some of the most poignant questions about being a disciple of Christ:

• What does it mean to follow Jesus?
• What does God expect from his followers.
• How can we be and do what is required?

 

While answering these essential questions, Lunde thoroughly details God's covenants throughout the whole of Scripture, explaining what this means in terms of our relationship with God and how Jesus fulfills each of them in turn.

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Part of the Biblical Theology for Life series, this practical and robust audiobook will help you ground your discipleship on the solid foundation of biblical understanding and reflection.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Release date: Nov 23, 2010
• ISBN: 9780310410362

Jonathan Lunde

Jonathan Lunde (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is associate professor of biblical and theological studies at Talbot School of Theology of Biola University. He is coeditor (with Kenneth Berding) of Three Views on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament and has contributed articles to The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels and the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Jon and his wife, Pamela, have three children and reside in Brea, California.

Reviews for Following Jesus, the Servant King

[paul_schultz_9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Zondervan gave me a copy of Following Jesus, the Servant King: A Biblical Theology of Covenantal Discipleship by Jonathan Lunde to review. Apart from that I am under no obligation as to the content of the review.

The first thing to be aware of about this book is that it is not in the genre of “how-to books.” Even though about 1/3 of the book is devoted to answering the “how” question…the answer is anything but a traditional “how-to” explanation.

There certainly are an adequate amount of “how-to” discipleship books on the market…for instance, Bill Hull’s The Complete Book of Discipleship or Greg Ogden’s Transforming Discipleship, however neither of those delves as deeply into the Biblical (particularly the Old Testament) roots of discipleship as Lunde’s book does.

The first chapter provides an overview of what lies ahead and, in general, what lies ahead are Lunde’s answers to three significant questions:

the “Why” Question: Why should I be concerned to obey all of Jesus’ commands if I have been saved by grace?
the “What” Question: What is it that Jesus demands of his disciples?
the “How” Question: How can the disciple obey Jesus’ high demand, while experiencing his “yoke” as “light” and “easy”?

The answer to the “Why” Question turns out to be a survey of the covenants, their “gracious contexts”, and their “demands.” By walking through the covenants (Noahic, Abrahamic (2), Mosaic, Davidic, and the New Covenant) Lunde shows a recurring pattern of grace and righteous demands, even for the “grant type” of covenant. For the reader who has never before done a study of the covenants, this section will both unlock new understandings as well lead to a thirst for more information concerning the covenants and their relationships.

Some readers may have minor quibbles in this section (i.e.. Are there really two Abrahamic covenants? Is the Davidic covenant conditional or a grant? etc.) Nevertheless, very few will disagree with Lunde’s broad conclusions in this section. And in the end, the reader should have a better understanding of how grace and demands can mix without resulting into legalism.

The second section of the book looks at the “what” question. In this section Lunde provides a survey (not a comprehensive one) of Jesus commands and shows how Jesus reinterprets God’s laws for us. Some of the laws are abandoned (food laws), some are intensified (think in terms of the Sermon on the Mount), in the end, this section will probably hold few surprises, but nevertheless provides a Christocentric basis for how the believer relates to God’s law. One thing that pleased me in this section was to see the Great Commission being interpreted in light of Matthew 10 (and thus emphasizing the mission of the Church includes both proclamation as well as demonstration).

I expected the third section to move from theological foundations to a more applied model (in keeping with the “how” question.) However, that really doesn’t occur in this book until the final chapter, rather this section focus on two key points…the implications of an inaugurated kingdom and the implications for Jesus’ roles as representative, redeemer, and restorer for our discipleship. As to the latter, Lunde spends a great deal of time looking at Jesus’ roles and the importance for us in remembering them and receiving grace from them for our daily walk as disciples. None of this struck me as particularly controversial.

However, not everyone will agree with Lunde’s understanding of the inaugurated kingdom. In brief, Lunde applies the “now/not yet” schema that has come to be widely accepted as far as eschatology is concerned…to soteriology. That is to say, the promises of the New Covenant have yet to reach ultimate fulfillment, consequently there remains a struggle with sin in our daily lives. Now few will argue with that on the basis of experience, however, Paul’s writings seem to argue that things really have fundamentally changed…”we are no longer to be slaves to sin.” I , myself, am torn on this issue…I can see where Lunde is coming from and yet, I don’t find in Paul’s writings what I would expect to find (Romans 7 being the exception that proves the rule) if we have not had a complete transformation. Certainly I am not arguing that there isn’t more that will yet be done (i.e.. glorification), but I wonder what hope there is for discipleship if it can only be partial hope. In the end, Lunde’s book encourages me to explore even more the Biblical foundations of discipleship. And that is certainly not a bad result for a book about discipleship.