To Eugene Peterson’s The Mes­sage Bible trans­la­tion, John Blasé adds his own sto­ry­telling voice, explor­ing the famil­iar events from mul­ti­ple first-per­son view­points. What emerges is the inti­mate sto­ry of unlike­ly peo­ple — a fright­ened teenaged girl, a wor­ried car­pen­ter, a col­lec­tion of senior cit­i­zens, a dis­il­lu­sioned young shep­herd — meet­ing up with the divine as they bum­ble and stum­ble toward the real­iza­tion that the lit­tle one just born is the One.

This retold sto­ry of Word made flesh invites read­ers to react appro­pri­ate­ly — with eyes opened wide in won­der, jaws dropped in amaze­ment, and hearts rejoic­ing. The beau­ti­ful design and Aman­da Jolman’s live­ly line draw­ings make this book a fit­ting gift as well as a Christ­mas tra­di­tion that fam­i­lies will trea­sure for years to come.

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