It is not easy to find a book written by a man about women that is worth reading. It is just too easy for them to have an agenda and skewed theology. So when I picked up “Jesus, The Man Who Loved Women” by Bruce Marchiano, I was skeptical. To be honest, I read the first half of the book looking for “the catch”. I finally decided there was none. This is a beautiful book and it is written by, from what I can find out about him, a man who is just a really nice guy, and has a heart like Jesus.
In this tender book about Jesus and his encounters with women, Marchiano profiles the lives of eleven well known Bible characters. He tells the familiar stories of their lives using his unique window on the world of story teller and actor. Using his imagination, he enters into their world, and the stories of the women come alive.
Marchiano creatively and convincingly proves to the reader of Jesus’ respect and love – not only for these eleven women, but also for women of every age in similar circumstances.
I agree with the jacket blurb that describes the book as more than just a retelling of Jesus’ encounters with women, it is a love story – “a romance between the Creator of the universe come to earth and the women he came to know.” It truly is possible to get a glimpse through these pages of the compassion and love the Savior has for all women.
I came at this book with a predisposition to like it, because I already liked the author. As a pastor of a small rural congregation, I used the film The Gospel of Matthew in which Bruce Marchiano stars as Jesus many times to illustrate a sermon. His warm and genuine portrayal of Jesus made me believe ahead of time he might be able to write compassionately to women. I was right.
Marchiano, along with being an author and actor, is an international speaker and heads up an international Christian ministry that reaches out to and provides help to the poor in many countries, conducts crusades and trains young people to get jobs.
I like him, and I like his book.
Reviewed by Joan Tyvoll
