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The Jesus Storybook Bible




The Jesus Storybook Bible Written by Sally Lloyd-Jones Ilustrated by Jago
http://www.jesusstorybookbible.com/index.php

We have been using this amazing book in our children’s worship time at Mercy Road for a long while.  Finally, I decided to purchase a copy for my family, especially as a gift for my daughter for Christmas, except I couldn’t wait for that long to give it to her.  The Jesus Storybook Bible, written by Sally Lloyd-Jones and illustrated by Jago Silver is a beautifully done retelling of the Bible story with Jesus as the center.  During the opening chapter, Sally writes, “But the Bible isn’t mainly about you and what you should be doing.  It’s about God and what he has done.” (14)  This God-centric understanding of Scripture permeates the entire Jesus Storybook Bible.  Further, Sally indicates that, “And at the center of the Story, there is a baby.  Every Story in the Bible whispers his name.  He is like the missing piece in a puzzle – the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together, and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture.” (17)  The centerpiece which holds all the other pieces together is Jesus. 

We see the beautiful connection between Old Testament stories such as the great escape from Egypt retold from Exodus 3-13.  At the end of the story, Sally writes, “God’s people would always remember this great rescue and call it “Passover.”  But an even Greater Rescue was coming.” (91).   We get hints and intimations of the great coming of King Jesus into the world to rescue sinners and restore creation here.  The interaction with Pharaoh and Moses was stunningly illustrated and pointed to the futile nature of the Pharaoh and the celebration of the people upon their path out of Egypt.  The great redemptive acts of God in the OT and NT are highlighted in this Storybook Bible as a way to point to the real hero of the text, God himself.

Another point of strength of the book is its insistence that in reading the Bible we are not just looking for heroes to follow, although they are there, but God to behold our gaze and worship. Concerning Daniel, Sally writes, “God would keep on rescuing his people.  And the time was coming when God would send another brave Hero, like Daniel, who would love God and do what God said – whatever it cost him, even it if meant he would die.” (159).  The point is made that Daniel was surely a brave lad to face such grave circumstances with faith and devotion, but this point is not the hinge point of the story.  Rather, God has been a God of rescue from the very beginning, and this would be no different when he sent his Son to die for our sins.


I really enjoy this Bible Storybook and hope you do also.  I told my daughter once we get finished reading through it, we just do it again.    

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