The Work of Jesus the Messiah through the Millennia
By Gerald R. McDermott
Baker Academic 426pp $34.10
Reviewed by David W. Virtue, DD
March 27, 2025
When people talk of Jesus in today’s vernacular it is nearly always a sensate Jesus, the Jesus of the here and now; the Jesus we feel; the Jesus we ask, ‘What are you doing for me now.’ If we are a little less narcissistic, we might ask, ‘what has he done for us,’ with flashbacks to the cross.
In this weighty, magisterial volume, Dr. McDermott carries us back before time. He paints a picture of Jesus that transcends time and yet belongs in time. Before He is the Savior of the world, He is the eternally pre-existent One who dwells in eternity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
He is the creator and sustainer of the universe, the One to whom every knee will one day bow and every tongue confess that He, and He alone, is Lord of all.
McDermott traces the history of the work of redemption from creation to the cross and resurrection, to the Messiah’s return and final judgment.
The book offers a magnificent sweep of history, touching all the bases from eternity to the dispersal of the nations; from Abraham to Moses; from Moses to the Incarnation; from David to the Captivity; from the captivity to the Messiah; the Incarnation; From Christ’s resurrection to the end of the world; Ascension and Church; mission to the gentiles, persecution; missionary expansion. McDermott even touches on the rise of Islam and touches on the thorny issue of ‘Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God. Hint; they don’t. “The Bible and the Qur’an do not teach a similar message on love for God and neighbor. Love for God is never commanded by the Qur’an and is rarely even mentioned.” The book shows how Jesus as Messiah was redeeming throughout Old Testament history, and it carries that story up through the last two millennia.
McDermott is indebted to one of his heroes, Jonathan Edwards, whose uncompleted summa was intended to reveal the beauty of the Triune God in a new, historical way. This book is McDermott's attempt to finish what Edwards started--before he was cut down by the side-effects of a vaccine. He agrees with Edwards's contention that it is only through a historical examination of the Messiah's redemption amid the turmoil of the world and the worship of his people that one can best see God's beauty.
So, God's beauty is one of the recurring themes. So is Israel. The book follows Edwards's argument that Israel is the source of redemption from creation through new creation in Jesus and all the way to the end of the world. Israel through the perfect Israelite, the Jewish Messiah Jesus.
The first main section of the book shows the history of redemption starting just after the fall and continues until the birth of Jesus. Subsequent sections put Jesus at the center of redemption’s story.
McDermott does not shy away from controversial topics like the gifts of the Holy Spirit, The New Testament Canon; The Apocrypha; Dogma and theology in the third and fourth centuries; the Iconoclast controversy; the Rise of Islam; God as warrior: The Crusades; Muhammad and Redemption (he is opposed to it, but God uses him as a foil); The problem of Evil; the church’s new center of gravity in Asia and Africa; The Eschaton; ending in God glorified in the church glorified.
In the final chapter, God glorified in the Church Glorified, McDermott proposes that Paul's vision of the end of history is that after establishing the new skies and earth, the Son will deliver the kingdom back to the Father.
McDermott concludes this powerful volume with these words; “Let us now review the majestic story we have followed…God took thousands of years to prepare the way for the Son to purchase redemption. The purchase was almost too mind-boggling to be true, which was why the ancient Jews could scarcely believe it. Would the eternal YHWH live on earth for thirty-three years in a despised condition, living a life of such suffering that it ended on a cross for criminals? But then they saw the glorious aftermath, which convinced many of its truth: this same man of sorrows was raised from the dead and lifted on high to the right hand of God at the top of the universe.”
I cannot commend this book too highly. It will be a reference book on my shelf to draw on for future stories right till the day I write my last story. McDermott himself is a solid Anglican priest, theologian and teacher and this comes through with grace and style.
McDermott is the author or editor of twenty-five books. This latest volume, I believe, is his finest. It is, after all, about Jesus of whom more books have been written about than anyone else in history.
This volume stands alongside such weighty volumes as Alfred Edersheim’s, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. McDermott's New History of Redemption should be in the library of every seminary in America, Canada and the UK. It is must reading for every graduating seminarian. For the ordinary reader patience is needed, but well rewarded with answers that often plague the general reader for a lifetime.
The book can be purchased at Amazon here: A New History of Redemption: The Work of Jesus the Messiah through the Millennia: Gerald R. McDermott: 9780801098543: Amazon.com: Books A New History of Redemption: The Work of Jesus the Messiah through the Millennia: Gerald R. McDermott: 9780801098543: Amazon.com: Books
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I need to get this book. When it comes to basic theology and also Christian's right relationship to Israel, Gerry is always right on. This effort sounds like a great explanatory summary of the role of Jesus, both in terms of God and His relationship with us (and the universe) as well. The Spirit told humans two names in which to call Him (among many others throughout the scriptures)... Jesus (meaning God saves) and Emmanuel (meaning God with us). Heretics and Muslims find it unfathomable that God should choose to become human... and make some humans beings into His children forever. Yes, it is indeed amazing grace!
In contrast to the Eastern religions and most psychological theories, our faith is based on events. They reveal God's redemptive plan and so should be powerful encouragers as we move forward.