I requested this book as a potential Lent devotional. It is short, easy to read, and formed in digestible chapters. It focuses on the 'I am' statements of Christ in John's Gospel, and this book is an interesting addition to the field, as it is written from a conservative Evangelical Protestant perspective, whereas it may be fair to say that Roman Catholics and High Anglicans more commonly write devotionals on these sayings.

The book has a clear goal - to present the words and work of Christ as the cure for much of our inner spiritual discontent in early days of the 21st century, 'to give us things we really need, things we long for.' The author presents these particular episodes in John's Gospel as Jesus showing the reader 'who he is and what he can do for us...[and] to meet our deepest needs and desires.'

The author - ministering to an international congregation in Central London - writes persuasively of our capacity for a spiritual hunger in the modern age. He writes of Jesus being the bread of life, and which lead us to the recurrent theme of the book - that to receive this bread of life means to 'personally trusting in Jesus.' The receiving of Holy Communion is described as 'pictures this personal trust in, and feeding on, Christ and his death for us.' This is a standard evangelical theme, but I found the repetition of it a little tiring: "We need to enter. Personally. To go up to it, turn the handle, and walkthrough, putting our trust in Jesus."

I confess after this point, my attention began to wander. The tone of the text seemed to very suddenly shift, into a rather standard, conservative evangelical text much like any other. "God is holy; humans are sinful, God has revealed in Christ the only way to salvation." Not that I disagree with any of this, but it seemed to come as a bit of surprise a little way into the text.

What did I find engaging in this text? The author presents modern existence with the rather striking example of being a 'mushroom in life' - of having dirt constantly thrown onto us, and not knowing a reason why. The author expands on this - that we are spiritually in the dark, spiritually blind. However, the author presents his challenge to the modern milieu - that underneath our self-assumption of decency and goodness, there is a darkness that goes unacknowledged. I had never noticed that in their objection to Christ, the Pharisees “protested, outraged, ‘Are we also blind?’ (9:40). So, in judgment, they were plunged into even greater darkness. They became even blinder - blinded by the light.” True freedom is not in unrestrained freedom, but in submission to God, which he describes as 'the door of the sheepfold,' which was not something I had previously considered after many years of preaching on these passages. Underneath the insecurity of modern life, the author presents Christ as the answer. "Once you’re in his hand, the Father’s hand - Jesus and the Father are one - you are eternally safe....it’s a good deal being part of his flock - you get identity, relationship, life, and security." The author's interpretation of Christ as the True Vine also made me think afresh, and how prayer and the Holy Spirit relate to this image.

However, in the end, I found it difficult to commend the book. I found the conversational, matey, informal tone grating, especially as the book shifted away from 'let's consider what modern life is like' to 'all humanity has sinned.' The book is presented as being appropriate for both Christians and sceptics, but I can't imagine that many outside the conservative evangelical milieu would find it appealing.