Cries from the Cross: A Jounrey Into the Heart of Jesus

by Erwin W. Lutzer

I picked this book up at the recommendation of a friend. After a not-so-pleasant experience with a different Lutzer book, I hesitated at reading this one longer than I'd originally intended.

In this book, a chapter is devoted to each of Jesus' seven sayings on the cross. Even with knowing that, I wasn't sure what to expect when I began. Now that I'm done, I'll definitely say it was worth my time to read.

There's nothing in this book that is life-changingly genius. There's nothing in this book that you couldn’t figure out on your own if you never read it. But this book provides you an opportunity to go back through the crucifixion and meditate on it a little bit more than you usually would. The comments are fairly simple—nothing scholarly—but most of them provide edification.

There were places where I think he could have condensed a page or two's worth of writing into a paragraph. And there were places where I disagreed with his theology (for instance, much of his chapter on "it is finished" I disagree with doctrinally). But there wasn't one chapter in it that didn't give me a little more to think about when I gather with the brethren around His table. And if you read this book and get nothing more out of it than one thing from each chapter to better-help you think of His death, it will have been worth it for you.

The Editors do not advocate everything taught by the authors of the books we review. Like us, these authors are fallible humans and those who choose to read these books should measure them by the bible, the one true standard.