Book Review: 3:16 The Numbers of Hope

Book Review: “3:16 The Numbers of Hope” by Max Lucado

Reading Max Lucado’s writing is like sitting on your front porch on a warm summer evening with a glass of iced tea, enjoying an occasional light breeze, and an equally refreshing and delightful conversation with your favorite neighbor. 3:16 The Numbers of Hope marks my first reading of a Lucado book. It won’t be my last.

That Lucado is an expert story-teller is evident from the first sentence of the first chapter wherein he sets the stage for what he deems “The Most Famous Conversation in the Bible” — the clandestine meeting of Nicodemus, a Pharisee, and Jesus Christ. Nicodemus acknowledged Jesus’ birthright as the Messiah, Savior of the World, telling him during that secret meeting with Jesus and his followers, that he realized “no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus’ declaration that no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again, lead Nicodemus and, ultimately, the rest of mankind to what Lucado refers to as the “Hope diamond of the Bible:”

For God
so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever belies in him
shall not perish but have
eternal life.

Systematically, Lucado dissects that “twenty-six-word parade of hope” chapter by chapter, focused upon bringing the reader to an understanding and appreciation of the verse’s key terms and phrases: God, the world, loved, one and only Son, gave, whoever, believes, in him, eternal, life. Each discussion is replete not only with other Scriptural references and backdrops that provide context and clarification, but also modern, “real life” illustrations of the power of each of those twenty-six deceptively simple words.

For instance, in Chapter Four, “When You Get Booted Out,” Lucado describes God’s boundless, unending love by using a new word: Plutoed. He describes how annoyed, upset, and unhappy the planet Pluto must have felt when he was “downgraded . . . to asteroid #134340″ because he did not meet “solar-system standards.”

Can’t fault Pluto for being ticked. One day he’s in, the next he’s out; one day on the squad, the next off. We can understand his frustration. Some of us understand it all too well. We know what it’s like to be voted out. Wrong size. Wrong crowd. Wrong address.

Plutoed.

Lucado aptly describes the human condition with which every reader is familiar: We have all felt “demoted and demeaned,” but he emphasizes that “loved” is the “leading verb” in John 3:16 and convincingly uses other anecdotes to drive home the point that fickle and conditional human acceptance pales in comparison to God’s unwavering enveloping of each and every individual in His safe embrace.

Lucado could easily have fallen back upon familiar, cliched analogies to make his point. How many times have preachers and authors talked about being the last kid picked for the basketball team in elementary school, being the one not welcomed at the popular kids’ table in the school cafeteria, not being the boss’s favorite, employee, etc.

Instead, he employs a totally unique, clever and, ultimately, memorable hypothetical scenario to drive home the point. It is all the more effective because he chose the plight of Pluto, the last outpost of our solar system before venturing into limitless and unending space, as the backdrop for the story.

Every time I feel shut out, rejected, or downtrodden by perceived unfairness or mistreatment, I will think, “I have been ‘plutoed.’” The word has already become part of my vernacular and I’m betting that, as you read this, it will become part of yours. That’s not just brilliant writing; it’s an example of writing inspired by the Holy Spirit, designed to resonate with believers and, more importantly, nonbelievers.

Lucado is an extremely effective teacher. In “Believe and Receive,” he explains the reference to a serpent in the wilderness which precedes what he calls “the 3:16 offer.” Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.^“

The wandering Israelites were grumbling at Moses again. Though camped on the border of the Promised Land and beneficiaries of four decades of God’s provisions, he Hebrews sounded off like spoiled trust-fund brats: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?” (Num. 21:5 NKJV).

Same complaint, seventieth verse. Ex-slaves longing for Eqypt. Dreaming of pyramids and cursing the wasteland, pining for Pharaoh and vilifying Moses. They hated the hot sand, the long days, and the manna, oh the manna. “Our soul loathes this worthless bread” (v. 6 NKJV).

They’d had all the manna burgers and manna casseroles and manna peanut butter sandwiches they could stomach. And God had had all the moaning he could take. “So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died” (v. 6 NKJV).

Horror-movie producers long to spawn such scenes. Slithering vipers creep out of holes and rocks and serpentine through the camp. People die. Corpses dot the landscape. Survivors pleaded with Moses to plead with God for mercy. “We have sinned. . . . Pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. The the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at tit, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived” (vv7-9 NKJV).

This passage was a solemn prophecy.

And it was also a simple promise. Snake-bit Israelites found healing by looking at the pole. Sinners will find healing by looking to Christ. “Everyone who believes in him will have eternal life” (John 3:16 NLT).

Lucado writes the truth, as he understands it, in an unapologetic manner. He debunks the notion, adopted by many modern Christians, that Hell does not actually exist (”a loving God would not send people to hell”) by pointing out that “Jesus spoke of hell often. Thirteen percent of his teachings refer to eternal judgment and hell. Two-thirds of his parables relate to resurrection and judgment. Jesus wasn’t cruel or capricious, but he was blunt. His candor stuns.”

So too does Lucado, who acknowledges that no one wants to think about it and chastises anyone who refers to it “glibly or proclaims it gleefully,” opining that such an attitude suggests a failure “to ponder it deeply.” According to Lucado, “Hell, like heaven, is a location, not a state of mind, not a metaphysical dimension of floating spirits, but an actual place populate by physical beings.” Lucado’s interpretation of Scripture places responsibility for one’s ultimate destiny with his readers, the logical outcome of God’s give of free will. “How could a loving God send sinner to hell? He doesn’t. They volunteer.”

To be fair, mature Christians seeking a detailed Bible study guide that plumbs the nuances of each included Scriptural reference will be disappointed. So will readers who seek comparison and discourse about the various Biblical translations he employs.

The slick marketing techniques employed to assure this volume’s success are assaultive. For instance, a wide variety of derivative merchandise is advertised in the final pages and includes baseball caps, t-shirts, study guides, CD’s, DVD’s, and greeting cards. More disturbing, however, is the blatant capitalization upon the events of September 11, 2001, despite the fact that the book lacks any reference to that day and is devoid of a discussion of evil in the world. The tie-in to 9/11, especially a full six years after the attacks, seems gratuitous and cheap.

3:16 is an excellent starting point for a nonbeliever who wants to understand the cornerstone principle of Christianity, but is only that: A starting point that must be followed up by serious Bible study and deliberation upon many key points that are beyond this book’s coverage, not the least of which are the concepts of grace, forgiveness, faith vs. works, and why it is imperative that Christians commune.

In the latter half of the volume, entitled “Only Jesus: 40 Days with the Son,” Lucado presents a “scrapbook” of the Savior’s life through one brief reading per day, from the “ordinary night” when a young girl gave birth to the point that the Son refused to be “guided by anything other than his high call,” summarizing his life in one sentence: “The Son of man came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10 RSV).” ((I am working my way through this 40-day devotional and Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life in tandem, an interesting and thought-provoking journey about which I will write more soon.)) As with the main volume, the devotionals are engaging, entertaining, and can serve as either introductory, foundational material or springboards for further study, depending upon the reader’s background, interest, and needs.

Lucado writes: “But God reaches and touches. . . . He’s even been known to touch peolpe through paragraphs like the ones you are reading. If he is touching you, let him.” Therein lies the power of 3:16 The Number of Hope. It is neither a perfect nor complete book, but it is, like the 26 words upon which it is based, an uplifting reminder for any Christian of the force of that verse and vested with the power of the Holy Spirit to touch the heart of its readers and change the course of their lives.