Review: "Rich Wounds"

 

Rich Wounds: the Countless Treasures of the Life, Death, and Triumph of Jesus by David Mathis is a devotional that will lead you into the consideration of Who Jesus is and what He has done – feeling the pain and the horror, the joy and the relief…   It can be used during Lent as a devotional to parallel the liturgical season, or anytime to be brought into that final week.

The title of the book comes from the hymn, “Crown Him with Many Crowns,” and fixes our eyes on the broken body of God through which we are saved.

There are thirty devotions in the book, and the book is divided into four sections.

In the first section, the devotions focus on “His Life.”  Titles include:  His habits. He slept, and He taught.

The second section looks at “His Death,” and the devotions as why the cross is wonderful, and why Jesus’ blood is precious, among others.

The third section is “His Triumph.”  “His Heart Beats.” “He is Exalted.” “He Sat Down.”

Finally, there is – specifically – “The Passion Week” Here Mathis walks the reader through major issues in the Passion week ending with, “The Triumph of Joy.’

Each devotion begins with a Scripture and ends with a prayer plus suggested additional Scripture reading.

Name and Scripture indices form the end of the book.

I’ve read and used good devotionals, but this is one of the best.  Mathis sticks to the text, brings the reader in through his writing, and strikes and the heart and the mind to bring the reader into the love of those rich wounds.

Highly recommended.

[This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com].