Philip Yancey's book The Jesus I Never Knew shows primarily his two views of Jesus. His view of Jesus from his childhood and his view as he begins to grow and was more informed. Yancey decides to reexamine these traditional views after he encountered some confusing experiences of the imagery that was portrayed as Jesus throughout his life. He used Gospel accounts concentrating mainly on the message of the Sermon on the Mount. By doing so he tries to dispel the confusion found in Jesus' teachings.
The book looks three aspects of Jesus. Firstly it looks at who Jesus was, showing the teachings and miracles that he performed. the reason for his coming, and what he left behind. It also looked at the reason for his coming, which was to die for us (death and resurrection). Lastly it looked at his ascension and what it meant for the world. The emphasis on the humanity of Jesus and also be seen throughout the first section.
In the second chapter the very human conditions of Jesus' birth are displayed.He imagines the impact of the virgin birth on a first century Jewish community, noting that under Jewish law Mary could have been stoned for becoming pregnant while betrothed to Joseph. When Jesus was born, Palestinian Jews were rejecting the Greek culture popular among Romans and instead celebrating their own heritage. Yancey notes that Jesus' genealogy is traced back to Abraham, the founder of Israel; Jesus was circumcised according to Jewish custom; and he worshiped in the Jewish temple. Under despotic Roman rule, the Jews waited for their Messiah. They did not believe Jesus was the Messiah because he did not seek to become a king, and rather than freeing the Jews, he preached that they were somehow already blessed.
Before beginning his ministry, Jesus faced three temptations: Satan asked him to turn a stone into bread, bow down to Satan in exchange for power over all nations, or jump from a great height and allow God to save him.