surprised by grace by tullian tchividjian

When I heard that Billy Graham's grandson, Tullian Tchividjian, wrote a book on my favorite book of the Bible, I just had to read it.  Surprised by Grace: God's Relentless Pursuit of Rebels is a really good exposition on the Book of Jonah.  Initially, I wanted to read this book because, quite frankly, I didn't want to like it.  I didn't want to like it because many people (pastors included) tend to immediately self-identify with Jonah.  And by identifying themselves with Jonah's plight, they fail to see God in the story.  The Book of Jonah is chuck-full of drama.  And Jonah is a complicated character, who really doesn't get "it" in the end.  He doesn't really understand how God could love the Ninevites and this is troubling to Jonah.  

Well, I couldn't have been any more wrong about this book.  Tullian, I think, does a really good job helping the reader understand that Jonah has more to do with God than it does with Jonah.  Here are a couple of points that I really liked about his exposition.  1) Tullian picks up on key repetitions of words and phrases from the Hebrew text.  For example, meaning is found in repetition and Tullian picks up on the fact that Jonah literally "goes down" and down and down to the point where he ultimately wants to "go down" to his death.   Often this repetition is lost in the English translations.  Other repetitions include: "fearing" as well as the hyperbolic use of the word "great".  Everything in Jonah is great!  2) I appreciate the fact that Tullian does not oversimplify the character of Jonah.  He helps the reader to see that Jonah is a complex character who deserves more than a simple character analysis.  3) Lastly, I appreciate how Tullian talks throughout the book about the gospel - God pursues and rescues both sinners and "wayward prophets."  Tullian says it best: "It [Jonah] reveals the fact that while you and I are great sinners, God is a great Savior, and that while our sin reaches far, his grace reaches farther" (18).