The fruit of a lifetime of biblical scholarship

David Ewert

I can’t think of any writer in Mennonite Brethren circles more prolific than David Ewert. He has been blessed with health, a clear and exceptionally retentive mind, a rich storehouse of knowledge, and faith convictions shaped by decades of engagement in the life of the church. At 84, he still maintains a busy schedule of writing, teaching and preaching. His writings deserve wide reading.

Dr. Ewert has been a Bible school teacher, Bible college and seminary teacher, has preached and taught in a dozen countries, and has served in numerous leadership roles among Canadian and U.S. Mennonite Brethren. He was also president of Mennonite Brethren Bible College for a number of years. His public service has spanned more than six decades.

I have on my desk five books, each about 150 pages, that have come from Ewert’s desk in the past three years. They are among the 25 or so books he has authored.

Anyone familiar with David Ewert knows the precision of his language, the orderliness of his thought, his wonderful use of stories, his rich and careful scholarship, his great respect for the truth of the Scriptures, and his love for Christ and the church. All these characterize the books before me. The only thing missing is the sound of his voice, which those of us who have heard him often can easily supply.

In 2002, he produced Emmanuel, God With Us, 14 chapters on the mystery of the incarnation. Most were originally expository sermons spoken by Ewert on texts from the Gospels, the letters of Paul, and even one from Revelation. Chapters like “Born of the Virgin Mary” from Luke, “The Word become Flesh” from John, or “The Birth of the Messiah in the Apocalypse” from Revelation, are wonderful resources for preachers or simply for personal reflection on the meaning of the incarnation.

They will also stretch the imagination: Ewert insists “if Christ is the light of all people, we must not limit the presence of Christ to the life of believers only. Christ illuminates humankind.” Of course, that begs further explanation and Ewert gives it.

In 2003, Ewert put out a similar book on the passion narrative from the Gospel of Mark (Mark’s Passion Narrative). Its 11 chapters carefully follow Mark’s account of Jesus’ preparations for his death, the last supper, his agony in Gethsemane, his betrayal and arrest, culminating with his so-called trial, his death and then burial and resurrection.

Even though Jesus’ public ministry stretched over several years, all the Gospels give an inordinate amount of space to his final week. Christ’s death opened the way to God and his resurrection confirmed his claims. Without it there would be no church.

Ewert explains why Mark’s shorter ending, “And they were afraid,” makes such good sense. It ends with an emphasis on “amazement and wonder. . . . The resurrection cannot be understood or explained. It can only be believed and proclaimed.” This is a wonderful little book.

Two of the books, published in 2004, deal with the church. One is a commentary on Ephesians (The Body of Christ, The Church) and the other is a series of sermons on the church (The Church, The New People of God).

The Ephesians commentary illustrates Ewert’s strengths as a biblical interpreter. He breaks the content into 12 sections and explains their themes. Often he will explore the Greek meaning of a word with reference to other places where it occurs. One example: his interpretation of patria in Ephesians 3:15 explores Paul’s statement that from God as Father “every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.”

Does that mean God “is the model of all fatherhood”? Or that “all things in heaven and on earth receive their life from him”? Is he referring to the church? Or does he have all earthly families, clans or tribes in mind? Ephesians is a profound Pauline letter and this commentary opens it well.

The Church, The New People of God treats the church topically, covering themes like its roots, what Jesus taught about it (he spoke a lot about the kingdom of heaven, the apostles spoke about the church), New Testament images of the church, membership, worship, leadership, its unity and its mission.

Here again Ewert provides a rich diet of teaching about the church. A chapter on images, for example, looks at “the Israel of God,” “the chosen race,” “a holy nation,” “twelve tribes,” “the true circumcision,” “Abraham’s children,” “the city of God,” “God’s temple,” “a royal priesthood.” Such a list suggests how rewarding the study can be.

A last book, written essentially for his children and grandchildren, is entitled Mennonite Country Boy. An earlier memoir, A Journey of Faith, paid most attention to Ewert’s adult life. Mennonite Country Boy describes his childhood, life on the farm, in school, at church, in the community, with his friends, up to the time he married Lena Hamm and went to northern Alberta to teach in a Bible school. It’s a simple story and will interest those who’d like to know more about an outstanding church leader’s early life, most of it set in rural Alberta, far from the college and urban settings to which he eventually gave so much of his life.

These books were published by Heart Beat Productions, Abbotsford, and are available for $10 each by writing David Ewert at 25-3115 Trafalgar St., Abbotsford, V2S 8C5.

Harold Jantz is former editor of the MB Herald and founding editor of ChristianWeek. He was David Ewert’s student at MB Bible College.