Book excerpt: In Shadows, Darkness, and Dawn, daily readings for the season of Lent engage us with the Gospel of John's narratives about Jesus: the temptation in the wilderness, Nicodemus's nighttime visit, the encounter with the woman at the well, Jesus' healing of the man born blind, the raising of Lazrus, and the events of Holy Week. We follow Jesus into the thickening shadows of conflict and rejection, suffering and death. With fresh insights, Tom Steagald takes us to the heart of these stories that reveal not only the shadows surrounding Jesus but those in our world and in our lives. And we hear the good news: in Jesus God has gone ahead of us-has taken up residence in these shadows-because God loves us. Book jacket.