Built around a painting celebrating Jesus as an infant, child, and adult, Hutchison highlights sixteen points from Jesus' life, through image and scripture, followed by the retelling of the Gospel in familiar terms, offering both "Then" and a "Now" reflections on Jesus' encounters with others. These reflections offer readers a glimpse of Jesus both in his own time and in our time. Questions offered at the end of each chapter invite readers to reflect on where Jesus might be found in their daily encounters.

The painting central to the book came to Hutchison in a dream. He recalls seeing a totem pole representing the life of Jesus - from infant born in a manger to the crucified Christ with arms stretched wide - and knew he needed to paint a picture of it. The resulting painting illustrates the full life of Christ. Beginning at the bottom with the infant child in the manger, the eye is drawn upward to the boy Jesus, the adult Jesus, and Jesus on the cross. Hutchison believes the inspiration for this dream may be Presiding Bishop Michael Curry's "This is the Jesus Movement" video with its reference to the query, "why don't you paint us a picture."