<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>LESSON XXXI</h2>
<h3>THE JESUS OF THE GOSPELS</h3>
<p>It is possible to speak of "the Jesus of the Gospels" only if the
Gospels are in essential agreement. If the features of the four
portraits are so different that they never could have been united
really in the same person, then there is no such thing as a Jesus of
the Gospels, but only a Jesus of Matthew and a Jesus of Mark and
a Jesus of Luke and a Jesus of John.</p>
<h4>1. AGREEMENT AMONG THE SYNOPTISTS</h4>
<p>Among the Synoptic Gospels, at any rate, no such difference
exists. Though every one of these Gospels possesses its own
characteristics, the peculiarities are almost negligible in comparison
with the underlying unity. There is certainly such a thing as "the
Synoptic Jesus." His words and deeds are narrated in each of the
Gospels in a different selection and in a different style, but the
characteristic features are everywhere the same.</p>
<h4>2. THE SYNOPTISTS AND JOHN</h4>
<p>With regard to the Fourth Gospel, the matter is not quite so plain.
The contrast between the Synoptists and John has already been
noticed. It forces itself upon even the most casual reader. Difference,
however, is not necessarily contradiction. It may be due to
a difference in the point of view. Both the Synoptists and John
give a true picture of Jesus; the same features appear very different
when viewed from different angles.</p>
<h4>3. DIVINITY AND HUMANITY</h4>
<p>At any rate, if there is a contradiction between the first three
Gospels and the Gospel of John, the contradiction is by no means
easy to formulate. It cannot be said, for example, simply that the
Synoptists present a human Jesus and John a divine Jesus. Whatever
the differences among the four Gospels, all four agree at least
in two essential features. All four present Jesus, in the first place
as a man, and in the second place as something more than a man.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>(<strong>1</strong>) <strong>Humanity in the Synoptists.</strong>—The former feature is perhaps
especially clear in the Synoptists. According to the first three
Gospels, Jesus led a genuine human life from birth to death. As a
child he grew not only in stature, but also in wisdom. He was
subject to human parents and to the requirements of the Jewish law.
Even after the inauguration of his ministry the human conditions of
his life were not superseded. He was even tempted like other men.
He grew weary and slept. He suffered hunger and thirst. He
could rejoice and he could suffer sorrow. He prayed, like other men,
and worshiped God. He needed strengthening both for body and
for mind. No mere semblance of a human life is here presented,
but a genuine man of flesh and blood.</p>
<p>(<strong>2</strong>) <strong>Humanity in John.</strong>—But if the Jesus of the Synoptists is a true
man, how is it with the Jesus of John? Does the Fourth Gospel
present merely a heavenly being who walked through the world untouched
and unruffled by the sin and misery and weakness that surrounded
him? Only a very superficial reading can produce such an
impression. The Fourth Gospel indeed lays a supreme emphasis
upon the majesty of Jesus, upon his "glory" as it was manifested in
works of power and attested by God himself. But side by side with
these features of the narrative, as though to prevent a possible misunderstanding,
the author presents the humanity of Jesus with
drastic touches that can scarcely be paralleled in the Synoptists
themselves. It is John who speaks of the weariness of Jesus at the
well of Samaria, ch. 4:6; of the human affection which he felt for
Lazarus and Martha and Mary, ch. 11:3,5,36, and for an individual
among the disciples, ch. 13:23; of his weeping, ch. 11:35; and
indignant groaning, v. 38; and of his deadly thirst. Ch. 19:28. As
clearly as the other evangelists John presents Jesus as a man.</p>
<p>(<strong>3</strong>) <strong>Divinity in John.</strong>—In the second place, all four Gospels, if they
present Jesus as a man, also present him as something far more than
a man. With regard to the Gospel of John, of course the matter is
unmistakable. The very first verse reads: "In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
Jesus according to John was plainly no product of the world, but
God come in the flesh. John 1:14. The teaching of Jesus himself,
as it is reported in the Fourth Gospel, is concerned with the relation
of perfect unity that exists between the Father and the Son.</p>
<p>(<strong>4</strong>) <strong>Divinity in the Synoptists.</strong>—In the Synoptists the supernatural
character of Jesus is somewhat less on the surface. His teaching, as
the Synoptists report it, is largely concerned not directly with his<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</SPAN></span>
own person, but with the kingdom that he came to found. Even
his Messiahship is often kept in the background; the demons are
often commanded not to reveal it.</p>
<p>A closer examination, however, reveals the essential unity between
the Synoptists and John. If the supernatural character of
Jesus appears in the Synoptists less plainly on the surface, it is
really no less pervasive at the center. It does not so often form the
subject of direct exposition, but it is everywhere presupposed. The
doing by Jesus of what only God can do, Mark 2:5,7; the sovereign
way in which he legislates for the kingdom of God, Matt. 5:17-48; his
unearthly holiness and complete lack of any consciousness of sin; the
boundlessness of his demand for obedience, Luke 9:57-62; his expected
freedom from limitations of time and place, Matt. 28:20;
the absolutely central place which he claims for himself as ruler and
judge; the substantiation of all his lofty claims by wonderful power
over the forces of nature—these are only indications chosen almost
at random of what is really plain upon every page of the Synoptic
Gospels, that the Jesus who is there described is no mere human
figure but a divine Saviour of the world. The invitation of Matt.
11:28-30, which is typical of the Synoptic teaching, would have been
absurd on the lips of anyone but the Son of God.</p>
<p>Moreover, the divine nature of Jesus is not merely implied in the
Synoptic Gospels; there are times when it even becomes explicit.
The relation of perfect mutual knowledge that exists between Jesus
and the Father, Matt. 11:27, reveals a perfect unity of nature.
The Jesus of the Synoptists, as well as the Jesus of John, might say,
"I and the Father are one."</p>
<h4>4. THE MANNER OF JESUS' TEACHING</h4>
<p>The Synoptic Gospels, therefore, imply everywhere exactly the
same Jesus who is more expressly presented in the Gospel of John.
If, then, there is a contradiction between the Synoptists and John,
it can be concerned only with the manner of Jesus' teaching. The
Synoptists as well as John present Jesus as a supernatural person, it
is said, but unlike John they represent him as keeping his own person
in the background.</p>
<p>Even here, however, maturer consideration shows that the
difference does not amount to anything like contradiction. May
not the same person have spoken the discourses of the Fourth Gospel
and also those of the Synoptists? It must be remembered that the
ministry of Jesus was varied, and that the first three evangelists<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</SPAN></span>
confine themselves almost exclusively to one phase of it. In the
public Galilean ministry, which the Synoptists describe, it was
necessary for Jesus to keep even his Messiahship for a time in the
background. Publication of it, owing to the false political conception
which the Jews had of the Messiah's work, would have been
fatal to Jesus' plan. Here, as so often, the Fourth Gospel explains
the other three. After the feeding of the five thousand, John tells us,
the crowd wanted to take Jesus by force and make him a king.
John 6:15. Popularity was dangerous. Jesus could not proclaim
himself publicly as the Messiah, until by explaining the spiritual
nature of the kingdom he had prepared the people for the kind of
Messiah which it was his mission to be.</p>
<p>Of course, it is difficult for us to understand at every point just
why Jesus acted as he did. All that we are now maintaining is that
the considerations just adduced, and others like them, show that it
is perfectly conceivable that Jesus, before his intimate disciples and
in Jerusalem and at a special crisis, John, ch. 6, adopted a method of
teaching which in the greater part of the Galilean ministry he considered
out of place. There is room in a true narrative of Jesus' life
both for the Synoptists and for John.</p>
<h4>5. THE COMPREHENSIVENESS OF JESUS</h4>
<p>Jesus was many-sided. He was Lawgiver, he was Teacher, he
was Healer, he was Ruler, he was Saviour. He was man and he was
God. The Gospels have presented him in the richness of his mysterious
person. Modern historians are less comprehensive. They
have been offended at the manifoldness of the Gospel picture. They
have endeavored to reduce Jesus to the level of what they can comprehend.
But their effort has been a failure. After the supposed
contradictions have been removed, greater contradictions remain;
and the resulting figure is at any rate too small to account for the
origin of Christianity. The partial Jesus of modern criticism,
despite his comparative littleness, is a monstrosity; the comprehensive
Jesus of the Gospels, though mysterious, is a self-evidencing and
life-giving fact.</p>
<hr class="tb" />
<p><span class="smcap">In the Library.</span>—Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": Purves,
article on "Jesus Christ." Warfield, "The Lord of Glory," pp. 125-173.
Robertson, "Epochs in the Life of Jesus." Stalker, "The Life of Jesus
Christ." Denney, "Jesus and the Gospel." Andrews, "The Life of
Our Lord."</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />
1 of 2
2 of 2
Previous
Next
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.