Part 7—So, What Jesus Jesus Emerges?

Description

Matthew’s Jesus is a Jewish rabbi on the model of Moses who seeks to reform the Judaism of his day. Mark’s Jesus is a model of the faithful follower of God who doggedly follows the will of God (“the Way”) even if it means giving up his life in the process. Luke’s Jesus shows his congregation how to navigate the Roman Empire successfully by being non-threatening but valuable subjects doing many good works, as was Jesus. John situates Jesus as Wisdom incarnate so that his words should be seen as divine words. Was he a mere mortal (the Son of Man), although highly attuned to God, as in the Synoptics? Or is he divine, as in John? Was he full of emotion (Mark), or stoic (Luke)? Why so many different Jesuses? These and many other questions will be pursued as we look to pierce the veil that hides the historical Jesus from us behind these Gospels. Spoiler alert: We won’t find the historical Jesus, but we will find that every community and every age needs to articulate what Jesus means. Progressive insights will be very helpful here.