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| The Four Gospels: One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism |
The four Gospel writers faced a unique challenge. How portray someone who is completely human and yet completely divine? Emphasize the divine, or the human?
Moreover, they wrote to different audiences, so they wrote differently. So do we. For example, a college student might text to parents: I spent the weekend in the library; to friends: I had a blast this weekend.
Which of the four Gospels best reflects the historical Jesus? They all do.
Mark’s was the earliest, 65-70 A.D., shortly after scores of Christians perished during the persecution by the Emperor Nero. Many Christians were asking: where is God in the midst of our sufferings? And possibly because so many were being martyred, Mark thought he ought to write down who Jesus was, what he did, what he taught.
Mark is an action Gospel. Jesus seems very approachable, very human. Compassionate with the handicapped; tough with hypocrites; misunderstood by disciples; angry with traders in the temple; afraid in the Garden of Gethsemane; and abandoned on the cross. Yes, Jesus is the Messiah who suffers so we can live forever. What happened to Jesus, Mark says, can happen to us too. To be a disciple, for Mark, may mean enduring sufferings; making sacrifices; giving generously.
Luke gives us another portrait. Luke, a Greek convert, wrote to Gentile Christians much like himself. Luke gives women a prominent role. Salvation is for everyone, Jews as well as Gentiles. Luke also emphasizes the Spirit. Luke sees Jesus as a friend and advocate of the poor, the handicapped, incredibly compassionate toward so-called social outcasts. The Jesus in Luke is also forgiving. Remember the parable of the Prodigal Son. Even on the cross Jesus prays: Father, forgive them.
Yes, Jesus in Luke is forgiving and compassionate. To be a disciple, for Luke, is to be a healer, a reconciler, a peacemaker who tries to erase barriers that divide people.
Above all, to be a disciple is not only to be a hearer of God’s Word, but like Mary—the disciple par excellence—a doer of God’s Word.
This is the point elsewhere in John’s Gospel, with Jesus saying: “If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works….” (Jn 10:37-38)
Can there be different portraits of Jesus to inspire us in our life of discipleship? Different ways to follow Jesus? Yes, of course. Jesus, the God-man, is more than any one person can adequately describe in human language.
So the question we might ask, prayerfully, is this: how can I better reflect in my behavior and attitudes the virtues of Jesus highlighted in the Gospels?
