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The Gospel writers give us four different portraits or faces of Jesus because they wrote to four different audiences and emphasized four different ways to follow Jesus.
Jesus is a rabbi or teacher in Matthew; so too should we be teachers, especially by example and the practice of virtue.
In Mark, Jesus is a suffering Messiah; so too we may have to cope with illness or make sacrifices.
In Luke, Jesus is a healer or peacemaker; so should we be in our relationships with one another.
In John, Jesus calls us "friend"; so too should we seek Jesus as a friend especially in prayer.
What image of Jesus inspires us to become a faithful disciple of Jesus?
How did the early Christian community see Jesus? The more the early Christian community reflected on who Jesus was, the more they saw Jesus not only as the fulfillment of their hopes but the foundation. The eternal Word! The Gospel according to John captures this magnificently: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
This God-human Jesus was a real historical person, flesh and blood. He experienced, as we sometimes do, fatigue, hunger, satisfaction, joy, friendship, anger, disappointment and loneliness.
He was a teacher, a prophet who preached that the kingdom of God was breaking into our lives. He worked signs and wonders, proclaiming that good ultimately would triumph over evil; he possessed authority to forgive wrongdoings; he promised eternal life.He had a unique relationship with God; he was one with God, true God and truly human. He was crucified, died and then raised up in glory to God. And he is alive in our midst today, especially in the sacramental life of the Church community.
Jesus taught not only that the kingdom of God was breaking into our lives but also that we can share in this kingdom. By living prayerfully; by recognizing that our lives have an ultimate purpose because our lives are no accident; by seeing in Jesus, the Word made flesh, the face of God; by reaching out compassionately and generously to people who touch our lives each day; by experiencing the presence of the living Christ in our sacramental life; and by being ready to let go of our earthly life, in the mystery of death, so that we can be one with God forever.
Jesus taught that God is our Father, a compassionate God, always near us. As disciples we too will experience pain and grief and disappointment, and love and friendship.
Jesus then challenges us to “take up our crosses” (Matthew 16:24), whatever they might be; and to follow Jesus’s life is to find our own. For the only Gospel some people may ever know is how we live our everyday lives.
