GOSPEL CHRISTOLOGY
The Gospels have been described as “biographical sermons” of Jesus. They are biographies in that they aim to inform the audience (whether reading or hearing) about the life and legacy of the protagonist – Jesus of Nazareth. They are sermons in that they aim not merely to inform, but to inspire, persuade, and elicit a response. Where multiple sources of the same presentation exist, inevitably those presentations are both alike and different. Think “remake.” For example, the movie, True Grit, was originally released in 1969 with John Wayne as “Rooster” Cogburn. It was remade in 2010 with Jeff Bridges as “Rooster” Cogburn.” The story is essentially the same in both movies, but the way the story is interpreted in the two movies, and the way the central character, “Rooster” Cogburn, is portrayed, is different. That is because the directors of the two movies paint a portrait of the central character, “Rooster” Cogburn,” so that the audiences see him through the directors’, or storytellers’, eyes. In much the same way, the four Gospel writers tell the same story of the central character of their biography, Jesus of Nazareth; but because we see Jesus through each Gospel writer’s eyes, we see a unique portrait of him in each of the four Gospels. In scholarly parlance, we call this “portrait” of Jesus the Gospel’s Christology; that is, its understanding, and presentation, of Jesus the Christ.
