Post your DISCUSSION on the different Portraits of Jesus presented in the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Ensure that each of your body paragraphs contains at least one supporting Biblical quotation.
Portraits:
Luke: Parabler
Matthew: Teacher
Mark: Leader/Ruler (King of Kings)
John: The Word made flesh/A Gift to humanity
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Andrew Ma
ReplyDeleteStudies of Religion
Disccusion – The portraits of Jesus.
Jesus Christ has been portrayed in many different ways by the Gospels, these portraits of Jesus are the one of foundations of the christian faith. He is portrayed as a teacher in the gospel of Mathew,a leader in the gospel of Mathew, a parabler in the gospel of Luke and as a gift and "the word made flesh" in the gospel of John.
The Gospel of Mathew Portrays Jesus as a Teacher. This gospel focuses on Jesus's Teachings of morality and ethics providing the early church a guide for how people should live their lives. Chapters 4 – 8 of Mathew’s Gospel are focused on Jesus teaching people how to behave with virtue and morality. This is evident in mathew 5:17-18, Jesus Said “Do not think that i have come do away with the law of moses and the teachings of prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true”. This portrait of Jesus is fundamentally different to those of the other gospels, this may be because Mathew saw that his teaching of morality and ethics were his most defining features. This might of also been because that Mathew was targeting a specific audience during his time such as the Rabbis, pharisees and teachers.
The Gospel of Mark portrays Jesus as Leader and a Ruler. He is portrayed as a hero, a man of charity, action and great deeds. This is evident when Mark states that Jesus “gave his as a ransom for many”. Jesus is also known as the ‘King of Kings’, this is as he is descended from King David and he is the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy.
The Gospel of Luke portrays Jesus as Parabler, a worker of miraculous powers and a protector of the women and poor.
The Gospel of John portrays Jesus as a physical manifestation of the divine word and a gift from God.
Andrew, this is a lazy answer and I am disappointed in you. The discussion starts out well with Matthew, but you rush through the remaining Gospels with such shallowness that the response almost becomes meaningless amidst all the generalising.
ReplyDeleteHow do you hope to do well in your upcoming Assessment and in Year 12 if you do not take every opportunity to practise your writing skills??
Benjamin Plummer
ReplyDelete11 Edwin
All four books of the Gospel furnish their readers with different perspectives and understandings of Jesus Christ. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) all portray Jesus in different manners, yet contain fairly similar subject matter. The Gospel according to John on the other hand contains approximately ninety-percent original material, in stark contrast to the story of Jesus as told by the Synoptics. The writer of each book of the Gospel paints a ‘portrait’ of Jesus in a unique manner, according when it was written and the differing sources utilised by each author.
The Gospel of Matthew depicts Jesus Christ as teacher and guide to humanity, and contains many references to Jesus’ ethical teachings. The Gospel of Matthew provides the reader with clearly defined moral guidelines to aid people in living their lives in a virtuous and godly manner. The Gospel of Matthew also stresses Jesus as a teacher bringing reform to traditional Jewish laws as laid down by Moses. An example of how Jesus is shown as a teacher is Matthew 5: 17-18: where Jesus says “Do not think that I have come do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true”.
The Gospel of Mark presents Jesus to be a great leader and a ruler of men, commonly referring to Jesus as the “King of Kings”. Mark’s Gospel portrays Jesus as a leader come to regain control of people on earth, focusing in detail upon Jesus appointing of the twelve disciples (mark 3: 13-15), and emphasising Jesus’ ability to draw great crowds who would listen to the good news. Mark solidifies Jesus divine right to rule in mark 12: 35-38 in which King David, himself a prophet, declares “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”
The Gospel of Luke reveals Jesus’ true message through the use of parables. While other Gospels give examples of Jesus teaching through the use of parables, in none is this as pronounced as in the Gospel of Luke. It is likely that parables in the Gospel of Luke are so prolific because the audience at the time this particular book of the gospel was written was comprised predominantly of less educated people, where the use of parables (using simple examples to get across a complex message) was ideal for expressing the word of God and ensuring that is was remembered. It also allowed people who heard the Good News as told in the Gospel of Luke to pass the message quickly and easily on to others. An example of one of Luke’s many parables is the Parable of the fruit tree, where the evil in a man’s heart is likened to bad fruit on a tree (Luke 6: 43-45) “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”
The Gospel of John reveals Jesus to be the physical embodiment of Gods divine word on Earth. John depicts Jesus as the “Son of God” (John 20:31) and emphasises Jesus as a “gift to humanity”. John differs significantly from the Synoptic Gospels in that he writes about Jesus as something ‘alien’ or ‘other’, above and beyond humanity by another order of magnitude. John’s Gospel was written to solidify people’s faith in Christ by showing people that Jesus was the word of God on earth. The Gospel of John was written post the Synoptic Gospels, and was written to draw people back into the fold of the Church through a show of heavenly strength, rewriting the Gospels to emphasise Jesus’ cosmic strength.
The Gospel is comprised of the four books: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; each of which convey Jesus in Christ in a different light. The first three Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are known as the Synoptic Gospels, and are thought to have been written around roughly the same era. These three books portray Jesus in a somewhat positive and gentle manner, sharing many similarities in their themes. The book of John however, depicts Jesus Christ in a more firm, raw manner, without the euphemistic trimmings of the Synoptic Gospels. This is thought to be due to the book of John being written at a substantially later date, when there was a need for the structure and reinforcement of the word of God.
ReplyDeleteThe first of the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, conveys Christ as teacher and role model. Emphasis is placed upon the wisdom of Jesus Christ’s words, as he proceeds to teach the people of Jerusalem lessons in life. One example of this is located in Matthew 5: 14-16 where Jesus tells his people “ 14You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” This quote supports the argument that Matthew portrays Jesus as a teacher.
The Gospel of Mark tells of similar happenings to that of the Gospel of Matthew, however, Jesus is more so depicted as a leader of men. Focus is placed upon Jesus captivating large gatherings of people, and also his leadership of the 12 Disciples. Mark 3:7-8 writes “7Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon.” This quote indicates Jesus Christ’s portrayal as a leader who can captivate huge crowds of followers.
The Gospel of Luke paints a very similar picture of Jesus Christ as that from the book of Matthew, with Christ predominantly displayed as a kind teacher, full of wisdom. This is expressed through the use of many parables, thought to have been told by Jesus. One example of this is found in Luke 10: 25-35, commonly known as The Parable of the Good Samaritan. A brief excerpt of this which sums up the content of this parable is as follows “ 30In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'”
The Gospel of John shows an entirely different Jesus Christ; one that gets straight to the point about the purpose of His life. The gospel of John reveals Jesus to be the presentation of the Word. John 1:14 states “14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,[d] who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Also, the Gospel of John places emphasis upon Jesus being the son of God with one of the Bible’s most famous quotes being from John 3:16 “"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Portraits of Jesus
ReplyDeleteThe four gospels in the bible all portray Jesus in a different way. These are: A teacher in Matthew, A leader/ruler in Mark, A Parabler in Luke and a gift to humanity in John. Matthew, Mark and Luke are Synoptic Gospels which were written around the same time period and taught of Jesus being a human being like all of us. John is the only non synoptic gospel written years after the synoptics John writes of Jesus being a figure superior to us.
In Matthew Jesus is represented as a teacher, in this book of the bible it focuses on how Jesus taught his important lessons to the people. This is evident in Matthew 4: 12-17 as it is where Jesus begins to preach and tells his stories and teaches his morals to others. It is also in the book of Matthew where Jesus is enforcing his teachings and constantly reminding the people that he is reforming the laws that have already been set by Moses years before. This is apparent through Matthew 5: 17 where Jesus says "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them”.
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is represented as a leader/ruler. In this book it tells the stories of how Jesus went around and healed people and preformed miracles. In Mark 3: 7 it shows how Jesus was portrayed as a leader as many followed him as they had heard rumours of how Jesus had healed many people and the people had finally realised that he may be the son of God. In Mark 6: 30-39 it again speaks of how Jesus draws a crowd and helps thousands of people by a diving miracle.
The last synoptic Gospel is Luke, he portrays Jesus as being a Parabler. This is seen throughout all of the parables that Jesus taught. These are stories that do not a literal meaning but hold strong moral significance. Examples of this include Luke 6: 43 (A Tree and its Fruit), Luke 10: 25-37 (The Good Samaritan) and Luke 12: 13-21 (The Parable of the Rich Fool). This is a great way for the word of God to get through to many people as they are all happy memorable stories that can be used to teach children with. As in Matthew, Luke also tries to portray Jesus as a teacher who teaches in a puzzling way (as in parables) everything that he says is not literal.
The Gospel of John is the only Gospel that is not Synoptic. John portrays Jesus completely different from the other Gospels. John represents Jesus as a gift to humanity, not a human being. This is to enforce the law and teachings of Jesus. This is shown in John 7: 27 “But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from." Jesus is shown as being a supernatural figure who is here to protect and perform miracles.
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ReplyDeletePhoebe Yang
ReplyDeleteThe synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all have the same protagonist, Jesus, but each of them focused on a different aspect of His life and had portrayed Jesus as four very different figures. To Matthew, Jesus was significant as a teacher; Luke sees Jesus as the Parabler; for Mark, Jesus is the ruler; while John viewed Jesus as a gift to humanity.
Matthew recorded many of Jesus’ teachings and principles for living. Many passages in Matthew bare great resemblance to the commandments from the Pentateuch. To Matthew, Jesus is a rabbi (Jewish teacher of the law) that teaches people to live a good life. This can be seen from the story of the rich young man who came to Jesus asking “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” (Matthew 19: 16) The Beatitudes is also a well-known example of Jesus’ teachings. Jesus’ other teachings also covered divorce, murder, adultery, oaths and many that had appeared in the Old Testament before. Hence, it can be seen that Jesus was a teacher that taught about the scriptures and ways of life.
Jesus was also seen to be teaching in Luke, but Luke portrayed Jesus as a parabler. Many times in Luke, Jesus used stories to represent a situation and objects to represent things. This is because Jesus was seen as a rebel to the Jewish leaders and they always tried to find faults in Jesus teachings in order to kill Jesus. Jesus told his disciples that “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that “thought seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.””( Luke 8: 10) The parable of the sower is one of Jesus’ parables that represented the spreading of God’s words as seeds in people’s hearts.
Mark portrayed Jesus as someone who is of higher status than that of a teacher. In Mark, Jesus was the leader and the King of Kings. In Mark, Jesus was glorious and powerful, especially in the triumphal entry into Jerusalem when people spread their cloaks and branches on the road and shouted “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” and “Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11: 10).
John made his view of Jesus as the Word---a gift to humanity very clear. In fact, he was so straight forward that in the first verses of his gospel, he described Jesus as the Word, which was “with God, and the Word was God.” (John1:1). John portrayed Jesus as the precious and graceful saviour to humanity. To John, Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1: 29).
Within the Bible there are four Gospels. However, only one of these contains 90% original material: John, which is excluded from the Synoptic gospels Matthew, Mark and Luke. Despite this, each has their similarities on points such as Jesus’ divinity. The portraits they paint of Jesus, however, are all contrasting.
ReplyDelete‘Portrait of Jesus’ refers to the interpretation of Jesus in the Bible. These are reflective of the era in which the gospels were written. The main portraits of the gospels include: Jesus the parabler (Luke), Jesus the teacher (Matthew), Jesus the leader/ruler – the ‘King of Kings’ (Mark), and Jesus the Word made flesh/the Gift to humanity (John).
The gospel according to Luke portrays Jesus as the parabler. Luke focuses on the miracles and compassion of Jesus as he helps the ‘lesser’ in society, such as women. This aids in the portrait of Jesus as the parabler, as he would preach to ‘ordinary’ people through parables with morals that reflected his own actions, such as treating everyone equally. An example of this is the story of Jesus being anointed by a sinful woman in Luke 7:36-50.
The gospel according to Matthew portrays a slightly different portrait of Jesus. He is a teacher rather than parabler. Contained in Matthew is the “Fulfilment of the Law”, which involves the explanation of the 10 Commandments. This emphasises Jesus as a teacher, because he is educating those around him. This can be seen through the explanation of the Commandment, “do not murder” in Matthew 5: 21-22, which states: “…‘Do not murder and anyone who murders will be subject to judgement’. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement”. Although Matthew also portrays Jesus telling parables, they differ to Luke. The parables are reinforcing the teachings of Jesus and literally educate.
The final Synoptic gospel of the Bible is that of Mark. This gospel depicts Jesus as the ruler/leader; the ‘King of Kings’. Jesus is presented as a hero, performing miracles and amazing feats. This is represented in the purpose of Jesus. Jesus states this as, “to give his life as a ransom for many”. Although in Mark Jesus’ status as ‘Messiah’ is hidden, he still has healing qualities and abilities. An example of Jesus as ruler or leader is in Mark 6: 30-44. This is the story of Jesus feeding 5000. It contains references to Jesus teaching and telling parables as in Matthew and Luke, but focuses on the crowds following Jesus and his miracle.
The final gospel of the Bible is John. This is different to the Synoptic gospels because it does not tell the biography of Jesus, but a theological presentation of him. In John, Jesus is the Word made flesh/ the Gift to humanity, therefore highlighting Jesus’ divinity. This idea is reflected when John doesn’t mention Jesus’ virginal conception. Another definitive point is the parables and teachings of Jesus. In the Synoptic gospels, many parables were told to teach people about morality and law. Although parables are relayed in John, the subject matter differs greatly. John has Jesus speaking about himself, and reveals his purpose to be, “so that those who believed in him would have eternal life”. This is further highlighted by the focus of the gospel on Jesus’ death and resurrection. The reference John 5: 24-25 highlights these points as it states, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life”.
Although each gospel differs in their portraits of Jesus, they all recognise the actions and qualities of Christ. Jesus is portrayed in all as ‘above human’, for even though he may appear in human form, his authority and teachings tell a different story. The one identical point upon which all gospels agree is the death and resurrection of Christ. Jesus died on the cross to save the sins of humanity and rose again to provide us with eternal life. Despite the different perspectives portrayed within the gospels, the significance and meaning remains identical.
In the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Jesus is portrayed under various portraits. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus was painted as a teacher, in the gospel of Mark, as a leader and ruler and in the gospel of Luke as a Parabler. These first three gospels are called the Synoptic gospels. This is because they correlate and support each other. In the final gospel, the gospel of John, Jesus was portrayed as the Son of God and a gift to humanity. This gospel was written after the synoptic gospels in a time when more contemporary laws and teachings were required.
ReplyDeleteIn the Gospel of Matthew Jesus was portrayed as a teacher. Throughout this gospel Jesus is seen teaching life lessons to people he meets on his journeys. Supporting evidence can be found in, Matthew 4:23-25 Jesus Ministers to crowds of people. Jesus was constantly seen spreading the good news of the kingdom and reinforcing moral teachings.
In the Gospel of Mark Jesus was portrayed as a leader and ruler. This gospel shows Jesus as a great leader who helped and healed his people. He is seen as a miracle worker, therefore a good ruler. An example of one of his miracles is in, Mark 1:40-45 Jesus cleanses a leper. Throughout this gospel Jesus is shown as a merciful leader.
In the Gospel of Luke Jesus was portrayed as a parabler. In this gospel Jesus is seen teaching morals through stories which incorporated a person’s natural surroundings and knowledge, in a metaphorical way. This is evident in Luke 6:39-42 judging others. Jesus is constantly seen using parable stories to preach morals.
In the Gospel of John Jesus was portrayed as the only son of God and a gift to humanity. John’s gospel paints Jesus in a new perspective. He conveys the fact that Jesus was God’s only son and that Jesus sacrificed himself for the good of human kind. He is seen as a superior being, while in the synoptic gospels he was made to appear more human. He did this to reinforce the teachings of Jesus. This can be in seen in John 6:19-21 Jesus walks on water. This shows Jesus above all as he is seen doing something unnatural. Jesus is continuously shown in this new light throughout the gospel of John.
Bart
ReplyDeleteStudies of Religion
Disccusion – The portraits of Jesus.
Jesus Christ is portrayed differently throughout the Gospels. These different views establish Christianity. The Gospels include Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Matthew presents Jesus as the teacher, luke portrays Jesus as the Parabler, Mark as the Leader, ruler or King of Kings, whereas John presents him as a gift to humanity, or the Word made flesh.
Matthew bases his Gospel around the teachings and morals of Jesus. Matthew focus's on the stories that give a moral meaning to live in the eyes of God. An example of this is the story of the rich young man who came to Jesus in seek of Eternal life (Matthew 19: 16). These and many other stories are emphasised in Matthews Gospel.
Luke expresses Jesus as the Parabler, which in basic expresses Jesus as a Parable. A parable is a brief, succinct story, in prose or verse, that illustrates a moral or religious lesson. The story of the good Samaritan. The story expresses a moral lesson to Christians(Luke 10: 25-37). Luke Gospel will focus on the moral lessons of stories and acts said/performed by Jesus Christ.
Mark sees Jesus as a Leader, King of Kings or Ruler. His miracles, healing and leading reflected a righteous person. The leadership of Jesus's Disciples is emphasised, and stories are focused on the leadership skills of Jesus. An example of this is Mark 3:7-8, which is the story of Jesus leading, and gathering vast crowds. That dipicts Jesus as a Leader.
Lastly, John's Gospel differs from the other three. John's Gospel was writting a number of years later, and a possible reason to the writing of John's Gospel, was because Christians became to loose interest in faith towards Jesus. John's Gospels predicted reasons, was to keep Christians under control, and in line. Evidence of the idea of Jesus as teh Divine Gift to humanity is the story of Jesus walking on water (John 6:19-21). Stories like these dipict Jesus as the Word in the flesh, or the Divine Gift, and is expressed this way, to encourage Christians to be grateful of Jesus, and have faith in him.
The bible is known as a library of book ranging from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) in the New Testament each portray Jesus in there own way. For example, in Matthew they represent Jesus as a teacher, and in Mark they portray him as a ruler.
ReplyDeleteMatthew, Mark and Luke are known as synoptic gospels (the first three Gospels which describe events in Christ's life from a similar point of view) which were written during the same time.
Throughout Matthew Jesus is portrayed as a teacher and how he teaches us important lessons, and him being tempted by the devil “The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” The main parts were we see Jesus teaching/ preaching is in Matthew 4, where he tells the people his morals “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” This particular gospel also shows us Jesus performing a miracle (Matthew 4: Jesus heals the sick) and also Jesus constantly reminding the people of his teachings.
The gospel of Mark portrays Jesus as a leader. Mark focus is more on the stories of Jesus performing miracles and how he helped people. This particular gospel shows him leading a group of followers (Mark 3: crowd follows Jesus) “Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed”
Marks gospel gives us more information about the miracles performed by Jesus in comparison to the others. In particular Mark 5: The Healing of a Demon-possessed Man illustrates Jesus facilitating many people and being a role model.
Another synoptic gospel is Luke. Luke also showed Jesus as a teacher but he was seen as a parabler. This is seen throughout all of the parables that Jesus talked about. All the way through Luke, Jesus used stories to represent a particular situation. This is because Jesus was known as a ‘rebel’ to the Jewish leaders. Jesus is seen to treat everyone equally (this is seen throughout Luke7:36-50) where Jesus is being anointed by a sinful women
We can see through all four gospels that Jesus is created and interpreted differently. The last gospel was written well after the other three. This could be because people may have lost faith in what Jesus worked for. John describes Jesus totally different from the synoptic gospels. This is because he represents Jesus as gift to humanity. This is done to enforce the teachings of Jesus.
All four separate gospel story portray very different images of Jesus. Mark, Matthew, Luke and John all written at various times show diverse portraits of Jesus. The three synoptic gospels are similar in some senses as they all portray Jesus as human like. Matthew shows him as a painter, Mark as a teacher and ruler, and Luke as a Parable. John on the other hand is contradicting the previous three as he portrayed as the word made flesh, and a gift of God.
ReplyDeleteIn the gospel of Matthew, Jesus is portrayed as a teacher. All through his gospel he explains stories that show Jesus as a teacher to the people, and offering them advice. This is seen in Matthew 4:23-25 when Jesus assists a crowd of people.
Gospel of Mark shows Jesus as a leader and a ruler, as he is constantly showing Jesus as a leader that helped the people around him and healed them if it was necessary, he also commonly referred to him as the King of Kings. In Mark 3: 13-15 when Jesus appointed the 12 disciples.
The Gospel of Luke shows Jesus as parable, through the parables that show significant meaning an excellent example of this would be located in Luke 10: 25-37, which is the story of The Good Samaritan. It is through these stories that the word of God was being spread.
The final gospel John portrayed as a son of God and nowhere near human like, he always portrayed Jesus as an ubermensh figure. One that is a superior being and above everyone else this is perfect ally seen in John 6:19-21 when Jesus walks on water, and does things that normal people cannot do.
There a four synoptic gospels; these are Mathew mark luke and john. Each of these show a very diverse range of emotion and sentimental aspect towards Jesus also portraying him each differently. All gospels portray Jesus in as a human however john is the only gospel to represent Jesus as a gift of god. In Luke Jesus is a parable, in mark he is depicted as a teacher and ruler and in Mathew he is a painter.
ReplyDeleteBeginning with the gospel of mark; where Jesus is portrayed as a teacher. This is apparent throughout the entire book of mark however more deeply I believe in the passage of The Calling of the First Disciples. in this passage Jesus is a teacher to Simon and his brother Andrew. His teachings however are not a one time incident as more of this is evident
Moving forward to discus the gospel of Mathew which shows Jesus as a painter. In the gospel of Mathew Jesus is shown in this form in several occasions.
The gospel of john is the only gospel to be rather eccentric in the way in which Jesus is portrayed. This is as a gift of god therefore being the only book to define, describe and depict Jesus as a non-human being. This is were the idea of an ubermensch definitely comes into play. An example of jesus being portrayed in an ubermench or superior way is represented in the passage “jesus lamb of god”. In the passage john proclaims that jesus takes away the sin of the world. Another example evident to show that the representation of jesus in this book of john is different is in John 6:19-21 when Jesus walks on water.
Finishing with Luke. Luke portrays Jesus as a parable. This is very similar to Mathew as jesus is portrayed both as a type of leader. This is expressed through the use of many parables, thought to have been told by Jesus. One example of this is found in Luke 10: 25-35, commonly known as The Parable of the Good Samaritan.
All four books of the Gospel portray a different image and understanding of Jesus Christ. Although Matthew, Mark and Luke display a high amount of similarity and are known as Synoptic gospels, they still have their differences. John on the other portrays Jesus Christ much differently.
ReplyDeleteMatthew portrays Jesus as a king, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." (Matt.2:2.) He also portrays Jesus as a teacher to all to provide a guide. As well as the other Synoptic Gospels, Matthew portrays Jesus as a person people would like and not be afraid of. This was to attract people to Christianity and to follow Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Matthew provides clear outlines of how people can live in a Godly manner.
The Gospel of Mark portrays Jesus Christ as an almighty heroic God. The gospel shares the stories of how Jesus went around healing the sick and performed miracles. “That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, 34and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.” (Mark 32). These miracles first started off as rumours but then as Jesus healed the sick and possessed people then began to believe that he was the son of God.
The Gospel of Luke portrays Jesus as a parabler. Lukes gospel is focused on the less fortunate and in particular the women. The Gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus spoke and educated people through stories. Jesus shared morals and beliefs through stories that reflected his own experiences. “He also told them this parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher”. This is one of Jesus; stories that he told in order to chare his wisdom.
The Gospel of John is the only Gospel that is not Synoptic, the reason for this is that John portrays Jesus completely different to the other three Gospels. Instead John portrays Jesus as the direct descendant of God- father almighty. Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty”. John 6:35. Johns Gospel differs from the others to keep people in order as at this time people were loosing order and John brought this order back into their lives and portrayed God as a man of higher status and someone to look to.
Well done, ladies and gentlemen. I am pleased with how well you have structured these responses; and whilst I do believe that some of you need to employ more extensive use of Biblical quotation to evidence the claims you make, I am overall pleased with the improvement many of you demonstrate in the fluidity of your expression.
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