• Despite such divergence in interpretation, the four Gospels converge
in their understanding of the character of Jesus and of discipleship.
o They agree that Jesus is defined by an absolute obedience to
God rather than by career, popularity, possessions, pleasure, or
power: “not my will but your will be done.”o They agree further that this radical obedience is expressed
through dispositions of self-giving to others: He “gives his life
for others” and is “the servant of others.”o They agree that discipleship is a matter of “following” Jesus
and exhibiting the same character of radical obedience and
self-emptying love.The Gospels as Fundamental Norm
• The Jesus shaped by the canonical Gospels has served as a
fundamental norm for subsequent Christians—all the more
powerful because it is cast in the form of story.
• The realistic narratives enmesh Jesus in the world of materiality,
time, history, and the goodness of human bodies; the Gospels stand
against all efforts to make Christianity a timeless, bodiless, anti-
institutional religion.• The Gospels also provide a Jesus who can surprise, shock, and
challenge comfortable religious accommodation: Christian reform
movements have consistently appealed not to the “historical Jesus”
but to the human Jesus of the Gospels who shaped subsequent
history as the “historic Christ.”Johnson, The Writings of the New Testament.
Stein, The Synoptic Problem.
Strauss, Four Portraits, One Jesus.
Suggested Reading