Jesus Through the Centuries

The Scriptures assert that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8)

One Jesus, and still a diversity of images, of encounters, and of beliefs about who this Jesus is.

Does examining the differences from age to age tell us more about Jesus or more about the underlying assumptions of different periods of history?

Some of these images can exist together and others will contradict one another.

The One and the Many

O come, O come, Emmanuel,and ransom captive Israel,that mourns in lonely exile hereuntil the Son of God appear.

O come, thou Wisdom from on high,who orderest all things mightily;to us the path of knowledge show,and teach us in her ways to go. Refrain

O come, thou Rod of Jesse, freethine own from Satan's tyranny;from depths of hell thy people save,and give them victory over the grave. Refrain

O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheerour spirits by thine advent here;disperse the gloomy clouds of night,and death's dark shadows put to flight. Refrain

O come, thou Key of David, come,and open wide our heavenly home;make safe the way that leads on high,and close the path to misery. Refrain

O come, O come, great Lord of might,who to thy tribes on Sinai's heightin ancient times once gave the lawin cloud and majesty and awe. Refrain

O come, Desire of nations, bindin one the hearts of all mankind;bid thou our sad divisions cease,and be thyself our King of Peace. Refrain

Words: Latin, twelfth century; based on O Antiphons which date back to 3rd or 4th century AD. trans. John Mason Neale (1818-1866), 1851

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

June 27: Jesus in the New Testament: The Jewish rabbi and the light to the Gentiles. The earliest Christian Art

July 4: Image of the Invisible God: Christological controversies, development of iconography, Christ in liturgical drama and medieval hymnody

July 11: Bridegroom of the Soul: medieval rediscovery of Christ’s humanity: Saint Francis and the late medieval mystics

July 18: Christ Present in Faith: Renaissance and Reformation views of Christ.  Imitation of Christ, atonement focus, Baroque drama  

July 25: Poet of the Spirit: Christ in the Enlightment and its reactions: Jefferson’s Bible, etc.  Romantic and pietist reactions  

August 1: The Liberator: Christ and social reform in the 19th and 20th centuries: antislavery movement, nationalism, liberation theology, Civil Rights

August 8: Christ Today: images of Christ in contemporary and world Christianity: modern art, contemporary music, African and Asian interpretations

An Overview

Gospels as a series of portraits of Jesus, painted in different times and by different painters.

Most were based on oral stories of Jesus before being written down.

Each author made choices concerning how the picture was to be painted.

What do these portraits reveal about the authors?

Jesus in the Gospels

Jesus the RabbiJesus in the TempleJesus as Jewish

teacherJesus as the faithful

JewJesus the Prophet

Jesus the Rabbi… and Lord?Jesus was a great teacher, the Rabbi.But Jesus as teacher did not inspire Bach’s Mass in B-

Minor or the Hagia Sophia– nobody ever built such a shrine to Socrates

In the Gospels, Jesus claims for himself much more than wisdom as a teacher. Divinity and unity with God, and he claims a special earthly mission: to be the Messiah.

For the Jews of his day, his claim to be God was either true or was blasphemy of the highest order (punishable by death).

For those who believed him to be a liar, he could not also be a great teacher, but only a man whose false teachings had to be stopped.

The Earliest Apostles: A Tale of Two Cities (Peter and Paul)

Jesus the Greek

Adoration of the magi. Lord, now you let your

servant go in peace;Your word has been fulfilled.My eyes have seen the salvationYou have prepared in the sight of every people,A light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people, Israel. (Luke 2: 29-32)

Jesus’ encounters with Samaritans and Roman SoldiersPaul’s mission to the Gentiles.

A Light for the Nations

The Lamb of God & the Good Shepherd

Jesus the Vine

He Will Come Again to Judge the Living and the Dead, Christ Pantocrator