Francis Watson on Jesus as the Word of the Gospel

I’ve just finished reading Francis Watson’s new book The Fourfold Gospel: A Theological Reading of the New Testament Portraits of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2016), and the book closes with these wonderful words:

The Jesus of the gospel is “the one Word of God which we are to hear and which we are to trust and obey in life and in death” [Barmen declaration]. The gospels tell the story of a particular human life and its outcome, yet that life may be understood as an act of communication so final and comprehensive that the whole span of our lives is drawn into the sphere of this singular divine address. In this word we live and move and have our being. This Word is the one Word of God. Although Jesus’  presence dominates every page of all four gospels, it is also emphasized that he has come from God or is sent by God, and that in his words and works it is God who speaks to us and acts on our behalf. Jesus’  presence is at the same time God’s presence. God is no less present in the words and actions narrated in the gospels than is Jesus himself. That this is so is already clear from the additional name reserved for Jesus long before his birth: Emmanuel, God with us.