The Fourfold Gospel<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\nThere was a day when the raging discussion was the chronological order of the Gospels: Which was written first? Watson, I\u2019m glad to say, thinks it was Mark. My impression of many younger NT professors is that they don\u2019t care about order \u2014 they care about content only \u2014 so they just \u201ctake a view\u201d and move on. The emphasis ought to be on content, that\u2019s for sure, but there is a significant difference when one sees Matthew and Luke\u00a0editing<\/em> Mark and Mark being first. There is also then a difference on the dating of the Gospels and the development of early Christian theology. But that\u2019s for another day and another discussion.<\/p>\nFor Watson the issue is Why four? It seems probably Irenaeus turned to Ezekiel to explain the reason for four: four living creatures were seen by Ezekiel.<\/p>\n
Just as the prophet beholds the exalted Christ only by focusing first on the four living creatures, so we behold him only by attending to the four gospels. And just as Christ presented himself to the prophet by way of the four-wheeled chariot and its four attendants, so he presents himself to us by way of a fourfold gospel and four evangelists.<\/p>\n
Four wheels are accompanied by four living creatures, each with four wings. four sides, and four faces\u2014and the faces differ. And so the differences between Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were seen to be mirrored in the differences between the living creatures\u2019 four faces: one human, the others those of a lion, a calf, and an eagle. Indeed, the two sequences could be aligned; thus, Matthew is paired with the human face or human figure, Mark with that of a lion, Luke with that of a calf, and John with that of an eagle.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well, is this credible? arbitrary? Goofy?<\/p>\n
Literal-minded scholars have often regarded this traditional defense of the four-gospel collection as arbitrary and artificial. Actually it is remarkably un<\/em>arbitrary, given that the idea of a fourfold gospel is unlikely ever to have entered the head of the prophet Ezekiel. According to Jerome and others, the human face is assigned to Matthew because this gospel opens with Jesus\u2019 human genealogy. The eagle\u2019s face is assigned to John because, in contrast to Matthew, this gospel soars into the heights of the divine sphere in which the Word was with God in the beginning. And so the two \u201capostolic\u201d gospels bear witness respectively to one who is human (but also divine) and to one who is divine (but also human). \u2026 As a symbol of Mark\u2019s wild opening, the lion is a perfect fit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nJohn the Baptist, wilderness, from God\u2019s place to no-place-for-God, to repentance and baptism in the Jordan. To the One who is Stronger. Jesus is baptized and emerges from the water and is declared Son of God. John then more or less disappears. Like Joseph in Matthew.<\/p>\n
Watson sees Mark as inclusive: a baptism of repentance, forgiveness, and all done in public and a very public place, the Jordan. Jesus, too.<\/p>\n
This is, of course, surprising. Why would Jesus confess his sins and seek forgiveness? Elsewhere in the New Testament it is said of Jesus that he was \u201ctempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. That Jesus was sinless seems to have been taken for granted by the first Christians. Matthew shows that he is aware of the problem when he has John initially refuse to baptize Jesus: \u201cI need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?\u201d In contrast, Mark shows no such concern. For this evangelist, Jesus\u2019 baptism and the descent of the Spirit and divine voice that follow it are the model and prototype for Christian initiation, the event in which one becomes a Christian and a member of the Christian community.<\/p>\n
Jesus\u2019 baptism does not concern him alone. The new identity bestowed on him through the Spirit and the divine voice is open to participation by others. This baptism is an inclusive event, and Mark\u2019s Christian readers recognize in it their own experience of turning from the old life to the new. That is why his account of the ministry of John the Baptist can be presented as \u201cthe beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.\u201d The word \u201cgospel\u201d does not refer merely to a narrative account of Jesus\u2019 ministry. Gospel is euaggelion<\/em>, good news, and news becomes \u201cgood\u201d only from the standpoint of its recipients.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nJesus then enters into ministry and travel and journey: from Jordan to Galilee to Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
This, then, is \u201cthe way of the Lord\u201d that it is John the Baptist\u2019s role to \u201cprepare.\u201d The way of the Lord is the journey that begins when news of John\u2019s baptism draws Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee to the Judean desert and the river Jordan. It is this same journey that ends in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
57 In giving up himself as a ransom for many, he enters their situation and makes it his own. His service to them is an act of supreme solidarity. The same is true at the beginning of Jesus\u2019 way, when he submits to a baptism of repentance and receives the Holy Spirit and the assurance of sonship. This too takes place on behalf of the \u201cmany\u201d in whom this experience of liberation will be reenacted. Initiated by John the Baptist, the beginning of the \u201cway of the Lord\u201d is the same as its end.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We often sing in our church a song \u201cPrepare the way of the Lord.\u201d It\u2019s from Isaiah and others, it\u2019s from Mark 1:3. It\u2019s Advent-ish, it\u2019s Epiphany-ish. It\u2019s about being prepared for Christ\u2019s arrival, which is annually re-lived in the Christian calendar. It\u2019s also how Francis Watson discusses the Second Gospel in his book\u00a0The Fourfold […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Prepare The Way Of The Lord<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We often sing in our church a song "Prepare the way of the Lord." It's from Isaiah and others, it's from Mark 1:3. It's Advent-ish, it's Epiphany-ish.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2018\/03\/21\/prepare-way-lord\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prepare The Way Of The Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We often sing in our church a song "Prepare the way of the Lord." It's from Isaiah and others, it's from Mark 1:3. It's Advent-ish, it's Epiphany-ish.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2018\/03\/21\/prepare-way-lord\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-21T05:06:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-17T15:12:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/files\/2018\/03\/Screen-Shot-2018-03-03-at-4.25.13-PM.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2018\/03\/21\/prepare-way-lord\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2018\/03\/21\/prepare-way-lord\/\",\"name\":\"Prepare The Way Of The Lord\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-21T05:06:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-17T15:12:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"We often sing in our church a song \\\"Prepare the way of the Lord.\\\" It's from Isaiah and others, it's from Mark 1:3. It's Advent-ish, it's Epiphany-ish.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2018\/03\/21\/prepare-way-lord\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2018\/03\/21\/prepare-way-lord\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2018\/03\/21\/prepare-way-lord\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Prepare The Way Of The Lord\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Prepare The Way Of The Lord","description":"We often sing in our church a song \"Prepare the way of the Lord.\" It's from Isaiah and others, it's from Mark 1:3. It's Advent-ish, it's Epiphany-ish.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2018\/03\/21\/prepare-way-lord\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Prepare The Way Of The Lord","og_description":"We often sing in our church a song \"Prepare the way of the Lord.\" It's from Isaiah and others, it's from Mark 1:3. It's Advent-ish, it's Epiphany-ish.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2018\/03\/21\/prepare-way-lord\/","og_site_name":"Jesus Creed","article_published_time":"2018-03-21T05:06:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-03-17T15:12:35+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/files\/2018\/03\/Screen-Shot-2018-03-03-at-4.25.13-PM.png"}],"author":"Scot McKnight","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scot McKnight","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2018\/03\/21\/prepare-way-lord\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2018\/03\/21\/prepare-way-lord\/","name":"Prepare The Way Of The Lord","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-03-21T05:06:08+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-17T15:12:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252"},"description":"We often sing in our church a song \"Prepare the way of the Lord.\" It's from Isaiah and others, it's from Mark 1:3. It's Advent-ish, it's Epiphany-ish.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2018\/03\/21\/prepare-way-lord\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2018\/03\/21\/prepare-way-lord\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2018\/03\/21\/prepare-way-lord\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Prepare The Way Of The Lord"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/","name":"Jesus Creed","description":"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252","name":"Scot McKnight","description":"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72995\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/40\/2018\/03\/Screen-Shot-2018-03-03-at-4.25.13-PM.png\")
<\/a>We often sing in our church a song \u201cPrepare the way of the Lord.\u201d It\u2019s from Isaiah and others, it\u2019s from Mark 1:3. It\u2019s Advent-ish, it\u2019s Epiphany-ish. It\u2019s about being prepared for Christ\u2019s arrival, which is annually re-lived in the Christian calendar.<\/p>\n