How may we be confident that the Jesus we believe in and commend to others is the real Jesus, and not some imagined or constructed figure? This question was live virtually from the outset of Christianity. Paul expressed concern about the damage wrought by those promoting ‘another Jesus’ than the one proclaimed by him and his associates (2 Cor 11:4). Genuine gospelling, it is plain, is not merely the utterance of the name ‘Jesus.’
The matter was well framed by Augustine: ‘As for the certain and distinctive foundation of the catholic [universal] faith, it is Christ. … For if we think carefully about the meaning of Christ, we shall see that among some of the heretics who wish to be called Christians, the name of Christ is held in honor, but the reality itself is not among them.’1Augustine, Enchiridion, 1.5; Outler ed., 338-39. Calvin refers to this passage, commenting that ‘we will find Christ among the heretics in name only, not in reality’ (Institutes, 2.15.1; trans. Battles, 494). Clearly, using the mere name of Jesus does not guarantee speaking of the real Jesus. What is meant and what is implied is what counts.
The Story Only the Gospels Tell
It is the four Gospels that display Jesus’ character and nature most fully, that present ‘the face of Jesus Christ’ (2 Cor 4:6) most clearly and vividly. Each portrays his Person and Kingdom in its own distinctive way. They set before us detailed reports of his public life, ministry, sayings, and teachings — complementary pen-portraits that together tell of who he was, and is; what he said and taught; what happened to him; what he did; and what he is doing now to save, rule, keep and sustain all who personally believe in him.
From the very beginning in Jerusalem, accounts of Jesus’ life were provided by those who either knew the story at first hand or received it through eyewitness testimony and careful research. The early Christians did not view the four accounts as four separate ‘Gospels,’ but as the one gospel according to four different authors. John expressed his own purpose in terms entirely complementary to the other three: ‘These things have been written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name’ (John 20:31).
Only One Gospel
Because there is only one true Jesus, there can be only one true gospel. This conviction lay behind James Denney’s robust insistence that the uniqueness of the Biblical gospel admits of no rival versions:
‘As there is only one God, so there can only be one gospel. If God has really done something in Christ on which the salvation of the world depends, and if he has made it known, then it is a Christian duty to be intolerant of everything which ignores, denies, or explains it away … it is when we have the only gospel, and not until then, that we have the gospel for all.’2James Denney, The Death of Christ (The Tyndale Press, 1951); cited in Peter Jensen, The Life of Faith (Matthias Media, 2022), 192.
Three Ways to Identify the Genuine Jesus
The New Testament identifies the genuine Jesus in three principal ways: first, by what he said; second, by what he experienced and did; and third, by what was said about him. ‘When these three converge in the preaching of the gospel, the evangelist is speaking of the true Jesus and not some other.’3Peter Jensen, The Revelation of God (IVP, 2000), 55-58, with the analysis of the three convergent identifications developed there.
First, the real identity of Jesus is verified by what he said. His sayings and teachings were carefully recorded and transmitted, and the reportage of Jesus’ words formed a body of material by which first-generation Christians identified him. What he said encompassed many direct statements about his own person and mission, together with a rich combination of promises, parables, encouragements, instructions, and moral teaching. His commands provided the main substance of the apostolic preaching programme (Matt 28:20).
Second, the true identity of Jesus is determined by the things he did, by what he experienced, and by what happened to him. The real Jesus is not only ‘Emmanuel’ — God with us — though he is certainly that. He is not merely the God-man or God-and-man, though he is assuredly that. He is not simply a supreme moral exemplar and teacher, though he is that also. The real Jesus — in direct contradiction, for instance, of Islamic teaching — suffered and died upon the cross, was bodily raised from the dead, and only by so doing is he Lord and Saviour. It is possible to confess that Jesus Christ is ‘true God and true human’ and yet to preach ‘another Jesus’ by failing to confess him also as Christ crucified, risen, and ascended for our salvation.
Third, the identity of the true Jesus is verified by what was said and written about him. The New Testament writings comprise the eyewitness testimony of apostles and their associates — produced either by those who knew Jesus at first hand, or by those who knew those who knew him.4Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Eerdmans, 2006).
God’s Own Endorsement
The written Gospels pursue Jesus’ exclusive identity in a range of ways. First, there is their record of God’s direct spoken endorsement of Jesus’ person and mission. Three Gospels report that at his baptism a voice from heaven declared, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’ (Matt 3:17). They likewise record the voice at the Transfiguration: ‘This is my beloved Son; listen to him’ (Mark 9:7). All four Gospels bear witness to God’s own voice introducing and endorsing the identity and mission of Jesus Christ.
Second, the Gospels identify Jesus as the one who fulfilled the patterns and promises of the Old Testament Scriptures. The resurrected Jesus himself directed his disciples’ attention to those very writings — ‘he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures’ (Luke 24:45). ‘Everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled’ (Luke 24:44). The gospel message does not consist of general truths about God and humanity. Rather, it makes specific claims about a specific person: ‘When we say, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord,’ we are referring to a specific person, who comes to us in specific words, who did specific things and who makes specific demands.’5Jensen, The Revelation of God, 58.
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- 1Augustine, Enchiridion, 1.5; Outler ed., 338-39. Calvin refers to this passage, commenting that ‘we will find Christ among the heretics in name only, not in reality’ (Institutes, 2.15.1; trans. Battles, 494).
- 2James Denney, The Death of Christ (The Tyndale Press, 1951); cited in Peter Jensen, The Life of Faith (Matthias Media, 2022), 192.
- 3Peter Jensen, The Revelation of God (IVP, 2000), 55-58, with the analysis of the three convergent identifications developed there.
- 4Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Eerdmans, 2006).
- 5Jensen, The Revelation of God, 58.