Abstract
In 2 Corinthians 3-4 Paul is concerned that post-Easter generations be able to behold the “face” of Jesus. This indicates concern that the story of Jesus be heard. The importance of “giving Jesus a face” is considered from the viewpoint of a pastor. However, the synoptic gospels are not much used in churches today, because of loss of confidence in our ability to know much about the life of Jesus. This is understandable, given Life of Jesus research over the past two centuries. The last 25 years, however, have seen tentative attempts at critical Lives, employing a “Cartesian” approach, doubting everything, seeing what can be proven to be dominical, and constructing a Life on this basis. There is value in this for apologetics, but such Lives cannot compete with the gospels in giving us “the face of Jesus”. Nevertheless, Life writing must go on, if only to counter the new wave of Lives, which purport to be historical, but are based on such a selective reading of the gospels, that they are tendentious misrepresentations. A new “canonically-based” approach to the life of Jesus is proposed and described.
Highlights
“Without a doubt it is true to say that the dream of ever writing a biography of Jesus is over”
Wrote Joachim Jeremias (1964:12) when form-critical scepticism dominated the scene in New Testament studies
What did it mean that the glory of God had been revealed, and could still be seen “in the face of Jesus Christ”? What could it mean, other than that the beauty and excellence of the invisible God had become visible in the person of Jesus, and that Jesus in some manner continued to be visible? But how could that be after his ascension? Paul as we know spoke often in his letters about the death and resurrection of Jesus, but 2 Corinthians 4 indicates a fundamental interest in his story, which does not obviously emerge in the medium of epistle (Seccombe, 1999)
Summary
The message of the earliest Christians was a man – Jesus Christ – and their mission was to portray him so that others would be drawn to put their trust in him and be saved (Acts 10:34-43). According to Paul, “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is seen in the face of Jesus Christ” It is a curious feature of early Christianity that it had no interest in the physical appearance of Jesus; its focus was on his story. Every Sunday new faces appeared, who often turned out to be people who had rarely if ever been to church before, and were reopening in their own minds the question of whether there is an answer in Christianity to the insecurity, impersonalness and meaninglessness of modern life They were not like the seekers of one hundred, or fifty or even thirty years ago. I came to see that my most important task was to show people Jesus, to let his “face” be seen, and that meant telling his story
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