The Signs and Sayings of Christ
Recently I was in a Bible class when the question was posed “Are the gospel accounts biographies?” I had never considered the question and was not sure how to answer this. When you look at the qualities of a biography there are many shared elements but does that really qualify the gospels as biographies?
A biography is characterized by a focus on the events of a person’s life that are written by someone other than the person themselves. Biographies often emphasize their early life, relationships, careers, hardships, and accomplishments. They generally are written with the goal to inspire the reader by the exceptional life of the subject. When we look at the gospels, all of these elements are there, but the focus doesn’t lie on Jesus’ life but rather his death, and the purpose of it, so does it really fit? While most of the boxes are checked by the gospels to qualify as a biography, trying to label them as such lessens the impact of what the gospels give us. Saying that they are just an account of Jesus’ life that the authors hoped would inspire you places Jesus on a level playing field with other humans who were good people and lived a moral life. The gospels are so much more than just biographies, or historical accounts, or works of literature. The gospels give us the teaching of Jesus and the signs of his deity. The gospels should be treated as an extension of the sanctification of Christ Himself. They are truly set apart from any other writings that we have in this world. They are not an account of an exceptional life; they are evidence of the only logical conclusion- that Jesus is life itself.
John begins his gospel saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” We see this sanctification in many parts of Jesus’ life; one of the earliest is at His baptism. John the Baptist had been proclaiming the coming of someone greater than he and baptizing the Israelites. A crowd came, Jesus among them, and were baptized. But Jesus was not just part of the crowd. Luke 3:21-22 says, “Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove; and a voice called out from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” This is one of the first times that Jesus is publicly set apart from all other Israelites, and it begins His life of teaching and miracles that distinguish Him as deity.
He is not only distinguished by the voice of God from the heavens, His teaching and His miracles elevate Him from figures that are commonly written about. In Matthew 8, we are given a story about Jesus being on a boat with His disciples while a storm raged around them. Stormy seas are not uncommon stories in the Bible, think of Noah, Jonah, and Paul who was shipwrecked twice, but this story is different. Jesus is sleeping through this storm, and His friends wake Him, convinced they are going to parish, and with nothing but His words, Jesus makes the sea calm. His disciples know who He is; they have already left everything to follow Him, yet they are still stunned and wonder who can control the winds and the seas. He reveals Himself piece by piece, it would seem, through His marvelous works.
It is clear that people who see Jesus and listen to his teachings know that He is different. In Matthew 5-7, Jesus presents a sermon that Matthew says “astonished the crowd” because He taught not like someone who was well-prepared and had done their research, but because He taught with the authority of someone who had created what He was teaching about. Jesus was actively making the path straight like John the Baptist had prophesied, the only straight path in existence.
People whose lives are chronicled in biographies do exceptional things, they save lives, invent life changing technology, and stand up for radical change in society, but they themselves are not exceptional. They are not perfect, or blameless, or the Salvation for the world like the Person depicted in the gospels. Every sign and teaching of Jesus is all in preparation for His sacrifice on the cross. Like the sacrificial animals in the Old Testament, Jesus was separated from the rest to be the flawless sacrifice. John chapter 12 shows Jesus being set apart for this sacrifice. He is first anointed with oil by Mary where He deals with Judas’s criticism by pointing out that she has kept the oil for His burial, as He will not always be with them. The following day, He and His followers begin their journey into Jerusalem where Jesus again is sanctified, fulfilling Zachariah’s 500 year-old prophecy as He rides into town on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9). He tells the people that He will be lifted up, that He is the Son of Man, the Light walking among them for only a little while longer. Soon after, He is betrayed and delivered as the sacrifice that He had always been set apart to be.
Most biographies tell the story of someone who began in a lowly life and rose to conquer the challenges that faced them, but the gospels tell a story of a lowly man, born in a manger, who chooses to stay lowly, to be mocked and ridiculed until His violent death on a cross where He is presented as a criminal. Jesus is not seeking greatness like we see in others; He is seeking the lost so that He may save them. He is preparing the world for His Kingdom. He does not wish to obtain glory and praise for Himself on the earth, but He seeks love and devotion for God, the Father.
Biographies provide examples of people being faced with choices and challenges that will shape their future. Jesus was faced by many challenges in His time on earth that many of us could face. Even His death was not unique. It wasn’t unique because He was innocent; many innocents are killed. It wasn’t unique because it was brutal or unjust. Many die that way. His responses are what set Him apart from other exceptional characters that may be immortalized in writing. Ultimately, His final sign of victory over death, His resurrection, is what makes His death unique. He did what no other could do in saving the world. The consummate signs and sayings of Christ compel us to a life of sanctification of our own, not seeking to be like those around us, but choosing the lowly path that will be written about in the only book that matters, the Book of Life but, likely, not in any earthly biography.