Portraits of Christ
A portrait, when well done, will give the viewer an insight into the person who has been painted. Family resemblances can be noted. Something about the character of the person will come through when done by a gifted artist.
The four gospels are portraits of Jesus Christ. The writers give the reader insight into various aspects of the Lord Jesus. The family resemblance of Jesus to His Father is seen…in fact, Jesus states…you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. (See John 14:9)
Some of the aspects of the character of Jesus are clearly delineated…in Matthew, Jesus’ portrait is seen as the King of the Jews. Mark portrays Jesus as the suffering Servant; in Luke, Jesus is the Son of Man…fully man, and in John, Jesus is portrayed as the Son of God…fully God. All are true likenesses.
Different artists would show your character in different ways…perhaps one portrait would be of you as a child; another as a loving parent yourself; or perhaps how your friends see you. Yet another portrait may be of your relationship with God.
All would be true likenesses and you would be recognizable in all four portraits.
So Jesus is recognizable in all four gospels as being the same Person, yet different aspects of Who He is are emphasized.
King, suffering Servant, Son of Man (fully Man), Son of God (fully God)…Savior, Immanuel, Lord (Master), Shepherd, Prophet, Priest, coming Victor…the Lord Jesus Christ is all of these and so many more…do you know Him? Do you recognize Him as He invites you to get to know Him better?
In the coming year, you are encouraged to visit this website to see Jesus as Doctor Luke has “painted” Him…fully God Who has intervened in history as fully Man (Immanuel).
Dr. Luke gave us a picture of Jesus and His message:
(NASB) Luke 24:44-48 “Now He (Jesus) said to them (disciples), ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’
45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
46 and He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,
47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48 ‘You are witnesses of these things.’”
Being a witness is to attest to the facts, to the truth of what you have seen.
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life…are you a witness?