Four Gsopels, One Jesus?

Richard A. Burridge, Four Gospels, One Jesus? A Symbolic Reading. 

Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005 (second edition).

A Short Summary of Burridge's book

Four Gospels, One Jesus? A Symbolic Reading

Instructor: Robert P. Menzies, Ph.D

Student: Ong Bee Leng

March 23 – April 3, 2009

1.            Book title:

Richard A. Burridge, Four Gospels, One Jesus? A Symbolic Reading.  Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005 (second edition).

2.           Brief introduction of the book:

Rev. Prof. Richard A. Burrridge (Dean of King’s College in London) presents a fine introduction to the distinctive portrait of Jesus provided by each of the Gospel. The book is divided into 6 sections. It starts with ‘Four Gospels, …’ (1-33), giving the readers a foundation of the genre, sources, forms, redaction and composition of the four gospels and concludes with ‘… One Jesus’ (165-182), consolidating the four portraits referring to one Jesus. In Sections 2 to 5 (35-163), the author depicts the portraits of Jesus that are distinctively reflected through the writing of the four Gospel’s authors. They are The Roar of the Lion, The Teacher of Israel, The Bearer of Burdens and The High-Flying Eagle.

3.           Summary of content.

Burridge begins by bringing the readers to tour through Sir Winston Churchill’s country house. Walking down the aisle, the book is describing his various pictures in four different dressings and occasions, each with its own story evoking its own atmosphere and provoking its own response from the viewer – yet all are of one and the same man! (2) The author is giving a clear illustration in relationship to the gospels, that even though there are four pieces of work written by four different writers, yet all are talking about one and the same man, Jesus.

According to Burridge, a closer analysis on Matthew, Mark and Luke will show us that out of 661 verses in Mark’s gospel; approximately 90 percent occur in Matthew and about half are found in Luke. (10) It is impossible for bible scholars to determine the first writer of the 3 gospels and identify who was copying from whom. It was a normal practise that ancient writer frequently uses other sources without further acknowledgement. But Luke in his preface stated clearly that his sources come from the oral traditions about Jesus which were handed down from eyewitnesses and early preachers and his ‘orderly accounts’ has been undertaken by ‘many’ (Lk 1:1-4). It is the author’s prayer that through the four symbols of the gospels from The Book of Kells, Folio 27V that will create a visual impact to help reader clarify each of the four Christologies. (33)

The top right picture depicts Mark’s Jesus, the roaring Lion. Mark’s Jesus is a creature of action and does not deliver polished oratory: the lion roars and the message is clear. Mark’s opening is uncompromising and direct. No birth stories, no mention of Bethlehem and no genealogy or Davidic ancestry. Marks’ Jesus just arrived fully grown and in action to be baptised by John the Baptist in the Jordan River (Mk 1:9).  This reminds us of Aslan the great lion in The Chronicles of Narnia of C.S. Lewis who suddenly appears from over the sea without warning but exactly when he is needed.

The top left picture depicts Matthew’s Jesus. By calling Jesus ‘Son of David, son of Abraham’ in the opening (Mt 1:1) and the presentation of Jesus’ genealogy, Matthew takes the readers into Jewish background of the Teacher of Israel. With the phrase Kingdom of heaven mentioned frequently, Jesus’ Messiahship is not a secret in this book.  The Teacher quoted about sixty references from the Old Testament and the teachings are recorded in five great blocks (Mt 5-7, 10, 13, 18, 23-25) that includes the most famous Sermon on the Mount. Matthew’s human Teacher symbolized revelation and intelligence. This ‘thinking gospel’ is full of logic and order that will attract those who are interested in law and teaching.

The powerful ox; the Bearer of burden at the bottom left, depicts Luke’s Jesus. In the absent of machinery during biblical time, ox was the universal beast of burden to carry heavy loads, plough and treading grain. Luke’s portrait of Jesus is set in His initial visit to the synagogue at Nazareth (Lk 4:16-30) reading from Isaiah 61. Luke shows Jesus fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy – anointed by the Spirit to preach good news to the poor and release to the captives, blind and oppressed. The Bearer of burden, the Ox has come to bear the burdens of the poor and all in need. Luke’s hard-working ox will appeal to people labouring for liberation among the oppressed.

The lion, the human, the ox and the eagle are the four faces of the cherubim who support the throne of God in Ezekiel’s vision (Ezek 1:10; 10:14) and it is mentioned again in Revelation 4:7. Burridge said, the four symbols only make sense within the context of worship. (182) All good portraits confront us with the person, lead us back to the man himself. Despite the four portraits (and more portraits to this day), the four gospels confront us with only one Jesus, our Saviour and God, worthy to be worshipped.

4.           Short evaluation of the book.

I would strongly recommend this as a textbook to bible school students and church leaders who want to have a quick overview of the biography of Jesus. Having the ancient symbols for the Gospels; human face, lion and ox to represent each gospel’s unique portrait of Jesus does help me to have a better understanding of the different facet of Jesus.

Burridge is successful in bringing out the symbolic reading of the narratives of the gospels as biographies of Jesus. (180) Now I have a better understanding of the relationships of Matthew, Mark and Luke; the storyteller, the Jesus that they are passionate about and the targeted audience at the time of writing. By not using technical terminology, the author has made the book easy to read even for a Chinese speaking student like me.

The book also gives biblical reference to each of the incident quoted and cross reference to other gospels. This enables the diligent reader to cross reference to different gospels and make comparison. With the further reading suggestion list, those who are ready to embark on the journey of in dept study can now sail on.