Starting Points for

Christology
Ms Vanessa M. Puno
 1. The New Testament
• The Synoptic Gospels present a very different Jesus than the one that
emerges in John
• The Synoptic Jesus says very little about himself; he is much more concerned
with the coming of God’s kingdom
• Mark’s Gospel identifies Jesus as the “Son of God” (Mark 1:1), but as it
begins without the traditional Christmas story, it is difficult to see this as
having any more than an adoptionist sense; Jesus is declared God’s son at his
baptism (Mark 1:11)
 1. The New Testament
• Mark sees Jesus as the Messiah and Son of Man who must suffer, probably based
on the suffering Servant
• The Christology of Matthew and Luke present Jesus as Son of God from the time
of his virginal conception.
• Luke’s reflection on the mystery of Jesus extends back to the events preceding his
birth and includes the “infancy narratives”
• The story of Jesus in the Temple at the age of twelve suggests an effort to pierce
the veil of his “hidden life” something that has fascinated Christians from the
earliest days of the Church
 1. The New Testament
• Luke also represents people addressing Jesus as “Lord” even during his
public life, though it is more likely that this title was applied to him only after
his death
• Matthew’s high Christology is evident in his adding to Peter’s confession,
“You are the Messiah” (Mark 8:29) the words, “the Son of the living God”
(Matt 16:16) and in his use of the title Emmanuel, “God is with us,” for Jesus
(Matt 1:23)
 1. The New Testament
• The Fourth Gospel, John, begins by presenting Jesus as the incarnate word
of God (John 1:14) and ends with Thomas’ Easter confession, “My Lord
and my God” (John 20:28)
• The Johannine Jesus speaks in long discourses, not parables. He proclaims
himself as the Messiah (John 4:26) and only-begotten Son coming from the
Father (John 3:18), existing before Abraham (John 8:58) He frequently
speaks of himself using the formula, “I AM” (John 6:35; 8:28; 10:11) used in
the Old Testament and rabbinic tradition for the divine name of Yahweh
 2. The Creeds and Dogmas of the Church
• The Nicene Creed is actually a revision of the creed of Nicaea (325) by the
First Council of Constantinople (381) still recited at Mass every Sunday.
• The creed is an official statement of the belief of the Church. It is
normative for the Church’s faith.
Creeds as starting point for Christology
Christology from above – the Church’s Christological faith, including its
profession of the divinity of Jesus, is rooted in some way in the actual Jesus of
history
 2. The Creeds and Dogmas of the Church
• Christology needs to be established “from below”, to be grounded in the
words and deeds of the Jesus of history
 3. The Faith of Christian People
• What do contemporary Christians say and believe about Jesus?
• The idea that Jesus had been confronted with the same struggles faced by
each of us is for many Christians difficult to grasp. They find it hard to
believe that he had to face real temptation, that he had to struggle to
integrate his sexuality, discern God’s will for himself, and discover his own
vocation.
• They have been used to imagining Jesus primarily from the standpoint of his
divinity. Such a standpoint is in his divine nature
 4. Historical-critical approach
• “Based on purely historical sources and arguments” The Gospels and other
New Testament documents are written in the light of the Resurrection and
of the disciples’ Easter experience of new life in Jesus; they are products of
Christian faith
 God Raised Him from the Dead
The death of Jesus was a shattering experience for the disciples. It left them
disoriented, terrified for their own safety, unsure of the future. Many of them
seemed to have fled Jerusalem and returned to Galilee.
• Luke suggests something of their confusion and disappointment in the story
of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. – story of two disciples about
Jesus and his tragic death to a stranger
 The Easter Experience
• The experiences were varied from Jesus suddenly appearing in closed doors, those
closest to him do not immediately recognize him. Mark 6:12 – suggests that Jesus
appeared in another form to two disciples
• Some reduce the easter experience to a subjective experience on the part of the
disciples. The resurrection becomes a product of faith
• Edward Schillebeeckx speaks of the Easter experience as a conversion process, “a
gracious gift of conversion to Jesus as the Christ through Jesus himself “who
enlightens, who discloses himself as the Risen Christ in and through the grace of
conversion.”
 The Easter Tradition
• Easter Kerygma or ploclamation and Easter Stories
• The terms “exalted” or “exaltation” are sometimes used in place of
“resurrection”
• Exaltation conveys the idea that Jesus has been brought from the dead and
enthroned “at the right hand of God” (Acts 2:33)
• It appears in the pre-Pauline hymn in Philippians: “he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God
greatly exalted him” (Phil 2:8-9)
 Easter Kerygma
• The Easter Kerygma represents short, formulaic expressions of belief in the
resurrection of Jesus deriving originally from early Christian preaching or
liturgy.
• The Easter Kerygma predates the Gospels and even the letters of Paul
• First letter to the Corinthians: it may originate in the community of Antioch
in the thirties: Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that
he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the
scriptures; that he appeared to Kephas, then to the twelve (1 Cor 15:3-5)
 Easter Stories
• The stories are dramatic, imaginative accounts, narratives complete with
dialogue and vivid detail about persons, place, and circumstance.
• Stories about the discovery of the empty tomb and appearance stories
• IN the Second Stage of Writing the Gospel: The Apostolic Preaching, the
proclamation of Christ with different modes of speaking and literary forms
are “catecheses, stories, testimonia, hymns, doxologies and prayers.
 Easter Kerygma
• The apostles repeated the sayings of Jesus, proclaimed his teachings, retold his
parables and the stories of his life and death
• Easter Kerygma: the proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus often with an
enumeration of the witnesses (1 Cor 15:3-8). The point of the Kerygma was to
bring others to new life in Christ
• Sayings of Jesus: These were handed down and grouped in collections such as the Q
source. Bultmann distinguished 3 main groups of sayings: logia or sayings in the
narrow sense – exhortations and questions), prophetic, and apocalyptic sayings, and
laws or community regulations
 Easter Keryma
• Stories about Jesus – His baptism, ministry, choice of the Twelve, his
interaction with his disciples and others, and his fate
• Parables – used to present his message include proverbs, examples, similes,
allegories, and the more familiar narrative parables. They were transmitted in
the early tradition and grouped together; the evangelists frequently adapted
them to reflect their editorial and theological interests and sometimes
allegorized them
 Miracle Stories
• The early communities told stories recounting the miracles of Jesus, as they
were passed on, they were frequently magnified, expanded, and gathered into
collections, healings
Liturgical Formulas: Some Jesus tradition comes from the liturgical and
sacramental life of the early communities. Retelling of the miracle of the
loaves, and the story of the meal Jesus shared with the two disciples on the
road to Emmaus (Luke 24:30)
 The Writing of the Gospels – 3rd Stage
• The evangelists were not eyewitnesses to Jesus ministry
• Each worked both as an editor, selecting and synthesizing material, and as an
author, developing his Gospel according to his own insights and gifts and shaping it
according to the needs of the community for whom he was writing
• Mark, the author of the First Gospel, is difficult to pinpoint in terms of locale and
audience. He is thought to have been a Jewish Christian with ties to Palestinian
Jewish Christianity. His community was clearly facing persecution. Many think his
Gospel was written from Rome, or at least with a Latin milieu, before the
destruction of Jerusalem.
 Matthew’s Gospel
• Written after the final break between the Jewish Christians and the Jewish
community, leading to the excommunication of the former from the
synagogue around the year 80. It clearly reflects the conflict between the
Jewish Christians and the reform movement of the Pharisees at Jamnia.
• Matthew himself may have been a Jewish- Christian scribe. Part of his task
was to assure the Jewish Christians of Antioch who were rapidly becoming a
minority in a Gentile church that their new situation was in fulfilment of
what had been spoken by the prophets
 Luke
• Luke is thought to have been a Gentile Christian, by tradition from Antioch.
He may have been originally a covert to Judaism, one of the “God-fearers”
(Acts 10:2) before his conversion to Christianity. He was familiar with the
Septuagint translation of the Jewish Scriptures and of all the evangelists the
most polished in Greek. He was able to imitate both classical, and Hellenistic
Jewish styles. His two-volume work, Gospel and Acts, universal in its
conception, was addressed primarily to Gentile Christians related to the
Pauline mission either through Paul or his disciples
 John
• John’s Gospel independent of the synoptic tradition is based on the tradition
of the “Beloved Disciple” perhaps originally a disciple of John the Baptist
and then a follower of Jesus.
 Easter Stories
• 2 types of Easter Stories:
1. Stories about the discovery of the empty tomb
2. Appearance Stories
The tomb traditions originating in Jerusalem, and appearance traditions perhaps
in Galilee
 Easter Stories
• Mark 16:1-8 represents the oldest Easter story. The discovery of the empty
tomb story
• The women at the tomb in Jerusalem are told by the young man find they
find there, “Go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going before you to
Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you” (Mark 16:7)
• According to Kasper, the tradition of the empty tomb is an ancient one but
not an historical account of its discovery
 Easter Stories
• Matthew’s Gospel expands on Mark’s. It includes a story of Jesus appearing to the
women on their way home from the tomb, another empty tomb story that involves
the bribing of the guards, and an appearance to the eleven disciples on a mountain
in Galilee.
• John’s account is quite different from those of the Synoptics. Stories of Mary
Magdalene finding the tomb empty, Peter and John at the tomb, an appearance to
Mary Magdalene, and two appearances to the disciples, one without Thomas. It is
the story of an appearance of the risen Jesus to seven disciples who are fishing and
includes a miraculous catch of fish, the rehabilitation of Peter after his betrayal and
a tradition about the Beloved Disciple
 New Testament Christologies
• Christology begins with the Easter experience of the disciples. They had
been demoralized and scattered, the one they followed had died a humiliating
death.
• Their Easter experience convinced them beyond doubt that God had acted,
vindicated Jesus and his message, delivered him from the bonds of death.
• They were Jews, religious men and women whose imaginations had been
formed by the sacred writings of their people
 New Testament Christologies
• Easter Christologies are centered on the post-Easter Jesus, Jesus as soon to
come in judgment (parousia) or reigning in God’s presence (exaltation)
• Jesus receives titles such as Messiah, Lord, and Son of God only after his
death
Parousia Christology
- Sometimes called maranatha Christology, Parousia (Second Coming)
Christology represents perhaps the oldest interpretation of Jesus, originating in
the early Aramaic-speaking Palestinian communities
 New Testament Christologies
• The apocalyptic perspective of these communities was adapted to portray
Jesus as soon to come, bringing God’s salvation, but also as judge. Parousia
Christology looks to future completion of the kingdom of God at Christ’s
Second Coming
 Exaltation Christology
• Exaltation or Resurrection Christology sees Jesus as made Messiah, Lord,
and Son of God after his exaltation from the dead
• The gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh, but
established as Son of God in power, according to the spirit of holiness
through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord – Romans 1:3-4
• Jesus is designated as God’s Son by his resurrection. The idea that Jesus’
exaltation or resurrection was the occasion for his messianic appointment as
God’s Son was widespread in early Christianity.
 Son of God Christologies
• For Mark, the First Gospel the focus is on Jesus as the Son of God. Because
Mark is the major source for Matthew and Luke, the same motif can be
found there, though differently developed and alongside other Christological
themes.
• Son of God in the Old Testament had a number of different meanings. It
could refer to the future son of David whom God promised to adopt or to
the just man in the Wisdom tradition, to angels, and sometimes, to the
people of Israel collectively.
 Son of God Christologies
• As a title for Jesus “Son of God” may well go back to the first Jewish-Christian
community in Jerusalem” most probably based on his resurrection which was seen
as the moment of his appointment to divine Sonship (Acts 13:3)
• But its ultimate origin seems indisputably to lie in the usage of Jesus himself, who
seems to have understood and expressed his own relationship to God in terms of
sonship. Jesus address God in his prayer as “Abba” Though he taught his disciples
to pray in this way themselves and to regard themselves also as God’s sons, Dunn
notes that “he thought of their sonship as somehow dependent on his own.”
 Mark
• The Gospel of Mark opens with a twofold Christological statement: “The
beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.” While Jesus is
both Messiah and the Son of Man who must suffer (Mark 8:3) for Mark, the
most significant title is the Son of God, evident from its appearance at key
points in his Gospel.
• Jesus is proclaimed Son of God in the opening sentence of the Gospel, at
his baptism, transfiguration, trial before the Sanhedrin, and just after his
death; he also addresses God as “Abba” or “Father” and refers to himself as
the “Son”
 Mark
• The baptism account is a revelation of Jesus as God’s Son. Unlike accounts
in Matthew and Luke, in Mark only Jesus sees the heavens torn open and the
Spirit descending upon him, and hears the voice which declares, “You are my
beloved Son; with you I am well pleased”
 Mark
• What does “Son of God” mean in Mark’s Gospel? It would be difficult to
conclude that Jesus in Mark’s Gospel is Son of God in more than an adopted
or declared sense. There is no virginal conception in Mark, no Christmas
story. Jesus is the beloved of God, the Messiah and Suffering Servant who
would be revealed as God’s Son
 Matthew
• Matthew was written most probably in the mid-eighties to a largely Jewish-
Christian community with an increasing number of Gentile converts. It
shows a strong concern for the Gentile mission and reflects considerable
tension between Church and the synagogue.
• Because of the church/synagogue conflict and the anxiety of the Jewish
Christians, Matthew is careful to show how the coming of the Gentiles is all
according to God’s plan
 Matthew
• Twelve times he introduces a periscope with “All this took place to fulfil
what the Lord had said through the prophet” (Matthew 1:22) or something
similar. He presents Jesus as a rabbi or teacher, one who can interpret the
Law with authority, and especially as a new Moses, organizing his sayings into
five great discourses, paralleling the five books of the Torah or Law. Jesus is
the New Israel, the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets, the Messiah in
the line of David
 Luke
• He presents Jesus as God’s prophet, Servant, Messiah, Savior, and reigning at
God’s right hand.
• “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter
into his glory? Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he
interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures” (Luke 24:26-
27)
• Luke is dependent on Mark as a major source for his Gospel, and he shares
with Matthew the tradition of the virginal conception of Jesus (Luke 1:35)
 Luke
• Jesus is called Son of God at his baptism (Luke 3:21-22), temptation (Luke
4:1-13), transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36).
 Wisdom Christologies
• The Wisdom literature of late Judaism – Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Sirach,
and Wisdom of Solomon – provided another rich source for the
Christological reflection of the early Christian communities
• Sophia/Wisdom comes forth from the mouth of God (Sir 24:3), is begotten
before the creation of the world, and plays a role in creation (Prov 8:25-31)
• She reflects God’s glory and is an image of God’s goodness (Wis 7:25-26),
has a mission in the world, is sent down from heaven to make her dwelling in
Israel, with God choosing the place for her tent (Sir 24:8)
 Wisdom Christology in Paul
• Christ As the Wisdom of God
• In the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians, Paul contrasts divine wisdom with the
human wisdom of both Jews and Greeks: “God’s wisdom, mysterious, hidden,
which God predetermined before the ages for our glory” (1 Cor 2:7) and revealed in
the Cross of Christ.
• For Paul, the wisdom of God is Christ himself; “For Jews demand signs and Greeks
look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and
foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ
the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:22-24)
 Christ As Preexistent
• The famous hymn in Philippians 2:6-11 is earlier than Paul, though he may
have adapted it in incorporating it into his letter. The first part of the hymn
describes Christ Jesus descending into human likeness to his death on a
cross, the second his exaltation to glory:
Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped, Rather he emptied himself, taking the form of a
slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled
himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
 Christ As the Image of God and Firstborn of
All Creation
• An early Christian hymn in Colossians 1:15-20 describes Christ as “the image
of God” and “the firstborn of all creation.”
• He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him
were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were
created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all
things hold together. – Colossians 1:15-17
 Preexistence Christologies
• John
• It is widely recognized that the Christology of John’s Gospel is the highest in
the New Testament. The familiar Prologue (John 1: 1-14), another early
Christian hymn, sketches in poetry the Christology of the Fourth Gospel;
the Word of God, with God from the beginning, the Word that was God,
the Word through whom all things were made, has become flesh and we have
beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten Son of the Father.
 Conclusion
• God’s love is stronger than death
• The resurrection of Jesus reveals that God’s love is stronger than death. It
shows us that the deepest hope cherished in the human heart for deliverance
from the finality of death, the hope for life everlasting in God’s presence, is
possible to those who in Christ cling to God’s love. By God’s love, means
God’s love for us and our love for God which God’s love makes possible and
enables.
In John’s Easter Story of the risen Jesus’ appearance to Thomas in the Upper
Room, Thomas who had asked for empirical evidence comes to faith with
perhaps the highest Christological confession of the New Testament: “My
Lord and my God” (John 20:28)
 Council of Chalcedon (451)
• The Council of Chalcedon accepted the Creed of Nicaea, the two letters of
Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, After the papal legates threatened to move the
council to Italy, a new commission was set up which produced a confession
of faith that was acceptable to all. In summary, it read:
“we all with one voice teach the confession of one and the same Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ; the same perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity; the same
truly God and truly man”