Images of Jesus in the gospels

Images and titles

Scripture uses a variety of images and titles to describe Jesus and his mission. He is a prophet continuing to call people to conversion and denouncing injustice and oppression where he meets it. He is Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek), God's anointed one sent to be saviour. He is recognised as a teacher who speaks with unaccustomed authority. Jesus is a king who surpasses his ancestor David with a kingdom that is eternal and embraces all people of every age. He is also a priest, offering perfect sacrifice to God; and the unique mediator between God and humanity, being himself both God and human.

During the medieval period many monastic writers depicted Jesus as maternal. Perhaps the most striking example of this can be found in the writings of Julian of Norwich. Julian was convinced that Jesus loves us more intimately and intensely than what even the best of our human loves, which Julian takes to be the love of a mother for her child. This suggests that Jesus, then, is our mother, - the mother of our divine life, loving us more tenderly and passionately than we can appreciate.

Jesus of the gospels

Each of the gospels presents a particular theological image on the person of Jesus. Each gospel writer operates from a particular hermeneutic (position and interpretation). The following table is a short summary of the type of Jesus presented in each of the four gospels.

Comparison Table