The Explicit Claims of Jesus
In the fourth Gospel (the Gospel of John) Jesus makes a number of rather exalted claims: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (14:9), “Before Abraham was, I am” (8:58), just to cite three clear examples. The explicit Christology is made quite clear at the outset, when the author of this Gospel states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God” (1:1) and “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (1:14).
Because the fourth Gospel is so different from the Synoptic Gospels and its Christology is often explicit (in contrast to the implicit Christology typical of the Synoptics), many scholars are not sure what to make of it. Some think that this work is highly confessional and symbolic and that what it says of Jesus, therefore, is not historical or biographical in the conventional sense. Of course, not everyone agrees with this perspective. Some maintain that the historical Jesus is portrayed in this Gospel and that it is in fact based on eyewitness testimony.11
Whatever position one takes with respect to the fourth Gospel, the Synoptic Gospels also bear witness to a high Christology that, taken with the implicit materials previously briefly considered, suggest that Jesus held a rather exalted self-understanding. The first indication of this is Jesus’ frequent “I have come” statements. These statements are not in reference to arriving at a particular village, but rather refer to entering the human sphere. Indeed, this is the very language used of angels who exit heaven and enter the mundane world, in order to deliver a message or otherwise accomplish some task. Let’s look at some examples.
The angel of the Lord warns Balaam, “I have come forth to withstand you” (Num 22:32, with emphasis added here and following). The angel Gabriel says to Daniel, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you wisdom and understanding. At the beginning of your supplications a word went forth, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly beloved” (Daniel 9:22–23). Another angel says to Daniel, “I have come because of your words” (10:12), “I have come to reveal to you what will happen” (10:14) and “I have come to reveal the truth to you” (11:2, in the Greek version, not the Hebrew). In an apocryphal work, the angel Raziel says to Adam, “I have come to make known to you pure words and great wisdom” (Soda Raza, or Book of Noah). In another apocryphal work, the angel Michael says to Jeremiah, “I have come to redeem this people” (Jeremiah Apocryphon 35, Coptic version), or “I have come to you today to save your people” (ibid., Arabic version). The angel Uriel says to Ezra, “I have come to show you these things” (4 Ezra 6:30) and “Rise, Ezra, and listen to the words which I have come to speak to you” (7:2). The angel Michael says to the aged patriarch Isaac, “Be courageous in your spirit, for I have come to you from the presence of God in order to bring you up into heaven” (T. Isaac 2:2). There are many more examples.12
It is in this light that Jesus’ “I have come” statements should be understood. He has not come as an angel, of course; rather, he has come from heaven to accomplish his saving work among humanity, even as God himself came down to deliver Israel from Egypt: “I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians” (Exod 3:8); “You cannot see my face since you are mortal, but my words you are allowed to hear, those which I have come to speak…I have come to save my people, the Hebrews” (Ezekiel the Tragedian 103, 107). We note too what the pagans say in reference to Paul and Barnabas, in reaction to the healing of the crippled man: “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” (Acts 14:11).
Jesus uses the same language in the Synoptic Gospels to describe the purpose of his ministry. He tells his disciples, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out” (Mark 1:38). When criticized for associating with sinners, Jesus replies, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). Elsewhere he states that, as the Son of Man, he “came not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45) and “came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). The latter passage is quite significant, for it recalls the promise of God to act as Israel’s true shepherd: “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak” (Ezek 34:16).13
That this manner of speaking implies coming from heaven to earth to accomplish a saving work is made explicit in the Gospel of John. Jesus declares, “I have come in my Father’s name” (John 5:43); “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me” (6:38, 42); “I know whence I have come and whither I am going” (8:14); “for this purpose I have come to this hour” (12:27); “I have come as light into the world” (12:46); and “For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth” (18:37). These explicit statements are consistent with the more transparent Christology in the Gospel of John, but they also clarify the rather exalted Christology implied by the “I have come” statements in the Synoptic Gospels.
We find additional evidence of the exalted meaning of the “have come” language in how evil spirits react to encounters with Jesus. In the synagogue at Capernaum, a demonized man says to Jesus, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24). When Jesus speaks of having come, it is in reference to redeeming humanity. But from the point of view of the evil spirit, the coming of Jesus means destruction. We see this again in the encounter of the demonized man in the vicinity of Gerasa, on the east side of the Sea of Galilee: “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me” (Mark 5:7).
The people at Capernaum are astounded by what they have witnessed, declaring, “What is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him” (Mark 1:27). Jesus has made use of no incantations or charms. He has not invoked any holy names or made use of any paraphernalia (as exorcists typically did). He has commanded the evil spirit to depart, and he did so by his own authority. The power of Jesus is such that when he encounters evil spirits, they are terrified and cry out, “You are the Son of God” (Mark 3:11). The implication is that they know perfectly well that Jesus’ origin and authority are not those of an ordinary human. This is because they know where he has come from.
Jesus’ divine origin is clearly implied in the parable of the vineyard (Matt 21:33–46 = Mark 12:1–12 = Luke 20:9–19). The parable tells the story of an absentee landlord who leases his vineyard to tenants. When the time comes to collect the profits, the landlord sends his servant. The tenants refuse payment and rough up the servant. The landlord sends more servants. They too are treated violently. Finally, the landlord sends his “beloved son.” The tenants see their chance and so murder the son.
The parable is an allegory. Jesus has drawn on Isaiah’s song of the vineyard, which is itself an allegory that describes Israel’s utter fruitlessness despite God’s loving and sufficient care (Isa 5:1–7). Jesus employs the general setting of Isaiah’s song, but he introduces new characters (tenants, servants and the son) and shifts the blame from the vineyard itself to the tenants. The meaning of the allegory is quite clear: God is the owner of the vineyard, the vineyard is Israel, the tenants are the religious leaders, the servants are the prophets, and the son of the vineyard owner is Jesus.14 The parable of the vineyard clarifies just who this Jesus is who has come.
The most explicit Christological expression in the Synoptic Gospels is found in the hearing before the Jewish high priest and council (Sanhedrin). Jesus