N. T. Wright and Reading the Gospels for All They Are Worth

Below is a summary of N. T. Wright’s four lectures given recently given in Nashville, TN. This summary does not convey the full breath of Wright’s tremendous knowledge and teachings. In other words, if you are new to N. T. Wright and looking for depth in regards to his theology, reading blogs may not the best place to turn. Read his works, listen to his lectures.

This past Saturday, May 21st, N. T. Wright presented four lectures at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Nashville, TN. The lectures were entitled: Reading the Gospels for All They’re Worth (perhaps a play on Gordon Fee’s works: Reading the Bible for All it’s Worth).

Wright’s agenda was to examine the problem with how the church defines the ‘gospel.’ He states that the church proclaims a gospel that seems to derive more from Paul than it does the actual four canonical gospels. For many Christians the gospel is about salvation. It is a gospel describing a savior dying on a cross for sin and thereby enabling his followers to go to heaven. Wright does not wish to downplay this point but he wants to approach the material by asking the question, ‘what is the gospel within the gospels?’ Wright sets out to conclude by distinguishing the gospel by what the four evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) describe as the gospel. Below is a basic breakdown of his four lectures.

Lecture I: Defining the Problem: What is the Gospel within the Gospels?
Problems with defining the gospel become clear when we ask the question, ‘why did Jesus live?’ Has the gospel only become about sin, death and salvation? Wright disagrees with Richard Hays’ statement that, ‘the Jesus of the gospels is the Jesus of the creeds.’

‘This isn’t true’ – Wright proclaims. Why? Because the creeds go straight from Jesus’ birth to his death and resurrection. Where is the life Jesus lived? What were his teachings? What is the picture the disciples are trying to paint? The church has become immersed in sharing a gospel that is not full. Wright's point is that there is more to the gospel than Jesus being born on earth and dying for everyone’s sins so that they may go to heaven.

For Wright, the gospels are about the announcement of the kingdom. Jesus is proclaiming in his teachings that the kingdom of God is at hand. Wright’s frustration with the creeds in this manner is that the only mention of Jesus and a kingdom is referring to the 2nd coming. The creeds eventually became for the church a ‘syllabus’ of sorts for what is to be taught within its walls. If only the virgin birth, Jesus’ death and resurrection are taught from the gospels as the gospel – then the church will miss out on the teachings of Jesus and everything else the four writers are trying to point out about THEIR version of the gospel.

Wright points out that the gospels are about ‘how God becomes king.’ Various Enlightenment and historical Jesus agendas (such as Ray Morris with the Jesus Seminar and the traditions of the creeds) have helped to cloud the proper view we need to have of the actual gospel revealed among the pages of the gospels themselves. At the same time – other dilemmas are evident when some (especially within the Jesus seminar) have looked only at the life of Jesus without recognizing his death and resurrection. For Wright, the proper understanding of the gospel is when applying all aspects of Jesus’ life along with his death and resurrection. When examining the gospel as God becoming king and this being accomplished through Jesus, a better picture comes into focus of what the gospel within the gospels is. Jesus’ teachings are therefore how life is transformed around this king and kingdom. Jesus is lord of all things and therefore all things in our lives are now being redefined.

The purpose for the gospels is to show that God’s rule is now being enacted ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’ The Sermon on the Mount, for example, is not merely a list of moral teachings but how we are to live now that God is in charge.

Today people are concerned with Jesus’ divinity and humanity so much that they try and pull out things within the gospels that aren’t even there. Wright agrees that one can achieve this goal (arriving that Jesus is divine and human) – but this is not the main purpose for the writers of the gospels. They ‘presuppose’ that Jesus is divine and human. Their writings are not to prove this fact. The writings are to show that Jesus is indeed the long awaited Messiah.

Lecture II: Matching up the Gospels.
What are the gospels about?
Wright illustrates his points within this lecture by referring to four speakers that are setup in four corners of a room. These four speakers need to be equally matched in order for us to hear properly. The four gospels are the same. The gospels are doing four things. They don’t need to be distorted. The church has had some speakers turn down while they have had others turned up. The gospels are telling the life of Jesus – but a particular life of Jesus. The writers have chosen specific details to tell their story. We need to listen to all of them in order to achieve the proper balance.

Speaker 1). The gospel story is the story of the climax of Israel.
The story of Israel is not finished in the Old Testament. The people are waiting for something. There is an expectation that God is going to redeem Israel and bring peace to her. There is an expectation of a Messiah. This is where Wright refers to his ‘grand narrative.’ God is going somewhere with this people Israel. The gospels are about Jesus being the climax of Israel’s history. Jesus achieves the fullness of why Israel has been elected. Israel’s story is important because it is through Israel that God is redeeming the world. God has elected Israel to deal with the turmoil within creation. Jesus is the fulfillment of how God is doing such a task. Wright describes that through Jesus, Israel’s God has returned to them and therefore they are now out of exile (various scholars have issues with Wright at this point such as James D. G. Dunn in regards to if Israel still saw themselves in exile – but Wright argues more of his beliefs than what I will blog about. See his works for more info.).

Speaker 2). Which 'god' is Jesus revealing?
Jesus is divine – but divine how? Asking if Jesus is divine is not the full question. Wright believes the proper question to ask is, ‘how is Israel’s God reveled in the incarnation of Jesus? What kind of God are we talking about?’ The answer then is more profound to answering the question of whether or not Jesus was divine. When we answer these questions – we examine ‘why’ has God done what He has? The same ‘kind’ of God we are familiar with in the history of Israel – we also see being revealed through Jesus.

Once Israel is in the land, Israel eventually becomes wicked. In Ezekiel, we see God leaving the temple. Through exile with Assyria and the Babylonians, God is waiting and disciplining. When they return – where is their God? He hasn’t returned . . . yet.

One of the key characteristics about the gospels is how God is returning to His people. This is found within Mark especially. Jesus does not simply teach how to live until he returns - Jesus 'is' God returning. Jesus is bringing the reign and rule of God to His people. God is re-ordering creation. God made Israel to suffer for the world. This is done through the nation as well as the son who is Israel’s representative.

Speaker 3). God is launching His people. A renewed people for God.
The people of Israel already exist – the church is not replacing Israel – but continuing the story of Israel. The church continues to be Israel for the world.

Speaker 4). The Kingdom of God clashing with the kingdom of Caesar / Satan.
Here Wright discusses various means by how God’s kingdom is to be the one that rules and not any kingdom of this world. It is not the kingdom of Satan, nor the kingdom of Caesar that is to rule in a person’s life.


Lecture III: Cross and the Kingdom
When reading the gospels, the reader needs to understand that the gospels set out the change one’s worldview. They are about how to live a new life. They are about living this life to God, for God, through Jesus the Messiah. The New Testament shows the political powers of the world are dealt with – but in many ways different than how we would understand this in the 21st Century. Therefore we need to read the gospels afresh and understand them first in the original context and in turn better understand how to apply them to the various agendas of today.

John 20-21, Mark 16, along with other passages describe the fact that new creation has begun through Jesus and needs to continue through living the kingdom. Various agendas become vague when struggling with the purpose of this kingdom in regards to the church. Wright reminds us to look at the overall picture of what God is doing. His people have always struggled with being 'in the flesh' – but He continues to work through them. Through the gospels we see the kingdom being enacted through all regions of life. God has always been a king – but through Jesus, we see how God has become a king that rules within humanity. God is enabling new creation to reign with Him. God has always been ruling in heaven– but on earth chaos and evil have reigned. Through Jesus and the church, however, this chaos is being conquered. The solution of why God can’t reign before this is because He needs to first deal with the problem where it exists – within humanity: sin and death. To do this, God returns to the temple. This temple is now through Jesus and the saints through whom the Spirit dwells. Jesus enacts the temple. People go to him for forgiveness of sins, to be healed, to be restored. The final means by how God conquers sin and death is through the sacrifice of Israel (Jesus).

How does Jesus’ death bring God’s kingdom? It is at the cross that God is to defeat the worst power in existence. It is death. All the chaos and evil in the world can only end in death. God defeats death and therefore if God defeats death – He can defeat and conquer those powers leading up to death through sin. This is done through Jesus at the cross and the resurrection. But this isn’t merely for us to be able to be forgiven and go to heaven – as it is about God’s ruling kingdom to be brought to earth and eternal life beginning in the present and being continued into the new heavens and new earth. The cross shows how God overthrows the kingdoms of the world.

Lecture IV: So what?
In this final lecture, Wright addresses many ways by which this fresh reading and understanding of the gospel should affect our lives. We are to live under this gospel of God’s kingdom ruling among His people. Scripture is not simply to be read and studied. It is also missional. If the gospels are about God’s kingdom being brought in and through His elect people, this ought to look like something within this people. The people are to live accordingly. Are we living accordingly? Do our families and marriages reflect this new-creation worldview? How do we see ourselves continuing the ‘grand narrative’ of what God is doing through Jesus, through the Spirit empowered saints, to the praise and glory of His name?

Reading the Gospels for all they are worth