4 Major Narratives of Jesus

The Jewish Perspective

To the Jews, Jesus was a Messiah-King who would redeem Israel and all the other nations in the world, raise the righteous from the dead on the Day of the Lord, and bring final judgment to all mankind. He will create new heavens and a new earth, restoring and redeeming the material world, and ushering in the glorious age to come with the arrival of His kingdom, implementing global peace on Earth on the Day of the Lord. The main focus of the Jewish narrative is the Day of the Lord and the age to come.

The Greek Perspective

To the Greeks, Jesus became a Messiah who would deliver them from the material world and take them to an ethereal paradise where the corrupt, fleshly material world no longer exists. To some Greeks, He also became a path of secret knowledge that delivers salvation through this secret knowledge. For the Greeks, the focus is on escaping this material world to attain a heavenly, ethereal existence rather than restoring creation in the age to come.

The Roman Perspective

To the Romans, Jesus became a king who would live His life through the Roman government and later the Roman Church, ruling as an emperor by His spirit through men to establish global peace throughout the world. This perspective makes the Roman government the tool of salvation that Christ uses to conquer the world in His name, bringing peace and prosperity through the imperial empire.

As Imperial Rome was dismantled, this idea shifted to the peace and prosperity being ushered in through the church to dominate the Earth and convert everyone to Christianity. In the beginning, the Roman Imperial government was viewed as the kingdom of God, and after it was dismantled, the church was seen as the kingdom of God, tasked with bringing global peace to the world through Christ. The main focus of the Roman Jesus narrative is redeeming the present evil age, rather than waiting on the Lord to come with His kingdom on the Day of the Lord.

The Eastern Perspective

To the Easterners, Jesus became a shortcut to Moksha, delivering them from the endless cycle of reincarnation and human suffering. The Christ consciousness brings enlightenment through secret knowledge and delivers from the suffering of the material world. The Eastern Jesus narrative is the most removed from the Jewish narrative.

The Kingdom of God

The Jews viewed the kingdom of God as the restoration of Israel, the Messianic Kingdom, and the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom. They believed the physical presence of the Messiah-King was necessary for this kingdom.

The Greeks viewed the kingdom of God as an ethereal heavenly existence.

The Romans viewed the kingdom of God as a state of present society, believing that the image of Christ in the church can change current society into the kingdom of God without the physical presence of the Messiah-King.

The American Perspective

To the Americans, Jesus has a mixture of the Roman and Greek narratives, with a little splash of the Jewish narrative. The American Jesus narrative is heavier on the Roman narrative than the Greek. It places the major focus on Christians taking dominion over their society to make it more Christian. Most sermons emphasize Christian living, and the leading message is, "God loves you and has a plan for your life," reflecting the Roman narrative's greater focus on the present age than on the age to come.

The American Jesus narrative has also placed extra emphasis on living your best life now, focusing on financial prosperity and comfortable living in the present age. Additionally, it aligns with the Greek narrative, viewing Jesus more as an escape from the material world to an ethereal heavenly paradise, with less emphasis on the redemption of creation.

The Influence of Cultural Narratives

With this presentation of these four different narratives described in one place, I'm sure you can see how much influence our individual society, ideology, and cultural backgrounds have on receiving a message in its original form. Regardless of who we are and where we come from, all of us filter a new message through our previous understandings.

God chose one people group, the Hebrews, and interacted with them for thousands of years, electing them to be the divine administrators of salvation to the rest of the nations. His story of redemptive history was given only to them alone. They were the only people group elected to be responsible for and privileged to carry and administer the oracles of God and the messages of the holy prophets. The Messiah was a Jew, and all of the Holy Scripture we have was written by Jews, except for perhaps the Book of Luke and Acts.

Reflection on God's Choice

Think about that for a moment. God did not allow anyone else, except the Jews, to be responsible for His message. That can be a hard pill to swallow for a Gentile.

Of course, we Gentiles now have the responsibility as ambassadors of His kingdom to go forth with the gospel, but only after the story of redemptive history was finalized in written form and the appearance of the Jewish Messiah had already taken place.

This is a very hard truth to come to terms with when you're not a Jew. It's something I've known about for a couple of years, but I'm really just now coming to terms with it.

It makes sense to me why God chose the Jews and only the Jews to administer the story of redemptive history and salvation to the other nations. When other cultures get involved, we can see how the narrative becomes influenced by various factors. The Jewish story is the only correct story.

A Personal Encounter

A couple of Mormons came to my door not long ago. I asked them what the Book of Mormon was about, and they said that God interacted with a people group in America to write the story in that book. Right out of the gate, I knew that was a falsity because God only trusted the Jews with His story. The Jewish story is the only correct story. Someone telling you that God gave His oracles to a people group other than the Jews to steward is a big red flag.

The Importance of Understanding Jewish History

In closing, my opinion is that we need to understand more about Jewish history. How do we do that? By reading the Jewish book, the Bible.

Much love!

- Jeremy Gilbert