The saving work of Jesus in the gospel

The four gospels are there in the whole New Testament; the first three, Mark, Matthew, and Luke, are called the synoptic gospels, and the last one is the gospel of John. Jesus is both completely God and completely man. Jesus' saving works include saving the world (John 4:42), finding the lost (Luke 19:10), serving the saved and giving his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45), and providing eternal life to those who believe (John3:16).

1. Who is Jesus Christ?

The name Jesus means "the one who saves." Both Christ and Messiah mean the anointed one, or the one whom God has anointed for service. [1] For Jesus, the terms "son of God" and "son of man" are used (Mark 2:10, John 1:14, 18, 34, 5:17–27). The term "son of God" has been thought to emphasise Jesus’ deity, and the term "son of man" emphasises his messianic role in the Old Testament. Jesus used the term "son of man" to emphasise his humanness (Matthew 8:20, 11:19, and 17:22–23). The terms are used interchangeably in Matthew 26:63–65. Jesus has two natures in one person. He was completely God and completely man at the same time (Rom 1:3–4).

2. The work of Christ in the Gospel

Jesus is both the creator and preserver of the world (John 1:3, 10). Jesus did not stay in heaven but left the glory that he had there (John 17:1–5) and became a man. There were two important reasons for his incarnation. The first reason for incarnation is to show the father to us because no one has seen the father at any time before his incarnation (John 6:46, 12:45, 14:7-9). The second reason for the incarnation of Jesus was his death and resurrection for our salvation. [2]

3. The Synoptic Gospel

The word synoptic is a combination of two words: syn means together, and optic means seeing results seeing tother.[3] The synoptic gospel refers to the life of Jesus that Matthew, Mark, and Luke see together or look at similarly. Matthew addressed his gospel primarily to Jewish readers, and he sought to show that Jesus was the promised messiah, the king of the Jews. As a result, he refers to Jesus as Abraham's son (Jesus is a Jew) and David's son (Jesus is the promised messiah-king who will reign from David's throne and deliver his people from enemies and sin [1:21).Mark wrote his gospel to the Roman reader and presented Jesus as a servant or worker of Jehovah who came to serve and to give his life as ransom for many, meaning that the death of life is a means by which many people are saved. Luke addressed his gospel to the Greek or non-Jewish readers and presented Jesus as the son of man.

In the synoptic gospels, Jesus Christ constantly predicts his future suffering, death, and resurrection. He teaches that his death and resurrection fulfilled what the Scriptures predicted would happen (Matt. 26:54–56; Mark 14:49; Luke 24:25–27).

4. The Story of Jesus’ Salvation in the Synoptic Gospel

The synoptic gospels are the biographies of Jesus’ life, birth, ministry, death, and resurrection. It has mentioned in detail Jesus’ birth, work, miracles, teaching, preaching, death, and resurrection. He lived on the earth for more than thirty-three years. Jesus was not embraced but rather rejected in his hometown (Matt 13:53–58; Luke 4:16–30). He suffered a lot between his birth and death. He suffered from childhood until his death. The purpose of Jesus' birth is to save the people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). He came to earth not to be served but to serve his people and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). The ultimate purpose of Jesus was to go to the cross and die there. Jesus’ death alone is insufficient to save people from sin, and his resurrection was needed in order to fulfil the sign of Jonah, which is clearly mentioned in the synoptic gospels. Jesus’ suffering and death were the very means by which the promise of salvation in the Old Testament were obtained, and his resurrection from the dead indicates the securing of the promise. [4]

5. Jesus’ death as atonement for sin

According to Jesus, he came to atone for human sin. The synoptic gospels have revealed that the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28). The need for atonement emanated from the universal sinfulness of humankind and our inability to deal with the problem created by people’s sin. The Bible says that the sinner is in a desperate condition, for the wages of sin is death. The relationship of people with God is broken. This was the condition of human beings. But God, in his love and grace, has made the provision. He sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, as the Lamb of God to atone for human sin and to mend the broken relationship between God and humans. This is called the death of Jesus for the atonement of sin. [5] Jesus' death is a substitution and the fulfilment of the suffering servant of Isaiah. Jesus’ death was a sacrifice with special links to the new covenant. By his death on the cross, he obtained the forgiveness of sin and the victory over evil. It was not for himself but for those who believed in him.

6. The Cross and the Resurrection

The remarkable story portraying and interpreting the events of Jesus’s suffering and death in the gospel is called the passion narrative. The account of the Jewish plot against Jesus' life during the feast of unleavened bread is usually regarded as the beginning of the passion narrative, which ended with Jesus' burial in the synoptic gospels. The passion narrative in the synoptics is found in Matthew 26–27, Mark 14–15, Luke 22–23, and John 10–19. Jesus was innocent (Luke 23:47) and was crucified as a condemned criminal and for other sins (Matt 1:21). Jesus’ suffering was not a criminal punishment; that was the purpose of God. He predicted his suffering and death three times in order to save humans. Jesus destroyed the kingdom of the devil on the cross and established the kingdom of God (Mt. 27:51; Mark 15:28). Matthew records that at the death of Jesus, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matt 27:51). This represents Jesus' victory—that all barriers between God and humans have been removed. God is directly accessible to human beings; we do not need any mediators. Salvation is available for everyone due to the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. [6]

Jesus’ death and resurrection are the means by which God’s covenantal promises are secured. The forgiveness of sins, the new creation, and the new exodus have become realities through the death and resurrection of Jesus. [7]

7. The Gospel of John

According to the Gospel of John, Jesus is the revealer of the father according to the Gospel of John.[8] No one has seen God except Jesus, God’s only son (3:16, 18). The revelation of the father takes place through Jesus’s words and deeds. John narrates seven symbols used by Jesus—four with discourse and three without. The signs without discourses are the wedding at Cana (2:1–12), the healing of the officials’ son (4:46–47), and Jesus’ walking over the water (6:16–21). The signs with discourses are Jesus healing a paralytic on a Sabbath day at Bethsaida (5:1–9), multiplying (6:1–13), and healing the blind man (9:1–7). The gospel of John includes seven witnesses, seven I AMs, and seven signs, which are depicted above, in the story of the raising of Lazarus (11:38-44).In the gospel of John, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to guide and teach those who believe in him (16:13; 14:26).

7.1 Jesus as the Lamb of God

The Baptist John says, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29) John 20:31 states that the aim of the book is that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of man, and that by believing you may have life in his name. The heart of the gospel is that the Savior has come to give life to human beings, and this came through his redemptive sacrifice on the cross. According to C.H. Dodd, it is not cultic and sacrificial but eschatological. The lamb takes away the sin of the world by dealing with sin and evil at the end of time. God sent his son to accomplish his father’s will and to redeem mankind. In the gospel of John, Jesus is portrayed as the giver of eternal life to those who believe. [9]

7.2 Jesus as the saviour of the world

John introduces Jesus as the saviour of the world in 4:42, and Rudolf Bultman said the term saviour accorded with the Hellenistic title of the salvation bringer. [10] The gospel according to John 3:17 says God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him. In the conclusion of his public ministry, Jesus repeats, "I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world" (12:47). God sent the son to save the world by bringing it to believe in the name of the only son of God (3:18). Faith in Christ restores the world to a right relationship with God because, as Jesus said, "he who believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me." When the Samaritans began to believe, they proclaimed Jesus as their saviour at 12:45.

Conclusion

The saving work of Jesus is evident in the gospel through his deeds and words. The heart of the gospel is that the Savior has come to give eternal life through his living sacrifice on the cross. He has two natures in one person: God and man. In the gospel, he is referred to as Jesus, Christ, the son of man, the son of God, and the son of David, the servant of the lord or suffering servant, Immanuel, and many metaphors are used to describe him, such as lamb of God, good shepherd, true vine, bread of life, and so on. Jesus has saved everyone who believes in him. He has given forgiveness of sins, reconciliation, and redemption in order to save his people. He died on the cross to destroy the devil and establish the kingdom of God. He promised to send his counsellor and teacher, the Holy Spirit, to help his people save themselves.

 

 

References

[1] Stephan Thorsan, Theological Topics: Old Testament and New Testament Articles (Nepal: Samdan, 2017), 18.

[2] Ibid.,24.

[3] Nigel Dag-Lewis, New Testament Studies (London: NCMI, 1997), 15

[4] Ibid.,275.

[5] H. Joseph Lalfakmawia, Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels (Kolkata: ESPACE, 2013), 68.

[6] Ibid. 98-100.

[7] Thomas R. Schreiner, New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ (Michigan: Baker Academic, 2008), 287.

[8] Ibid.,

[9] H. Joseph Lalfakmawia, Re-Reading John's Gospel from an Indian Perspective (India: ESPACE, 2013), 13.

[10] Ibid.,