A Wonderful Fourfold Vision

Much has been written about why the Bible contains four seemingly repetitive gospels, and not one comprehensive and comprehensive gospel. It is evident that a character as rich and multifaceted as that of our Lord Jesus Christ could only be expressed through the plural vision of various stories.

Someone has said that to accurately know the physiognomy of a stranger, four photos from different angles are better than one big shot from the front. In this case, the particular vision of one alone was absolutely insufficient. Two or three of them were not enough either; there had to be four, as we shall see.

The four gospels show a fourfold vision of Christ. What principle does it obey? In the Bible, which is pure harmony, there is also a fourfold vision of living beings in Ezekiel and in Revelation, which harmonizes perfectly with this fourfold vision of the Gospels. Thus, then, Christ is presented as the lion (the King), as the calf or ox (the Servant), as man (the Son of Man), and as the eagle (the Son of God).

Yes; in Matthew, Christ is the King of kings who roars like a lion, whose word is with authority; King in his own right, because he is Creator and sustainer of all things. In Mark he is the Servant who came to earth, not to be served, but to serve, and to offer himself on the altar as the perfect Calf. In Luke, Jesus himself likes to call himself the Son of Man, because he was the perfect man, who embodies what Adam did not know how to capture. In John, Christ is declared the Son of God, who, like the eagle, flies on high, coming and going swiftly, coeternal with the Father, in that ineffable communion from before the world was.

In this fourfold vision of Christ there is also the synthesis of two apparently irreconcilable extremes: the King and the Servant, and God and Man. So, thanks to the four gospels, we can see Christ with these surprising perfections that we can now admire.

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