Introduction
“Did he really live then?” asked the person with whom I was talking about my search for Jesus. “Yes, certainly—most historians agree on that,” I replied, sounding rather academic but mostly surprised. Driving home, I thought about it. Have we, as believers, placed so much emphasis on the unbelievable miracles of Jesus that for many he has become a fictional figure? Walking on water, turning water into wine, multiplying bread, rising from the dead—that sounds absurd to a Western ear! Yet while we study what we can know about Jesus, there are still people who do not even know that he existed. And if he didn’t exist, how can he be relevant?
Experience and History
Of course, a Pentecostal or Evangelical believer will quickly say that Jesus can reveal himself personally to someone. In other words: why discuss his historical existence if he is still the living Lord who can speak to you today? From my spirituality, I say “yes and amen” to that—but ultimately, that is a very experiential approach. We can say that God speaks to us in many ways. Not everyone has that experience. Sometimes a good conversation can just as well lead to an awareness that there is more between heaven and earth.
A Starting Point
In several conversations I’ve had with people who have little or nothing to do with faith, I noticed that they are open to the story of that simple, poetic man from a small village who made such an impact that we still talk about him today. If you ask me, that’s where the church should begin: first tell and testify that he lived, and then talk about what he did. And then comes the question: how can we know what he truly did?
A Life That Made an Impression
We can start by saying that he lived, was born in Nazareth, grew up in a family with brothers and sisters, received an education like his peers, was a precocious child who debated religious leaders, and around thirty gathered a small group of followers to announce a new world after traveling with his radical cousin. He did this so convincingly that even the political and religious leaders began plotting his death. Perhaps his actions in the temple of Jerusalem were the final push. He invited himself to tables where people didn’t quite belong and formed a new community around humility, service, and the acknowledgment of God as Father—who cares for you through the goodness of others. Under Roman authority, he was crucified as an innocent man, labeled a traitor.
First Impressions of Jesus
Doesn’t that make an impression? I still remember when I first heard about Jesus in high school. We had a religion teacher who openly preached the evangelical gospel to his students. When he read from the Bible that Jesus calls us to love our enemies, I was mind‑blown. I had never heard anything like it. Love your enemies? I thought, How is that possible? Loving friends and family is already hard—they know everything about you! But enemies, those who exclude you or even hate you? That means I must put myself in their place and recognize something of myself in them. Unheard of.
Four Windows on Jesus
The Gospels give us a foundation for telling his story. Yet they sometimes contradict each other. A common explanation is that each of the four Gospels has its own perspective on Jesus’ life. During my theology studies we read Wim Weren’s Windows on Jesus, which outlines this view. The reality is more complex, as he also notes, since the Gospels influenced each other. It is widely thought that Luke and Matthew, along with an unknown source Q, used Mark—the so‑called source theory. John seems to stand alone, though that too is debated. In any case, it’s clear that we must look deeper to know what he truly said and did. Why do Luke and Matthew have different genealogies? Why does John begin with Jesus’ disturbance in the temple while others place it at the end of his life? They differ not only in order but also in detail. Were they writing a historical report? Certainly not.
Miracles or Meaning?
How, then, can we know what to say about Jesus? You can start with the miracles, but that will likely provoke two reactions: complete wonder or complete rejection. You might say, “Well, that’s the point, because Jesus himself said that he came to bring division” (Matthew 10:34–36); (Luke 12:51). But then we take no responsibility for how we tell his story and how we make it relevant. Some insist we must present the gospel “unvarnished.” I can say “yes and amen” to that, but we all have our own idea of what that means. Some tell the evangelical version—Jesus as the bridge across the gap between God and humanity—while others emphasize him as the Light that can also enlighten you. Even the Gospels differ among themselves, so we must choose carefully which story we want to tell.
A New Wave of Research
In recent historical Jesus research, the focus has shifted toward how Jesus was received by others. This marks a change from earlier waves of research—the so‑called Quests. Where the first waves peeled back layers to reach the “real Jesus,” the Next Quest takes a more affirming approach. We shouldn’t demystify miracles (Quest 1), erase history (Quest 2), or merely ask how Jewish Jesus was (Quest 3). Instead, we look for cross‑connections in other contexts to better understand his life—the Next Quest. It’s about how he was received and remembered, in what is called reception history and memory theory.
Jesus in Context
James Crossley, one of the leading scholars, says we no longer need to spend time proving whether Jesus was Jewish. He was. Let’s start there.* Instead, we should study comparable social, cultural, and economic contexts and see what new perspectives emerge. Researchers now examine where fishing gear around the Sea of Galilee came from, what gender roles meant then, and what it was like to grow up as a child in rural Galilee (Crossley & Keith, 2024).
The Life of Jesus as Event
In this light, I hope to explore how the life of Jesus can be studied through the method of John D. Caputo—a theologian‑philosopher in the tradition of Radical Theology and theopoetics. He proposes that we see Jesus’ life as an event that left a deep impression on his surroundings. For Caputo, it is difficult to think of God as a being outside ourselves; rather, God calls to us in unconditional events—like the life of Jesus.
A Personal Shift
I, too, have changed. I once applied all kinds of criteria to reach the “real Jesus.” But reality is not that simple. Those criteria—like the criterion of authenticity—are not useless, just as all earlier research was not in vain. Yet new scholars sometimes dismiss it too quickly. What will come of this is hard to say, but one thing is clear: we are coloring in the life and times of Jesus in the hope that he will appear in even richer color. I’m excited about that!
Conclusion
We must help the wider public see that Jesus lived before we talk about how he lived. And when we get there, we need to reflect carefully on how we speak of him. Our unvarnished gospels will need reframing to speak about him meaningfully today. One way is through history—appreciating what the extraordinary man from Nazareth did and endured. Perhaps then we can join the Roman soldier at the cross in confessing that he was not just any man. He is the living Lord!
*I do not say this to pour oil on the fire of the current situation in Gaza or beyond. “Jesus was Jewish, so I must uncritically side with Jews or the state of Israel” is, in my opinion, an illegitimate and illogical line of argument.*
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