It is possible to speak of "the Jesus of the Gospels" only if the Gospels are in essential agreement. If the features of the four portraits are so different that they never could have been united really in the same person, then there is no such thing as a Jesus of the Gospels, but only a Jesus of Matthew and a Jesus of Mark and a Jesus of Luke and a Jesus of John.
1. AGREEMENT AMONG THE SYNOPTISTS
Among the Synoptic Gospels, at any rate, no such difference exists. Though every one of these Gospels possesses its own characteristics, the peculiarities are almost negligible in comparison with the underlying unity. There is certainly such a thing as "the Synoptic Jesus." His words and deeds are narrated in each of the Gospels in a different selection and in a different style, but the characteristic features are everywhere the same.
2. THE SYNOPTISTS AND JOHN
With regard to the Fourth Gospel, the matter is not quite so plain. The contrast between the Synoptists and John has already been noticed. It forces itself upon even the most casual reader. Difference, however, is not necessarily contradiction. It may be due to a difference in the point of view. Both the Synoptists and John give a true picture of Jesus; the same features appear very different when viewed from different angles.
3. DIVINITY AND HUMANITY
At any rate, if there is a contradiction between the first three Gospels and the Gospel of John, the contradiction is by no means easy to formulate. It cannot be said, for example, simply that the Synoptists present a human Jesus and John a divine Jesus. Whatever the differences among the four Gospels, all four agree at least in two essential features. All four present Jesus, in the first place as a man, and in the second place as something more than a man.
(1) Humanity in the Synoptists.—The former feature is perhaps especially clear in the Synoptists. According to the first three Gospels, Jesus led a genuine human life from birth to death. As a child he grew not only in stature, but also in wisdom. He was subject to human parents and to the requirements of the Jewish law. Even after the inauguration of his ministry the human conditions of his life were not superseded. He was even tempted like other men. He grew weary and slept. He suffered hunger and thirst. He could rejoice and he could suffer sorrow. He prayed, like other men, and worshiped God. He needed strengthening both for body and for mind. No mere semblance of a human life is here presented, but a genuine man of flesh and blood.
(2) Humanity in John.—But if the Jesus of the Synoptists is a true man, how is it with the Jesus of John? Does the Fourth Gospel present merely a heavenly being who walked through the world untouched and unruffled by the sin and misery and weakness that surrounded him? Only a very superficial reading can produce such an impression. The Fourth Gospel indeed lays a supreme emphasis upon the majesty of Jesus, upon his "glory" as it was manifested in works of power and attested by God himself. But side by side with these features of the narrative, as though to prevent a possible misunderstanding, the author presents the humanity of Jesus with drastic touches that can scarcely be paralleled in the Synoptists themselves. It is John who speaks of the weariness of Jesus at the well of Samaria, ch. 4:6; of the human affection which he felt for Lazarus and Martha and Mary, ch. 11:3,5,36, and for an individual among the disciples, ch. 13:23; of his weeping, ch. 11:35; and indignant groaning, v. 38; and of his deadly thirst. Ch. 19:28. As clearly as the other evangelists John presents Jesus as a man.