My old scripture professor used to say, “If we could trade the four gospels for a video of everything Jesus said and did, we would not make the trade.” Why? Because the four gospels not only convery what Jesus said and did but also how the Church remembered and preached Jesus and how the evangelist reflected on the saving events of his life and fit it into the larger history of salvation. Take for example the way that St. Matthew reports Jesus teaching the Lord’s Prayer. “Our Father….” By including the word “our” Matthew reminds us that Jesus was not teaching a kind of personal piety but instead an inclusive spirituality where we find our place not only before God as an individual but also as part of the people of God. God is “our” God and not “my” God since we are all brothers and sisters together as part of the divine family. As Isaiah reminds us it is the Word of God — the way the story is recorded — that is living and effective and will achieve its saving purpose.
