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Many years ago, in my seminary days, our first course in Systematic Theology dealt with basically the same question as that which the Lord posed to his disciples. Our professor described Jesus as "the proleptic, salvific, hidden appearance of the eschatological kingdom of God." On our way out of class that morning, we chuckled at the whole thing:

Jesus said to them, "Who do you say that I am?"

Simon Peter replied, "You are the proleptic, salvific, hidden appearance of the eschatological kingdom of God."

Jesus answered and said unto him, "What?"

The definitions of theology professors notwithstanding, one would think that after almost 2,000 years, the question of who or what is Jesus, the ultimate question, would have been settled, at least for Christians. But such is apparently not the case, and that is why we have regular controversies about books and films "starring" Jesus. Faithful people yell foul and call for boycotts, protests, and the like, but I personally am glad for anything that gets people to look at Jesus again, because looking at Jesus is something Christians do not do enough.

Several factors play into that. First, our theological formulations about the person and work of Jesus Christ were fairly well settled for us by the church fathers in the early centuries of the faith. We repeat the words of the Nicene Creed:

... one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God ... God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God; Begotten, not made ... one substance with the Father ... incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man ...

We remember the words of the Shorter Catechism: "God and man, in two distinct natures, and one Person forever." We believe all that even if we do not understand it any more than the "proleptic, salvific, hidden appearance of the eschatological kingdom of God." The theology is settled for us! "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

A second reason for not looking much at Jesus is that, for the most part, our picture of him is well established. We are content with the mental images of Christ we have had since childhood: a beautiful baby in an ethereally lighted antiseptic manger; a white-robed teacher gently and lovingly instructing attentive crowds on lush, green hillsides; a brilliant and insightful debater who calmly and courteously skewers opponents with his incontrovertible logic; an unfortunate martyr who died with supreme dignity. This is our picture. Yes, we want to say more than the ancient gossip about his being another John the Baptist or Elijah or Jeremiah or some other prophet. But those childish images are generally sufficient, even if they end up giving us a hothouse flower kind of Lord. This is what we most often mean with "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

A third reason for not looking too closely at Jesus is that we would simply rather not. Our pat theological answers and our warm mental images are just fine, thank you. We have enough challenges in our lives. Our children are a challenge, making ends meet is a challenge, staying healthy is a challenge, the environment is a challenge. We do not need that from our religion, too! Please, let us have something in this life that is not a challenge, something we can count on, something we do not have to worry about.

To be sure, there are parts of the biblical picture of Christ that absolutely challenge us -- we would rather not notice Jesus' evident bias in favor of the poor and marginalized of society; as wealthy Americans we would rather he not remind us, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." As good church goers, we would rather not notice that the ones for whom Jesus had the most contempt were the religious folk of his day; for people who want comfort rather than challenge from their faith, we surely do not want to hear, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross." Those are all a part of the biblical picture, but "No, Lord. Let us simply say, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,' and leave it at that."

G. K. Chesterton once remarked, "The only way to make a good statue is to throw away good marble." We might or might not agree with what is "chipped away" in these books and films about Jesus, but that is all right. If they challenge people to actually think about Jesus, to see and hear him in a new way, it accomplishes more than most of the traditional images ever do.

Can we then learn from it, even though some of it might be questionable? Of course. During my doctoral studies, one of my professors recounted an experience from his early days in seminary. He had gone out to a small country church for worship one Sunday and was mortified to hear some of the worst theology he had ever encountered coming from a Presbyterian pulpit. As he sat and listened and heard this wrong, that wrong, and the other wrong, he began to wonder how in the world God could ever use this kind of drivel. Then he realized that God had indeed used it; God had spoken to him that morning by forcing him to reflect on his faith. The result: He got something out of it. He might not have gotten what the preacher had intended, but God did speak.

Millions upon millions of words have been written and spoken about Jesus. As Emerson once noted, "The name of Jesus is not so much written as ploughed into the history of the world." But none of those words have ever been able to tell the whole story. As that great preacher of the nineteenth century, Horace Bushnell, once said, "Who can satisfy himself with anything he can say concerning Jesus Christ?"

"Who do you say that I am?" asks Jesus. Proleptic? Salvific? Eschatological? Or anything like that? I doubt it. No. With Simon Peter, the answer is, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."