The task of reading the Gospels is relatively simple. These books are easy to understand they are interesting to peruse. Readers are already treading ground that has been well trodden before. And that is and advantage, which means that one is not, necessarily wrestling with a subject that is completely unknown or forbidding. We have all formed certain impressions about these books before we have even opened them to begin to study them.

But there is also a disadvantage it seems to me that in the light that ideas tend to harden, and that there is resistance to change--even at our age. And our thinking about the gospels needs a drastic revolution. For our picture of Jesus Christ needs constant refocusing. There are so many Jesus’ around today. One almost feels like saying, “Will the real Jesus please stand up?” Therefore, we should attempt to come to these books in a fresh manner, as though we are reading them for the very first time.