So… Did Jesus Actually Say All of That?
Why the Gospels don’t need to be transcripts to be true
Welcome to Sacred & Secular.
These daily reflections are an invitation to grab a cuppa, slow down, and ponder something that might otherwise pass us by.
Earlier this week, I wrote about how much words mattered to Jesus.
The way he chose them.
The way he used them.
The way they seemed to be received differently depending on who was listening.
But that also raises a slightly uncomfortable question.
What if those words… aren’t always his exact words?
It’s something people say to me quite often, sometimes with a raised eyebrow:
“There’s no way Jesus actually said everything that’s written in the Gospels.”
And, if I’m honest, they are probably correct.
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An unsettling thought… at first
If you grew up around church, you might remember those Bibles where Jesus’ words are printed in red.
They carry a certain importance. A kind of certainty, as if we are reading the precise sentences that left his lips.
There is something deeply reassuring about that idea. It feels clear and direct.
But the more you think about it, the harder it is to sustain. After all, no one was following Jesus around with a notebook.
He taught in Aramaic.
To largely illiterate crowds.
In open spaces.
Over several years.
His words were heard, remembered, retold, translated, and eventually written down decades later. Whatever the Gospels are doing, they are not transcripts.
— • —
Which has bothered people for a long time
This isn’t a new concern.
In fact, some scholars tried to answer it directly.
In the late twentieth century, a group known as the Jesus Seminar attempted to work out which sayings of Jesus were most likely to go back to him. Their method became surprisingly well known.
They voted using coloured beads.
Red meant Jesus definitely said it.
Pink meant probably.
Grey meant probably not.
Black meant almost certainly not.
You may already be smiling; it does not feel exactly scientific. Beads in a box deciding the words of Jesus. And yet, behind it was a serious question.
How do we recognise the voice of Jesus in the Gospels?
Their conclusions were stark. Only a small portion of the sayings were judged to be directly traceable to him. That caused quite a stir at the time.
But perhaps the most interesting thing is not their percentages.
It’s the question they were trying to answer.
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