Many of us had “show and tell” in elementary school. We would bring an item of interest to school, stand up in front of the class to display it, capture the interest of our classmates, and tell why this item was interesting or important to us.
The New Testament presents Jesus to the world first by showing us who He is, then by telling us about Him. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John contain His miracles, interactions with people, and accounts of His death and resurrection, while the epistles focus more on the significance of His redemptive work. Consider Colossians 1:12-20 which tells us of what God has done in Christ: delivering us from darkness into Christ’s kingdom, purchasing our redemption through Christ’s blood, placing Christ as head over the church, creating all things by Him, giving Him preeminence in all things, making peace through the blood of Christ to reconcile all things to Himself, etc.; these tell us about Christ. The gospel accounts more often show us Jesus.
Now this is not an absolute, mutually exclusive distinction, for John begins by telling us of Christ: His existence with the Father in eternity past, His role in creating all things, and how light and life come from Him (Jn. 1:1-3). Yet, John 1:14 does transition into the earthly life of Jesus by saying this about the Eternal Word: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
Throughout the rest of the book, people are shown the glory of the Father through Jesus. When Nathanael was skeptical that the Messiah’s hometown would be Nazareth, Philip said “Come and see” (Jn. 1:46). Jesus told Nathanael he would soon see greater things than the miraculous knowledge Jesus displayed when first meeting him (Jn. 1:51). Greeks came wanting to see Jesus and Philip brought them (Jn. 12:20-21). When Philip asked to see the Father, Jesus said if you have seen Me, then you have seen the Father; at least believe for the miraculous works (Jn. 14:8-11). The purpose of John’s gospel account was to show the signs that produce belief that Jesus is the Son of the living God (Jn. 20:30-31).
Jesus understood that His sacrificial death and resurrection would glorify the Father. Jesus dying on the cross for the world should hold an amazing interest for us. The crucifixion will draw all men to Him (Jn. 12:32). Christ crucified is the ultimate love shown. “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (1 Jn. 4:9).
After the gospel accounts record the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the command to tell what God has shown is given (Mt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-16; Lk. 24:46-48). Luke begins the book of Acts by noting that his first book was about “all that Jesus began to do and teach” (Acts 1:1). Jesus showed us how to live by first doing the will of the Father (Jn. 8:29). Jesus resisted temptation in the wilderness Himself first (Mt. 4:1-11), then He taught and preached (Mt. 4:23; cf. Mt. 5-7).
Paul told Titus to show himself as an example to others by his good deeds (Titus 2:7) and also to tell people how to conduct themselves by speaking, exhorting, and rebuking with all authority (Titus 2:15). Let us show the work of the gospel in the way we live our lives and then tell others about the gospel when they notice (1 Pet. 3:15).