Matthew and Luke have similar ways of introducing Jesus as God’s son. They both begin with the infancy narratives, and though they have differences between them, the main theme is the same: Jesus’ birth indicates his divinity. Matthew begins with Jesus’ genealogy and traces the family line within Israel, whereas the genealogy of Luke isn’t until the third chapter and traces back all the way to Adam. However, both accounts of Jesus’ genealogy prove that he was special.
The gospels of Mark and John have very different ways of revealing the Son of God because they do not contain infancy narratives. In Mark, Jesus is revealed in the first chapter when Jesus is baptized. The chapter actually begins not with Jesus but with John the Baptist. Mark reveals that Jesus is God’s son by a voice coming down from the heavens: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). The Gospel According to John begins with a reference to Jesus before his name is actually mentioned. It begins, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). Then, just like in Mark, the story begins with John the Baptist, who spoke of a Messiah. The next day, he saw Jesus and declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
The Nicene Creed expands on the church’s view of Jesus. It emphasizes that Jesus is the Son of God, and stresses his divinity more than it stresses his humanity. It is also interesting that it states that all things were made through Jesus specifically, not just through God. In contrast, the Apostles’ Creed spends less time discussing Jesus. The two creeds also describe his incarnation a little differently. The Nicene Creed emphasizes that Jesus came down from heaven and became man, meaning he wasn’t always human, whereas according to the Apostles’ Creed, he was conceived and born of Mary. Thus, the Nicene Creed expands on the Apostles’ Creed by emphasizing Jesus’ divinity and the huge role he plays in the world.
jenniferlongtheology 
I thought it was really interesting how you brought in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed. Since the Nicene Creed was written a few hundred years after Jesus’ death at an actual convention of Church officials, it makes sense that they emphasize the divine aspects of Jesus’ humanity.
I like how you interpreted the depiction od Jesus in the Nicene Crede. I found your analysis very enlightening.
Technically speaking (and we’ll talk about this more when we discuss Creeds in the last unit of the course), the Word of God, the second person of the Trinity, existed from all eternity, but we can only speak of Jesus (as the second person of the Trinity enfleshed) from the time of the incarnation, beginning at the moment of Jesus’ conception through the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
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