First published in 1981, Servant and Son attempts to look simultaneously at Jesus as the subject of our four canonical Gospels, and as a figure, at times the main figure, in his own parables. The parables are understood not as fictions he created but as "stories his Father told him," revelations received from God in his capacity as a prophet. From these parables he emerges as servant of God, Son of God, and much more, anticipating in a variety of ways the Jesus of the four Gospels.
J. Ramsey Michaels, now living in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. He is the author of New Testament commentaries on Revelation and Hebrews, and most notably on First Peter in the Word Biblical Commentary and the Gospel of John in the New International Commentary on the New Testament. His most recent book, Passing by the Dragon: The Biblical Tales of Flannery O'Connor for Wipf & Stock publishers, marks a crossover into the field of American literature.
