LESSON 10

   The Gospel Truth

 

 

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SCRIPTURES:    Matt.1: 18-25, Matt.2, 3, Mark.1:1-11, Luke.1, 2, 3, John.1:1-14

 

 

YOU’RE THOUGHTS:  Why is John the Baptists’ role so important?

 

                                        Is it easier to believe the truth when there is more then one witness?

 

 

MY THOUGHTS: Have you ever been in a group discussion and talked about a certain event that all in the group experienced? If you ask them to say in their own words what happened at that event, even though the event was common to all, they would have a different view of that event. They would agree collectively that the event was authentic but their encounter of it would be told in a different chronological order. Our lesson for this week is a brief summery on views from four devout Christians on the greatest true event that was ever recorded in history, the birth of Jesus Christ.

           Their views were written, then compiled in the first century AD, were recognized as authentic in the early church and was and is known as the Gospels. If you are familiar with the Bible, you would know that the Gospels (Good News) are the first four books of the New Testement.The Gospels contain the life and teachings of Jesus. Since we are in the midst of the Christmas holidays I found it to be fitting if we focused on the leading passages of all four Gospels since they entail the beginning of Jesus’ life..

           Matthew is the first book in the New Testament and also is believed to be the author of this book. His occupation was a tax collector or publican.and he was one of the twelve apostles that were with Jesus during His ministry. Matthews’s view of the birth of Jesus starts with Jesus’mother, Mary and her spouse Joseph. He goes on to explain how through a dream Joseph learns that his wife to be, was with child, by the Holy Ghost. He goes into Joseph’s dedicated attempts to protect his family during the jealous King Herods reign and then he is the only one out of the four Gospels, who talks about a popular theme in many Christmas songs, the Wise Men. The last series of passages that Matthew mentions before Jesus enters full force into His ministry is His forerunner John the Baptist.

         The next writers perspective of the birth of Jesus is the second book of the New Testament known by the authors name, Mark, also known as John Mark. (Acts. 12:12, 25, 13:5). Marks main topic in his Gospel is the involvement of the apostles in Jesus’ ministry (Mark.3:14, 4:10, 5:37; 8:32).Many Theologians believe that Mark was Peter’s interpreter and that his chronological order of events mirrors Peter’s written events in the book of Acts. Mark starts his Gospel with a detailed explanation on John the Baptist. I’ve read many accounts that Marks Gospel was written earlier then Matthews and Luke’s, in fact they show indications that they used Marks information in their own manuscripts.

          Do you remember Luke, who accompanied Paul on his missions and also was believed to be Paul’s personal doctor? Luke’s account of the birth of Christ was written in the third book of the New Testament. Luke’s Gospel is actually a letter written to a man name Theophilus. It has been suggested that Luke was ether the writer or involved in writing the book of Acts. You will see that the first verse in Acts 1 is

Addressed to Theophilus and also the writing styles in both books are similar. The style that Luke chose in his Gospel is a summarized letter to Theophilus of the fulfilled promises of the events leading to the birth of Christ. He starts with the parents of John the Baptist then goes into Mary’s (Jesus’ mother) encounter with the angle Gabriel.

          The last Gospel that I want to talk about is the Gospel according to John.Of.all the disciples John is my favorite. His personality dictated to me a genuine love for Jesus. The method that he chose to start his Gospel is presenting Jesus as the eternal word (John.1: 1-5).Then from there he proceeds to discuss John the Baptist’s ‘important role in preparing the way for our Lord.

           I hope that this brief summery of the four Gospels gave you a better understanding of why we are celebrating this event that changed the course of history. Jesus came from being rich in the presence of the Father to being a poor little child in the manger for our sake so that through His poverty we might become rich (2 Cor.8: 9). I hope that you experience on this holiday season the richness of Gods love through his loving Son Jesus Christ and that you will feel the excitement that the four writers felt when they wrote the Gospels.

 

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