Sunday, we postponed the Philippians wrap-up and concentrated on the life of Jesus, with handouts. Those handouts can be downloaded with the above links. We'll do the wrap-up this coming Sunday, weather permitting. (The forecast currenly looks good.)
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the primary sources for the events in Jesus' life. They differ in details and in sequence, and each of them has some items that are unique.
Mark was probably written first. It is an action book, with most passages beginning with "and then." Because it is focused on action, it may be the book with the best clue to the order of events. Many think that it was strongly influenced by Peter's memories of his time with Jesus.
- The early years are barely mentioned after his birth and dedication in the temple.
- Jesus' early ministry begins just after His baptism and the temptations.
- His ministry emphasis shifts when he sends out the twelve on their preaching ministry.
- When He and the disciples head north, His final ministry begins. In this phase, He starts preparing the disciples for His death and resurrection.
- Palm Sunday to Easter are well-documented in each gospel.
- The resurrection, appearances to various disciples, and ascension conclude each of the gospels.
Matthew adds a lot of teaching material. He groups the teaching into extended passages, so that it is hard to get a feel for time sequences. But using what Mark has written allows us to estimate when the new material in Matthew takes place. Since Matthew was one of the original disciples, He is probably relying on his own memory for this gospel.
Luke's introduction says that he's put everything in proper order. He adds more teachings and more events, but his order sometimes disagrees with both Matthew and Mark. Luke was a close companion of Paul, so his gospel probably reflects Paul's understanding of the life of Jesus. Since Paul was not one of the original disciples, Luke's introduction explains that additional research had to be done.
John's gospel was probably written last, and he adds a lot of personal interaction that the others missed. John was part of the inner circle, so he may have seen some of these interactions, such as the encounter with Nicodemus, that are mentioned nowhere else.
- The different accounts of the gospels would be troubling if we thought God had actually dictated every word of these four books. We actually believe that God guided the writers, helping them to select the stories that best told the life and message of Jesus. Everything we need to be Christ-followers is in the Bible, but the Bible is filled with poetic license (Your Word is a lamp), with plays (Song of Solomon, Job), and with first- and second-hand accounts that differ as much as they ever have.
- The gospels were not written as history books. By the time they were written, there were churches over at least half the Roman Empire. Many of the original Christians had already died, and the gospel writers wanted to tell the story of what they knew about Jesus.
- While details vary between some of the accounts, the message of all the gospels is the same: A Jewish teacher told people to trust Him, demonstrated His closeness to God as He performed miracles, insisted that God loves people and wants them to be part of His Kingdom, ran afoul of the authorities and was eventually killed, and then rose from the dead.
It was also suggested in class that having four different viewpoints helps us to get a more complete picture of just who this Jesus is.
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