Phil. 1:27 says: Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, that you stand fast in one spirit, in one mind, for the faith of the gospel. But what do you do if people you knew well and counted as friends stand against you? What if your family stands against you? Should we follow the advice for the defense in sports: “bend, but don’t break?”
Today’s passage gives us what Luke 4 gives in more detail: the rejection of Jesus by His hometown, Nazareth. There is contained in this story a phrase that is given in various situations by all four of the Gospel writers: a prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house. If you read each of these passages, you may wonder if the gospel writers agreed. Here are the four settings in which we are told Jesus said these words.
· Matt. 13:53: Jesus said these words after the Mystery of the Kingdom parables.
· Mark 6:4: Jesus spoke these words after the “Mystery” parables and the two stories of hope (raising Jairus’ daughter and the woman with the issue of blood).
· Luke 4:14-30: Jesus spoke these words after the temptations in the desert.
· John 4:43-45: Jesus spoke these words after He met with the Samaritan woman.
We have taken the time to note these seeming “differences” so that we might talk about interpreting the Gospels. Here are some things to consider as you read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
· The Gospels are different because each wrote to a different audience. Mark omitted the birth stories because his Roman audience wasn’t concerned with Jesus’ roots. Luke included a genealogy (Lk. 3) that traced Jesus’ to Adam, affirming His humanity. Matthew included Jesus’ “Jewish” genealogy Mt. 1) so his Jewish audience would know that Jesus was a tied to Abraham and David.
· Also, each writer included different types of material. John gave accounts of personal conversations Jesus had with various individuals (e.g. Nicodemus) and the Jews of Jerusalem (John 5-12) not recorded in the other Gospels. Thus John, in 4:43-45, only spoke briefly of the same event Luke described in detail.
· Even when the Gospel writers wrote of the same events, they often gave different details. The account of Jesus’ resurrection is a good illustration of this.
· Also keep in mind that none of the four men told the entire story of Jesus’ Incarnation. As John said (21:25), the whole world could not contain the books that would have to be written to tell it all.
These principles can help us in understanding the Gospels and in recognizing their inerrant record. I recommend the “Harmony of the Gospels” by A. T. Robertson, although there are other attempts to harmonize the story that can be helpful. Also, I remind you that studying each individual Gospel has great value. Their variety is part of God’s inspired word for our salvation and edification.
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