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The first four books of the New Testament are
“The Gospels”. Each contains a record of
the incarnation, the earthly life of
the Son of God, Jesus Christ. That is
the gospel or “good news”, that God has come in the flesh in the person of a
man, Jesus of Nazareth, news that people everywhere are called to believe.
It is commonly acknowledged that each of the
four writers wrote with a particular audience in mind, people they knew and
loved who needed to hear of Jesus.
Matthew wrote with the Jewish nation in mind. He begins with the genealogy that connects Jesus
to Abraham, the father of Israel
and to David, the King of Israel through whom God promised to send the Messiah. For
Matthew Jesus is that Messianic
King. Mark wrote to the Romans, presenting
Jesus as the true Servant, a picture of Christ that the mighty Romans needed to
hear and see. Thus Mark has no record of
the birth of Christ and simply records His years of ministry. John has a universal appeal and lays a strong
emphasis on Jesus as the “Son of God”. While
John does not record the birth of Christ he actually begins earlier, in
eternity past. Our studies of Jesus’
birth will begin in John 1:1-18.
Luke seems to appeal to the Greek mind and
heart. He writes to a Greek named
Theophilus. He emphasizes Jesus as the
“Son of Man”, although this is not to the exclusion of the truth of the Deity
of Christ. Luke, the only non-Jew of the
four evangelists, and a doctor (Col.
4:14), writes in a Greek manner, involving wide research that includes contacts
with eyewitnesses as well as study of the writings of others on the life of
Christ (v2). It is an orderly account (v1,3) written so his
friend (and we) can be certain of the things written about Christ.
Luke was the furthest from being an eyewitness
of the life of Christ. Matthew and John
were Jesus’ apostles; Mark it is believed wrote mostly from the memory of
Peter. Luke was an associate of Paul,
himself a follower of Christ after
His ascension (1 Cor. 15:8-11). Yet it
is clear that Luke had a connection with eyewitnesses not enjoyed by the
others. He has details of private conversations
and events involving Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary the mother of Jesus, Simeon and
Anna. Perhaps in his travels with Paul
he had opportunities to speak with those who knew, especially Mary
herself. All the Gospels are true; all
give the full account as led by God’s Spirit; any one of them has the power to
lead you to the Savior. Thus our
approach will be to draw from all four.
May our
study be with a view, not simply to expanded knowledge, but to faith. The stories involving Jesus’ origin and birth
are primarily involved with Who He was and is!
Every event made it clear that He was Someone special, given to the
world for an essential purpose, One who was and is absolutely unique. I write to you, many being people I know and
love, with the same desire that you know Him in the truth. Thus our plan will be only to open up the
Biblical account. There is no other
place to go for the truth about the Lord, Jesus Christ.
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