Biblical Overview: The Gospels

Greetings, and welcome to the Faith Chapel podcast. My name is Jason,

and I am the pastor of Faith Chapel.

In the podcast right now, we are going through an overview of the Bible to show

how the whole Bible points to Jesus.

We have finished the Old Testament and are beginning today by discussing the

Gospels and how they show the whole Bible points to the life, ministry,

death, and resurrection of Jesus. Thanks for joining us today.

As we begin our next lesson in our overview of the Bible, I like to begin by

going over why it's important to study Scripture.

And we're going to look at what Jesus' words say in Luke 24.

This is after his death and resurrection. He has gathered his disciples together,

and these are words that he says.

So in Luke 24, verses 44 to 47, we read, Then Jesus said to the disciples,

Luke 24:44–47

These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,

and everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the

Psalms must be fulfilled.

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and said to them,

Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from

the dead and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed

in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.

Jesus takes them through a cascade of what the Old Testament was saying about him.

The Christ, the Messiah, should suffer on the third day, rise from the dead,

and that repentance for forgiveness of sins shall be proclaimed.

This is what the entire Bible points to.

And so we read scripture because it shows Jesus on every one of its pages.

And it allows us to know about what God's plan of salvation is,

how you and I can be redeemed by believing in the Messiah, who is Jesus.

So we read scripture and we should engage with scripture to see how it proclaims

Jesus and how it points to Jesus as the pinnacle of God's plan of salvation

so that you and I can be with God in eternity one day.

We read scripture because scripture points to Jesus.

The previous lessons that we have gone over, I hope that we have shown that is the case.

But to focus us in on where we're at in the biblical story, here's a quick recap of where we've been.

Throughout the Bible, we have been tracing the promises of God made specifically

to Abraham and then handed down to Abraham's son Isaac and his son Jacob.

These are the promises that their descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky,

that Abraham and his descendants would become a nation and that there would

be a blessing for the whole world through this family.

Up to this point in the biblical story, the Israelites had their own nation

and became multitudes of people.

But because of consistent rebellion against God, they were not living into the

blessings God had promised for covenant faithfulness.

They lost the land and then got it back, but they had only a short time since

the exile that they were actually ruling their own land.

We have here a couple of differing nuances that are adding to these promises of Abraham.

Are Abraham's descendants going to be able to rule and reign themselves?

Are they going to be their own nation again?

And what about this promise about a blessing for the whole world?

Has that happened? Is that void because of the exile?

What's going on with that promise? And on top of these promises.

From God to Abraham, God also told the second king of Israel,

a guy by the name of David, that a descendant of his would reign forever.

This promise was seemingly lost when Babylon took the southern tribes into exile.

But during the times of Ezra and Nehemiah, there became Israelites back in the land.

A temple was rebuilt. and during the time of the early part of Ezra,

a guy by the name of Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, was governor of that land.

So is this promise going to come to fruition, that a descendant of David would rule forever?

But when the Old Testament ends, it's about 400 BC, and we don't get another

scripture story until 400 years later, when a man by the name of Jesus enters the scene.

Is this a ruler from the line of David who will establish a kingdom to rule and reign forever?

To answer that question, we have to look in the Gospels.

So the Gospels are a unified story in the message about Jesus's life,

ministry, death, and resurrection. They each tell the story from a different perspective.

And during our time together today, we will go over the story of Jesus's life.

And then at the end, we will break down how each of these four gospels tell

the story of Jesus to show a different perspective of him.

But first, let's get into what the entire story of Jesus is about.

So the Gospels proclaim to us that Jesus was fully man and fully God.

For instance, in Matthew chapter 1 verses 20 to 21, we read, But as Joseph...

Matthew 1:20–21

Mary's husband, who would be the mother of Jesus. But as Joseph considered these

things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying.

Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife,

for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

This angel clearly proclaims that God is going to be the father and that Jesus

is going to be like his heavenly father.

He is going to be of the same substance as the father.

He is going to be born of a woman, but he is also going to be born of God.

He is going to be fully man and fully God. And Luke confirms this.

In Luke 1, 34 and 35, we read these words.

And Mary said to the angel, how will this be? How can I become pregnant? Since I am a virgin.

And the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power

of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

And so we have here a human being that can walk, that can learn,

that can grow, will have hair, has muscles and a heart beating everything.

The Israelites in Hebrew thought, as you say that you are the son of somebody,

it is you taking on their attributes.

The son of God is going to be like his heavenly father.

Mark confirms this as well. The very first verse of the gospel,

according to Mark, says the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God.

And then John makes it obvious as to what's happening in his opening section from John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

We're going to read verses 1 and 2 and then verse 14, which says,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

Then we have, skipping down to verse 14, and the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

And we have seen his glory, glory as of the only son from the father, full of grace and truth.

John here is saying and proclaiming that Jesus, the word that became flesh, is God.

He was with God in the beginning and he was God.

This is a profound mystery and we don't fully understand it.

But all four gospel accounts clearly point to Jesus being the Son of God,

that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary,

and that Jesus is a preexistent being who was put in human form.

Making him both God and man.

The gospels are uniform in that Mary, as a virgin.

Gave birth, and that Jesus is both fully divine and fully human.

We have very few stories about the life of Jesus after his birth up until about the age of 30.

When he begins his public ministry, it is all about establishing the kingdom of God.

So in Mark chapter 1 verses 14 and 15, we read, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming

Mark 1:14

the gospel of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe the gospel.

His goal, his objective.

Was to proclaim the kingdom of God. In the kingdom of God, there will be physical,

mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

So, Jesus is healing people, has this miraculous power to bring restoration to people's lives.

In Matthew 8, verses 1 through 3, we read, When Jesus came down from the mountain,

Matthew 8:1–3

great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before

him, saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.

And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, I will be clean.

And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Someone with a debilitating disease, a contagious disease that was forced to

live outside of the community, came to Jesus and said, please make me clean. please restore me.

And Jesus said, I will. And he did it.

In Mark chapter one, verses 23 and 26, it was Jesus healing a man who had a

unclean spirit inside of him.

In Mark one, 23 and 26, we read, and immediately there was in their synagogue,

a man with an unclean spirit.

And he cried out, what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?

Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent and come out of him.

And the unclean spirit convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice came out of him.

And so Jesus here has the power over unclean spirits.

In Luke 4, 40, we read, Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any

who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands

on every one of them and healed them.

Now, this is showing that Jesus has powers to heal and restore,

and there is no disease, there is no affliction that can be stopped by Jesus.

Jesus is bringing the kingdom of God by bringing healing and restoration.

Then in Luke 5, verses 5 through 9, we read, One man was there who had been an invalid for 38 years.

Luke 5:5–9

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long

time, he said to him, Do you want to be healed?

The sick man answered him, Sir, I have no one to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up.

And while I am going, another steps down before me.

Jesus said to him, Get up, take up your bed, and walk.

And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

Jesus here has power, not just over sicknesses, not just over demons.

He has power over someone who has been crippled, who cannot walk on his own for 38 years.

He comes and simply says to him, pick up your bed and walk.

And he was healed. This shows us about the kingdom of God, that Jesus does have authority,

that he does have power, and that what the kingdom of God will be like will

be that there is no more sickness, there's no more cancer.

There is no more broken bones.

It will be a state of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

The kingdom of God is what Jesus came to proclaim.

And in the kingdom of God, there is no more afflictions on our bodies, minds, or souls.

Jesus all throughout these gospels also teaches about the kingdom of God.

What is the kingdom of God? How should we live in the kingdom of God?

What is the teaching of the kingdom of God?

So in Matthew chapter 5, verses 43 and 44, we read, you have heard that it was

Matthew 5:43

said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

And so in the kingdom of God, as Jesus is teaching here, when people get mistreated,

It will be our response to those who have the Spirit inside of us to love those people.

This is a teaching of the kingdom of God, and this should be our response to hate and malice.

In Mark chapter 4, verses 26 to 29, we read, And he said, The kingdom of God

Mark 4:26–29

is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.

He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows. He knows not how.

The earth produces by itself first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.

And this is a parable that Jesus talks about the kingdom of God.

It is people scattering seed on the ground, seed being the word of God.

And we don't know how it grows. We can understand that it needs warmth, that it needs good soil.

We can understand that it needs water and the sun, but we don't do anything about it.

And that God is the one that is growing and maturing this kingdom.

It is a terrible on the kingdom of God. And when it is ripe,

that's when the harvest comes.

It's going to take time for this kingdom to grow and develop.

And when it is fully ripe, that's when the harvest comes.

The kingdom of God is also about surrendering to Jesus, humbling ourselves before

him and letting Jesus be our king.

In Luke chapter 6 verses 46 to 49, we read, Why do you call me Lord,

Luke 6:46–49

Lord, and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words

and does them, I will show you what he is like.

He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.

And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and it could not

shake it because it had been well built.

But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built his house

on the ground without a foundation.

When that stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.

And so this parable is telling us if we build on the foundation of Jesus, we will be secure.

We call him Lord. We do what he tells us to do. And when we do that,

we are building on solid ground so that no storm in life, no flood that.

Beats against us is going to take us away because we are rooted in the kingdom

of God and what Jesus taught.

Then in John 3 verses 14 and 15, we read,

John 3:14

and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man

be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

The kingdom of God is going to lead us to eternal life.

The rooting and grounding ourselves in Jesus, building our foundation on his

teachings is going to take us to eternal life.

And this is where the kingdom of God is going to be.

The kingdom of God is about surrendering to the teachings of Jesus,

putting those into practice in our daily life, living for him and his plans

and his purposes here so that our reward will be with him in eternity.

So the kingdom of God is about getting rid of physical ailments,

spiritual ailments, mental and emotional ailments as well.

And it's about learning and surrendering and submitting to Jesus's teachings.

And one of those teachings in particular is about the compassion that Jesus

showed and the care that he gave to those who society looked down upon.

In John chapter 4 verses 16 to 19, we read, Jesus said to her,

John 4:16–19

go and call your husband and come here. The woman answered, I have no husband.

Jesus said to her, you are right in saying I have no husband,

for you have had five husbands, and the one you now love is not your husband.

What you have said is true. The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you

are a prophet. One of the first people that Jesus disclosed his identity to

outside of his groupings,

of disciples would be a woman who was not even Israelite.

This woman is a Samaritan, and not only that, someone who has not lived a clean life.

This is someone who has had trauma in her past, someone who has been through multiple husbands.

And this is who Jesus relays his message that he is the Messiah.

Then in Mark 10 verses 13 to 16, we read, and they were bringing children to

Mark 10:13–16

Jesus that he might touch them and the disciples rebuked them.

But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, let the children come to me.

Do not hinder them for two such belongs the kingdom of God.

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall never enter Yeah.

And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

In Jesus's society, children were thought of as marginalized.

They were sent not in front of a rabbi, but to the periphery.

And Jesus is like, no, that's not what this life is about.

We need to learn from children. They have such faith and you need this faith to be in the kingdom.

Then in Luke chapter 15 verses 4 to 7,

Luke 15:4–7

we read, What man of you having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them,

does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that

is lost until he finds it?

And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors,

saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.

Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents

than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.

The objective of this parable is saying that those who are lost, those who are sinful,

those who are not following after God but have got lost, they have value,

they have worth, I am seeking after them.

It is about the marginalized in society.

Then again, in Matthew chapter 9, verse 2, we read, And behold,

Matthew 9:2

some people brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed, and when Jesus saw their

faith, he said to the paralytic, Take heart, my son, your sins are forgiven.

The rebelliousness of humanity, the sin nature that we all have.

Jesus says the kingdom of God is for these people.

Obviously, it goes into what we said from John 3, verses 14 and 15,

John 3:14

that we have to trust in him.

We have to believe in him, and that's how we get eternal life.

But Jesus taught that all people are invited into the kingdom of God.

It's not just for the elite. It's not just for the learned.

It's for those that we would have on the periphery of our society.

It would include the people that don't speak the same language that we do.

It would include those that we would never associate because they live on the

wrong side of the tracks.

It would be those who are struggling with addictions, those who are diseased,

those who have made very poor choices in their life.

All of these people are invited into the kingdom of God. Jesus had compassion and care forever.

All people. And so the teachings about the kingdom of God reflect how Jesus lived his life.

He lived his life to tell as many people about the kingdom of God as he could.

And because of who he included, because of proclaiming that he was the son of God,

that he was fully God and fully man, he ran into lots of trouble.

The religious leaders especially were not fond of Jesus because he was upsetting

their hierarchy. He was having lots and lots of people gather around him.

They were jealous and they had a problem on their hands.

The Romans did not want large crowds because a riot could come out of it.

And so they found an ally in Rome because there were issues with the crowds around Jesus.

The religious leaders had troubles with including everyone, tax collectors,

prostitutes, everyone, and inviting them into the kingdom of God.

And so we had these two people who had these issues with Jesus get together to try to take him out.

And that leads us to that Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was there to pray.

Jesus knew all about the plan, and he came to the Garden of Gethsemane with 11 of his disciples.

The 12th one would be the one to bring the authorities to the garden so that

they would arrest Jesus.

So Judas Iscariot sold out Jesus, and he led soldiers there knowing that they wanted to arrest him.

And he brought them there, told them who Jesus was.

Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he was taken by Roman and temple officials.

To the father-in-law of the high priest's house, where they examined him,

where they questioned him, where they brought witnesses that they had planted

there to accuse him of doing wrong.

And finally, they asked him a question.

After multiple hours being interrogated, having these false witnesses brought

up, they asked him, are you the Christ?

Are you the son of the living God.

And Jesus says, yes, and you will see the son of man coming on the clouds of

heaven, which is a reference to a passage in the book of Daniel.

And in this passage, it is a divine authority is given to this son of man.

And so they hear blasphemy.

They hear Jesus calling himself equal to God. They rip their clothes and they sentence him to death.

But the Jewish people could not put a person to death.

They didn't have authority from the Roman governor to execute anyone.

So what they did is they took him to Pilate and they said, we find him guilty.

He made himself equal to God. Therefore, he deserves death.

Pilate, after some arm twisting, says, all right, we will execute him.

And so Jesus was condemned, not just by the religious leaders,

but also by the Roman governor Pilate.

And he was flogged, he was beaten, and then he was hung on a cross.

This was all a divine mandate. This was all from God, because earlier in the

Bible, in Isaiah 53, we read these words in verse 5, but he was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

And so Jesus's death was intentional, and his death is what frees us from our sin.

In the New Testament, it says there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood.

And Jesus' blood was shed as a perfect sacrifice, a sinless life,

and all who trust in him, all who believe in him, will have eternal life.

That night he was laid in a tomb before sunset. The tomb was sealed with a stone

and his followers went away mourning.

The next day was Saturday, which was a Sabbath and the law of Moses required

rest. So they did nothing on that day.

But after sunrise on what we would call Sunday, there were women who went to

the tomb early that morning.

Jesus's tomb was empty. And then Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene.

She was overcome, and Jesus told him to go and tell the disciples that he was alive.

Peter and John, two of his disciples, run to the temple.

They find it completely empty, and in the gospel according to Luke,

there are two of the disciples, two other disciples, that are on the road.

They are walking about eight miles away from Jerusalem to a town called Emmaus.

And Jesus joined them, even though they didn't recognize it.

But when they offered him to spend the night with them and he took bread and

broke it, they recognized him.

And then in multiple places, Matthew 28, 16 to 20, Luke 24, 36 to 49.

John 20, 19 to 29, Jesus appears alive to his disciples.

He takes fish. He eats it. They touch him.

They see the scars that the crucifixion left on his body. They see him alive.

And the point of the matter is that while Jesus's death marked the forgiveness of our sins,

Jesus not staying dead defeats death for us so that we can be an eternity with

him so that while our life on this world, in these bodies will come to an end,

our light is not extinguished.

We get to be with him forever. So Jesus defeats sin on the cross.

Jesus defeats death by walking out of the tomb on his own.

And Jesus is alive, which is the last teaching of the kingdom of God that it will never end.

Jesus is king forever, which fulfills the blessing that God gave to David.

The blessing that said a descendant of yours will rule and reign forever.

Jesus has two genealogies, one in Matthew, one in Luke.

Both of them trace Jesus' lineages through David and Abraham.

The Davidic covenant is fulfilled in Jesus because he rules and reigns forever.

Before Before Jesus ascends into heaven, he gives his disciples a commission.

And in Matthew 28 verses 18 to 20, we read, And Jesus came and said to them,

Matthew 28:18–20

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name

of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe

all that I have commanded you and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

So Jesus says to go and make disciples of all nations. And this is the last

blessing that God gave to Abraham. Israel would be their own nation.

Israel's population would grow and expand, and there would be a blessing for

the whole world through the family of Abraham.

Jesus is commissioning his disciples to go out there and take the message of

salvation to the entire world.

This is the blessing of the whole world through Abraham's family.

And so that's the basic...

Storyline of the Gospels, what they point to Jesus bringing the kingdom of God to us.

It says that the kingdom of God is at hand.

It is happening now. It is only happening now in part.

There are healings that still happen. There are salvations that are continually happening.

There are people being transformed by the Spirit inside of us,

but it's only impartial.

We still die, but there will come a day when we don't.

We still have colds and flus.

People get stomach bugs because the kingdom of God has not fully come yet.

It is partially here because we can see it wherever the kingdom of God is,

wherever people go and love their enemies, wherever people are helping and praying for people.

The kingdom of God is expanding, but it's not fully here yet.

And Jesus's teachings are that one day it's going to finally come here.

And it's not just for Abraham's family. It's not just for the nation of Israel.

It is for all people of all nations and languages.

This is what the gospel represents. The gospel means good news,

and it is good news for you, and it is good news for our neighbors across this world.

Jesus's death and resurrection are the final points in what the kingdom of God is.

And now we see a blessing for the entire world through Jesus,

and we see the fulfillment of God's promise to David that his descendant would reign forever.

This is the message of the gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

And now we're going to go into the perspectives of the four Gospels,

why they were written and why they are nuanced, why they share different stories.

First, the perspective of the Gospel according to Matthew.

Matthew's audience is primarily a Jewish Christian audience,

and the purpose of Matthew is.

Is that Matthew did this account to demonstrate Jesus'

messianic identity, to proclaim his inheritance of the Davidic kingship over Israel,

and to show his fulfillment of the promise made to his ancestor Abraham to be

a blessing to all the nations.

And this is shown right in the first verse of the Gospel of Matthew,

which says, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

It goes on to list his ancestors. So it's about calling the Jewish people to

see that he is the Messiah.

He is the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant, that he will rule and reign forever,

and that he is the promised blessing that's going to come to the whole world

through Abraham's family.

Another aspect in which we can see that Matthew was writing primarily to a Jewish

Christian audience is because he presents Jesus as the new Moses.

In Deuteronomy 18, 15, we read, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet

like me from among you, from your brothers.

It is to him you shall listen. In this proclamation, Moses is saying,

someone's going to come like me and you should listen to him.

So the way Matthew shows that Jesus is the new Moses.

Is by five blocks of teaching that are woven into the gospel according to Matthew,

the first of which is the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5 through 7.

But there are five other blocks of teachings, and this represents the five books

of Moses that are in the Torah, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

This is one of the ways that he is representing Jesus as the new Moses.

In that Sermon on the Mount, it's also fascinating and it's intentional and

in purpose that Matthew says Jesus went up on a mountain to teach.

This is, again, showcasing Jesus

as Moses because Moses went up on Mount Sinai to get the law from God.

And so, again, he is relating this to the aspect of Jesus being the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 18.15.

So, he is presenting Jesus as the new Moses.

Also, in this gospel, we have frequent references to the fulfillment of Scripture.

Like, this was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet. That is a common theme

that goes throughout the Gospel of Matthew.

The perspective here is to help people see Jesus'

messianic identity as the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant and the last promise

of the Abrahamic covenant,

and presenting Jesus as the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 18.15,

that a prophet will arise from among you like Moses.

In the gospel according to Mark,

Mark is more than likely the first of the written accounts of Jesus' life,

and it is based upon the Peter's description of Jesus'

life, ministry, death, and resurrection.

It is also the shortest gospel.

It is very succinct and to the point. Mark is likely writing to Roman Christians

who are experiencing persecution.

And the purpose of Mark's gospel

is to address an audience that is largely unfamiliar with Jewish customs.

To familiarize them with those customs, because only then will they understand

the coming of Jesus as the culmination of God's work with Israel and the entire world.

That's why we read passages like Mark 14, 61 to 63, which says,

but he remained silent and made no answer.

Again, the high priest asked him, are you the Christ, the son of the blessed?

And Jesus said, I am, and you will see the son of man seated at the right hand

of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.

And the high priest tore his garments and said, what further witnesses do we

need? This is the culmination of God's work.

Obviously, as I have said earlier in this, he is referring to an Old Testament

reference from the book of Daniel when he says that they will see the Son of

Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.

So the purpose is that Mark addresses an audience that is largely unfamiliar with Jewish customs.

He intends to familiarize them with those customs because only then will they

understand the coming of Jesus as the culmination of God's work with Israel and the entire world.

And so he crafts his story based upon Peter's eyewitness testimony to help people

to see that Jesus is the Son of God.

The Savior of the world, and that through his death and resurrection, you and I can be saved.

In the Gospel of Luke, we have Luke writing to Gentile Christians.

The purpose can be seen in Luke's opening statement.

In Luke 1, 1-4, we read, Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative

of the things that have been accomplished among us,

just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the

word have delivered them to us.

It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past,

to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

that you may have certainty concerning the things that you have been taught.

So Luke is writing so that people can have certainty about what happened.

And so what Luke goes on to do is he does a historian's work, He interviews people,

he writes down their accounts, and he compiles them all into this gospel so

that people will have certainty concerning the things that they have heard.

This is why the gospel of Luke is written.

Matthew is a disciple of Jesus, and his purpose was to show people that Jesus

is the Messiah and the promise of the blessing for the whole world through Abraham's

family and the Davidic covenant of a king that would rule and reign forever.

But Luke is saying what you have heard, like there were rumblings,

there were stories that were being shared all over the Mediterranean world about

what had happened on the death and resurrection of Jesus.

And so Luke then says, I'm going to do the work, I'm going to do my research,

the interviews, etc., and I am going to tell you what they say.

And so that's why we have the Gospel of Luke and from that perspective.

Lastly, we have the Gospel of John.

John's audience is a diverse Christian community, including believers who are

facing doubt that Jesus is the Messiah.

This is the last of the Gospels written, written near the end of the first century.

And again, John writes into his Gospel as Luke.

Why he wrote this book. In John 20, verses 30 and 31,

John 20:30

we read, Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples,

which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe

that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

And so he's writing to people who are facing doubt, but he is saying,

these are the stories that I have written.

John is an eyewitness. He is one of the disciples of Jesus.

He was with him throughout his earthly ministry.

And he says, this is written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ. Here are the evidences.

This is what I experienced. This is what I know. This is what I saw.

You know how I live. You know all about me. I am writing you this so that you may believe.

And so John proclaims more frequently than any other gospel writer,

even though all three of the other gospel writers do proclaim it. But John is.

Proclaiming more heavily that Jesus is God.

And one of the ways he does this is by focusing in on the number of seven,

the number of creation, and the number of perfection in the Jewish culture.

One of the ways that John uses seven is by having Jesus declaring,

I am statements, which is the divine identity that is found in the book of Exodus chapter three.

Where God appears to Moses at the burning bush.

Jesus says things like, I am the bread of life. I am the good shepherd.

These things are how John proclaims Jesus's divine identity.

And he also gives us seven signs, wonders, miracles as evidence of Jesus being

this divine human, both fully God and fully man.

And so that's the evidence that we have in front of us from the Gospels.

The four Gospels tell the good news of Jesus's life, death, ministry,

and resurrection from unique but complementary perspectives.

They are proclaiming that Jesus is the Son of God.

He is fully human and fully divine, and that he is bringing the kingdom of God to this planet.

They also proclaim that Jesus is the promised Messiah who came to save all people,

not just Israelite people, but he is the blessing for the entire world.

And his teachings, miracles, his compassion, and his sacrifice reveal that God's

kingdom is coming on earth and invites us into a new life in his name.

Thank you again for joining us in our discussion of the Gospels in the Bible.

These books showcase the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus and

teach us how the whole Bible points to these books as the fulfillment of God's

redemptive work in this world.

If you are interested in learning more about Faith Chapel and its ministries,

please visit the website gofaithchapel.org.

Next week, we will be looking at the book of Acts and the letters of Paul as

we continue our journey through the Bible. Have a great week.