“Take your child to work day.”<\/p>\n
What a great idea! How many young people see Dad as a father, yard-mower, car-washer, and neighbor, but never see him in his role as employee? Truthfully, we all take on different jobs that say many things about who we are. Just viewing one facet of Dad’s life (husband, for example) tells only part of the story. The same is true of Jesus.<\/p>\n
Why are there four gospel accounts? Why not just one? We may struggle to completely answer this question, but each of the accounts emphasizes a different facet of Jesus, giving us a more complete picture. Jesus is King, the perfect Man of action, the greatest Teacher who ever lived, and God. Consider…<\/p>\n
He wrote primarily to Jews, for he quotes many Old Testament prophecies Jesus fulfilled which declare Him King. The terms “king” and “kingdom” appear more in this account than in the others. In the end, Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth<\/em>” (Matthew 28:18). Jesus is truly Leader, King, and Messiah. Matthew’s gospel was written to Jews, showing the Kingly nature of Jesus, because He fulfilled these Old Testament prophecies.<\/p>\n He wrote considering Gentiles because he explained Jewish culture (see Mark 7:3,4). Mark also emphasizes the actions of Jesus. Mark records more about what Jesus did than what He said. One of the key words – “immediately” or “straightway” – emphasizes the action, which moves swiftly from one event to another. Jesus was not just King, but he was also a Man of the people. He demonstrated the servant spirit all true disciples will display. “… whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many<\/em>” (Mark 10:43b-45). Mark emphasizes Jesus’ actions and servant spirit.<\/p>\n Luke emphasizes Jesus as the Son of man. For example, while other gospel writers speak of Jesus’ prayer life, Luke seems to show more of the frequency with which Jesus prayed. Jesus leaned on the Father in prayer and modeled how we should lean on God. Luke also emphasizes Jesus’ teachings. While he records many miracles, there is more emphasis on what Jesus said than did. Here we see Jesus as the Master Teacher.<\/p>\n The primary scope of John’s account is to declare Jesus the Son of God. Jesus was a Man, yes, but John also declares Him divine. For example, this gospel begins, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God<\/em>” (John 1:1), followed by, “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth<\/em>” (John 1:14). Jesus was and is God. Also, Jewish leaders correctly understood what Jesus meant when He called God His Father: “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He … also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God<\/em>” (John 5:18). Jesus was and is the Son of God in a way no other has or ever can be. Jesus is the Son of God by nature; that is, the Father and Son both possess the qualities of being God. As Christians, we are adopted into God’s family (Romans 8:14-17), but Jesus has always been divine like the Father of Heaven. We possess the nature of being humans, and Jesus took “on the form of a bondservant … coming in the likeness of men<\/em>” (Philippians 2:7), but He was simultaneously God. His miracles, recorded by John, were evidence of this (John 20:30,31). The focus of John’s account is Jesus’ divine nature.<\/p>\n Why four portraits of Jesus? Jews needed to know Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of Messiah and King. Gentiles needed some Jewish cultural concepts explained. More importantly: we need a full picture of Jesus. Your Dad is more than just a car-washer; viewing his many roles helps you better understand him. Similarly, Jesus’ many facets – His heart, words, life, and mission – are all necessary to appreciating His true nature. We must see Jesus as King (Matthew), the perfect Man of action (Mark), the Master Teacher (Luke), and God (John). Let’s honor Him for His every facet.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Shane Carrington “Take your child to work day.” What a great idea! How many young people see Dad as a father, yard-mower, car-washer, and neighbor, but never see him in his role as employee? Truthfully, we all take on different jobs that say many things about who we are. Just viewing one facet of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[219,606],"class_list":["post-61057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-bible","tag-gospels"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32812,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-there-only-one-gospel-when-we-have-four-gospels\/","url_meta":{"origin":61057,"position":0},"title":"Why is there only one gospel when we have four gospels?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm confused, if there is only one gospel why do so many people say the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? Answer: The gospel is the good news preached concerning Jesus Christ and salvation. All of the New Testament is the gospel in this sense. See The Message\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13300,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-it-take-35-40-years-to-write-the-gospels\/","url_meta":{"origin":61057,"position":1},"title":"Why did it take 35-40 years to write the Gospels?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What was the reason for John, Mark, Luke, and Matthew writing their gospels? Why did it take 35-40 years after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus to begin to write the gospels or the rest of the New Testament? Answer: As for the purpose of the gospel accounts, see\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50990,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-gospels-not-historical-because-they-are-theological-documents\/","url_meta":{"origin":61057,"position":2},"title":"Are the gospels not historical because they are theological documents?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello. I just saw your study on Jesus being rejected at Nazareth after teaching in the synagogue. I am currently in a graduate-level course before I start my grad studies. I've been looking at your studies for quite some time since I became Christian, and I appreciate your loyalty\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46777,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-the-resurrection-accounts-so-different\/","url_meta":{"origin":61057,"position":3},"title":"Why are the Resurrection Accounts so Different?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier If skeptics jump on anything about the gospel records of Jesus Christ, it is the differences between the four authors' accounts of the resurrection events and appearances. For example, Matthew mentions an angel who met the women at the tomb sitting on the rolled-away stone (Matthew 28:2).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18216,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-trials-of-jesus-historically-accurate\/","url_meta":{"origin":61057,"position":4},"title":"Are the trials of Jesus historically accurate?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are the trials of Jesus historically accurate? I ran across a web site that claims that some of the details of the trial were not historically accurate, but rather made up. The web site also claims that Pilate was not portrayed accurately and that the trial before the Sanhedrin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7797,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-old-testament-prophet-did-jesus-quote-the-most\/","url_meta":{"origin":61057,"position":5},"title":"Which Old Testament prophet did Jesus quote the most?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Which Old Testament prophet did Jesus quote the most? Answer: I have not taken the time to make an exhaustive list of every quote Jesus made in the Gospels. But I have found several writers mention that the most quoted books in the Gospels are Deuteronomy and Psalms. Deuteronomy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61057\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Mark’s Account<\/h2>\n
Luke’s Account<\/h2>\n
John’s Account<\/h2>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n