Have you ever wondered why there are four gospels in the New Testament? Why is the story of Jesus told by all of these different people? Why not just get together and create one epic gospel account?
There are a lot of answers to those questions and some speculation as well. But what we do know is that the word gospel means "good news". The first four books in the New Testament could be called, "The Good New According to Matthew' (or Mark, or Luke, or John). And right there we start to see the gift of having these distinct accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus.
This is incredibly good news and by telling it from different perspectives and writing it down for different audiences (Jews, Greeks, Romans, etc.), we have a beautifully robust picture of just why this news is so great.
There are many ways to sum up the themes of each gospel to be sure. In our series that begins on Sunday, we're leading up to Easter by highlighting some of the most important themes we see in the gospel accounts.
Like a newspaper headline, we're shouting this good news with the writers:
Breaking News! Jesus is King! (Matthew)
Read All About It! Jesus is the Sacrifice and Servant! (Mark)
Extra! Extra! Jesus is the Truth (Luke)
Exposed! Jesus is God and God is Love! (John)
To prepare for Sunday, I invite you to watch this great video from The Bible Project that gives an overview of all the Gospels. It's a great resource, helping you to know what you're reading and how to put it into context when you're in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.
Let's spread some good news this Easter! Invite someone to hear the Gospel!
Pastor Tracy
THIS SUNDAY
SUNDAY, MARCH 12 @ 10am
THE GOSPEL
Matthew: Jesus is King
Tracy Dunham
Join us for our IN-PERSON SERVICES OR
LIVESTREAM on Sunday!
10:00 - Live Service & Kids Church (+Church Online)