Jessica brought up a really good point to me today...that sometimes the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) repeat themselves. My study Bible actually has a section that discusses the reason this happens. Each book presents the life and teachings of Jesus, but each focus on different parts of His character and together give us a more complete picture of Christ than one gospel could do on it's own. Here's a breakdown I copied:
Matthew | Mark | Luke | John | |
Jesus is… | The promised King | The Servant of God | The Son of Man | The Son of God |
The original readers were… | Jews | Gentiles, Romans | Greeks | Christians throughout the world |
Significant themes… | Jesus is the Messiah because he fulfilled Old Testament prophecy | Jesus backed up his words with action | Jesus was God but also fully human | Belief in Jesus is required for salvation |
Character of the writer… | Teacher | Storyteller | Historian | Theologian |
Great emphasis on… | Jesus’ sermons and words | Jesus’ miracles and actions | Jesus’ humanity | The principles of Jesus’ teaching |
To take a closer look at the chronological order, you can click on this link to view the "Harmony of the Gospels".
Nice - thanks for looking into it! I will have to take a closer look after kids go to sleep.
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