Comparison of the Gospels

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".

Things I Should Have Known for 100, Alex...

So if you're sick of all my fact-force-feeding posts lately (sorry, I get carried away at times)...here's a good one.  I started reading through Mark 1 today, and for whatever reason I didn't realize that Mark wasn't a disciple!  Big "duh" moment for me...but there you go.  :-)

Are you excited - we've made it through one complete book already!  My notes say that Mark is one of the shortest in the Gospels, so it's fun to see progress being made.

I liked how this book started out "The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God".  Kind of laid it all out on the table, didn't he?  No ifs, ands, or buts...just plain and simple.  I wondered why (here I go again) it was written like that, and the notes in my Bible say it's because Mark wrote this gospel for the Christians in Rome...and in that area and time, important people were always introduced when they arrived into town by an announcer, or herald.  So Mark began his book with John the Baptist, instead of Jesus' birth, because John was the one who announced the coming of Jesus.

The Trinity

Today's reading introduced the idea of the Trinity (one, yet comprised of three, who are equal in character and ability).  It's a hard concept to understand.

Interesting to note:

• The Hebrew language has singular, dual, and plural noun forms.
• The Hebrew word for God, Elohim, it is grammatically plural, allowing for three, but has a singular meaning.

Jesus words in Matthew 28:19 says the disciples were to baptize new believers in the NAME of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Singular.  Three in one.  Although the Bible doesn't use the exact word "trinity", it's used to describe the being of God.

Lots of ways have been used to try and describe the concept of the trinity...some use an egg (there's three distinct parts inside, but only one egg)...or an equation (1x1x1=1).  The visual learner in me likes this picture:

Psalm 22

Yeah yeah, I know...we were supposed to read Matthew 27 today.  But when I read it, I found something interesting.  A lot of what we read about the crucifixion was prophesied by David in Psalm 22.  In Matthew 27:35 we see the soldiers casting lots (gambling) to divide up Jesus' clothing.  Then in verse 46 Jesus quoted the first line of Psalm 22.

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

When I read that line I took it to mean that in His suffering on the Cross, Jesus felt abandoned by God.  And then when I read the first part of Psalm 22 I thought that's what David was saying too, about his own suffering.  However, when I read the notes in my Bible a new light was shed on the meaning.  Jesus wasn't letting out a cry of doubt...he was expressing the anguish he felt when he took on the sins of the world, and was then separated from his Father.  My notes said that in Matt 26:39, this is what Jesus dreaded when he was praying in the garden....that the physical pain and agony was horrible, but it was even worse to experience the period of spiritual separation from God.

In verse 51 it says that the curtain of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom.  Think about it...even just a curtain in your house - how hard would it be for someone to tear it from the top down?  I'm going back to my favorite reference book for this part...Now picture the curtain in the temple (which was a permanent replica of the original Tabernacle).  The curtain separated man from God, to make a long story short.  Some special things to keep in mind about the curtain...

• It was 60ft high
• It was 30 ft wide
• It was the thickness of a man's hand, about 4 inches. 
• Jesus died at the 9th hour (3pm) and the temple would have been full of people (it was a normal sacrifice time), and people were there for the passover
• News of the curtain could not be concealed.

To be torn from the top down could only mean that God tore the curtain, not a man.  And with that, the barrier between God and humanity was removed, and we have access to God personally.

Guard Your Heart

Proverbs 4:20-23

"My son, pay attention to what I say;
  listen closely to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight,
  keep them within your heart;
for they are life to those who find them
  and health to a man's whole body.
Above all else, guard your heart,
  for it is the wellspring of life."

I wasn't sure what Solomon really meant when he said "heart"...did he really mean the heart in our chest, or was he referring more to our thinking minds?  So I looked up the word heart in my Bible's dictionary/concordance.  It's defined as "organ that circulates the blood; the vital center of one's being, emotions, and sensibilities".  So I guess it's kind of both...

There were approximately 90 different Bible verses that have the word "heart" in them.  One that stands out most to me, in reference to why it's important to guard our heart above all else, is found in 1 Samuel 16:7 "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart'." 

God judges us by our faith, character...and only He can truly see our hearts.  So when we seek to learn and understand God's wisdom, trust in His Word as it speaks to each of us in our own way, and we figure out how to apply it to our daily lives...then we can see what God will do with our obedience.