This you can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ, when he used it to raised him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name that can be named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet, and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation. - Eph. 1:20-23 -
Jesus is more than a messenger of the gospel; He is the gospel. The 'Good News' of God was present in His life, passion, death, resurrection, teaching, and atoning death. Therefore, the gospel is both a historical event and a personal relationship. It is more than a biography intended to provide information about a historical character. It is the presentation of the life of Jesus Christ to show His saving significance for all peoples and to call them to faith in Him.
Saint Paul warned that the serpent, with his cunning, seduced Eve, and he was afraid that in the same way our ideas may get corrupted and turned away from simple devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. He vehemently warned in the letter which he wrote to the Christians of Galatia, and in it apostle Paul systematically arranges all his new ideas that had emerged from the argument, especially on those who had turned away from the one who called them and have decided to follow a different version of the Good News.
Because any newcomer has only to proclaim a new Jesus, different from the one that we preached, or you only receive a new spirit, different from the one you have already accepted - and you welcome it with open arms. - 2Cor. 11:4 -
I am astonished at the promptness with which you have turned away from the one called you and have decided to follow a different version of the Good News. Not that there can be more than one Good News; it is merely that some troublemakers among you want to change the Good News of Christ; and let me warn you that if anyone preaches a version of the Good News different from the one we have already preached to you, whether it be ourselves or an angel from heaven, he is to be condemned. I am only repeating what we told you before; if anyone preaches a version of the Good News different from the one you have already heard, he is to be condemned. So now whom am I trying to please - man or God? Would you say it is men approval I am looking for? If I still wanted that, I should not be what I am - a servant of Christ.
That fact is, brothers, and I want you to realize this, the Good News I preached is not human message that I was given by men, it is something I learnt only through a revelation of Jesus Christ. - Gal. 1:6-12 -
The 'four Gospels' ( Matthew, Mark, Luke, John ) at the beginning of the New Testament tell the saving work of God in His Son Jesus Christ. The gospels are not exactly biographies, because apart from certain events surrounding His birth - Matt. 1&2 - and one from His youth - Luke 2:41-52 - they record only the last three years of Jesus' life. Moreover, the material included is not written as an objective historical survey of Jesus' ministry. The gospels present Jesus in such a way that the reader realizes that God acted uniquely in Him. The gospels is written not only to communicate knowledge about Jesus as a person and and also to call us to commitment to Him as Lord.
The gospels produce four distinctive portraits of Jesus rather than an exact photographic likeness. Thus, there are four gospels of the one gospel. (the Good News of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ) Why, though, are there four versions of the same story? Why not one gospel? This question is as old as the Church itself. Around A.D. 150, Tatian compiled a life of Christ , called the Diatessaron, by harmonizing the four gospels. His contemporary, Marcion, attempted to resolve the problem by choosing one gospel, Luke, and discounting the others.
The Church, however, resisted Tatian's artificial life of Jesus and Marcion's choice of one gospel to the exclusion of the other three. Prior to Tatian and Marcion, the Church had accepted each of the four gospels as a faithful and complementary witness to Jesus Christ, and the Church adopted symbols for the gospels - Matthew a lion, Mark an ox, Luke a man, John an eagle (or variations thereof) - from the fourfold witness to God in Sacred Scripture. - Ezek. 1:4-5; 10:12-14; Rev. 4:6-8 - At an early date the Church realized that the combined witness of the four gospels was required to declare the full significance of Christ Jesus.
If one sets the four gospels side by side, it becomes apparent that Matthew, Mark, and Luke have much in common. Each gospel arranges its material in a similar fashion, and each gospel casts the life of Jesus within the framework of a Galilean ministry that extended from Jesus' baptism to His Passion, Death, Resurrection, and with the emphasis of His final days in the flesh.
The first three gospels recount many of the same incidents or teachings, and often in the same or related wordings. The similarity of the gospel of Matthew, Mark and Luke also includes their content. For example, at the baptism of Jesus as related by Matthew 13:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; and Luke 3:21-22 will quickly demonstrate their agreement. Because of this similarity in agreement, content, and wording, the first three gospels are called synoptic Gospels (from the Greek synopsis, "a seeing together")
But the Gospel of John presents a more independent account of Jesus Christ. John's relationship to the first three gospels can be considered only after a thorough discussion of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The synoptic problem arises from the attempt to explain the general similarity of Matthew, Mark and Luke, while accounting for their individual differences. Two of the four gospel writers [Mark and Luke] were not eyewitnesses of the events they relate, and some question remains about the other two [Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of John] This means we cannot assume that the similarities and differences among the gospels come solely from their personal perspectives as interpreters of Jesus and His ministry. Other sources also probably contributed to the composition of the four gospels.
The important awareness that the early Church did not look upon Jesus merely as an historical figure of the past, but as the living God/Lord of the present. Since the early Church maintained its treasure of tradition of Jesus primarily through proclamation, preaching, and teaching. The contents of the gospels are shaped by the faith of the early Church. It is especially evident in the Gospel of John, which blends the remembrances called to mind by the Holy Spirit with the events of Jesus' life.
Judas - this was not Judas Iscariot - said to him, 'Lord, what is all this about? Do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?' Jesus replied:
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him
and make our home with him.
Those who do not love me do not keep my words.
And my word is not my own:
it is the word of the one who sent me.
I have said these things to you
while still with you;
but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you. - John 14:22-26 -
This is not to say the Good News were 'made up' by the early Church in order to preach about a Jesus who was a figment of someone's vivid imagination. It means, instead, that the early Church kept some memories about Jesus alive, while it did not continue others; and one of the reasons for this is that certain events and sayings were much more important in the early Church's eyes than others were.
Is it possible to know whether the early Church distorted or preserved the intent of the historical Jesus? Fortunately, the New Testament contains certain checks that provide reasonable certainty of careful handling on the part of the early Church.
We may be assured that eyewitnesses, including some of the apostles, were alive when the gospels appeared in writing. Such eyewitnesses would have encouraged historical accuracy and prevented distortion in the gospels. Another important fact is that rabbis of Jesus' day trained their disciples to commit their teachings to memory, in fact, to the point of perfect recitation of long passages. Therefore, we have no reason to assume that Jesus was less diligent about the transmission of His preaching and teaching than the rabbis were about theirs. We also may be assured that the early Church did not project upon the gospels any teachings or concerns foreign to Jesus. The synoptic gospels, for example, record more than 50 parables of Jesus, but not one parable is recorded in the remainder of the New Testament. This observation demonstrates that the Church was faithful to record them.
Expressed respect for the words of Jesus can also be found in the apostle Paul, who distinguishes between "commands of the Lord Jesus Christ" and his own opinion. In a similar vein, we have no instances where the words of apostle Paul, Peter, John, or any of the 'pillars' of the Church are placed in Jesus' mouth. Nor do we find the teachings of the apostles included in the gospels. Jesus commands centre stage, and He has no successors.
For the married I have something to say, and this is not from me but from the Lord: a wife must not leave her husband - or if she does leave him, she must either remain unmarried or else make it up with her husband - nor must a husband send his wife away. The rest is from me and not from the Lord. - 1Cor. 7:10-11 -
Furthermore, we know that the early Church faced a series of crises as it began to evangelize the Gentile world. One such crisis concerned the conditions of accepting Gentiles into the Church, and especially "Circumcision". But such questions are scarcely mentioned in the gospels. - Matt. 8:10 - Finally, inclusion in the gospels of confusing statements [such as the second coming] - Mark 9:1 - or matters unimportant to the early Church [little children] - Mark 10:13-16 - or even embarrassing remembrances [Peter's denial - Mark 14:66-68 - indicate that the early Church was more on preserving the tradition it received than on improving its own image.
Whatever sources and traditions the writers may have inherited, redaction studies have revealed that the gospel writers were more than chroniclers or witless transmitters of the material they received. Each is an important link in the chain connecting us with Jesus. Each offers a unique and complementary portrait of Jesus, because each writes to a different audience and emphasizes different aspects of Jesus' life.
For Mark's, Jesus is the Suffering Servant who reveals His divine Sonship on the cross. Matthew's major concern is to present Jesus as a teacher who is greater than Moses and continually present with the disciples. For Luke's, Jesus is the keystone in the history of salvation, beginning with Israel, fulfilled in Jesus, and communicated by the Church. The Gospel of John penetrates the mystery of the incarnation [Jesus as God in human form] who brings life to the world.
In the beginning was the Word:
the Word was with God
and the Word was God. - John 1:1 -
The Word was made flesh,
he lived among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth. - John 1:14 -
All four gospels portray Jesus Christ through selected events in His life, climaxing in His Passion, Death and Resurrection. But John features an independent, unique presentation of Jesus. Thus, there are four gospels (accounts) of the one gospel (the Good News of Salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ)
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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