Getting to Know Our Lord
On Ash Wednesday, March 5, the season of Lent begins. Lent is
the forty days before Easter, not counting Sundays, when we make time to reflect,
pray and think about Jesus' life, death and resurrection and what it means to
us as individuals and people of faith.
This season of Lent is a great time to read up on Jesus' life story through
the Gospels. Robert G. Davidson gives this explanation on the different views
of each Gospel writer.
There are four Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible. Four
different authors present a similar message but in four very different ways.
Jesus and the Good News is the central message of each, but each author presents
his message to a different audience and in his own unique writing style.
The Gospel According to Mark was the first of the four Gospels to be written.
It is believed to have been written around 70 A.D., some 35 years after the
resurrection event of Jesus Christ. Its author introduced to the Roman world
a type of popular literature previously unknown. Here for the first time the
words and deeds of Jesus were remembered and proclaimed in a written form. Mark
was not trying to set down a formal historical treatise nor a -biography of
Jesus, but a proclamation. The author's intention is grasped when the opening
line is paraphrased, "The beginning of the preaching of the good news of
Jesus Christ." What follows is a historical narrative focusing on a crisis:
the death of Jesus the Christ.
The Gospel of Matthew was the second of the four Gospels to be written. It is
thought to have been written between 70 and 75 A.D. The author is dependent
for much of his material on the Gospel of Mark which he has access to, as well
as some material he
had in common with the writer of the Gospel of Luke, along with materials which
were uniquely his own. The author put all of this material together in his own
very personal style and addressed it to a primarily Jewish audience.
The Gospel of Luke was the third to be written and is believed to have been
written about 75 A.D. Luke is the first of a two-part series probably written
by the same author. The second part of the series is the Book of Acts. The author
of Luke depended a great deal on the Gospel of Mark, as well as some material
he had in common with Matthew, along with materials which were uniquely his.
The author put his material together, addressing it primarily to a Greek and
Roman world.
The Gospel of John was the last to be written between 95 and 110 A.D. The author
does not seem to be dependent on the other Gospels for much of his material.
The stories John uses, which resemble their counterparts, display a high degree
of individuality. With regard to history, John's interest was in the event not
the events. In a real sense the Gospel as a whole represents a gigantic thrust
of the life and thought of the developing church back into the career of Jesus.
During these forty days of prayer and reflection, take some time to read through the gospels and REDISCOVER our Lord Jesus through His life and teachings.