In
Reading the Story
The
four writers of the life of Jesus wrote for different audiences and stressed
different stories to better reach them. Matthew, for instance, wrote primarily
to Jews and very carefully linked his stories of Jesus to prophecies about the
Messiah in the Old Testament to prove who Jesus was, though he also clearly
states that Jesus came for all people.
Mark
leaves out most references to the Old Testament, perhaps writing to a
non-Jewish audience, and reads more like an itinerary of Jesus’ life. He
focuses more on events than philosophy. Luke, an educated upper-class
physician, writes with an emphasis on the poor, outcast, and oppressed, and
includes stories of more women and children than the others. John did not dwell
on the facts of Jesus’ life, preferring to focus on the meaning and mission of
His coming, quite often by quoting conversations with ordinary people.
Sometimes
the four writers share stories. Other accounts are found in one rendition and
not in the other three. For the first case, I relate them in regular
paragraphs. In the second, the name of the writer is indicated in brackets.
Helpful historical asides are placed in parentheses. Personal Thoughts
are paragraphs where I state my own opinions.
The
Trigger for the Story
Years
ago, Peter Jennings hosted a program on the story of Jesus. He ended by
commenting that though no one could prove exactly what happened after Jesus’
death, obviously something did for those early followers of the Church to grow
world-wide and continue for over 2,000 years. I wanted to be able to answer
this for my kids.
Next
post—the point of the Gospel.
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