One Message Many Voices.
This week someone came at me with the question of differences found in the New Testament. I didn't have an immediate answer...and that deeply frustrated me, kept me awake that night. It wasn't until I actually calmed myself down and prayed about it that the Holy Spirit Spoke to me.
I am certain that none of this is new to the world sort of information. However, I needed to get it down in written form.
I bet all of you have a favorite teacher....You clicked with that person. In college I had a professor that nearly every other student hated. He graded papers with brutal honesty and I often saw girls in the bathroom crying as they held their tests covered with angry red marks. I dreaded his class. But when I finally had him as a teacher...his teaching style clicked with me. I learned more from him than any other teacher in my entire life. And that's the point. God wants us all to hear his message. He came for the Jews and He came for the gentile. He came for people living under the law...and for people who have no idea what the phrase "living under the law" means. He came for the educated an the ignorant...the rich and the poor. How in the world are we all going to understand the message when we are all coming to it from such different places?
Thus the wide range of the gospels..
Each Gospel was written by a different person...they had different experiences with Jesus and they were addressing a different demographic audience.
Matthew was written for the Jewish community. They had an Old Testament background and had been living under the law. This is a population waiting for the Messiah. Matthew chose to focus on this theme.
Mark wrote to reach the Roman population. The didn't need to know the Old Testament foundation. It would have had no significance to them.
Luke was a physician and wrote to a highly intelligent audience.
John wrote to an audience of sinners...and wrote of te redemption of Jesus.
And the Letters in the Bible were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Each community of new believers had differnt needs. How wonderful that the HOLY SPIRIT spoke through Paul so that he could lead such a diverse population.
You may look at it and see a hodge-podge of messages...but I see a loving God that wants to reach every last one of us. I see a Holy Book that has stood the test of time. That has reached many people all over the world and I believe will continue to exist in order to lead people toward the love of Jesus.
I am certain that none of this is new to the world sort of information. However, I needed to get it down in written form.
I bet all of you have a favorite teacher....You clicked with that person. In college I had a professor that nearly every other student hated. He graded papers with brutal honesty and I often saw girls in the bathroom crying as they held their tests covered with angry red marks. I dreaded his class. But when I finally had him as a teacher...his teaching style clicked with me. I learned more from him than any other teacher in my entire life. And that's the point. God wants us all to hear his message. He came for the Jews and He came for the gentile. He came for people living under the law...and for people who have no idea what the phrase "living under the law" means. He came for the educated an the ignorant...the rich and the poor. How in the world are we all going to understand the message when we are all coming to it from such different places?
Thus the wide range of the gospels..
Each Gospel was written by a different person...they had different experiences with Jesus and they were addressing a different demographic audience.
Matthew was written for the Jewish community. They had an Old Testament background and had been living under the law. This is a population waiting for the Messiah. Matthew chose to focus on this theme.
Mark wrote to reach the Roman population. The didn't need to know the Old Testament foundation. It would have had no significance to them.
Luke was a physician and wrote to a highly intelligent audience.
John wrote to an audience of sinners...and wrote of te redemption of Jesus.
And the Letters in the Bible were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Each community of new believers had differnt needs. How wonderful that the HOLY SPIRIT spoke through Paul so that he could lead such a diverse population.
You may look at it and see a hodge-podge of messages...but I see a loving God that wants to reach every last one of us. I see a Holy Book that has stood the test of time. That has reached many people all over the world and I believe will continue to exist in order to lead people toward the love of Jesus.