Deuteronomy 30:19-20

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1 A WALK THROUGH THE BIBLE THE 4 GOSPELS Today we re back into our series, A WALK THROUGH THE BIBLE Just before Easter we finished walking through the Minor Prophets and that concluded the Old Testament. As we walked through the Old Testament, there were some verses that we said was kind of the BIG IDEA for the whole OT. Can anyone tell me what those verses were? GIFT Deuteronomy 30: Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make this choice by loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. Lets pick up where we left off and begin our walk through the New Testament. NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS 1 st 4 books, Matthew John, are the FOUR GOSPELS The 5 th book THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES Next 14 books PAULINE EPISTLES or the letters from Paul. They are Romans Philemon (Hebrews) Then James Jude are the GENERAL APISTLES Last book in the Bible The REVELATION. The APOCALYPTIC (End Time Prophesy)

2 The New Testament begins with the 4 Gospels which tell the story of Jesus. GOSPEL = GOOD NEWS So the GOSPELS are the GOOD NEWS about Jesus Why are there 4 Gospels? Why not just 1? After all there is really only 1 true gospel. So why do we need 4 Gospels? To give a more complete picture of Christ. If you are a police officer and you are investigating an incident, you re going to talk to anyone who saw what happened to get the different perspectives If everyone you talked to was a carbon copy of what the others had to say, you would say that there was something fishy going on. Somehow they got together and got their stories straight They decided what they were going to say. (same info, details, perspective) 2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is God-breathed / inspired by God. But, God used human authors with different backgrounds and personalities to accomplish His purposes through their writing. Each of the gospel authors had a distinct purpose behind his gospel and in carrying out those purposes, each emphasized different aspects of the person and ministry of Jesus Christ. Matthew is the story of Jesus, King of the Jews. This Gospel is written primarily for a Christian Jewish audience. Matthew dwells on Christ s fulfillment of Moses Law, and therefore he uses many of the Old Testament prophecies. Mark is the brief summary of Jesus ministry on earth as the Son of God. Mark s Gospel is arranged to be easily read, remembered, and spread. It s very action-oriented (the word

3 immediately shows up frequently), and of the four gospels, Mark reads most like a story. Luke being a physician and probably more educated, wrote his Gospel from a historical, journalistic perspective. This account of Jesus life in chronological order is written to establish believers in the teachings of Jesus. Luke includes a great deal of details in his gospel, making it the longest of the four and the longest book in the New Testament. John s is the persuasive Gospel. John records a certain amount of signs emphasizing the deity of Jesus Christ so that the reader may believe in Jesus and find life in Him. John s gospel takes a different approach to Jesus life. Instead of beginning with His birth (like Matthew and Luke) or earthly ministry (like Mark), John starts with Jesus work at the beginning of creation. Taken together, the four perspectives provide a more complete picture of Jesus Life and teachings, miracles, and of who He really is. As we walk through the 4 gospels, I m going to use some videos from The Bible Project to show you the layout of each book and then we ll talk just a little bit between. This week we ll talk about Matthew & Mark. So let s start with MATTHEW. Matthew is broken down into 2 videos so we ll watch both of them before we talk again. (Play Video 001) One can only experience the power of Jesus grace by following Him and becoming His disciple.

4 (Play Video 002) What were the two views of what the Messiah would be like? 1. VICTORIOUS MILITARY KING VS. 2. SUFFERING SERVANT Matthew tells his story of Jesus with an emphasis on His role as THE MESSIAH! 3 KEY TRUTHS = JESUS IS THE MESSIAH - JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD - JESUS IS THE KING - JESUS IS THE PROMISED SAVIOR KEY VERSE Matthew 1:21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Now let s look at THE GOSPEL OF MARK (Play Video 003) When Jesus took the 3 disciples up to the Mountain for his transfiguration, who were the 2 OT people that appeared with Jesus. MOSES & ELIJAH Who was the person at the crucifixion that realized Jesus was truly the Son of God? ROMAN SOLDIER

5 Mark opens with a quick overview of what the book is about: the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mk 1:1). Every passage in Mark, every miracle, every conversation, every deed, points back to Jesus authority as the Son of God. KEY VERSE Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. IF YOU WANT TO BE GREAT IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD YOU MUST BECOME A SERVANT! WE ARE CALLED TO BE SERVANT LEADERS AND WE LEAD BY EXAMPLE!