The Good News - Prologue

1.10.16


The Bible is traditionally divided into two parts: Old and New Testament. If you have been reading a bible for any length of time, you may have just accepted this division with little or no thought as to why these are sections named Old and New? The title "Testament" comes from a verse in Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 31:31-33
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt…This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God,  and they will be my people.”

The term "covenant" is translated as "testament" in the Latin Vulgate - the benchmark translation for the early church. God's promise to bring a new covenant or testament to his people is fulfilled by the coming of Jesus, his death, and resurrection. God's promise to put the law in the hearts and minds of his people is fulfilled in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We have a "New Testament" with him. 

As we search the Gospels for understanding, there are a few keys to unlock its treasures:

1. The gospels are theological, not biographical. 

The four gospels are focused more on the how and why than they are on the who and what. Details such as a physical description of Jesus is left out, but inner thoughts and motivations are recorded. 

2. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are synoptic gospels.

These three form a picture together. They bring the details form various points of view to give us a more complete picture. In the 17th century, Flemish painter Anthony Van Dyck was commissioned to pain a picture of Charles I to be sent to Rome for a marble bust to be made. Van Dyck painted the face of Charles I looking left, looking right, and looking straight ahead all on the same canvas. This multiple perspective gave the sculpture the information needed to get a clear picture of Charles. The gospels serve in much the same way. 

3. The gospels are complete, but not exhaustive. 

The gospels provide all the necessary information about Jesus and his ministry, but they do not tell everything. John 21:15 tells us that Jesus did many other things not recorded. John goes as far to say that if they were all written, there would not be room enough in the world to hold it all! 

4. Each Gospel targets an audience with a specific purpose. 

Matthew writes to the Jews and shows that Jesus is King.

(cf. Psalm 72; Isaiah 9:6-7; Jeremiah 23:5)

Mark writes to the Romans and shows that Jesus is the perfect Servant. 

(cf. Isaiah 42, 52, 53)

Luke writes to the Greek and presents Jesus as The Son of Man. 

(Genesis 3:15, 22:18; Isaiah 7:14-16)

John writes for all mankind and present Jesus as God. 

(Isaiah 40:3-5, 47:4; Jeremiah 23:6)

In Matthew and Mark there is no effort to explain why the author has written their respective gospel. Matthew begins simply with a listing of the genealogy of Jesus. Luke opens with an introduction that his writings are an effort to record what eyewitnesses experienced. He reports that he has carefully investigated everything and addresses his record to the most excellent Theophilus. He writes these things so that we can know with certainty the things that have been taught about Jesus. 

John takes a more philosophical and grand approach to his introduction. His well known "In the beginning was the Word" opens his rendition with a galactic story from another world which transcends time . John uses the Greek word "Logos" as his choice for "Word". It depicts unique meaning for Greeks and Jews. For the Greek it is a word which depicts the universal reason - the primary principle cause for the universe. For the Jew it meant God's creative word with divine wisdom which he used to form the universe. This quality is attributed to YHWH. So for both Greek and Jew, John starts his gospel with the telling of how Jesus is God come to earth in the form of man. 

He depicts this man as being light which interacts with the darkness of this world. John's opening statement (John 1:1-5) tells us that the "light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." This statement is written after the death and Resurrection of Jesus. The original language depicts the action of laying hold of something or possessing it. The possession can be either a mental or physical one, so John is saying here that the world could not comprehend Jesus while he was here and they are not able to hold him physically either. The light shines brightly in the darkness! 

These Gospels are just the beginning of the New Testament, but they outline for us the most important person to have ever lived: Jesus of Nazareth!