Gospels

Thomas Wiesner

Mathew:

The Path to the Kingdom of God

Announced by Gabriel
To the Virgin Mary,
In Joseph’s dreams he would appear.

Wise men paid homage,
With all they could carry,
In a distant manger,
A star would appear near.

This child was born of the Heavenly God.

To walk upon men,
He was saved from Herod.
To fulfill prophecy and become minister,
Teach God’s will and
Common law administer.

Baptized by John,
He travelled distant lands.
Imparting teachings and healing the sick,
Performing miracles, without a trick.

Upon his Commandments a church now stands.
The “keys of the kingdom”,
In heaven and on lands.

Like a shepherd leading lost sheep,
He expects all to be kind, obedient and meek.
To follow the word of only one lord,
Honor no other and speak the true word.

Respect the Sabbath,
Heads low in prayer.
Your father and your mother,
Honor with love and care.

Do not kill or steal.
Speak falsely of others or desire their possessions.
Your neighbor’s wife you shall not covet,
And adultery is beyond confessions.

These words are Jesus
And Jesus is in these words.
He sacrificed his life for us;
Rising from the dead to lead us.

Let all who can, speak his words.
Baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost;
Go forth as commanded by Him,
As all power is His in heaven and in earth.

Luke:

Luke tells the story of Jesus in a very different way. His language is clearer, simpler to understand. Luke was not one of the disciples. He was a physician who decided to investigate if the person who everybody seemed to call Jesus, and who everybody praised was really Jesus. Because of this, by reading his book, we have the most complete account of Jesus’ life. Unlike the other gospels, he decides to focus much more on the teachings of the work of Christ. He gives us so much detail about Jesus’ life that we are able to have a very clear and realistic picture of the life of Jesus. Through his gospel we can see how his message can basically be told by the words that Jesus said to Sachias, a tax collector who nobody liked. He shows us how Jesus has come to save that which is lost, all sinners.

Luke is able to trace Jesus back to Adam and Eve unlike Mathew who traced him back to David and Abraham. Luke has given a special attention to prayer and happiness. In this gospel you can also see that Jesus talks more about the Kingdom Of God than about himself. It is also very clear how Jesus teaches in short sayings and not long speeches. His gospel is also the only one which describes the annunciation of the birth of Christ to Mary.

The gospel of Luke contains many of Jesus’ miracles but there are a few which are only mentioned in his gospel. One of those few is the Good Samaritan “ And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.” (Luke Ch. 10 verses 30-37)

Some other things which only appear in the gospel of Luke are John the Baptist's birth story, the census and travel to Bethlehem, the birth in a manger, and a story from Jesus' boyhood. Luke is definitely the one who told Jesus’ story with more simplicity and detail than any other gospel. He also pays more attention to women than the other gospels, like Mary, the mother of Jesus and Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.

John:

John wants the readers of his gospel to believe that Jesus is the son of God and that there is life if you have faith in him. Through his gospel you realize that he is very much into Jesus. He also explains and interprets Jesus in a totally different way. He believes that Jesus has always been with God and that he is God incarnated in a human body. There are great differences between this and the other gospels.

Some differences in his gospel are that he says that Jesus identifies himself as the way or path all humans must follow. You can also notice the difference between how it is written and the other gospels. John writes extended speeches, whereas Mathew writes in a more poem like manner, and Luke writes in a more concise prose. John focuses much more on Jesus’ mission to bring wisdom to his disciples, as opposed to the other two which describe his life. We can also see that this is the only Gospel were Jesus talks about his life in depth. Most of his actions consist of miracles that Jesus performed over the years. For John, Jesus has become the main topic and not his teachings, like in the other gospels. We can also see a lot of attention on the persecution of the Jews. He constantly repeats how they hunted and persecuted the Jews.

One of the miracles that appear in John and not in the other gospels is that of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. In this story two women come before Jesus and ask him to cure a man named Lazarus. They say that they love him and Jesus makes him sleep. After some time, Jesus tells the apostles that he is dead. When the women come forth again to Jesus, he asks if they have faith in him. They say that they do. They went to the graveyard where he had laid for four days. Jesus told them to move away the rock and once again asked them if they had faith in him. He asked his father he revive Lazarus and so he did.

This is one of the miracles that appeared in the gospel of John and not in any of the others. John shows us a lot about Jesus’ personal life that we cannot find in any other gospel. He also mentions some miracles and events that we can only find in his gospel.