Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.
Phúc cho người đọc sách này, cũng như người nghe và thực hành, vì những việc này sắp xảy ra.
Many people wonder why we have four Gospels. Each of the Gospels look at a different side of Jesus, but when you put them together, you get a complete picture of what Jesus and His life was like. Each writer wrote to different audiences to make them believe in Jesus and join the growing Church. That’s why each one wrote on what they thought the audience could relate with best.
Mark’s Gospel is the oldest and shortest. It is short because Mark liked to use action words. When reading Mark’s Gospel we can interpret through the actions what Jesus’ message is. Mark’s main theme was that Jesus was the human suffering servant. When he was on the cross for us, he was in pain because he’s human like us. As the suffering servant, Jesus is the Messiah, or the Chosen One who will save us. According to Mark, Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve others and give His life for many. This Gospel explains why Christians suffer and gives us hope for what comes after the suffering. It also teaches us to serve and help others.
Matthew’s Gospel was probably written for the Jewish people because he begins the Gospel with Jesus’ family tree which shows he’s related to important Jewish people from the Old Testament like Abraham, who is the Father of Many Nations. Matthew shows a similarity between Jesus and Moses, who were both teachers and taught about the laws. Most importantly, Jesus taught a new Law, that that we think and want to do bad things, that is worse than what we actually do.
The Gospel of Luke is longer than Mark and Matthew and has many unique parts. Luke has a very detailed story of Jesus’ birth. Luke also has women in his Gospel like Mary Magdalene. He even has a story of Jesus as a boy. Luke also has a family tree, but it shows that Jesus is related to Adam, the first man, which means Jesus is the Savior for everybody. The Gospel of Luke was probably written for the Gentiles, anyone not Jewish. He wanted to show how Jesus helped everybody, tax-collectors, poor people, Gentiles, and how Jesus wanted us to help everybody like in the story of the Good Samaritan. Luke’s main point is that Jesus is the Universal Lord for everyone. Luke also talked about Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection for all of us.
The Gospel of John is the longest of the four, the last to be written, and is the most different from the others. The Gospel of John starts before Jesus becomes human. He shows that Jesus came from heaven and is Divine (God-like) by using phrases like "the Word was God" (John 1:1), "the Savior of the World" (4:42), the "Son of God", "Lord and...God" (John 20:28) when describing Jesus. In John's Gospel, Jesus also shows His relation to God with the phrase "I Am" or for example, when Jesus said “No one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). In John’s Gospel, Jesus comes from heaven to bring new life through His own death and resurrection.
Each Gospel also has a symbol. These four symbols are seen at the throne of God in the book of Revelation. Matthew’s Gospel is represented by a man because his Gospel begins with the human family tree of Jesus. The lion stands for Mark, whose Gospel begins with John the Baptist crying out in the desert (like a lion roars in the desert). Luke’s symbol is the ox, a sacrificial animal, whose story begins in the Temple where different things are sacrificed to God. The Gospel of John has an eagle for a symbol, because John begins with how Jesus came down from heaven.
That’s why, by having four truthful accounts of Christ, you have different aspects of His person and life. Each Gospel is like a color of a rainbow and when added altogether, you get a complete picture. We will never fully understand everything about Jesus Christ (John 20:30), but the four Gospels let’s us know Him well enough to appreciate who He is and what He has done for us so that we may have life through faith in Him.
During Presidential elections there are usually two groups that always compete, the Republicans and the Democrats. Each one likes to focus on different things, in order to get the votes of different people. Like the Gospels, they try to convince the people why they should believe or follow them.
As you grow up and work with other people, as partners or in teams, you’ll see that everyone is different. And because we’re all different, we prefer different things. So when you need to ask your friend for a favor or for help on a project, you may need to ask him in a different way than if you were to ask a family member, or even another friend. For example, you could ask Bobby “Hey dude, can you help me with this project?” but if you asked Suzy you’d say “Hi Suzy, I noticed that you’re really good at drawing. Would you mind helping me with this project?” Everybody’s different, and they need to be treated in slightly different ways, but all of them will require the same theme, which is being nice, fair, and honest.
Now that you know what each Gospel is trying to show, the next time you read one of the Gospels, try to find the special meanings in the words to better understand that side of Jesus. To fully understand Jesus, you cannot read only one Gospel, you need to read all four.
You are very special with many sides to your personality. Make sure you share all the sides of you with others so that they can better understand you. And make sure you try to understand other people’s many sides so that you can know them better. If we all know each other a little better, we will do as Jesus wanted us to do, and that is to Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself because you already know yourself, now you need to know others.
The four Gospels was God’s way of communicating to us, through the writers, who Jesus was and His life. Communication is very important, and it’s not easy to share all the information you want to share. Either because it’s confusing, or there’s a lot of information, or because the people listening hear things differently. The Gospels, are our best source of information about Jesus Christ, and we need to be open to all the differences we notice when we read the Gospels. We shouldn’t get confused because Matthew’s description of Jesus’ birth is different from Luke’s version. Instead we should try to see what the writer is trying to tell us about Jesus. We need to be open-minded, and open-hearted to Jesus and the Gospels.
Each Gospel had a main theme; Mark wanted us to know that Jesus was human and that He suffered for us for a good reason. Matthew wanted us to see how Jesus is the new Lawgiver, while Luke wanted us to see that Jesus loves everyone, no matter who you were. John wanted us to see that Jesus is divine, that He is the Word and He came down from heaven to save us. By understanding the Gospels’ messages, we understand Jesus’ message and can love Him for what He did for us.
Dear Jesus, please help me to notice all the wonderful things I get to read in the Gospel about you. Help me to see why each detail is important, from the way you were born, to the way you speak and pray. Please let me remember what it is that makes you special, and help me to follow in your footsteps. Amen.