The Gospel of Jesus: Understanding the Message

Study Notes

The Gospel of Jesus is divided into four books: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which are ancient biographies of Jesus.
These books offer more than individual stories about Jesus and his teachings, but connect Jesus' story into the overall biblical storyline.

The biblical story begins with God creating a good world and appointing humanity as his representatives to rule it.
However, humans rebelled, leading to a world of violence and death.
God chose Abraham and his family to restart the project, and through Moses, brought them into a garden land of abundance to restore all nations.
Israel becomes a kingdom with amazing kings like David, but eventually, Israel rebels too, leading to destruction.
The prophets said that God would personally come and restore Israel, and this hope was called the Kingdom of God.

Jesus' good news is about God's Kingdom, the new creation that is arriving to restore humanity to their role as God's partners in ruling the world.
Jesus liberates people from death and disease, and teaches about generosity, forgiveness, and loving one's enemies.
He invites people to live in God's new world.

The Gospel authors constantly appeal to the Hebrew Scriptures while telling the story of Jesus.
They weave biblical phrases into the story, often without directly quoting them.
The Gospel accounts show how all of the biblical stories about Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets point forward to Jesus.

There are four different accounts of the Gospel because each author has shaped and arranged their stories about Jesus differently to emphasize different things about him.
Matthew presents Jesus as a greater Moses.
Luke highlights Jesus as God's royal servant from the book of Isaiah.
Mark presents Jesus as a new start for humanity, bringing the mystery of God's new creation.
John focuses on Jesus' claim to be Yahweh, the God of Israel, become human.

The Gospel authors want their readers to become a part of God's Kingdom.
The Gospel is designed to persuade readers to trust and follow Jesus, so that they can participate in the new creation that he began.

The Gospel of Jesus is divided into four books: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which are ancient biographies of Jesus.
These books connect Jesus' story into the overall biblical storyline.

The biblical story begins with God creating a good world and appointing humanity as his representatives to rule it.
However, humans rebelled, leading to a world of violence and death.
God chose Abraham and his family to restart the project, and through Moses, brought them into a garden land of abundance to restore all nations.
Israel becomes a kingdom with amazing kings like David, but eventually, Israel rebels too, leading to destruction.
The prophets said that God would personally come and restore Israel, and this hope was called the Kingdom of God.

Jesus' good news is about God's Kingdom, the new creation that is arriving to restore humanity to their role as God's partners in ruling the world.
Jesus liberates people from death and disease, and teaches about generosity, forgiveness, and loving one's enemies.
He invites people to live in God's new world.

The Gospel authors constantly appeal to the Hebrew Scriptures while telling the story of Jesus.
They weave biblical phrases into the story, often without directly quoting them.
The Gospel accounts show how all of the biblical stories about Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets point forward to Jesus.

There are four different accounts of the Gospel because each author has shaped and arranged their stories about Jesus differently to emphasize different things about him.
Matthew presents Jesus as a greater Moses.
Luke highlights Jesus as God's royal servant from the book of Isaiah.
Mark presents Jesus as a new start for humanity, bringing the mystery of God's new creation.
John focuses on Jesus' claim to be Yahweh, the God of Israel, become human.

The Gospel authors want their readers to become a part of God's Kingdom.
The Gospel is designed to persuade readers to trust and follow Jesus, so that they can participate in the new creation that he began.