Year in the Bible Week 39
Simeon’s Song of Praise by Rembrandt (1685)
The Messiah is born! Gory to God in the highest! Welcome to the greatest part of the greatest story ever told.
In this first week we have already read about dozens of prophesies fulfilled in the birth and early life of Jesus.
You’re going to see many passages repeated from the synoptic gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke. To get the most out of each passage, it is useful to remember the audiences for whom each book was written:
Matthew
Audience: A Jewish Christian community.
Focus: Matthew portrays Jesus as the promised Jewish Messiah who fulfills Old Testament prophecies. This gospel frequently references Jewish laws, customs, and Hebrew scriptures to show continuity between Judaism and the message of Jesus.
Mark
Audience: A Gentile Christian audience, likely facing persecution in Rome.
Focus: Mark presents a fast-paced account emphasizing the action, passion, and servant-hearted humanity of Jesus. It briefly explains Jewish traditions, making it easy for non-Jewish readers to understand.
Luke
Audience: A broader Gentile audience.
Focus: Luke highlights Jesus as a compassionate savior who cares deeply for outcasts, the poor, Samaritans, and Gentiles. It universalizes the gospel message to include all people regardless of background.
“The Priority of Mark” is the prevalent theory that the Gospel of Mark came first, and that Matthew and Luke borrowed some of his words. The theory olso posits that there was another text circulating at the time, influencing Matthew and Luke, but not Mark. That second source is called “Q” in the illustration below:
Of course we will also read from the gospel of John, which many people cite as their favorite gospel, perhaps due to its deeply personal narrative and poetic style (John 3:16, anybody?). We won’t be comparing gospels after this week unless their differences need to be addressed for timeline reasons, but if you’re interested, here is a fun video that compares them. Not an easy thing to do in twenty minutes!
This might also be a good time to binge-watch The Chosen on TV. The next two week of reading correspond to the first two seasons, through the Sermon on the Mount. Be blessed everyone!