The Gospel Journey
A Self Study Guide
by: Brent Kercheville
Examining the Distinctivenessof the Four Gospels
The Distinctiveness of the Four Gospels
None o the gospel writers had the simple purpose o just writing about what Jesus did.Each writer records certain events and teachings o Jesus to reveal something about Jesusor teach a particular attribute about Jesus. Thereore, an eort to reconcile the gospelsmisses the whole point o God giving humanity our distinct gospels.
The gospels werenot intended to be harmonized.
Each gospel should be studied in eort to see what thepurposes and arguments o the writer were about Jesus. We must also remember that thewriters were not taking a pad and paper with them and writing down the things they thoughtwere interesting about Jesus. The gospels were penned ater Jesus died and the authors didnot write on their own volition. Peter reminds us in 2 Peter 1:21 that the authors were carriedalong by the Holy Spirit when they wrote these words. Thereore, we need to examine eachgospel to discover the message o the Holy Spirit to the world concerning the Savior. To nd out the purpose o this gospel, we need to look at the structure o the gospel. Weneed to consider how the gospel begins, i there are any repeated themes and key words, andwho is the intended audience.
Matthew
Jesus’ Genealogy (1:1-17)
The gospel written by Matthew begins with a genealogical account or Jesus. Read thegenealogy and answer the ollowing questions.1. Explain why Matthew emphasizes Jesus as the “Christ, the son o David, the son o Abraham.”-- What clues does this beginning to Matthew’s gospel give us in determining Matthew’sintended audience?-- Write down what was promised to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3) and to David (2 Samuel 7:12-13).2
2. List the our women that are mentioned in the genealogy. Women were not typically listedin a genealogy. Why does Matthew place these our women in Jesus’ genealogical record?-- The mention o these women is especially curious considering each o theirbackgrounds. What do we know about each o thse women?
Key Phrases:
Surveying a book also requires looking or key phrases and key themes. Look at theollowing passages and write down the key word or phrases.Matthew 1:22; 2:17;12:17-- Why does Matthew repeat this phrase? What does this tell us about this gospel’sintended audience?Matthew 3:2; 4:17; 5:3; 7:21-- Matthew is the only writer to use this phrase is all o the scriptures. Do some researchand attempt to understand the meaning o this phrase. Write down your ndings below.
Final Notes:
Read through the gospel, in an eort to simply survey the book, and write downcharacteristics you see in this gospel (i.e. lots o teachings, or lots o miracles, or lots o parables, etc). Use the headings in your Bible or clues.3
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
More From This User
Notes
Load more
