The Four Gospels

The four gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in it's original Greek text gives the reader a better understanding and chance to interpret the events that took place with the gospels and Christ.

With Matthew, one of the ideas that made me stop and think about the wisdom of Christ was when he was with his students in Israel. As he was seated at the table in his house with tax collectors and godless people, with Jesus and his students. The Pharisees said: why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and godless people? Jesus replied: It's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. My interpretation of this is that I'm here to help those that need help with understanding the word of god. Another example was when Jesus said: Don't judge, so that you won't be judged ; you will be sentenced to the same sentence you sentence others, and by whatever standard you measure you will be measured. In our days, as well as then, it is hard not to pass judgment on our fellow man. I will have to make an effort to not judge others and remember that there is only one force in our world to do just that.

It is hard for me to except that Jesus had such awesome power to cure the sick with every disease and every infirmity while making his rounds of all the towns and villages, in their synagogues, proclaiming the good word of the kingdom of god. I sometimes wonder if some of these "miracles" were maybe exaggerated a little when written. The twelve students he refers to are the twelve apostles, one of which is Matthew the tax collector.

According to Mark, John came along, bathing others in the wilderness and announcing the washing of a changed heart for the forgiveness of wrongs is the first Baptisms being held in the Jordan river. The people of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem were admitting their mistakes and John was washing away their sins. I'm glad there's fast food restaurants today, because John's diet of locusts and wild honey would get old fast for me.

Luke's account of Joseph and Mary from the town of Bethlehem is very interesting. Because of a census of the world by Caesar Augustus, everyone was to be registered to their own home town. Joseph was from the city of David and was registered with Mary as his fiancee, who was pregnant. Here, she bore her son, her first born, in a grain crib. A messenger of the lord came and gave the good news that a savior was born to the city of David. This account sounds like the story told so many times at Christmas every year.

John tells the story of Jesus washing the feet of his students, Peter has a problem with the lord washing his feet. Jesus replies that he is just setting the example. He also knew who would betray him. He dunks a piece of bread and offers it to Judas Simon Iscariot. What a toast that must of been.

I learned a lot of important wisdom by reading this book, and I know that it will help me in my daily endeavors. I can only hope that the wisdom of Christ will shape my life and make me a better human being.

Rev. Robert Kenneway

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