Category: 4 Gospels + Good News of the NEW Testament
What are the Gospels?
FOUR Gospels:
GOOD NEWS! (That’s what Gospel means.)
Matthew, Mark, Luke & John begin the New Testament proclaiming the Good Newsof Israel’s long-awaited Messiah and talk of JESUS Christ.
The four Gospels are first hand witness + proclaiming GOOD NEWS
by two Jewish Apostles of the Messiah JESUS, Matthew & John
Two gentile(non-jewish) followers of THE WAY of Jesus Christ, Mark & Luke, who proclaim the GOSPEL recorded from witness of Peter, Paul and other Apostles and disciples of JESUS in the first century.
READ the Good News of the Messiah and Savior Jesus from accounts of His twelve Apostles & others witnessing the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the four Gospels of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
SHARE the Gospel
with your Christian friends and those who do not yet believe in JESUS CHRIST.
Comment on a TalkofJESUS post and SHARE in your social media world.
It’s a familiar scene — loved ones mourning their loss in silence once the dead body can no longer be embraced by eyes or arms.
All that remains are our fleeting memories of a life which has passed into lifeless dust. I have been there. Likely you have as well.
It happens that the Beloved Body laid to rest previously is Jesus Christ.
Perhaps you missed these mourners outside the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea where the remains of Jesus were sealed. In our own grief we lament how such a public spectacle of Jesus’ Crucifixion on a Roman Cross could have been inflicted on the Son of God.
After a brief time of carrying His pierced body from the Cross, Joseph and the others must wait until the completion of the Passover feast and until the day after the Sabbath to return and dutifully complete their burial task.
We noted several witnesses to Jesus’ crucifixion previously in It is finished.. + Death’s witnesses. John does not list everyone nor does the Apostle include some additional events.
John has not mentioned Judas Iscariot since his betrayal of the Lord in Gethsemane. Yet Matthew’s Gospel reveals the death of Jesus’ betrayer, the 30 pieces of silver purchasing the field of blood and how it fulfills prophesy.
3 When Y’hudah, who had betrayed him, saw that Yeshua had been condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the head cohanim and elders..
“I sinned in betraying an innocent man to death.”
the confession of Judas Iscariot – Matthew 27:4 HNV
5 Hurling the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, he left; then he went off and hanged himself.
From Crucifixion until Christ’s Resurrection
Before we proceed to John’s witness of Christ’s Resurrection, let’s linger just one more day to note events and witnesses beyond the tomb where Jesus’ body lay.
59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.
61 And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.
What a sorrowful scene…
And Matthew records:
62 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate..
64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day..
65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” And they went and made the tomb secure with the guard, sealing the stone.
And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God; this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes.
(Note the brief amount of time these women John names had to see the tomb, return with spices and just begin the wrapping of Jesus’ slain body.)
Luke tells us (Luke 23:56b) why they had to leave Jesus’ body until later.
And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.
Luke 24:1 NASB
The Apostle Matthew tells how Joseph wrapped Jesus’ crucified body in a clean line cloth and laid the Lord in a place he had prepared for his own death.
Then Matthew tells us (27:60b NASB):
and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away.
Matthew, the Disciple of Jesus also records the sad scene of silent mourning, where Joseph must have recalled these two women who lingered there.
61 And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.
Joseph rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher, and departed.
To be continued..
.. at dawn the first day of the week ...
Have you experienced it — the death of a loved one?
Death pierces the flesh of those left to mourning in unspeakable ways, but most of all it severs from our soul that of another to which we have clung.
Having breathed His last some time before, Jesus’ crucified body receives yet another piercing by a Roman spear as John and others remain nearby.
.. and having come to Jesus, when they saw him already having been dead, they did not break his legs; but one of the soldiers with a spear did pierce his side, and immediately there came forth blood and water..
The Lord had loved these so much, the ones remaining at the foot of the Cross for six arduous hours, witnessing His life pouring out before them.
The Centurion in effect pierced their own hearts, severing their souls from the One they loved – Jesus, the One who loved them so much.
Witnesses to Emmanuel’s Death!
John records these events of the day of preparation and Passover feast, as we noted earlier in Crucifixion! – The Spirit of Grace, and retells the Good News to a generation near the time of his own death nearly sixty years later.
23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes between them…
25-27 While the soldiers were doing this, Jesus’ mother was standing near the cross with her sister, and with them Mary, the wife of Clopas and Mary of Magdala…
..“Look, there is your son!” And then he said to the disciple, “And there is your mother!”
38-42 After it was all over, Joseph (who came from Arimathaea..).. came and took his body down. Nicodemus also ..
The short list of witnesses:
Jesus’ mother Mary
Mary’s sister, Salome
Mary, the wife of Clopas
Mary of Magdala
The Apostle John (of course)
(and let’s not forget) Roman Soldiers (not named here, but present)
Other Witnesses:
Although their meeting with Pilate likely took place during the time Jesus remained on the Cross, John records that two important Jewish officials succeeded in lobbying Pilate to allow Jesus’ body to be buried in the new tomb of Joseph. They may have witnessed His death and most certainly could confirm His mortal wounds.
Joseph of Arimathea
Nicodemus the Pharisee
What about Matthew?
The Apostle Matthew also records Jesus’ crucifixion and was, in fact, a tax collector with political connections to Roman and Jewish authorities. Matthew records earlier events of the evening preceding Jesus’ trial:
As reminder that John, Matthew and the Apostles are ALL Jewish,
I offer this cultural religious look of the CJB version of Matthews's Gospel about the Messiah Jesus(in Greek, Christ).
30 After singing the Hallel, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Yeshua then said to them,
“Tonight you will all lose faith in me, as the Tanakh says, ‘I will strike the shepherd dead, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you into the Galil.”
59 The head cohanim and the whole Sanhedrin looked for some false evidence against Yeshua, so that they might put him to death. But they didn’t find any, even though many liars came forward to give testimony…
Matthew 27: Early in the morning, all the head cohanim and elders met to plan how to bring about Yeshua’s death. 2 Then they put him in chains, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor…
The Apostle Matthew seemingly was present not only in Gethsemane, but for Jesus’ trial by the Jewish officials who condemned their Messiah. Matthew also tells the horrific story of Jesus’ scourging.
27 The governor’s soldiers took Yeshua into the headquarters building, and the whole battalion gathered around him. They stripped off his clothes and put on him a scarlet robe, wove thorn-branches into a crown and put it on his head, and put a stick in his right hand. Then they kneeled down in front of him and made fun of him: “Hail to the King of the Jews!” They spit on him and used the stick to beat him about the head.
Add to the list of witnesses:
The Apostle Matthew
Matthew adds detail of other witnesses to Jesus’ crucifixion:
a man of Cyrene named Simon
a Roman officer & other Roman soldiers at Golgotha
32 As they were leaving, they met a man from Cyrene named Shim‘on; and they forced him to carry Yeshua’s execution-stake. When they arrived at a place called Gulgolta (which means “place of a skull”), they gave him wine mixed with bitter gall to drink; but after tasting it, he would not drink it…
54 When the Roman officer and those with him who were keeping watch over Yeshua saw the earthquake and what was happening, they were awestruck and said, “He really was a son of God.”
There were many women present
55 And many women were there watching from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while caring for Him.
Matthew's Gospel helps clarify who some of these women were and their importance to the Christ Jesus and His beloved friends.
56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
Miryam of Magdala(or from Magdala)
Miryam the mother of Ya‘akov and Yosef, or James and Joses in some translations of common Hebrew names. She is Mary, wife of Clopas and sister of Mary, widow of Joseph.
He also confirms the presence of James’ and John’s mother.
Mark, referring to these same three women gives her name, Salome. Due to the importance of family in Jewish tradition she may also have been a sister of Mary, therefore confirming her sons James and John to be not only Jesus’ closest Disciples but also His cousin.
Why do the Apostles mention these women?
Because the women would survive as witnesses even as all of the Apostles but John were martyred for their witness of Jesus as the Christ and resurrected Messiah of God.
It is the same reason that some Jews, even some of the house of Herod, became believers in Christ. And gentile Romans in every major city would call Jesus Christ Lord by the time John writes his Gospel.
40 They took Yeshua’s body and wrapped it up in linen sheets with the spices, in keeping with Judean burial practice.
41 In the vicinity of where he had been executed was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had ever been buried. So, because it was Preparation Day for the Judeans, and because the tomb was close by, that is where they buried Yeshua.
παρασκευή +++ All must remember the Sabbath
There they buried Jesus, His body taken from the Cross on the Day of Preparation for the Passover.
“And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me,”
.. this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. Acts 2:23 And how is this the Spirit of Grace?
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that He might suffer and die on a Cross for sinners like us, that we should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Roger Harned – talkofJesus.com – on Christ’s Crucifixion & John 3:16
The Apostle John presents the Good News of Jesus Christ in light of the love of God the Father.
Yes, the LORD of Old Testament Scripture to which John will point IS the Almighty God who must judge sin! Yet John testifies of Jesus who reveals God as the Father, the One of relationship who willingly shows mercy for the sake of the Son and saves sinners like you and me by grace.
A brief reintroduction to John
John had unique access to witness the questioning of Jesus by the High Priests of Jerusalem. At the beginning of our journey through the Gospel of John we introduced the Apostle, this youngest Son of Zebedee who we now know was also known in the house of Herod.
It is important to note here that the Apostle John later became the last surviving Disciple of Jesus Christ, living more than fifty years more until nearly the next century.
John wrote the gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia Minor when he was advanced in age (Against Heresies 2.22.5; 3.1.1) – source
John’s Good News is NOT a News Alert to our phone, a BREAKING NEWS HEADLINE interrupting our life at home or even a well-researched story for an Ephesus News Courier.
The Apostle, therefore, has not written the Gospel of John as events unfolded at the horrific scene of the crime of Jesus’ Crucifixion.
In Conclusion
The beloved Apostle and recognized authority of witness to these historical events some decades ago will soon assure the reader of John’s Good News (Gospel): Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
.. but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John now begins the conclusion of his Gospel even before the climax of the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection.
Intermingled with John’s conclusive evidence, he includes reporter-like facts (which we will address in a later post), but his purpose now is to reveal why Jesus did some of what the Lord came to accomplish.
Every mention of Scripture (of course) refers to the Old Testament. John links the events of Jesus’ crucifixion to Old Testament prophesy.
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe. 3 And they kept coming up to him and saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” and were slapping his face.
6 I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pull out My beard; I did not hide My face from insults and spitting. 7 For the Lord God helps Me, Therefore, I am not disgraced; Therefore, I have made My face like flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed.
14 It was the preparation day for the Passover, and it was about noon…
17 Carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.
23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took the tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24 So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who gets it.
This happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled, John tells us.
Scripture includes more than the Law, which Jesus promises will be satisfied; but also the Psalms (or songs of worship), historical scrolls and also writings of the Prophets who Jerusalem’s religious leaders seldom heeded and like now, rarely taught.
Here is this Scripture, a Psalm most descriptive of Jesus’ crucifixion.
READ ALL of Psalm 22, if you dare. And looking upon the scene of the Place of the Skull, with Jesus’ Blood pouring forth from His broken Body on the middle Cross, know His suffering for our sin endured for the grace of God’s love.
Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted, Struck down by God, and humiliated. 5 But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed.
John’s Testimony is True
Jesus replied [to Pilate]. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
Here is John’s Gospel GOOD NEWS of Scripture fulfilled.
“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced;
and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.
John began his Good News speaking of grace. He begins his conclusion by quoting Zechariah’s imagery of the Spirit of grace and of supplication.
For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
Even Pilate would share some understanding of this Greek concept of grace.
that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech
of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues
(This, of course, is that love of the Lord Jesus which John frequently shares freely as grace.)
John later greets his fellow beloved believers in his second letter(mailed in about A.D. 90–95):
Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
About 5-10 years earlierin about A.D. 80–90 John would have had his Gospel delivered to these same saints of the churches where he quotes Zechariah (from about 520 BC, five centuries after David and before Christ), whose name means: “The LORD remembers.”
“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace..,” John encourages from Scripture, as one who witneesed and had mourned for his beloved friend Jesus near the foot of the Cross.
In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.
John began his Gospel by hope in the Messiah who was hung on a Cross.
No one has ascended into heaven, except He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him.
John 3:13-15 NASB
As Jesus gave up His Spirit while John and other witnesses sat beneath the Bloodied Cross with the corpse of their Messiah and Savior they must have wondered why.
John 3:35–36 “.. The Father loves the Son and has entrusted all things to His hand.
The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
