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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 News of 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 Talk of JESUS post and SHARE in your social media world.
  • Fully Trained – 1

    Fully Trained – 1

    …everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

    – Luke 6:40b

    What do these followers of Jesus look like? Would you recognize a disciple in a crowd?

    When the Lord, Christ Jesus began His three-year teaching mission He called disciples and from them appointed twelve Apostles, an inner circle of leaders among many disciples to be sent out with the gospel.

    Jesus immediately glorified as a teacher of Galilean Jews

    Luke 4:14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

    The gospel of Luke carefully records truth from eyewitness accounts of numerous historical citizens of the first century.

    The following is a fictional representation of witness of one of Jesus’ first disciples. 

    “I was in our synagogue the day our rabbi handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah to Jesus. He read part of a passage so familiar to most of us:

    Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
    He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
    19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

    Isaiah had prophesied even more of what we had prayed for through many generations:

    To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. – Isaiah 61:3

    How we all hoped that this radiant new rabbi before us would offer such hope.

    Perhaps He would be the one to save us from our captivity by the Romans. And do you know what He said?

     “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

    – Luke 4:21b

    Yes! Of course this Jesus seems in every way to be our promised Messiah.

    But then He said some things which were not too nice about Israel (our former country before we were defeated). Most everybody got angry. Some of them even tried to run him out of Nazareth where we all grew up with him. But not me… and not some of my friends.

    No, we knew Jesus was much more than just a carpenter; really, we always saw that anytime we encountered Him. You could tell. Jesus was pleasantly unlike no other man, yet so much like us… like the men we wanted to be.

    So Jesus of Nazareth (as the Judeans would later call Him out of disrespect) slipped out of town right through the middle of the crowd near me and my friends.

    We looked at one another and right then decided we needed to hear more of Jesus’ teaching.

    What did He mean when in the synagogue Jesus said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing?”

    So some of us gathered our families together to follow this promised Teacher of Israel into the mountains to hear more and later into nearby towns like Capernaum. We just had to hear what Jesus had to say.

    holy-land--mount-tabor-munir-alawi (1)

    To be continued…

  • Resurrection: So What?

    Resurrection: So What?

    Do you believe in Jesus’ Resurrection?

    Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

    It was her own brother who had just died..

    Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.

    Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

    John 11:24-26

    Do you believe this?

    Do you believe that Easter is a celebration of life like no other?

    Lots of talk about resurrection; some even call it ‘Resurrection Day.’

    ‘So What’ skeptics of Christ’s Resurrection

    As a kids we easily turned a phrase for things of which we were skeptical. My quick answer to a parent or someone in authority: “So what?”

    What answer quickly rolls off my tongue? What reactive thought tumbles around in my head about things I choose not to think about?

    “So what?”

    As one finally bowed down before Almighty God who calls Christ Jesus my Lord, I contrinued to be a little surprised by the ‘so what’ look of so many wandering souls I encounter in my everyday mortal life.

    Their non-consideration of Easter and frequent rebellion at even a mention of the name of Jesus affirms their ‘so what,’ as common era reaction to faint hope that the resurrection of Jesus is real.

    These with hearts hardened to God will always turn against any hope that Christ’s cross and the resurrection are most real and relevant answers to sin. Judgment for sin and punishment of a second death are the furthest thoughts removed from the flesh of self-worshiping humanists.

    Jesus was rejected and crucified by a religious establishment that made up their own rules about God. Jesus came to a world that did not seek God. Jesus came to save sinners. Jesus came as a sacrifice for our sin. And Jesus is resurrected from the grave, because He IS the LORD God! He came to man to show us the mercy required to save us from death with the grace of reward for eternal life we do not deserve.

    for Church members:

    Recall of a church? WHY do that? SO WHAT IF WE preach what WE want? Pictured Medieval church bell tower during sundown in valley
    The photo to the left & cover photo have been added to the original post along with some minor edits, including this question below from our earlier series on Doctrine of the Church.

    SO WHAT if we do NOT insist that JESUS is the ONLY way of eternal life because of the Cross?

    Gentle believer, fellow saint of Christ’s own body,

    Our own sacrifice is small and our reward great for our touching of hearts with the healing love of Christ Jesus. Sure, the world says of the resurrection, ‘so what?’

    Yet even in these last days of evil we have hope in the resurrection to share with others who also never believed that Jesus would die for them.

    As long ago as the first century and first generation of witness of the gospel, men were still evil. Yet the letters of the Apostles spoke to the Jew and the nations alike, all who would listen about the Messiah Jesus.

    1 Corinthians 15:

    Paul lived in Corinth for a time and wrote of the resurrection to the church, encouraging us in Christ. HERE is his answer to the so what skeptics and listeners in the public arenas of hostile crowds:

    12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

    13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

    14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

    Mention Jesus Christ and you get a tough crowd, don’t you? And most with their face against God show you that ‘so what’ look.

    It was no different in Corinth when Paul taught the gospel to the church there in person or by letter.

    Commentary on a ‘so what’ culture of Corinth

    John MacArthur gives us this background: 

    Even by the pagan standards of its own culture, Corinth became so morally corrupt that its very name became synonymous with debauchery and moral depravity. To “corinthianize” came to represent gross immorality and drunken debauchery… Like most ancient Greek cities, Corinth had an acropolis (literally. “a high city”), which rose 2,000 feet and was used both for defense and for worship. The most prominent edifice on the acropolis was a temple to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. Some 1,000 priestesses, who were “religious” prostitutes, lived and worked there and came down into the city in the evening to offer their services to male citizens and foreign visitors.

    • CAN YOU THINK OF A 21ST Century of the Common Era CITY LIKE THAT?
    • CAN YOU THINK OF A TEMPLE TO GLORIFY US & our gods?
    • ARE THE CITIZENS AND VISITORS OF OUR BEST CITIES LIKE CORINTH?

    Yet Paul preached to the church in Corinth (and all the other believers) about the resurrection:

    17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

    If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

    1 Corinthians 15:19 ESV
    SO WHAT? they say, but IF WE ARE RIGHT..

    Are you like those without hope in the resurrection?

    Does your earth-friendly, Christian-persecuting community “corinthianize” the pulpits of truth with compromises of false faith?

    Roger@TalkofJESUS.com +

    Guard against it, as Paul warned.

    For we have Christ crucified, died and resurrected. We hold to certain hope of eternal life in worship of God our heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of the new heavens and the new earth without sin.

    Christ has been raised from the dead!

    20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep..

    26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death…

    The only ‘so what’ question

    Are you looking to your own resurrection?

    Do you share the Good News of Christ’s resurrection with others?

    Do you even Talk of JESUS to anyone — even others in your gatherings ‘at church?’

    “Who was Jesus?” they may ask; for the world hears little of our Lord in these last days.

    This might be the only ‘so what’ question you ever get from your unbelieving friend or loved one. Jesus rose from the dead! Over five hundred witnesses. Furthermore, Jesus promised He will return for you and me, if you would like to have him as your Lord too.

    Here's how Paul continued with the Good News of Jesus' resurrection to Corinthians of the 1st century:

    35 But someone will ask,

    “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”

    36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

    38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body…

    42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable;

    what is raised is imperishable.

    43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

    I know resurrection is a lot to think about. Has a lot more to do with your body and soul than bunnies and eggs. Jesus has a lot to say about it. You should read one of the gospels about Jesus. 

    (John, for instance, tells us a lot about why God sent Jesus to the world.)

    50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

    51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

    53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

    54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

    “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
    “O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

    56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

    But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

    58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

  • Who IS this man?

    Isaiah 42:1-3

    Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
    my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
    I have put my Spirit upon him;
    he will bring forth justice to the nations.

    He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
    or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break,
    and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
    he will faithfully bring forth justice.

    He will not grow faint or be discouraged
    till he has established justice in the earth;
    and the coastlands wait for his law.

     Hebrews 1:3-4

    He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

    After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

    John 12:

    28 Father, glorify your name.”

    Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

    29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

    30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

    34 So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up?

    Who is this Son of Man?”

    All the questions had been asked before. “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?” [Mark 6:2]

    Luke 9:

    18 Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

    19 And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.”

    20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

    And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

    21 And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

    23 And he said to all,

    “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

    24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

    Who IS this Jesus?

    We ask even now, who is Jesus? What man of flesh and blood has ever been raised from the dead? Who has more than five hundred witnesses of His resurrection that men might die rather than deny that Jesus IS… Jesus was not just a son of man like other men, Jesus IS the very Image of the One God!

    He IS the Existing One, the I AM, Jehovah, LORD!

    No man has ever demonstrated the very power of God on earth as did Jesus. Yet for us, the evidence of Jesus’ power and Jesus’ miracles are the fullness of the Lord’s compassion and love for those who are still sinners.

    No man can stand before a Holy God. No good work can replace the sins of our measured mortal days.

    It took God Himself to come to us as a Perfect Sacrifice for our sins.

    Christ Jesus IS the Living God sacrificed for our sins, for this is the love offers for us.

    Jesus suffered as a man, despised and rejected by those He came to save. He became the Lamb of God, the Perfect Sacrifice given for our sins. Christ died. Jesus was buried… just like you and I will be buried. His lifeless flesh was put in a tomb and laid to rest…

    He was sinless,

    Unlike you and me.

    He suffered yet more.

    He died as a man does die.

    He became sin on a cross.

    The Perfect Priest became a Sacrifice.

    He IS the Lamb of God.

    What love has the LORD for us, that God our Heavenly Father would send His only Son to the Cross for the sins of the world.

    Yet Jesus IS now, risen from the grave after three days separated from God the Father by death. A Perfect Son of Man sacrificed and redeemed. He IS and will return in victory, not only over death but over all sin and unrighteousness.

    Are you prepared to meet Christ Jesus?

    Jesus will judge every soul, separating those for eternal reward from souls receiving punishment for evil.

    Are you ready for the resurrection of the last day?

    Praise to our Lord Jesus Christ for bearing our sin on the Cross.

    Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit!

    As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.

    Amen.

    Jesus Christ IS LORD!