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.
How does a veil torn in the Temple on Good Friday connect all Jews to Christians of the 21st century Church?
a glance inside the HOLY OF HOLIES as described in the books of Moses And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. – Mark 15:38
Good Friday
Before we turn to the actual script of this pivotal event in history, allow me to place you into a fictional Good Friday scene as one witness to what is about to take place with the veil of the Temple.
I trust that you understand the imagery and symbolic significance of this scene set within the Temple.
Setting:
First century Jerusalem during the week of Passover festival.
In fact, on this most fateful day prior to the Sabbath of the sacred Passover feast, crowds larger than usual have already witnessed unprecedented scenes convicting Jesus of Nazareth of sedition against Caesar and blasphemy against G-d.
The politics of Jerusalem and Rome have impacted you your entire life.
Inside the Temple after Jesus’ trials and predetermined death sentence on a cross.
Picture a fictional scene near the HOLY OF HOLIES in first century Jerusalem. The veil of the Temple is always closed.
Characters:
Just you (or so it seems).
Other Levite priests may also be near in other parts of the Temple, also performing their regular duties away from the massive crowds.
Imagine that you witness this Good Friday event as a Levite in first century Jerusalem (under Annas, Caiaphas and the seventy of the Sanhedrin, and also under King Herod Antipas Tetrarch, Judean Governor Pilate and of course Tiberias Caesar).
The lights dim..
The curtain opens (so to speak) .. as the scene before us unfolds…
I’d like to continue from what I told you last time. You need to know what happened after a rude awakening from my dream of when my wife and I were in Eden walking with God as if HE Who Created All was my friend!
You know of course that I awoke to this day and not a time before Abraham and you may have heard or read my story, but I wanted to tell you how I felt at the time.
A Knock at the Door
We lay intertwined embraced in warmth flowing from fingertips to toe. Our paradise shattered as I awoke to a loud knock on the door…
“David! . . . Lend me three loaves!”
Who is this at this late hour, I thought? Then as I recognized my neighbor’s outcry at our door,
“Shaul, is that you?” I inquired.
“Of course it’s me. Who else would it be at this hour?” my neighbor responded as he continued,
“A friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.”
We had just fallen asleep and I retorted,
“Do not bother me. As you can plainly see the door has already been shut and we are all in bed.”
“Come on, David, I have nothing to eat for my friends who have just arrived,” he replied.
“I cannot get up and give you anything,” I again said even though my wife and I were awake by now.
Shaul again began shamelessly knocking at our door as my wife looked toward me with that look.
“Alright, my friend,” I shouted over his knocks as I headed to the door.
“I will give you your bread.”
A Parable of Separation
You know this story.
Perhaps the characters are purely fictional as in most parables; but like many of Jesus’ parables, He probably retold it in many places to different crowds in various ways.
Can you identify with the family behind locked doors in the darkness, separated from friends and seeking peace?
Or perhaps you can imagine that you are the friend of Shaul, who has traveled a day’s journey and arrived unexpectedly late.
Your good friend didn’t even know that you were coming to him in person. And all of you were overjoyed for this personal reunion!
Friends — no longer separated by distance.
AND your friend is even willing to go to his friend and neighbor for something to eat while rejoined in communion with each other.
Picture Paradise when Heaven’s Door | of Separation | is Opened
I have just illustrated Jesus’ parable with names of appropriate symbolism as the Lord occasionally does. [i.e. Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham]
Jesus, of course, is talking about prayer – petitions of a sinful man to a Father God | separated from man | by holiness.
Here is a man alone secure in his home praying – spirit to Spirit.
Perhaps he does dream of Paradise | personal relationship with the Lord God | as it was in the beginning.
Jesus invites His followers to a place | separated and distanced from others in this world.
The call to prayer is to the Father of His beloved children.
a friend at the door | to a Friend inside
I’ve told you this parable from a perspective of the FRIEND INSIDE.
The Lord Jesus speaks to each SINNER as a friend knocking | adam knocking repeatedly on the DOOR | of Heaven through prayer.
Jesus says of the FRIEND inside who I have just described in this parable:
8 I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet because of his shamelessness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
You and I are Shaul, the borrower of bread.
Our Heavenly Father is David | our beloved friend with the bread of Heaven, which He now has given to us after having answered a knock at His door.
It is His story I have just told!
Our beloved Heavenly Father and Friend invites you to share the Bread that came down from Heaven – the Bread of Life, Christ Jesus Who IS the Son and | Door to eternal life.
Jesus answers disciples asking about prayer with a parable of the Father | who once again desires the Personal Face-to-face fellowship of Eden.
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you;
seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives,
and the one who seeks finds,
and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.
The Good News of Luke 11:9-10 NASB | Jesus on prayer to the Father
NEXT: A look at Social Distancing of the Church in a 1st century world of violent upheaval.
in the context of A.D. 90, with application to A.D. 2020,
rather than chronologically, culturally or by chapter & verse..
..while during recent months:
some sought to stream the stage of worship
some sent seeker-friendly scripture into our homes
some church communities disintegrated while others diminished & distanced (like our 2020 remote office meetings complete with slides).
To review the Gospel of John, simply click on any link in the outline below& it will open in a new window.
Roger – author of A.D. 2020 series on the Gospel of John
I hope you were blessed by the secure links to reliable sites for further study of Scripture, as well as insight into the 1st century church of John’s Gospel (written ~A.D.- 90).
Scripture encourages us to a more mature faith.
John’s Prologue – Good News!
IN THE BEGINNING was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
ALL THINGS came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of
MANKIND.
And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God [Son] who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
John’s Prologue [1:1-18], from which the Apostle next proceeds to the testimony of John the Baptist and the Messiah’s calling of the Twelve, states many important theological themes & along with his Epilogue [21:1-25 {linked below}] provides additional depth of purpose of John’s Gospel.
John 3: “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” …
Teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ
‘My Father’s House – John 2
“You must be born again.
I am the Messiah – John 4
Before Abraham was, I AM
John 11
“..and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.
also love one another-John 13
Jesus prays – John 17
Jesus answered him – John 19:11
Jesus said:
Gospel of John
“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! – John 1:29b
As Jesus passed by, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. – John 9:1
Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to be?” – John 8:53
“But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. – John 10:26-28
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise from the dead.” .. “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” – John 11:23,25
Hear all the unrelenting bad news of yesterday or today.
For followers of Jesus, His death diminished life’s hope in eternal life; that is until the Gospel of the Lord’s resurrection reached the eyes and ears and touch of His dearly beloved friends.
John and the Disciples witnessed the Lord Jesus in His Risen Flesh many times after His resurrection.
“Peace be with you.”
And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
John 20:20
Their sorrow had turned into joy and so must ours; for in Christ Jesus his disciples of every generation have eternal life through His sacrifice for our sins. This is our Gospel, His Good News to those who would believe.
NEWS of A.D. 2021
SEE what follows JOHN 2020 in JOHN 2021.
“Peace to you,” yet also a command of the risen Christ Jesus.
& without Him:
EXPECT MORE BAD NEWS
John’s Epilogue
John 20:30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.
But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:21 CSB
I pray that the Lord has blessed you through the Gospel of John in A.D. 2020
Roger – Roger@talkofJesus.com
May our Lord Jesus Christ
draw you into His grace,
giving you new hope of Eternal Life
in the YEAR OF OUR LORD 2021,
in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
AMEN.
![“He who loves his [fn]life loses it, and he who hates his [fn]life in this world will keep it to life eternal.](https://talkofjesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/triumphal-entry.jpg)
