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New Testament Worldview

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The Bible is full of narratives and accounts which point to our need for a savior and God meeting that need through Jesus Christ. The New Testament begins with four accounts of Christ's life; same person, same life, somewhat different stories. In general, it seems as though the church looks at all the gospels as a whole, treating each gospel as pieces of a puzzle that give us a full picture of Jesus’s time here on earth. However, if we look at it from the perspective of the people who would be reading these accounts or from the perspective of the authors our view might be a little different. Each account of Christ’s life has specific choices made by the author to guide our understanding and have an effect on how we read the text. One relatively …show more content…

Furthermore, he gives the impression that he’s not writing an autobiography, he’s writing to tell a grouping of stories that will encourage the audience in their faith. For instance, one of the ways in which he does this is by giving details of those who had faith at the time when Jesus was on the earth. When Jesus first calls his disciples, he calls out to them as they are fishing, telling them to “come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). With Jesus’s first command the disciples are to step out in faith and surrender what they have in order to follow Jesus. Additionally, in Mark 8 the faith of the disciples is demonstrated when Jesus asks them who do the disciples say he is. Peter responds with “you are the Christ” confirming that faith of the …show more content…

The disciples, although in full knowledge of who Jesus is (MArk 8:29), continue in their attitude of fearfulness. They fail to live life following Jesus in full trust that he will protect and provide for them. I believe that it is for this purpose the author of Mark makes this clear: so that the readers of the text would consider their position in following Christ, whether they are following in faith or whether they are following out of an intellectual understanding of who Jesus is and who he says he is. The author intends to challenge us to question and reevaluate our personal approach to our walk with Jesus. Which of the disciples are we like? In circumstances when God doesn’t provide in the way that we expect him to, do we still have faith? When we or those around us are not protected how we would like them to be, are we faithful followers of

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