The Birth Of Jesus And The Gospel Of Luke

The Gospel of Luke was also written around eighty CE, written somewhere outside of Palestine (Tatum, 1999, p.34). The author may have been Luke the Gentile Christian, writing to another Gentile, Theophilus. Like Matthew, Luke is strongly believed to be written after Mark, with references from him, “Q” and “L” if following the Two (Four)-Document Hypothesis. The authors of Luke and Matthew are believed to be written during the same time without the knowledge of knowing. As mentioned before, Luke is about fifty percent longer than Mark is, making it important source since it contains more information about the historic life of Jesus. There is also a second part to Luke which is the book Acts, but is separate in Bible. Both include the beginnings

Luke was a medical doctor, a missionary, and evangelist, a historian, a researcher, and the writer of the third Gospel. The book of Luke was written in a formal literacy introduction noting his purpose in writing, his methodology, and the attempts others had made in such writing. Luke is the author of the book and it was written in AD 60 in Caesarea. According to Hindson and Elmer Luke’s purpose is to give “an orderly sequence” of the events about Christ’s birth, life, and sacrificial death followed by his resurrection and ascension back to heaven. The occasion calling for Luke to write his Gospel was that Theophilus, and other new believers like him, needed a clear account of the life and ministry of Jesus as an aid to confirm his faith

In the Gospels according to Matthew and that according to Luke, Jesus’ birth and childhood is narrated. While both of these accounts mention Jesus as not only being the son of Joseph and his virgin wife Mary but also the Son of God, they also have numerous differences between the two. When compared and contrasted many scholars find historical inaccuracies between the two Gospels (especially when it comes to the birth and childhood of Jesus). That being said however, after a closer look at some of the historical problems one may be able to see that they are not nearly as important as the deeper motivation they bring out to the reader.

Compare and contrast the birth stories in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. How do the differences set up distinct theological emphases in each Gospel?

In Matthew 1-2, the infant stories are used to prepare the ground for the theme of Jesus; the new and perfect Moses, the great teacher and interpreter of God’s ways. A parallel can be drawn between the experiences of the infant Jesus and the experience of Moses. This can be seen in Matthew 2:16-18, where the slaying of innocent male Hebrew children occurred around the time of the birth of Jesus, and in Exodus 1:15-22, where Hebrew children were also murdered at the time of Moses’ birth. Just as Moses came out of Egypt, leading the people of God, so does Jesus. Following the infancy stories, the rest of Matthew’s Gospel is structured around five long discourses where Jesus teaches. On each occasion, the evangelist indicates that a great teacher has been at work (Maloney, 1988, p. 133-34).

It is possible to write on the life of Jesus from the information gathered from the bible. I will be dividing my essay into three parts. In the first part of the paper, I will talk about the nature of the gospels, John’s views vs. the Synoptic, discuss if the authors of the gospels are eyewitnesses and how they used written sources. Also I will talk about the Q source. Then I will elaborate on the topic of how Matthew and Luke were similar. Then I will continue on by discussing how the Old Testament uses Moses, Samuel and Elijah to interpret Jesus, and finally whether or not the Sermon on the Mount happened. In the second part of my paper, I will talk about Jesus’s birth and childhood, his miracles, his resurrection, and what Jesus did to cure people, spirits and how they are interpreted to the prophet, magician and the mad man compared to Saul and Elijah. The final part of the paper I will talk about what Jesus talked about as regards to the Kingdom of God vs. the Kingdom of the Romans and what he intended by speaking of the end of the world. I will also speak of the reasons behind the Romans executing him. My sources for this paper will be the New Jerusalem Bible Readers edition as my primary source and lecture notes from Professor Trumbach.

The profound birth narratives of Matthew and Luke clearly, and immediately, place Jesus as the Son of God. Both authors leave no room for doubt among readers that God orchestrates the birth of Jesus Christ. The basic premise within the narratives is also similar; Jesus is born in Bethlehem to the Virgin Mary, wife of Joseph. Soon after his birth, Jesus receives visitors who affirm his significance. The surety of Jesus’ divinity is established by God’s usage of visions and angels in guiding the characters involved in the birth narratives. Jesus’ birth is repeatedly portrayed to be fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament. However, even though the narratives strongly emphasize Jesus’ sanctity, their underlying premise is quite peculiar for God’s arrival on Earth. Instead of an entry into the world signified by grand celebrations and commemoration, the birth of Jesus occurs in an intimate setting.

I chose to read The Gospel of Luke for my project. It is said that The Gospel of Luke was written somewhere between 80 CE - 90 CE. The Gospel of Luke was written for Theophilus, who was called “Friend of God”. But The Gospel was also written for a wider audience, including converts and potential converts.

It can be argued that the similarities and differences of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke can cause the reader to either see both of these accounts to complement one another with their different perspectives or that they contradict one another by certain events being mentioned in one birth narrative but not the other. Different aspects of both of these birth narratives such as the way Matthew and Luke treat Mary, the extent to which they use the Old Testament and the audience to whom they are writing to reveals the authors’ agenda as they allow their culture and own personal beliefs to influence what they write. These factors could be argued to have an effect on the historical authenticity of these texts as it could be possible that they could have caused the authors to twist the truth to fit in with their own beliefs.

Let’s talk about the world about 2,000 years ago. It was a world where the mass of people were illiterate, taxes were extremely high, and the leaders would cheat and kill to feed their ever growing need for power. We all can relate to having a good storyteller in our lives, most were read to at night by their parents or are parents themselves that read to their children. What is the purpose of storytelling? It’s simple, comfort. A good story can ease your psychological unrest as well as offer a moral purpose. Sometimes you can even relate a story to your own life and offer an explanation to something you may be experiencing. This is exactly what the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were. They told their stories of Jesus to offer comfort to their people in a time when people could not pick up a story and read it themselves. It is part of human nature to have the desire for a good story. This paper will describe several events that were written by great storytellers in the bible.

The Gospel of Luke focuses on the conception and the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus. It also provides the histories of Elizabeth and Zachariah. It also describes Angel Gabriel’s announcement to Zachariah and the Virgin Mary.

In the Gospel of Matthew, the infancy narrative contributes a large sum of background information of Jesus that contributes to the development of Matthew’s Christology. In order to analyze how Matthew develops the Christology, we have to cut the infancy narrative into sections. This paper will discuss background information of the writing of this Gospel, literary elements of Jesus’ miraculous conception that reinforce his Jewishness, how Magi and literary devices help to understand Matthew’s Christology, what important biblical hero the infancy narrative parallels, and what foreshadowing is caused from this infancy narrative. Comparatively, the use of divine intervention in dreams to fulfill prophecy has been a key focus of the infancy narrative in order to create an unusual birth narrative and develop the unique Christology that Matthew envisioned specifically for the Jewish Messiah.

The two books of the Bible, Matthew and Mark are alike in many ways, they do tell some of the same stories. On the other hand, if one takes a closer look there are small changes to the stories that bring a whole new meaning to the way that the story is told. I will focus on the stories of Jesus walking on water and the transfiguration of Jesus. In this paper, I will review the changes that Matthew made to the Gospel according to Mark. I will also explain the reasons why he may have made those changes and to what purpose those changes served.

The word "gospel" is a translation of the Greek word "euangelion" which means "good news. The first three books in the New Testament (Mark, Matthew, and Luke) are often referred to as the Synoptic Gospels (from Greek synoptikos, "seen together") They bear greater similarity to each other than any of the other gospels in the New Testament. Along with these similarities come some differences among the gospels, suggesting that each gospel was written for a specific audience and for a specific purpose. This paper will examine the resurrection of Jesus, while identifying the significant differences between Mark, Matthew and Luke. This paper will also analyze the differences to suggest the prominent theological perspective each gospel author

The theme of the gospel of Luke talks about the journey of the life of Jesus, Christ. His death, burial, and resurrection. Moreover, his ministry, teachings and parables. As a historian, and physician, Luke was not only eloquent in his writing about Jesus; he also took interest in his early life. The Gospel of Luke also depict Jesus as compassionate, caring, and loving. Likewise, Luke not only put Jesus at the heart of the Jewish world during the first century, but also at the heart of the Roman world, where with the Christian gospel exploded.