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The Four Gospels: The Earthly Ministry Of St. John

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The four gospels, Mathew, Mark, Luke and John tell us about the earthly ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word "Gospel" is a translation into English of the Greek word "euangelion" which means "good news." or “Good tidings”. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are often called the "synoptic" gospels. "Synoptic" is a Greek word from two words “Syn” which mean “together” and “Optic” which means “seeing” which translate to “seeing together” or "having a common view." John differs significantly from the synoptic gospels in theme, content, time duration, order of events, and style. Only 10% of it is parallel to these other gospels, and even then, no such word-for-word parallelism occurs as we find among the synoptic gospels. There are several legitimate …show more content…

The generation that had witnessed Jesus' story was dying off, and the writers wanted to lend credibility and staying power to the foundation of the fledgling church -- especially since, prior to the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the church still existed largely in the shadow of Jerusalem and the Jewish faith.
The major purposes and themes of St. John's Gospel were different, which helps to explain the uniqueness of John's text. Specifically, St. John wrote his Gospel after the fall of Jerusalem. That means he wrote to a culture in which Christians experienced severe persecution not only at the hands of Jewish authorities, but the might of the Roman Empire, as well.
The fall of Jerusalem and the scattering of the church was likely one of the spurs that caused St. John to finally record his Gospel. Because the Jews had become scattered and disillusioned after the destruction of the temple, St. John saw an evangelistic opportunity to help many see that Jesus was the Messiah -- and therefore the fulfillment of both the temple and the sacrificial system (John 2:18-22; 4:21-24). In a similar way, the rise of Gnosticism and other false teachings connected to Christianity presented an opportunity for St. John to clarify a number of theological points and doctrines using the story of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. These differences in purpose go a long way to explaining …show more content…

4:21; Mark 1:19; Lk. 5:10; Jn. 21:2).
• Peter and the sons of Zebedee are called or described as fishermen (Matt. 4:21; Mark 4:19; Lk. 5:6-10; Jn. 21:3-8).

The Synoptic Gospels and St. John reference some of the same miracles our Lord Jesus did as follow:
• Jesus heals crowds of the sick (Matt. 4:23-25; Mark 3:7-12; Lk. 6:17-19; Jn. 3:23; 6:2).
• The lame, the blind, the crippled, and the paralyzed are listed as a collective (Matt. 11:5; 15:30-31; 21:14; Lk. 7:22; 14:13; 14:21; Jn. 5:3).
• On different occasions, Jesus says, “Pick up your mat and walk and go home” (Matt. 9:6; Mark 2:11; Lk. 5:24; Jn. 5:8).
• He feeds thousands (Matt. 14:13-21; 15:29-31; Mark 6:32-44; 8:1-10; Lk. 5:16; 9:10-17; Jn. 6:1-17; 11:54).
• He heals blind persons (Matt. 9:27-28; 11:5; 12:22; 20:29-34; Mark 8:22-23; 10:46-52; Lk. 7:21-22; 14:13-21; 18:35-43; Jn. 5:3; 9:1-34).
• He raises the dead (Matt. 9:18-19, 23-26; Mark 5:21-24, 35-43; Lk. 7:11-15; 8:40-42, 49-56; Jn. 11:1-44).

The Synoptic Gospels and St. John reference our Lord Jesus Triumphal entry to Jerusalem:
• Jesus enters Jerusalem triumphantly to conclude his ministry and life (Matt. 21:1-9; Mark 11:1-10; Lk. 19:29-38; Jn.

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