Christology
The Birth of Christ
The gospel writers each contributed their unique perspective as they recorded events surrounding Jesus' birth. Each writer had a specific target audience in mind, and brought to his writings a perspective which was framed by that purpose, and by the writer's particular experience of Christ. The uniqueness of their record in no way changes the fact that their contribution was the work of God's Holy Spirit thorough them, as some scholars have claimed, but rather God used their individual gifts, talents and perspectives in order to create a full record of his Son's birth, life, and message.
Matthew wrote his gospel to the Jews, and the early church which was mostly Jewish converts. His concern was communicating the message of the messiah to the Jewish people. The messiah had been promised in Old Testament scriptures since Abraham's time, and by demonstrating how Jesus was the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, Matthew focused his message on the Jewish community which was not ready to give up its cultural identity by embracing Christ. The early church understood that Christ was the completion of the Old Testament prophecy, and therefore Christ was the promised Messiah.
John was the last of the disciples to write his gospel. He could have been aware of Mark's letter to the gentile church, Matthew's letter to the Jewish converts, and Luke's well researched gospel which undertook the task of creating a complete and encompassing record. John was 'the disciple whom Jesus loved,' and was the only disciple from within Jesus' inner circle who undertook the task of recording a record of his life. John was likely a disciple of John the Baptist before following Christ, for his gospel does not begin with the birth of Christ, but with the Baptist's affirmation of the Jesus as the Messiah.
John introduces Jesus as the Word of God (john, 1.1), the Lamb of God (john 1.36, the one born of god, and not of man (john 1.13) and the one who would give power to the sons of men to become sons of God. (John 1.12)
Resources:
The Holy Bible, King James Version. (1964) London: BB Kirkbride Co.
" (Kysar 27) Scholars at times forget that the bible is not only a work of theology but also a work of literature. Barnes also believes in this interpretation and its New Testament expression of the Trinity, "I am thinking, in particular, of the pivotal appeal to John 1:1-3 at de Trinitate 2.2.9, which resembles Tertullian's (and Hippolytus's) use of the Johannine prologue as the paradigmatic expression of the economy of
Scholars like Borg, Crossan, Meier, and Sanders reach into Torah or into Gnostic and other extracanonical traditions such as Greek novels to draw comparisons and contrasts. The range is comprehensive, from Greco-Roman sources to Jewish and other Mediterranean sources. Often the picture of Jesus that emerges is a construction based on social-scientific and literary trends. There have been some important findings. For one, Jesus is understood more politically, proclaiming the
Jesus then recruits other disciples, such as James and John, and decides to spread the Word of God to other parts of the region while doing good deeds, like miraculously healing the sick and the blind. As a symbol of his personality, Jesus does not accept the role of prophet and then forbids his disciples to spread the idea that he is the messiah, due to "the contemporary messianic ideals
Jesus The four gospel books in the New Testament are the principal foundation of the information regarding the life of Jesus. These books include Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The four books tell the story of the life of Jesus, but from different perspectives. Christian faith depends on the four gospel books that narrate the historical life of Jesus. As a result, if the provisions in these four books are
John's Gospel is a strongly theological work. The basis for the Christology of John's Gospel is the Word. Also, John gives deep theological insights through the stories of the Samaritan woman at the well, the man born blind and the rising of Lazarus from the dead. John's account of the Passion is also deeply theological and quite different from the accounts of the other gospels. Finally, John uses many motifs
Gospel of John: The Theme of Discipleship The Theme of Discipleship: The Gospel of John Discipleship is one of the salient themes in the Gospel of John. John attempts to paint a distinct profile for what a true disciple looks like, and what true discipleship is about. His audience is the Johannine community. This text explains the idea of discipleship based on the precepts presented in John 9, 11, and 17.
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