Fresh Perspectives on the Gospels
Fresh Perspective on the Gospels
The energy and passion of professor Stephen Venable's voice still rings in my ears:
*"Even if you lived in Israel during Jesus' time, chances are you would not have seen or talked with Him for more than a fleeting moment. Of the scores of Israelites, Christ only chose twelve as apostles. Of those twelve, only three saw events like the Transfiguration. Chances are, you and I would have been in the crowd… Now, we have an opportunity few in history ever had—we can peer into the personal life and motives of Jesus Christ through the Gospel accounts. Every passage drips with revelations of God's true nature."* (From my memory of Venable’s teaching in the Life of Christ in the Gospels course offered through IHOPKC.)
Those words sunk into my sixteen-year-old ears as Stephen taught about meditating on Jesus' life. Something deep within said, "Yes!" My life has never been the same.
After a decade of prayerfully studying the Gospels, I am just beginning to understand the depth and complexity of their accounts of Christ's life. The Holy Spirit inspired such amazing depictions of Christ! The Gospel writers wove easy-to-tell stories into rich, compelling units. These units combine to tell the story of Jesus' life. The Gospels are cohesive, strategically organized, poignant accounts of Christ's time on earth. They stand as open invitations to behold Christ in all His humble glory. God designed these stories for us to mull over them, again and again.
If you ask the average Christian for their honest impression of the Gospel accounts, you will probably hear a very different story. Believers honest enough to share their perception often admit that the Gospels have a perplexing number of interesting, seemingly unorganized stories between Jesus' baptism and crucifixion. Many relegate them to lessons for children. Why? Thousands of miles and years away from the original setting, modern audiences know nothing of ancient Mediterranean culture or literary devices. We, in modernity, need new lenses to perceive the message Jesus sent through His life.
You may or may not fit into that camp. Either way, why not be part of giving our generation a fresh perspective on the Gospels?
I want to equip you, reader, with tools to captivate audiences through your retelling of these all-too-familiar stories. To do this, you need to know the story behind the stories. So, between my bi-weekly research digests, we'll begin diving into the literary setting and cultural importance of passages in the Gospel accounts.
For every story in this series, expect to learn about:
The literary and cultural setting of the stories.
How the stories alluded to prophecies of the Messiah.
Any aspects unique to that portion of Scripture, such as rare words or unusual scenes.
How Mark's audience may have understood and reacted to the passage.
How the stories speak into our world.
And, as always, resources for deeper study.
Because many people know the beginning and end of Jesus' ministry well, we will look at the little-understood middle section. Specifically, we will look at Mark chapters 6-8. In this unit, Mark shows his audience how Jesus' ministry expanded. The section begins with Jesus sending out the twelve newly named apostles (lit. 'sent ones') into villages before Him. The section arguably climaxes in the feeding of the five thousand (Mark 6:30-44) and concludes with the feeding of the four thousand (Mark 8:1-10). During these monumental events, the popularity Jesus gains among masses draws king Herod's attention and fear. To top it off, Jesus' actions draw further ire from the Pharisees.
Besides demonstrating Jesus' growing popularity, Mark here illustrates timely truths of the Good News. These stories can speak powerfully into our disease-ravaged and war-torn world:
Jesus provides more abundantly than any earthly leader (Mark 6:14-44).
All who encounter Jesus can be 'healed' (Mark 6:53-56).
Jesus will respond to perseverant prayer (Mark 7:24-30).
God heals in unexpectedly personal ways (Mark 7:31-37).
God's compassion motivates Him to give foretastes of heaven on earth (Mark 8:1-10).
TL; DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)
The Gospels provide a unique window into God's nature.
Most people don't really know that the Gospels are rich accounts of Christ's life, strategically organized to compel us to believe and obey Him.
You can help change this perspective.
I will share some tools that can equip you to share how the middle of the Gospel of Mark fits into the whole narrative.
References
Photo by Nathan Dumlao, courtesy of Unsplash.