Many times the Gospels are approached as merely HISTORICAL books. But if they are ONLY historical then why are there FOUR accounts that retell essentially the same stories?
Some think that the retelling of the same stories by the four Gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) proves the historicity and factuality of the events of Jesus' life. Think about it. If four different people gave the same story regarding the details of a murder, wouldn't that make their individual accounts more believable? So isn't the same true for the four accounts about Jesus' life? NOT EXACTLY.
Why? This assumes that the four Gospels are INDEPENDENT accounts. But most evangelical scholars today have concluded that the four Gospels (possibly with the exception of the Gospel of John) are NOT independent accounts and that Matthew and Luke most likely borrowed material from Mark (although some scholars still believe that Mark and Luke borrowed material from Matthew).
So why then are there FOUR accounts of Jesus' life that retell many of the same stories? The best answer (in my opinion) is this: The Gospels are BOTH historical and theological and each book makes a unique theological contribution using the historical details from Jesus' life. In other words, the Gospels were not written just so that people could REMEMBER Jesus but more importantly so that people would know how to FOLLOW Him. And so the Gospel authors SELECTED, RETOLD and GROUPED TOGETHER stories from the life of Jesus in a way that allowed them to make UNIQUE applications regarding what it looks like to FOLLOW Jesus. We will detail HOW this works and specifically WHAT this looks like in the upcoming blogs. So stay tuned!
A COMMON FALLACY ABOUT THE LIFE AND TEACHING OF JESUS
One more thing. As we look to model our lives after Jesus, there is a common fallacy you might run into that is floating around the Christian hemisphere.
SO BEWARE!
The Fallacy: We are NOT expected to literally follow Jesus because He was God and we are not!
I have heard this line used innumerable times throughout my life. And the first thought that comes to my mind is this: "Isn't this a denial of Jesus' full HUMANITY? I thought that denying Jesus' FULL humanity was considered a heresy! So why are so many people in the church being encouraged to embrace this line of thinking? Maybe I'm just missing something in my fallen, human way of thinking."
The next thought that comes to my mind is this: "If this line is true then why did Jesus tell his disciples to take up their crosses daily and FOLLOW Him? And why did Jesus send the Holy Spirit to indwell His disciples and give them the power to do SUPERNATURAL things if they weren't expected to live supernaturally like Jesus?"
Might this fallacy be an excuse given by people who don't want to feel bad that they're not living MORE RADICALLY for Jesus (and possibly serving other gods like success and the American Dream)? I hope that doesn't sound too skeptical but that's just the way I see it.
THE BOTTOM LINE
My prayer is that as we read the Gospels we will be challenged to walk as Jesus walked. After all, Jesus not only poured out His grace upon us by dying on the cross so that we could be forgiven, He also poured out His grace upon us by giving us the Holy Spirit so that we could live Christ-like lives that radiate the glory of God to our world and communities! And so may God give you the desire to walk as Jesus walked for the glory of God!
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