Blog Post #3: The 4 Gospel Writers

Blog Post #3: The 4 Gospel Writers

A Written Response By Lily Jeffs

1. What are specific things that you learned about the Gospel Writers from the group presentations?

When reflecting on the group presentations, I learned many different things relating to the 4 Gospel Writers found within the Bible. With this, I learned that Mark was a religious figure who wrote to the Gentiles within 70 A.D (during the time of the Jewish revolt) to proclaim Jesus' good work even though he wasn't an eyewitness and instead got this information through his friend known as Peter. His book was also originally written in Greek and symbolized a winged lion. Apart from what I learned about The Gospel According To Mark, I also learned about Matthew in which he was a man who wrote to the Jewish people within 55 - 60 A.D to teach them about who Jesus was as a reflection of his earlier work of traveling with Jesus as an eyewitness to his story. His work was similarly written in Greek and symbolized a winged man. The third Gospel I learned about was the Gospel According To Luke, in which it was written for the Gentiles within 70 - 100 A.D to share Jesus' teachings and to show how Christianity wasn't biased using the information he had learned from Paul. This writing piece was also originally written in Greek and symbolized a winged bull. Lastly, I learned that the Gospel According To John was written to within 90 A.D to the Gentiles and the Jews to show that Jesus was the son of God and believed in the eternal life using the information he had gathered from being one of Jesus' favorite disciples. An eagle looking into the sun acts as a symbol for this work that was originally written in Greek. All in all, I learned various things relating to the gospel writers of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John within these project presentations. To correlate with this reflection, I chose the photo shown below because it includes a visualization for modern day viewers for what each of the writers looked like through their symbols and the major role they play in the church and the religion of Christianity today.

2. Based on class discussion, what were similarities you saw within the 4 Gospel readings?

There were many similarities I noticed within the 4 Gospel readings. With this, it is shown that they were all originally written in Greek as this was a very common language spoken and read during this time. It was also shown that all 4 symbols are winged because they symbolize the characters found within the Book of Revelations. These readings were all written between 50 and 100 A.D that greatly contributes to style of writing each historical figure holds and is written towards the Gentiles and the Jewish people. While Mark and Luke weren't eyewitnesses to Jesus' life, Matthew and John were, therefore forming many similarities between these two separate pairs of writing including the amount of detail they include about Jesus. When reflecting on the specific similarities, all four Gospels include a scene where revolutionaries abuse Jesus. They also share the fact that Jesus was all powerful and forgiving and was the mighty son of God. Conclusively, the 4 Gospel readings hold many similarities that were specifically noticed by me during the class presentations and discussions. One image that correlates with these similarities is shown below in which all 4 writers are pictured together, indicating that they act as a unity to portray Jesus' story to others.

3. Based on class discussion, what were differences you saw within the 4 Gospel readings?

There were many differences I noticed within the 4 Gospel readings. With this, it is shown that each writer has a different symbol that represents their stories. They are also written during different time periods that has an effect on the style of writing and information included within these readings. When reflecting on the specific contrasts between these Biblical stories, Matthew and Mark describe a different story describing the guards standing at the tomb and the saints being raised during Jesus' burial. Furthermore, an area known as the Skull that is shown within The Gospel According To Luke is different compared to these stories. A scene that is also contributes to the differences found within these readings is found within the Book of John in which unlike with others, Jesus' legs aren't broken and instead blood and water comes out of him that isn't noted within Luke, Matthew, or Mark's story. It is ultimately shown that the 4 Gospel readings have both similarities and differences that greatly contribute to the making of Jesus' main story. With this, one image that represents these contrasts is shown below in which all four writers and their symbols are facing each other, showing that each of their works are put against each other and compared to distinguish the different viewpoints of Jesus' life.

4. From information you gathered from the presentations and class discussions, which Gospel would you prefer to read and why?

After reading through the notes I took on the 4 Gospel Writers, I would prefer to read the Gospel According To Matthew. Because he personally knew Jesus as a friend and eyewitness and travelled with him, I would be reading information published by someone who had actually seen Jesus and knew him well. Consequently, I would be given the opportunity to fully relate and understand a true description of who Jesus was that might even convince me to start praying to Jesus instead of just God after learning more about his story. Because Matthew was so close with Jesus, reading his Gospel would also give me an accurate insight to who Jesus was as a person and how he lived his day - to - day life. Matthew also published his Gospel only about 20 years after Jesus' death, therefore allowing it to be a recent account on the interactions he held with Jesus. Matthew's Gospel is ultimately the most accountable for describing Jesus' story due to the strong relation he held with him as well as the close publishing date of his Gospel in relation Jesus' life. With this, one image that correlates with my preferred Gospel is shown below in which Jesus is personally calling on Matthew to join him on his travels, therefore showing viewers that they held a close relationship that Matthew's Gospel was solely based on.

Works Cited

          “Christian Symbols | Four Gospels.” PreachingSymbols, www.preachingsymbols.com/the-four-      evangelists.html.

          “Jesus Calls Matthew Coloring Page | Free Printable Coloring Pages.” Super Coloring, 28 Oct. 2014, www.supercoloring.com/pages/jesus-calls-matthew.

           “ГРАВЮРИ.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.com/hkrysko/%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%8E%D1%80%D0%B8/.

            Wilson, June. “Reading the Gospels in Perfect Harmony.” June's Journal, 1 July 2012, junesjournal.com/reading-the-gospels-in-perfect-harmony/.

*All other information is from the class presentations