Jesus in the Gospels (Disciple 5)
Jesus in the Gospels focuses on the portraits of Jesus found in the four Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The word in used in the title signals that this study takes an approach different from the familiar generalized "life and teaching of Jesus" approach.
This study looks at the way each writer presents events and teachings and at the particular picture of Jesus that emerges in each of the Gospels.
The Gospel of Mark provides the framework for the study and in most lessons provides the lead passage to which are added accounts of the same story or event from the other Gospels and supportive Scriptures from the Old Testament and other parts of the New Testament. From time to time, readings from the Apocrypha are also included to aid understanding of the Jewish thought-world Jesus inherited.
The Gospels are proclamation, not neutral reporting. They arise out allegiance to Jesus. They are not concerned with what is usually thought of as a biography. They Gospels' aim is to form their readers by the way they inform them about the subject matter -- Jesus. Readers are faced with the question, "Who is Jesus for me?" as were the original hearers.