Survey of the Gospels, Part 1

Well, brethren, happy Sabbath! This is our Bible study Sabbath. You may remember that we have been going through a survey of the Gospels. We started out since the Passover season was coming up. We started out with the events of the Passover, knowing that we were kind of jumping near the end of the harmony of the Gospels. We did that for a couple of months, and we have gotten through that section.

So now we're going to start at the beginning of understanding the survey of the Gospels. And this particular Bible study, what we're going to look at is the four individuals who wrote the four Gospels. Of course, we know the Gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. So we're going to look at each of those four individuals a little bit about their background, a little bit about the perspective they were using.

Obviously, some interesting scriptures involved in it, and that's what we're going to cover today in our Bible study. So there are four Gospel accounts, and those four accounts are written from the perspective of four different people. And that's important for us to realize that there are similarities in the Gospel accounts. There are areas of the Gospel accounts that they differ slightly because there were four unique individuals who were either observing events as eyewitnesses or heard stories or talked to individuals who were eyewitnesses who created what we call the four Gospels.

The first three that we traditionally know of as the synoptic Gospels, which are Matthew, Mark, and Luke, come from the combination of a Greek word, the Greek word sin, which means together, and optinei, which means to see. So these three particular Gospels are very similar. Sometimes exact statements word for word are exactly alike in these three Gospels. They were written with mutual independence, but they obviously had access to a common oral tradition or writing. We have to remember that the Gospel was preached before it was written. It was an oral message, and the original disciples went around and they preached the Gospel.

And it actually wasn't until their generation began to die out, either through martyrdom or the effects of old age, which at that time, I might add, was about 50 years old in those days, the effects of old age began taking its toll, and individuals said, you know, we need to write this down. This generation is dying out. We need to make sure that we codify and write down what the Messiah did and said in the teachings of Jesus Christ, and that's exactly what occurred.

Various scriptures show that these men knew each other, and they obviously exchanged their remembrances or they spoke to eyewitnesses. There were similar stories about Christ that they had learned from other people, and that was a connection in the reason why the synoptic Gospels are very close to one another. Then there's the unique Gospel, the fourth Gospel, which is the Gospel of John.

It was the last one that was written, again about 90 to 100 AD, and it includes a lot of events that are not covered in the synoptic Gospels. Some of these events occur. For example, it has seven miracles, five of which of those seven are not mentioned in the synoptic Gospels. So that is what John adds.

The foot-washing service in John 13 is not mentioned anywhere in the synoptic Gospels. The resurrection of Lazarus in John 11. The extended discourse after the final Passover is recorded only in John. The first miracle of Jesus at the wedding is recorded in John. So we have him to thank for that, and as I've mentioned before, it is as if John had access to one or more synoptic Gospels as an old man. He looked at it and said, in many cases, this has already been covered adequately. I don't need to mention this event. Then he would say, I remember this occurred and it's not mentioned.

So he would add that into his Gospels. That's one reason why his Gospels are so unique compared to the synoptic Gospels. Of course, the Gospel of John focuses on the personal qualities of Christ rather than on his ethical teachings. It focuses on what we might say are the personality, the personal aspects of Christ's character rather than his ethical teachings. Jesus' relationship is with individuals, and that is stressed his individual relationship with people more than his contact with the general public in the Gospel of John.

I thought you might find this interesting. This is a chart that I found on the Internet. The Internet site is listed below. It's a comparison of the usage of the word life for eternal life every time Jesus talked about life, usually referring to eternal life, and a contrast of that word with the word the kingdom. I want you to look at the difference between John's Gospel, the non-synoptic Gospel, and Matthew, Mark, and Luke. For example, if you look at the word life, look how many times John records from his perspective that Jesus spoke about eternal life 35 times, far more than you find in the synoptic Gospels, because that is the perspective of which John was writing from.

That was very important to him. Jesus came to offer eternal life. In contrast, look at how many times the kingdom—we talk a lot about the kingdom of God. That's certainly the gospel. How many times the kingdom is mentioned in the book of John five times compared to writings like Matthew 50 five times? So it's again, as I've mentioned, when John was looking at at least one of the synoptic Gospels, he said, you know, they've talked about the kingdom of God a lot.

There's nothing more that I can add in my gospel about the kingdom of God. They have said it all. But what I would like to focus on is the fact that Jesus came to offer eternal life. So you can see here that John's gospel has a dramatically different focus than what we call the synoptic Gospels. These four Gospels were written about the same events, but from the perspective of different people with various backgrounds and perspectives. You know, if I observed an event for three years, if I saw it and Art West saw it and Bob Boyner saw it and Joe Horton saw it, and we wrote down exactly what we saw for three years, much of it would be similar.

But we have different backgrounds and we have different personalities and we have different interests. So there would be differences, though there would be similarities and a common theme about an event that we saw, yet there would be some differences. And that is why none of the Gospels are exactly like another. So what we'd like to do in the Bible study today is review the four authors and their unique perceptions of the ministry of Jesus Christ because they all have something unique and different to add to our understanding of who and what Jesus was.

Tatian was a Syrian Christian of the second century. He lived around 170 BC and he's credited as the first man to create a harmony of the Gospels and you know he used the same four Gospels that we have even though there were many other Gospels floating around, including the Gospel of the Book of Thomas, of which I take no credit, I might add, that there were all kinds of Gospels floating around. But even he said these four are the real McCoy. And in his harmony of the Gospels, and that's the oldest that we have that survives, fragments of his writing includes Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

And then there were others like Arrhenius and 180 AD who also claimed that these four Gospels alone were a valid and a complete record of the life and ministry of Christ. So that is how far back these four Gospels and these four Gospels alone have been recognized as authentic.

And the reason I say that is if you watch the History Channel or other television programs, there's a big thing now since the Da Vinci Code, the drag-up, quote, lost books of the Bible. That's a big kick in secular history today. The lost Gospel of Judas. And they're going on and on. And subliminally what they're trying to do is they're trying to erode the authority of the original Gospels. They're trying to say that there's nothing special about the original four.

It was just through politics that others were locked out or others were not accepted. And that these so-called, you know, pseudo Gospels written by these other individuals are just as valid as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and that we can gain spiritual insight from them. And frankly, brethren, that's not the case at all.

My point here is that we have a very ancient history showing that the four books that we call the Gospels were accepted at a very early time in Christian history. The first Gospel, Matthew, otherwise known as Matthew Levi, approximate date written, is 50 to 70 AD. No one really knows when these were written. These dates and locations that I'm written are just the best that people who research these things, looking at hints within their writings and looking at timing, can come up with.

But these certainly are not in concrete. The approximate date that Matthew is believed to have been written was, again, was 50 to 70 AD. The possible location was Antioch, and he had a unique theme. His theme is not the kingdom of God.

His theme – he uses a different phraseology that's unique to Matthew – the kingdom of heaven. It is the kingdom that belongs to heaven. When Christ was among them, the kingdom of heaven was at hand, meaning the kingdom that belonged to God from heaven. And so he uses this phrase, the kingdom of heaven, in contrast to the other Gospel writers who will refer to the kingdom of God. So this is one of the key themes of his particular writing. What can we learn about him? First of all, he was a tax collector.

He collected tolls from farmers and merchants traveling through Galilee. This was one of the most despised professions in ancient Israel. Many tax collectors were corrupt because you could say that the tax is, say, a hundred shekels, where the tax was really eighty shekels. Well, you could collect the eighty to give to the government, and you could keep the twenty yourself and not say anything.

So it was a system that was very ripe with corruption. And it was extremely despised by the Jewish people because tax collectors tended to be very well off because they had an open door to corruption. But he was a tax collector, and that was considered a very negative profession in ancient times. He was also called Levi. We'll take a look at that in a few minutes.

He had a half-brother who was another disciple. James, the son of Alphaeus, was his half-brother. He was trained in Aramaic and Greek, which was important for being a toll collector because you were dealing with people who were not just Jews. That was a part of the world in which there was a lot of trade and travel.

He was understood Aramaic and Greek. Some traditions say that his first gospel was written in Aramaic and has been lost, and that what we have today, which was written in Greek, is simply a translation of his original gospel, which some believe was in Aramaic.

His ability to keep meticulous accounting records and journals and notes because he was a tax collector helped him to record the ministry of Jesus in a gospel. So the lesson there is that you and I have unique skills and abilities that God can use in wonderful ways. In this way, it was because of his ability to keep records and the ability to write well, and that served him in being able to write the first gospel. Let's take a look here at the attitude that many of the Jewish people had towards his profession. Mark 2, verse 14, says, he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting in the tax office, and he said to him, follow me, so he arose and followed him.

Now it happened, as he was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many. And they followed him. So Jesus was attracting the undesirables of society, were the ones who were following and attracted to the message of Jesus Christ. Verse 16, and when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to his disciples, how is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?

So they're judging Jesus. They're saying, look, he should be hanging around a higher class of people. If he were really God's representative, he wouldn't lower himself. If he were the son of God, he'd know just how wicked and evil these people are, of course, in contrast to scribes and Pharisees. And they said to his disciples, how is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?

Verse 17, when Jesus heard it, he said to them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. So Jesus said, I am the spiritual physician.

I am here to heal people's hearts and minds and souls and to offer forgiveness to those who are humble and those who are willing to repent. And that was the message that Jesus had that is related here about the profession that Levi had. Now, the Believer's Study Bible says that Levi is also known by the name of Matthew.

Compare Matthew 9, 9 through 13, which describes the same incident with a tax collector named Matthew. And here's Matthew's account. As Jesus passed by from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, follow me. And the words that are stated are very, very similar to what we just read previously. So his name was Matthew Levi, the same individual, same disciple, oftentimes called by two different names.

Legend says that he traveled to Ethiopia to preach the gospel, and he associated there with Queen Candace, who was the queen of the Ethiopians. You may remember that it was Philip who came in contact with a eunuch in his chariot who was a servant of Queen Candace, and it was Philip that spoke the gospel to that man and baptized him there. And it is believed that Matthew was martyred in Ethiopia, but before he died he preached the gospel in that part of the world.

His emphasis is on Christ authority, his title as the Son of God, a phrase used over and over again by him is emphasized, and the ability of Jesus to forgive sin. His genealogy points to Jesus as the promised Messiah, and that was very important to Matthew's perspective because Matthew wanted to open up the gospel and let everyone of every skin color, of every race and ethnicity and language to know that they had an opportunity to hear the gospel and become part of the family of God.

Again, his purpose was to show that Jesus had the power to command his disciples to spread the gospel throughout the world, that famous phrase that we use to make disciples of all nations comes from Matthew's account. We have Matthew to thank for that, and he punches that phrase strongly. It is a global message of hope to make disciples among all the nations. Let's take a look at that in the new King James Version.

And Jesus came, again this is from the gospel of Matthew, Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age. And there's our church seal right there. It is preaching the gospel, preparing a people, verse 20, teaching them to observe these things. So it's preaching the gospel, it's preparing the people. From the new century version, it says go and make followers of all people in the world. That emphasis, again, comes from the gospel of Matthew who wanted the reader to understand that it is a universal gospel, not one limited just to people of Jewish descent. Now let's talk about John Mark. The second of the synoptic gospels, the approximate date that it was written, is 60 to 70 AD. It was possibly written either from Rome because he was an associate with Peter, and tradition says that near the end of Peter's life that John Mark was there with him. It is believed by many scholars that much of what John Mark writes are recollections of what Peter told him as an eyewitness about the life in the ministry of Jesus Christ, possibly written in Rome or Alexandria. And the key themes are the important episodes of Christ's ministry. There is little attention given to his early life or his family. No genealogies are included. There's no focus on his early life as a young man. That isn't important from John Mark's perspective. What is important are all of the episodes in which Jesus's ethical teachings were highlighted during his ministry.

Interesting, his name Mark is a Latin phrase which means hammer or defender.

Mark actually, as a Latin name, is a take-off of the god Mars. So that was his Latin nickname. He was called John, which was his Jewish name. We'll see what John means in a few minutes when we get to the actual gospel of John. And his was called John Mark, which was a combination of a Jewish name and a Roman name. Now, in looking at his background, we see that he was related to Barnabas. He was a cousin, and we know that from something that Paul tells us there in Galatians chapter 4 and verse 10. He was not one of the original disciples, but as a young man, he may have been an eyewitness to some important events. It is believed that his mother owned the home in which the upper room of the final Passover was held in. He may have been a young servant boy observing some of the things that Jesus was doing and saying. He had a long-term positive relationship with the apostle Peter. It is believed that he may have been an assistant for him for a period of time.

And he was the son of Mary, whose home was used by the early believers. Let's take a look at a scripture and see where this is the case. We're going to go to Acts chapter 12 and verse 11. Peter had been arrested by Herod. He had put in jail, and by God's miraculous intervention, Peter is able to walk out of jail. And here's what happens. Again, Acts chapter 12 and verse 11. And when Peter had come to himself, in other words, when he realized, wow, I'm free, a miracle occurred, and I can literally walk out of here. When he came to himself, he said, now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people, because he probably would have been killed the next day. Verse 12. So when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. So this was his mother's home. This may have also been the same location of what was called the upper room used in the final Passover of Christ, mentioned in Luke, the 22nd chapter. So he comes from an influential family. He was a generation younger than most of the original disciples, approximately 10 years younger. So when Jesus died, they were all in their early 30s. Most of them were 30-something. He was in his early 20s. A wealthy family, we know that because his mother not only owned a home, but other scriptures show that she had hired servants, so she was well off.

We know that he had a falling out with Paul because while on a missionary journey with Paul and Barnabas, he left early to return to Jerusalem. We'll talk about that in a minute.

He was the one who was responsible for a split in the missionary team of Paul and Barnabas. They had worked together up until a certain point, and then Paul decided to associate with Silas while Mark and Barnabas went on their journey. And we'll see what happened here because this obviously would have influenced Mark's perception of many things. We go to Acts 13 and verse 13. It says, and Paul and his party set sail from Panthos. They came to Perga in Pamphylia, and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. Now Luke is writing this, and in his tact he just says that this young man departed from them. We don't know exactly what happened, but it bothered Paul. We don't know if it's because they were now preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, and Mark was upset with that. We don't know if he became homesick. We don't know if it was a personality problem between he and Paul. All we know here in Acts 13 is he says, I'm out of here.

I'm going back to Jerusalem. Well, by the time we get to Acts 15, we see that that event had created a problem. Acts 15 and verse 36. Then after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of God and see how they're doing. Now Barnabas, remember his cousin, determined to take with them John called Mark, but Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. So Paul's perspective was, this kid's a quitter. I'm not taking him with me again. He's a quitter. I don't want him on our journey. Well, what happened? Verse 39, then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. Imagine that minister sometimes not getting along, even separating from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and he sailed to Cyprus. He went his way, but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. So whatever it is that this young man had done, set off Paul to the point that Paul refused to allow him to travel as part of his missionary party.

Peter referred, in contrast to that, however, Peter referred to Mark as his son, and he sent his greetings in 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 13. And the good news is, after looking at that episode in Acts 15, is that Mark and Paul eventually healed the wound. And later in life, Paul had a deep respect for Mark. Paul's attitude completely changed towards Mark, and this may be due to Mark either maturing when he became older. The moral is you should never judge a book by its cover. When you see some 20-year-old young man in the congregation and maybe he seems gosh and maybe he's sometimes loud and maybe he has some negative qualities, don't judge a book by its cover. Remember, God is interested in the long term, and that's how we should view people. Not in the short term. God loves us because he doesn't see us as we are today. Because of his understanding of eternity, when he sees you, he sees how you will be. He sees the character and the qualities that you will have in his family, and that encourages God. And in spite of our weaknesses and problems, that encouragement helps God to continue to work with us, to work through our flaws, to work through our personal weaknesses so that we can become more like him. Let's take a look at some of Paul's later written comments about Mark. We know there was a falling away, but we know later on through these scriptures that the breach was healed. Philemon 1, verse 22, it says, but meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you Ephrath, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greet you as Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborer. So you see Mark is mentioned there, so it shows that there is a relationship that is developed once again between Paul and Mark. In Paul's letter to the Colossians, he says, Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greet you with Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, that's how they, we know they were cousins, whom, about whom you received instructions. If he comes to you, welcome him. So again, that's a positive comment made regarding John Mark. And then 2 Timothy, chapter 4, and verse 11, near the end of his life, he says, only Luke is with me, get Mark.

And bring him with you, for it is useful to me for ministry. So we can see that his entire attitude towards Mark and his character and his qualities changed as time went by. And we too, brethren, need to be that open-minded. If we've been offended by people who just suffer from chronic jerkism, we should not hold it against them forever. We have to be open-minded and tolerant enough to give people the space to grow, to give people the opportunity to repent and change. And not to hold a grudger, not just to hold a negative feeling or attitude towards someone forever, because they've offended us or because they've heard us or they've said or done outlandish things. There's a very valuable lesson in there for us. Now, some scholars feel that Mark's gospel assembled the memories of Peter about the ministry of Christ because there are things in there that Mark was not an eyewitness to, but he writes very similar events to the other synoptics. He wrote his gospel for gentile Christians. He explains Jewish customs in detail, in more detail than any of the other gospels, for the benefit of readers who were unfamiliar with the faith of Judaism. He has been called the gospel of action. One of his favorite words in telling the story of Jesus, he uses it a lot, is he says, Jesus immediately did this. Jesus immediately did that. Jesus is constantly on the move. Christ is constantly in movement in the gospel of Mark.

And he was careful to relate not only the words of Christ, but also he highlights his gestures, his attitudes, and his emotions in many of the events that he relays about the ministry of Jesus Christ. So again, that was Mark. Now let's talk about Luke, perhaps my favorite of these synoptic gospel writers. We believe this the approximate date it was written was about 60 AD and the location. Even the scholars won't venture to say there is no hint about where this may have been written from. Luke focuses on doctrinal topics, especially the Holy Spirit, and it should be no surprise to us because as he records the travels of his close associate Paul in another book that he writes, the book of Acts, we can see that Paul is obviously focusing on doctrine over and over again as he visits his many congregations. That's what the epistles of Paul primarily are.

He has, Luke, more references to the Holy Spirit in his gospel than Matthew and Mark combined.

So we have Luke to thank for a lot of what we know about the Holy Spirit because of his writings.

His name is also a Latin name like Mark and it means bringer of light. He was a traveling companion of Paul. He was also a physician. He was a longtime friend that Paul calls beloved there in Colossians chapter 4. Luke was not an original disciple. It is believed that he was converted. He was a Gentile. It is believed that he was converted between 10 to 15 years after the day of Pentecost, probably on Paul's visit to Antioch. He is also the author of the book of Acts, not just simply Luke. Many scholars believe that Luke and Acts once was a single work. When you look at them, they're both addressed to the same patron who had asked for the books to be written and many believe it once was a single work that was later divided into two books in the New Testament. It's believed that he wrote the Gospel of Luke during Paul's first Roman imprisonment in the city of Rome and again he was most likely a Gentile. First of all, his name is Gentile and this scripture here leads many to believe that Paul says he was a Gentile. Let's look at this closely.

This is Colossians chapter 4 verse 10.

Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you with Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, about whom you received instructions. If he comes to you, welcome him. We read that scripture just a few minutes ago, but now we pick it up in verse 11. And Jesus, who is called justice, these are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision. They have proved to be a comfort to me. Period. Stop right there. It is believed that Paul said these names that I just mentioned are those who were circumcised. They're either Jews or they were prostellites who originally were Gentiles, but received circumcision and became good Jews. He stops right there. Then he picks it up in verse 12.

He says, Epiphras, which is a Greek name, who is one of you, and the phrase one of you may be pointing to the fact, meaning a Gentile, because remember the Colossians were a Gentile church. He says, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God, for I bear him witness that he has a great zeal for you and those who are in Laodicea and are in Heropolis, Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you again, two names that are not Jewish. So it is believed that by the time you end up in verse 11 that he has mentioned all of the names of those who are, quote, of the circumcision and beginning in verse 12 he continues mentioning the Gentile servants who work with him and labor among the churches. So that is one very strong indication that Luke was a Gentile. Luke is identified with being from Antioch. His interest in Antioch is clearly seen in as many references to that city. So does believe that that was his hometown. Look at Acts chapter 11, 13, 14, 15, and 18. He mentions things going on in Antioch, so that may have been his home city. In time, he adopted Philippi as his home. He remained behind there to pastor the young church while Paul went to Corinth during his second missionary journey, and that's recorded in Acts chapter 16. And Luke remained nearby or with Paul during the Apostle's second Roman imprisonment and shortly before his martyrdom. So Luke was one of those people who had a long time close relationship with Paul. And Luke is kind of the original church historian. If you read the book of Acts, you see so much history in chronological order. Again, something you would expect from someone who has a physician's mind, who is organized and detailed, and thinks systematically. When you look at the book of Acts, you realize that he was a historian who wrote the events of the early apostles from the time when Jesus was received up through heaven all the way through much and most of the ministry of Paul. So Luke has a very important impact with his gospel, the Gospel of Luke.

Early lists and descriptions of the New Testament books that date as early as 160 to 190 agree that Luke, the physician and the companion of Paul, wrote the Gospel of Luke. You may not have realized it or not, but there are liberal theologians who don't believe that any of these books were written by the men that I'm talking about today. The books do not say, Matthew does not say, and I, Matthew, as I wrote this Gospel, they don't tell you that they wrote them. All right? John doesn't say, and I, John, you know, John hides who he is. He says oftentimes in relating something that Jesus said to him personally, he would say, and the beloved disciple, the disciple that Jesus loved, said. So, because of that, liberal theologians who, by the way, are always looking for flaws, always looking for ways to erode people's faith, don't believe that Matthew wrote Matthew, or Mark wrote Mark, or Luke wrote Luke, or John wrote John. But this is one of those historical events. You can go back to 160 AD, and you already find writings where it was universally believed that he, as a physician, wrote the Gospel of Luke, even though he doesn't say so in the writings himself. His target audience, obviously, were Gentile inquirers and Christians who needed strengthening in the faith. He stressed the universal redemption available to all through Christ, and you see that when you go throughout the Gospel. You see that Samaritans can enter the kingdom of God. That's in chapter 9. You see that pagan Gentiles can enter God's kingdom. That's in chapters 2 and 3 and 4 and 7 and 9. So it is a universal redemption that Jesus offers the Jew and Gentile. And Luke especially had high regard, very high regard, for women. Here's what it says from Holman's Bible dictionary. It says, quote, Mary and Elizabeth are central figures in chapters 1 and 2. When he gives the history of the birth account of John the Baptist, the birth account of Jesus, women play a very important role in that, and he is the one who points that out.

Anna the prophetess and Jonah the disciple are mentioned only in Luke. Again, that's chapters 2 and 8. Luke included the story of Christ-kind dealings with the widow of Nain in chapter 7 and the sinful woman who anointed him, chapter 7. He also related Jesus's parable of the widow who persevered in chapter 8. So Luke emphasizes the relationship that Jesus had in including women in his ministry and in his gospel. Let's take a look at an example. Luke chapter 2 and verse 36. It says, now there was one, Anna a prophetess. We have Luke to thank for this knowledge.

The daughter of Peniel and of the tribe of Asher, she was of great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, and this woman was a widow about eighty-four years. Let me read that again and let it sink in. And this woman was a widow about eighty-four years who did not depart from the temple but served God with fastings and prayers. Night and day, verse 38, and coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. We have Luke to thank for knowing more about Anna. And again in Luke chapter 8, and a certain woman who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Madeline, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna, the wife of Kuzia, Herod Stewart, and Susanna, and many others who provided for him from their substance. So again we have Luke to thank for this special emphasis on the impact that women had on the ministry of Jesus Christ. Now let's go to John of Zebedee, one of the sons of Zebedee. This is the non-synoptic gospel. This is unique.

It was written near the end of the century, 90 to 100 A.D. The possible location that it was written from was probably Ephesus, and he has a number of key themes. One of them are the signs and the miracles of Jesus, which I believe there are seven. Believe is a word that he uses 98 times more than any other gospel about believing that Jesus is the bread of life, believing in certain characteristics that Christ had. And John reveals the seven major I Am's, which truly are remarkable if you've ever done a Bible study on them. Here are the seven major I Am's. Remember the context here of why this phrase was so important. When Moses began a relationship with God in the Old Testament, he said, Who are you? Who shall I tell the people is sending me? And God said, I am. Now within that phrase means that I have always been from past eternity. I exist now, and I will always exist. I am transcendent of time and events. I have always existed, will always eternally exist. I am. And the Jews were very sensitive of understanding what that meant. As a matter of fact, they wouldn't even pronounce the name Yahweh. But John records seven major I Am's. Jesus said, I am the bread of life, and that is in chapter six. He said, I am the light of the world. And again, that is in chapter eight. I am the door of the sheepfold, by the way, in chapter 10. Jesus said, I am the good shepherd, which also is in chapter 10. I am the resurrection and the life, chapter 11. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and that's in chapter 14. And I am the true vine, chapter 15. So those are the seven major I Am's within the book of John. And we have him to thank for revealing that and codifying that so that that is part of his gospel, and we can glean those truths from Scripture. John means Yahweh has been gracious. That's what the name John means. It's a Hebrew name. He was the son of Zebedee, the brother of James. The sons of Zebedee were among the first disciples who were called. And if you go back either Matthew 4 or Mark 1, you will see that they were among his very first disciples. John and James were fishermen in the Sea of Galilee, probably lived in Capernaum, and they actually were business partners in the fishing business with Simon Peter. And you find out about that in Luke chapter 5 and verse 10.

Their father was sufficiently prosperous to have hired servants. That is in Mark, the first chapter, so their father was well off, and the family was highly respected in the Jewish community.

John is always mentioned in the first four in the lists of the twelve, whether you go to Matthew, Mark, Luke, or the book of Acts. Let's take a look at that quickly. In Matthew's account, Matthew chapter 10, you will see in the names that the twelve apostles were these. There's Simon, called Peter, Andrew, James, the son of Zebedee, and John. And again, under that, if you look at Mark's account, I like this translation. We'll be discussing this in a little more detail in a minute. The God's word for today, it says in Mark's account, and he appointed these twelve Simon, James and his brother John, Zebedee's sons, whom Jesus named. And the name means thunderbolts. That was their nickname, because they had a temper, because they had a quick flashpoint. And they were known as the sons of thunder, or I like this translation, the thunderbolts, because they would suddenly, passionately fly off and say very angry statements. In Luke's account, you will also see where they are the one of the first four mentioned, and then in the book of Acts. And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying. This is after the death of Christ. Peter, James, John, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Elphaeus, and Simon, the zealot, and Judas the son of James. So there's prominence there, the fact that he's mentioned every four, he's mentioned within the first four disciples of the various Gospels. John is also among the inner three who were with Jesus on very special occasions, like the raising of Jairus' daughter in Mark chapter 5. He was one of the three who were included in that. The transfiguration in Mark chapter 9, John was one of only three who were allowed to be part of that in the sea, that vision. Paul mentions John only once in Galatians chapter 2 and verse 9. He says, James, Cephas, Simon Peter, and John, who seem to be pillars of the church. So that's the only time in Paul's writings that he particularly mentions John.

John refers to himself in the Gospel as the beloved disciple in an effort not to draw attention to his very close relationship with Jesus. He did have a close, intimate, and affectionate relationship with Jesus Christ, and it may be because they were cousins. And I'll touch upon that in a minute. But the sons of Zebedee were given a specific name in Hebrew, which translated means sons of thunder or thunderbolts. They had a reputation as emotional hotheads and easy to become angry. We'll take a look at just a couple of examples here. First Mark chapter 9. This is actually the only words in the synoptic Gospels that are attributed specifically to John, where it says, John said. And here it is. Now John answered him, saying, Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us. He was immediately corrected by Jesus and told that if he's doing something in my name, just leave him alone. It's none of your business. Just let that individual do his thing. But here is a very interesting event in Luke, the ninth chapter. It says, and he sent messengers before his face, and as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans. Jesus sent messengers, obviously the disciples, to prepare for him. Verse 53, but they did not receive him because his face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when his disciples, James and John, these are the thunderbolts, saw this, they said, Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did? But he turned and rebuked them and said, you do not know what manner of spirit you are. So their initial reaction was, since they haven't received you, Lord, do you just want us to call fire down and make pop-tarts out of these characters? Should we just punish them and take care of them right now? And of course, Jesus said, no, we're not going to do that. You don't know what kind of spirit you're reflecting in your attitude. So again, John means Yahweh is gracious. He may have been closely related to Christ. If you compare a number of scriptures, Matthew chapter 27, Mark 15, and John 19, you will see that John's mother, Salome, may have been the sister of Mary, the mother of Christ. And if that's true, and you can't 100% prove it, but there may be a correlation there. If that's true, that would make John a cousin of Jesus Christ, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, would be John's aunt. At the trial of Jesus, John obtained access to the court of the high priest, and that was because the Zebedee family had influence and respect in the Jewish community. And you'll find that situation in John chapter 18. And then after the final Passover, John holds a position of intimacy and privilege with Christ. At the final Passover itself, you may remember when we covered the Passover in the earlier studies in John chapter 13. Jesus and John had some very intimate exchanges. Of course, John just referred to himself as the beloved disciple, and didn't refer to himself by his name.

The sons of thunder matured and grew into respect. The apostle of love, he became respected as the apostle of love, as is revealed in his later epistles. This is quite a contrast when you look at, for example, 1 John and realize that his nickname, mockingly, was thunderbolt, or sons of thunder, and in time, because of God's Holy Spirit, because of the power of God's Spirit to change us, to change us from who and what we are to something much better, much more mature, something much more usable in God's hands. Here's what the former thunderbolt, or son of thunder, writes in 1 John 4, verse 7, Beloved, let us love one another. Boy, that's quite a contrast. From shell, I bring fire down from heaven and just fry all of these people because they didn't acknowledge who you are. Let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Verse 8, he who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

In this, the love of God was manifested to us that God has sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. And obviously, there are a lot of other scriptures that we could glean from the epistles of John, but we can see a complete transformation took took place in his life from the unconverted son of thunder who Jesus worked with, and then the day of Pentecost occurred when he received the Holy Spirit, and through the maturing of time, and that took decades, he went from the son of thunder to the apostle of love. And that's quite a contrast in anyone's life. Well, brethren, that's the end of the Bible study for today.