Read: Luke 5:1-39; Mark 1:40-2:22; Matthew 8:1-4; 9:1-17
Reading through the Bible in chronological order brings out some things that I have missed before. Luke is the only one who tells the story of the great catch of fish and he is not even a fisherman; Luke was a doctor. Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell about the man healed of leprosy, the paralyzed man who walked, how Jesus called Matthew from the tax collecting table into discipleship and answered the question about why Jesus’ disciples didn’t fast. John is totally silent about all these things.
Each of the gospels were written for a different audience. Matthew, the wealthy tax-collector wrote to the Jewish believers and his theme was that Jesus was the King of the Jews. He saw the royalty of Jesus. Mark, a wealthy Roman, wrote to the Romans and his theme was that Jesus was the servant of Jehovah. Mark must have watched how Jesus, the son of God chose to serve his fellow men. Luke, the physician, wrote to the Greeks and his theme was that Jesus was the son of man. The Greeks were into the greatness of man. Physicians during that day were not the wealthy people they are today. They were the philosophers and the deep thinkers. Luke is the one who gives us an orderly account so his book is in the order it happened. But, John, the fisherman, wrote to the Church and his theme was that Jesus was the Son of God. John only tells of seven miracles. He speaks from a more intimate relationship with Jesus.
I don’t know why John left these stories out but each gospel is strategic in God’s plan. We need to see Jesus as the King of Kings, the Servant of the world, the Son of man, and the Son of God.
Lord, expand our sight to see you in your entirety.
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