Through the Bible in 7 Hours Session: VIII

Why four gospel records? Why wasn’t there only one? Why did we need 4? The Holy Spirit chose to record 4 accounts for a specific purpose. Four is the number of the earth, and this four-fold picture of our Lord’s earthly life and ministry is the unveiling of a four-fold prophetic portrait of “THE most wonderful life ever spent on earth”!

Let’s pray

Good morning and welcome to Walking in Grace with Matthew and Whitney. Unfortunately Whitney works every other Saturday so we have my beautiful daughter as a temporary replacement. Thank you for joining me Austyn and thank you all for joining US on this journey through the Word of God.

As you may have guessed, we are still on the 4 gospels and we are answering the question: why.

To start, they are NOT a complete biography. Look at John 21:25

[Jhn 21:25 KJV] 25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

This right here says that the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. One or two would be too few and thousands not enough! Can you imagine being there and seeing all of these things going on? Can you just picture being there just to see the life of Jesus? Being a disciple and seeing this and then denying Him?? I don’t know how you could ever deny him after seeing all of what He did.

They are 4 inspired prophetic portraits, each written with a distinct design according to a principle of selection.

Matthew describes him as:

The Royal Ruler, The King of Israel.

In Mark he is said to be:

The Wonderful Worker, The Servant of Jehovah

Luke claims that he is:

The Magnificent Man, The Perfect Son of Man

And John says that he:

Demonstrated Deity, The Eternal God

This four-fold presentation of Christ was specifically indicated in the scriptures:

These are considered to be the four “Behold” prophecies in Zech and Isaiah.

If you look at Zech 9:9 He is referred to as “Thy King”

[Zec 9:9 KJV] 9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he [is] just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Zech 3:8 says

[Zec 3:8 KJV] 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they [are] men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.

Here God calls him “My Servant”.

In Zech 6:12,13 God calls him “The Man”

[Zec 6:12-13 KJV] 12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name [is] The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: 13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

The fourth “Behold” prophecy is in Isaiah 40:9

[Isa 40:9 KJV] 9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift [it] up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

BEHOLD YOUR GOD!

These were the 4 Prophetic Beholds that Jesus was called.

There are also the four prophetic “Branch” titles.

[Jer 23:5 KJV] 5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

[Zec 3:8 KJV] 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they [are] men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.

[Zec 6:12 KJV] 12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name [is] The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:

[Isa 4:2 KJV] 2 In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth [shall be] excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.

Let’s recap real quick, in the four behold prophecies we have:

King, Servant, Man and God

In the four Branch titles we have:

King, Servant, Man and Lord

Are we starting to see something here? Maybe a pattern of some sort?

Let’s look at the four faces of the cherubim....

[Eze 1:10 KJV] 10 As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

[Eze 10:14 KJV] 14 And every one had four faces: the first face [was] the face of a cherub, and the second face [was] the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

[Rev 4:7 KJV] 7 And the first beast [was] like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast [was] like a flying eagle.

Being the closest creatures to the Throne of God they most accurately portray the likeness of the Divine nature.

The Lion is the King or Ruler

The Ox or calf is the Worker or Servant

The Man is the Magnificent man or Son of Man

And the Eagle is the Diety or Lord that reigns over all

Remember what the 4 gospels represented? The King, Worker, Son of Man, and Diety!

The Cherubim represents as closely as possible to the description of Jesus.

Although each writer does present the Lord as all four of these ways, they each focus specifically on one aspect. Let’s start by looking a little closer at Matthew

Let’s talk Genealogy:

In the first verse of Matthew it establishes His royal Rights to the Throne of David.

[Mat 1:1 KJV] 1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

David = Throne and Abraham = The Nation and Land.

Notice here in verse 6 that it specifically addresses that David was a King.

[Mat 1:6 KJV] 6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her [that had been the wife] of Urias;

Now look with me here at Matthew 1:18-25

[Mat 18-25 KJV] 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just [man], and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

This is to mean that Joseph was the legal father of record through whom Christ can acquire the right to the title “son of David”.

Look with me real quick at verse 16.

[Mat 1:16 KJV] 16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

He was born. He wasn’t begat.

Matthew places the genealogy at the very beginning because it is important to establish His Royal Rights to the Throne. His purpose is to demonstrate that the covenants made with Abraham and David are vested in Jesus Christ.

Luke establishes His full human rights and natural lineage

Luke 3:38 traces His lineage back to Adam.

Luke puts His lineage in 3:23 which is after His baptism. Luke wants to show Him overflowing to all mankind, the larger purpose in Israel’s Kingdom.

Mark and John have no Genealogy.

The conception:

Matthew focuses on Joseph, “the son of David”.

Mark omits the conception

Luke focuses on Mary, “the seed of the woman”.

John omits but declares Him “the Word made flesh”.

His Birth:

Matthew focuses on Herod, Jerusalem, the “king of the Jews,” the star, the Wise Men, their gifts, etc

Luke focuses on Caesar, “all the world,” “all people” and a savior.

The Temptation:

Matthew 4 follows the Dispensational order and showed the different prophecies and what they say:

Bread – Display – kingdoms

[Mat 4:4, 7, 10 KJV] 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. ... 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. ... 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Mark Omits the details, except about the “wild beasts” being present, and simply reports His victory

[Mar 1:12-13 KJV] 12 And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. 13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.

Luke 4 follows the Human order of 1 John 2:16

Lust of flesh/ eyes/ pride

[1Jo 2:16 KJV] 16 For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

John has no temptation record for the reason stated in James 1:13

[Jas 1:13 KJV] 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

So the devil tried to tempt him, but God cannot be tempted with evil. Therefore, it had no effect on him.

Opening of Crist’s ministry:

Matthew begins with a focus on the King and His credentials:

[Mat 4:17 KJV] 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The first recorded miracle sees Him healing a leper with a “touch” which would have defiled another

[Mat 8:1-4 KJV] 1 When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. 2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus put forth [his] hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

I don’t know if you know what happens when you touch somebody with leprosy, but here is what happens: you get leprosy. Jesus did not get it. HE HEALED IT!

Mark begins with a whirlwind of activity.

[Mar 1:12, 21, 28, 31, 34, 39, 42 KJV] 12 And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. ... 21 And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught. ... 28 And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee. ... 31 And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them. ... 34 And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him. ... 39 And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils. ... 42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

And so on! He kept going and going!

His first recorded Miracles are manifestations of His Power

[Mar 1:21-31 KJV] 21 And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught. 22 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 Saying, Let [us] alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. 25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. 26 And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine [is] this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. 28 And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee. 29 And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her. 31 And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.

John records His first miracle as a manifestation of His glory

[Jhn 2:11 KJV] 11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

Their closing order, how they end:

Matthew 28 – The Resurrection of Christ

Mark 16 – The ascension of Christ

Luke 24 – The Coming of the Holy Spirit

John 21 – The Second Coming of Christ

Lastly, their Commissions:

Matthew 28 – The King with them reigning over the nations.

Mark 16 – The Servant working with them still.

Luke 24 – Their dependence on the enduement of the Spirit.

John 20 – Their God-given authority to forgive sins.

King, Servant, Man, God

It all comes back to that.

This is an incredible study! It is so fascinating how it all comes together and fits so perfectly the way that God designed it to. This is great proof that rightly dividing His Word shows His glories! What a wonderful Savior we have!

Next week we start digging into the book of Acts! This is going to be a very important and misunderstood book so come back and join us to learn and understand! Remember if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask! Also, I just made a new group on Facebook so that we could all get together and chat and ask questions or just share what is on our hearts. Can’t wait to see you all next saturday! Have a great week!