Gospel.com Blog

Yesterday we posted the story of Jesus’ mountaintop transfiguration. Today, let’s follow up on the Bible’s account with a short essay about the significance of the Transfiguration. This devotional from Christian History Institute explains why the event was so important in the Gospel story:

The transfiguration is a key event in Christ’s life. It confirmed that Christ must die on the cross. Three gospel writers report it. Their simple statements have the ring of truth. Later, in one of his letters, Peter referred to the event, too, reminding his readers that he was an eyewitness to Christ’s glory that day.

The transfiguration confirmed that Jesus had God’s approval and was pure. It foreshadowed Christ’s entry (and eventually every Christian’s entry) into glory.

That essay is one of CHI’s daily stories from Christian history, which walk through the entire year’s worth of noteworthy events from Christian history.

The fourth and final Gospel account is the Gospel of John, written by the “disciple that Jesus loved”. John’s account of Jesus’ life and ministry differs in some interesting ways from the other three Gospels—the author has an eye for details that the other accounts leave unmentioned. It’s thus well worth reading, even if you’re quite familiar with the other Gospels.

A few links to help you explore this unique Gospel account: (more…)

Luke 1:3-4 “Since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”

One doesn’t have to read far into Luke’s account of the life and ministry of Jesus to see that he is passionate about providing an orderly account of what he has seen and researched. He wrote this gospel for Theophilus, who was also the recipient of his other contribution to the New testament, the book of Acts. Both Luke and Acts were written sometime during the first century. The International Bible Society has a great introduction to Luke that covers the history and structure of the book. And as always, you can read the Gospel of Luke via the Bible Gateway.
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Yesterday we talked a bit about the Gospel of Matthew; today we’ll take a look at the second Gospel account in the New Testament—the book of Mark.

Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels. It is relatively fast-paced compared to some of the other Gospels, was written with a non-Jewish audience in mind, and describes the ministry of Christ all the way to his death and resurrection. You can get started reading it yourself (or listen to it in audio format) over at the Bible Gateway. Before you dive in, though, you might want to take a look at some of these resources to help you get the most out of Mark:

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This week on Gospel.com, we’re taking a look at the four gospels of Jesus Christ, and today we’re focusing on Matthew. For me the book of Matthew was the first book of the bible I ever really studied. By looking at the verses underlined in my aging NIV you can see what was on my mind during that time. Matthew is a book that is often cited as being written for the Greek Jews, and today it remains as one of the four gospels that show Jesus’ life to us. You can read the full text at The BibleGateway, or listen to it here. The International Bible Society has a concise introduction to the book that outlines the structure and history of the book. Additionally, Uplook Ministries has more textual/literary introduction.
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