Through Matthew, God showed the Jews that Jesus Christ was their Messiah, the long promised King of the Davidic line. Today the Christian accepts Christ as his Lord and King and should seek to obey His commands and live by the principles laid down for the subjects of His kingdom.
Through Mark, Jesus was shown to be the obedient and perfect Servant, who came to minister to others in obedience to His Father-God. Now God has highly exalted His Servant. We own Him as Master and Lord, and ought to count it a privilege and honor to serve and wait till He comes.
Through Luke, Christ is portrayed as the Son of Man who came to seek and to save that which was lost. The record began with the note of joy because of His advent into the world as the Man, Christ Jesus. It concludes with unspeakable joy of His followers when they saw the risen Christ. Their joy is shared by all who have not seen and yet by faith believe in Christ Jesus and acknowledge Him as Example and Savior.
Through John, Jesus is shown to be the Son of God and sent by His Father to bring salvation to the world. God loved the world. Christ came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He came to take away the sin of the world. Christ is the Savior of the world. To "as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God." To know Him as the Son of God is to acknowledge Him as Thomas did long ago, saying, "My Lord and my God." Or as someone else has put it:
Matthew - The promised One is here; see His credentials.
Mark - This is how He worked; see His power.
Luke - This is what He was like; see His nature.
John - This is who He really was; see His Godhead.
Oh to be occupied with this glorious Person more and more and live to extol Him, exhibit Him, and so that our lifelong experience may be, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21).
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