2
LIFE THROUGH HIS NAME
MARK. - This Gospel follows the same line as that of Matthew, but
is shorter and omits some subject matter that would not appeal
to the Gentile proselytes, for whom the account was primarily
intended.
LUKE. - Luke writes for the Gentiles evangelized by Paul. He goes
back to Adam.
JOHN. - John's point of view is to be discovered. All we will say at
the moment is that in 20:31 the apostle has plainly indicated the
great object he had in mind in writing his account of the
ministry of Christ.
Every teacher, whether inspired or not, if he is to be successful in
his work, must establish contact with his hearers, and then proceed
from the known and accepted to the unknown. Matthew, for instance,
is traversing ground which would be very familiar to his hearers when
he traces the genealogy of our Lord back to Abraham. Every name in
the first sixteen verses of Matthew would be as well known to many of
his readers as the commonest household words. Abraham was the
common ancestor of them all, and Judah the father of the particular
tribe most concerned. Having established contact with his readers,
Matthew then proceeds to advance one step further, and to prove that
the Son born of Mary was the Heir to the throne of David, and yet a
virgin's Son and Emmanuel, `God with us'.
John opens his Gospel with the words:
`In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God'.
We must suppose that in this case also the writer is standing on
common ground with his readers. Strange as this language may sound
in our ears, it can be shown that the necessity for the `logos' was the
burden of both Greek and Alexandrian philosophy at the time of John's
writing, and that the city of Ephesus, from which the Gospel emanated,
was a place where the philosophies of East and West mingled and
where these ideas were at that time `in the air'. Later we will
substantiate these statements as to the important position that the
`logos' held in ancient philosophy, but for the moment we must pass
on.