The four Gospels are amazingly complex portraits of the Son of God. Each account verbally \u201cpaints\u201d its subject from many different angles, capturing different aspects of the gospel just as a cut and polished precious stone catches and reflects light differently from its many facets.<\/p>\n
One of those aspects of the good news is the way Jesus is shown to relate to us in time. We often do not think about it, but time was part of the announcement of the gospel. Mark tells us that Jesus proclaimed, \u201cThe time has come. . . . The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!\u201d (1:15). Luke also shows this: \u201cThe Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached\u201d (16:16). Luke even portrays Jesus criticizing the people of Jerusalem precisely \u201cbecause you did not recognize the time of God\u2019s coming to you\u201d (19:44).<\/p>\n
In fact, the gospel of Jesus Christ cannot be separated from time. Each of the four Gospels gives a different perspective on this.<\/p>\n
This dimension of time is particularly easy to see in Matthew\u2019s account, which is deeply rooted in the past. Matthew continually looks back to what was written in the Hebrew Scriptures, to the prophecies and promises of the Messiah who would come. In fact, there are some 70 references in the Gospel of Matthew that are cited from the Old Testament.<\/p>\n
This is an astonishing number of citations for the size of the book, and a number that far outstrips the quotations from the Old Testament found in all the other Gospels. Matthew could even be called the Gospel of Fulfillment, as he continually tells us that actions or events in the life of Jesus occurred that it \u201cmight be fulfilled\u201d or \u201cwas fulfilled\u201d (1:22; 2:15, 17, 23; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 27:9, 35, NKJV). And as Jesus said in His own words, \u201cDo not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them\u201d (5:17).<\/p>\n
Even apart from the many examples of fulfilled prophecies of the past, Matthew frequently uses the expression \u201cIt is written.\u201d Again, this directs his readers back to the past and to the evidence of Jesus\u2019 identity as the promised Christ. It also shows them how rooted the teaching of Jesus was in the bedrock of Jewish culture and biblical law (cf. 4:4, 7, 10).<\/p>\n
Interestingly, Matthew often does not arrange his material chronologically. He simply organizes it by topic. In this fact we see again the importance in his Gospel not of how things happened in the present but of how the events that occurred fulfilled the words of the past.<\/p>\n
Matthew points us to the past to better see the gospel of the One promised there.<\/p>\n
Mark\u2019s Gospel is firmly set in the present in that it does not continually appeal to past prophecies as Matthew\u2019s account does, but looks more directly at Jesus\u2019 deeds in the here and now. In fact, \u201chere and now\u201d perfectly summarizes the stress on time in Mark. This Gospel not only stays within the time of the actions recorded but also continually underscores the immediacy of Jesus\u2019 actions \u201cnow.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, Mark tells us (emphases added) that at the onset of Jesus\u2019 ministry \u201cAt once<\/em> the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness\u201d (1:12); \u201cAt once<\/em> they left their nets and followed him\u201d (v. 18); \u201cWithout delay<\/em> he called them\u201d (v. 20); \u201cnews about him spread quickly<\/em> over the whole region of Galilee\u201d (v. 28). The pattern continues throughout Mark\u2019s Gospel. The Greek word eutheos<\/em>, translated \u201cimmediately,\u201d \u201cstraight away,\u201d \u201cat once,\u201d etc., occurs no fewer than 42 times in Mark. This and other terms of time give an immediacy to important events and even everyday actions in Jesus\u2019 life. Mark constantly uses the historical present tense to show the dedication and non-stop work of Jesus.<\/p>\n Mark\u2019s present-focused story of Jesus challenges us to live out our part in God\u2019s calling by doing what we have been given to do \u2014 now.<\/p>\n Luke\u2019s perspective often involves a focus on the future. For example, in his Gospel we find the continued use of the word will<\/em>, as in \u201cthe Son of man will .\u202f.\u202f.\u201d (cf. 9:26; 12:8, 10; 22:22, 69). We see how pronounced this pattern is when we realize that compared to Mark, which has 89 occurrences of will<\/em>, Luke\u2019s account uses this same word 243 times. In Matthew, the great majority of the instances of will<\/em> occur in his citations of past prophecies that state, \u201cSuch and such will happen.\u201d In Luke the emphasis is almost entirely on words spoken in the present, referring to future actions or events.<\/p>\n For example, Luke is unlike Mark\u2019s account. Mark does not clearly separate Jesus\u2019 return from the events of that age and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in ad 70 (\u201cBut in those days, following that distress,\u201d Mark 13:24). However, Luke more clearly projects Jesus\u2019 return into the distant future by writing \u201cJerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled\u201d (21:24).<\/p>\n Luke continues his future perspective of the gospel of Jesus in Acts. He begins this book with Jesus\u2019 words, culminating in \u201cYou will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth\u201d (1:8). These future-looking promises are reinforced by the angelic message about Christ at His ascension: \u201cHeaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything\u201d (3:21).<\/p>\n Luke continually points us to the future aspects of the gospel of Jesus.<\/p>\n Just as John\u2019s Gospel is different from the other three in many ways, so its perspective and focus on time are unique. First, John stresses the importance of time in Jesus\u2019 ministry more than any other Gospel writer. His account may be divided into two halves: the ministry of Jesus (chapters 1-12) and the final few days of Jesus\u2019 life (chapters 13-21). John bridges this division by the use of seven time markers regarding Christ\u2019s \u201chour.\u201d Three times in the first half of this Gospel we find some variant of the expression \u201cMy hour has not yet come\u201d (2:4; 7:30; 8:20). Then, four times in the second half of the Gospel, we find variants of \u201cThe hour has come\u201d (12:23; 12:27; 13:1; 17:1). But Jesus\u2019 \u201chour\u201d is always seen against the backdrop of eternity.<\/p>\n While the first three Gospels often focus on past, present, and future, respectively, John\u2019s account utilizes a wider view. Just as his audience was a universal one, John\u2019s perspective is an eternal one. Starting with \u201cIn the beginning\u201d (1:1) and ending in an eternal future (21:22-25), the narrative is all-encompassing in its view of time. Throughout his Gospel John repeatedly points us to aspects of eternity. For example, the repeated emphasis on the kingdom of God in the first three Gospels is missing in John. Instead, John places continual emphasis on eternal life (3:15, 16, 36, et al).<\/p>\n John paints a portrait of Jesus as the Eternal One who came in love and truth, to call us to eternity.<\/p>\n The pattern of past-present-future-eternity found in the four canonical descriptions of Jesus\u2019 life and ministry is so clear that we might wonder if the arrangement of the Gospels as we have them is more than coincidental. Could their order be part of the inspiration of how the gospel accounts have come down to us? We have no way of knowing, of course.<\/p>\n Whatever the case, the four Gospels do show that time is part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Although God transcends time, He is nevertheless the one \u201cwho is, and who was, and who is to come\u201d (Revelation 1:8). Perhaps that is why God has given us the gospel of Christ not at a single point of time but throughout time.<\/p>\n What is certain is that God places events in time the way a master jeweler places precious stones in their settings. They would not be so perfectly placed in any other manner. Different aspects of the gospel of Jesus Christ are placed in time in exactly that way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The four Gospels are amazingly complex portraits of the Son of God. Each account verbally \u201cpaints\u201d its subject from many different angles, capturing different aspects of the gospel just as a cut and polished precious stone catches and reflects light differently from its many facets. One of those aspects of the good news is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":308,"featured_media":28490,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,2077],"tags":[1607,77,1831,160],"yoast_head":"\nGospel of the future<\/h2>\n
Gospel of eternity<\/h2>\n
Was, is, and is to come<\/h2>\n