The Gospel Writers

SCENE ONE

Mark: Well hello. My name is Mark or as some people call me, John Mark. And I’m here with my three friends. Here’s Matthew, Luke and over there is John. Maybe you’ve heard of us. Some people would call us the gospel writers. And that is true. God inspired us to write accurate accounts of our Savior's life on earth. And we're here tonight to share that story with you.

Luke: The story of the ages. How God became a man. Emmanuel. God with us!

MATTHEW: He is Jesus. The long-awaited Messiah. THE KING OF KINGS!!

JOHN: And He is the Word. The WORD MADE FLESH.

Mark: That's right, John. Why don't you tell us about that?

JOHN: In the beginning was THE WORD. And the Word, was WITH God, and the Word, WAS God. He was in the beginning with God.
 All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Luke: Dwelt among us. I made it clear in my gospel that the angel told Mary, "He will be great and be called the Son of God. "

JOHN: Son of God. Right. And, as I was saying, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen His glory; glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

MATTHEW: Son of the Father. Yes, as I wrote in my gospel when Jesus was baptized, "Behold, a voice from heaven said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. "

Mark: Therefore, Jesus was both human and divine. Fully man and fully God.

JOHN: Of course, and that is my point. In the beginning was the Word. That's Jesus. And the Word ... Jesus ... was with God, and the Word ... Jesus ... was God. Remember, Jesus is the WORD. In the Beginning was the Word. He was, and is, God's one and only Son. And whoever believes in Him...

Luke: Will have everlasting life. And, as you stated, the Word became flesh and lived among us. Like our brother Paul said, When the fulness of time had come, God sent forth His SON.

JOHN: Yes, to redeem us. For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Mark: Jesus, Son of God.

SCENE TWO

Mark: So, Jesus, Son of God. The Word. Like you said, John, He left heaven and became flesh and dwelt among us. So, let’s talk about the details of how that happened. Luke? Matthew? You both wrote about the events connected with the birth of the humanity of Jesus. Can you talk about that right now?

Luke: Well, it’s a long story. I’ll give Mary’s story. And Matthew?

MATTHEW: Yes, I’ll share the experience of Joseph

Luke: Well, as I said earlier, an angel. The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings O Favored one, the Lord is with you. ”

Mark: Mary must have been terrified at the angel

Luke: Yes. She was greatly troubled. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the most high.

Mark: Well, it’s an angel! Who wouldn’t be afraid?

Luke: So, right. The same thing happened to old Zechariah, when he was serving in the temple, standing by the altar of incense. But that’s another story for another time. However, in Mary’s case, she was greatly troubled at the saying.

JOHN:  At the saying by the angel, right? That she had found favor with God? There it is again, Son of the Most High. Son of God.

Luke: Yes, and that was the Lord with her, and then she tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

JOHN:  So, the angel was there to give Mary a Message that would change the world, right?

Luke: Right, so the angel continued, He said, And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

Mark: Obviously, the promised Messiah. So how did Mary respond to this?

Luke: Well, first of all with a question. She asked, How will this be since I’m a virgin? And the angel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be called holy The Son of God.

JOHN:  For nothing will be impossible with God.

Luke: That’s what the angel said. And then Mary, her answer was amazing. She said, “Behold I am the servant of the Lord; Let it be done to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her.

Mark: Well, Matthew, how about Joseph? How did he receive the news?

MATTHEW: Well, like Luke said, before Mary and Joseph came together, she was found to be with child.

Mark: Through the Holy Spirit?

MATTHEW: That’s right, through the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

JOHN:  But the angel came to Joseph too, right?

MATTHEW: Yes, Joseph as he considered these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.

Mark: I love it when the angel said again, “Do not fear!" Don’t you? But that’s what the gospel is all about, right? Jesus came to save his people from their sins!

JOHN:  So both Mary and Joseph were visited by the angel, Right?

MATTHEW: Yes, that’s right, But all of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the Prophet, The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel.

Mark: Emmanuel. God with us. Yes Emmanuel. And What about the birth? It was in Bethlehem, right?

MATTHEW:  Of course. That was God’s plan from the beginning. The prophet Micah had predicted it.

Mark: So, both Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth, right? So, how did they wind up in Bethlehem of Judea?

Luke: God’s sovereignty, through a census from Caesar Augustus. It’s a long story but all people went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also sent up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

JOHN:  God’s plan from the beginning. The Word became flesh. Heaven’s Greatest Gift! Imagine how Joseph and Mary must have felt. The human father and mother of the Messiah. The one who would provide salvation for sinners.

SCENE THREE

Mark: Heaven’s Greatest Gift to me to all of us, I love that

Luke: But don’t forget the shepherds And the angels. Don’t forget them. They appeared to the shepherds.

Mark: Weren’t they kind of squirrely? The shepherds, I mean. NOT the angels.

JOHN:  The angels were awesome, and they gave the announcement
to the shepherds, right?

Luke: Yes, and it was amazing, and yes, the shepherds well they were just out in their fields, keeping watch… (interrupted by a shepherd running in, shouting “Wait”)

WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? They are not going to bring up shepherds to the stage this year, remember?

Shepherd: I KNOW. I know. But I heard you might need some help. Talking about the shepherds I mean.

MATTHEW: (looks at Luke): You’re right. Squirrely shepherds. WE need some help?

Shepherd: Squirrely? I could help you explain…

Mark: I can’t believe this. After all, WE’RE the gospel writers. No respect at all. Did you plan this?

Luke: Ok, OK. From a shepherd’s viewpoint, go ahead and tell us what happened.

Shepherd: Well, it was truly amazing. You see, an angel appeared to us. In fact, a whole lot of angels.

Luke: We’ve already talked about that. I resent that I can’t tell the story. After all, I wrote the entire account down.

Shepherd: Well, it has to do with what happened next. I mean, it was unbelievable. We all agreed to hurry on to Bethlehem, you see, Bethlehem was the city of David.

JOHN:  YOU? Are telling, us? HE! is telling, us!

Shepherd: Well, we hurried to Bethlehem to see what the angels had told us about. And we found them. Mary, Joseph, but most importantly, the baby. Who was lying in a manger, and we were so excited. So, we spread the word.

Mark: Spread the Word?

Shepherd: Yes, we spread the word about Jesus. This child was the promised Messiah, you know.

MATTHEW: Oh, really? We didn’t know that …

Shepherd: Well, yeah, Jesus. I mean. He was the One we all had been dreaming about and longing for.

JOHN:  Well yes, we’re with you. Jesus was the Christ, Son of the living God.

Shepherd: But the thing I keep remembering. The angel! Remember the angel?

ALL:  Yes, WE REMEMBER THE ANGEL!

Shepherd: Well, what he said to us, he said, Fear not. He told us not to fear I mean, we were terrified, you know. But he said, DON’T FEAR, for I bring you good tidings of great joy.

Luke and SHEPHERD: which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Luke:  So, fear not!

MATTHEW: Of course! Fear not.

All including the Shepherd: FEAR NOT

SCENE FOUR

Mark: Wow. What a story. And what a song, too.

MATTHEW: That’s not the whole story, there’s more.

JOHN:  OK, Matthew, tell us, what else happened.

MATTHEW: What else? Well AFTER Jesus was born?

Luke:  Yes, I remember, you wrote about the wise men from the east, right?

MATTHEW: That’s right. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all of Jerusalem with him. And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

JOHN:  And this is the prophecy from the prophet Micah, right?

MATTHEW: Yes, the chief priests told old Herod, "In Bethlehem of Judea for so it is written by the prophet: 'And you O Bethlehem in the land of Judah are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel.' "

Mark: I love that Scriptures predicted the birthplace of the Messiah. The Scriptures are always true and reliable, aren’t they?

JOHN:  Yes, the written Word of God. Then, the wise men? What happened?

MATTHEW: Well, remember the star? The star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Mark: So, like the shepherds, the wise men came to welcome Jesus our Redeemer.

MATTHEW: And to worship. That’s the most important part. They welcomed and worshiped Jesus our Redeemer.

The Resurrection Power, Reasons to Believe in Christianity

Interior photo of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. 

When we Christians are called to believe in Christ and the resurrection, are we called to hope against reason? To believe without any evidence? 

The movie and the book The Case for Christ which the story of Lee Strobel’s conversion from atheism to faith and highlights a major part of Christianity: apologetics. There are reasons to believe in Christianity; and in the words of another apologist, Josh McDowell, the evidence is so overwhelming, it demands a verdict.

So, what are the reasons to believe in Christianity? 

1. Paul, a singular testimony for faith. The Apostle Paul is the ultimate example of a skeptic who converted to Christianity. In his case, however, he was so opposed to the newly formed faith of Christianity that God had to miraculously appear to him on the Damascus Road. Once converted, Paul realized that this method of evangelism (Jesus Himself appeared in overwhelming light, leaving Paul blind for three days) was the exception and not the normal method. Therefore, the apostle lays out specific reasons to believe and more than any other part of the faith, nothing is more central than Christ rising from the dead.

The word “apologetics” comes from the Greek word which means “to make a defense.” It literally means to make a case for a religious faith through a series of systematic arguments and reasoning. It dates back as old as Christianity itself, with Paul going to synagogues and public discourses to give reasons to believe. For instance, Acts 17:2, 17 says, “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures… Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.”

Paul wasn’t the only one making a defense for Christianity. His traveling partner, Luke, the beloved physician, wrote the entire gospel after interviewing eyewitnesses “from the beginning.” He explained: “I have followed all things carefully from the beginning, to write an orderly account … so that you may know for certain the things you were taught.” (Luke 1:3b-4, NET)

Another doubter who was converted to faith was the famous Doubting Thomas, who would only believe if he could see the nail prints in the hands of Jesus and put his own hand in his side. And while we all know that Jesus did appear to Thomas, like the conversion of Paul, Thomas’ conversion from doubt to faith is not the normal way of defending our beliefs. Even Jesus commended those who are converted without having incontrovertible faith: “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

Peter perhaps gave the greatest call for apologetics in 1 Peter 3:15: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” In that one sentence, Peter says first, set apart the Lord in your own heart; then second, be ready to defend (Greek: apologia) to everyone who questions us; lastly, he says we should give our reasons not in combative or argumentative fashion but rather in humility. 

Paul wrote several letters to the Corinthians as a result of their many problems that they had. Divisions, immorality, even instructions on how to partake of communion. But perhaps most troubling of all, Paul concludes 1 Corinthians addressing a huge problem…some did not even believe in the resurrection.

Paul is an example to believe in the Resurrection. A persecutor of the church, Paul considered himself the least among the apostles. And yet he himself is an example that anyone can go from an unbeliever to believer. The changed lives of a believer can sometimes be the most convincing example of all. Jesus said they (meaning the unbelieving world) will know us by our love and changed lives.

2. Proofs  Exposition of the Scriptures, Empty tomb, Eyewitnesses, and the Example of Paul

The Scriptures. The Apostle Paul ends his first letter to the Corinthian church by reminding them what he had taught them “first of all.” The gospel in a nutshell is found in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 as one of the earliest summations of the “good news” of the resurrection. Twice Paul appeals to “the Scriptures” (what we now call the Old Testament) as a proof of the resurrection.

Paul was not the first to appeal to the Old Testament prophecies to help people believe in the resurrection. Jesus Himself, on Resurrection Sunday, appeared to two persons mourning over the death of Christ on the road to Emmaus. In Luke 24:13-27, Jesus began with Moses and the Prophets to expound to them “in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” The Bible prophetically foretells of events hundreds of years beforehand in such vivid detail. For those events to come to pass is strong evidence that the Bible is reliable.

In Romans 10:17, Paul stated that “faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Hebrews 4:12 says that the Word of God is living, powerful and sharp; it also divides and discerns. Even if people do not believe the Bible, the word of God is still supernaturally powerful and should be used even with skeptics. Someone said, “Even if you don’t believe in a knife, it still will cut you.”

Tim LaHaye tabulated many of the Scriptures of the Old Testament which were fulfilled by the resurrected Christ, and it totals more than 150 prophecies.  

The Sepulcher. Another defense Paul used was the empty tomb. It is interesting that from the beginning, the defense of the Jewish leaders was to explain why the tomb was empty. A great way to have squashed the rumors of Christ rising from the dead would have been to simply produce the body. Instead they paid soldiers to say that the disciples stole the body. However, Paul’s appeal to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is foundational to Christianity, Paul said. “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Corinthians 15:17).

The Sightings. Thirdly, Paul, like his friend Luke as we said earlier, appealed to eyewitnesses. Peter and the twelve apostles (this would include Thomas, who saw Christ a week after the resurrection and also Matthias who was selected to replace Judas and was a “witness…of His resurrection.” See John 20:26-29, Acts 1:22). He also included 500 others who saw Christ all at once, James, the half-brother of Jesus who did not believe until after the resurrection, and then also all of the apostles or sent out ones, which could mean as many as 70 more who were the ones sent out (Greek: apostello) during Jesus’ earthly ministry (see Luke 10:1). Add all of those appearances up and you have nearly 600 individuals witnessed the risen Christ.

The Salvations. For me, all of the apologetics in the world and all of the reasons for faith is not why I am a believer. It is the grace, the gift of God, which saved me. I know I can’t explain it enough. I know I can’t show people what is in my heart. But like the old hymn says, “You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart.” The changed lives of Paul and me and you and the millions who have been changed are perhaps the greatest arguments that the world can never explain away.

3. Protests. If tomb was not empty, then you have an empty foundation, an empty faith, an empty falsehood, an empty future, and an empty forgiveness

Proofs alone are not going to stop a skeptical world. There are protests from outside the church and in the case of the Corinthians, even inside the church. Paul was amazed that even after all that he had taught them, that there were “some among you” who did not believe in the resurrection. Specifically, some in the church may have believed Christ was raised, but they did not believe that they themselves would be raised.

In Judaism such persons were called Sadducees and it was against those that Paul argued in one of his defenses (see Acts 23:6-8, Acts 24:15-21).

But also in the Gentile culture, there was a great deal of skepticism against the resurrection (see Acts 17:32).

Worst of all, Paul found that he not only had to fight the doubters of the resurrection in the Jewish faith, in the Gentile faith, but now in the church?? He was almost beside himself!

Paul was basically saying, “If you don’t believe in the empty tomb, you have then you have 

• empty foundation (“our preaching is empty”), 
• empty faith (“your faith is empty”), 
• empty falsehood (“we are found false witnesses”), 
• empty future (“the dead do not rise”), and an 
• empty forgiveness (“you are still in your sins”).

4. Power. Despite the protests against the resurrection, Paul appeals to the fact that if God did in fact raise Jesus from the dead, then He will also give life to the believers. Romans 8:11 (But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you) is very similar to 1 Corinthians 15.

The power of the resurrection is not just the fact that there is life after death, but that there is also resurrection power within us right now. That power gives us strength to overcome sin, and it also gives us the power to live a righteous life, even if it means “fighting with beasts at Ephesus.” Paul was referring to a time in which he and others were so discouraged that “we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.” (see 2 Corinthians 1:8).

Again, there is a parallel in this passage and in Romans chapter 8—“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

Believing in the power of the resurrection gives us power internally to overcome the discouragements of this life. Paul said that those who did not believe in the future resurrection were not admirable. Such false beliefs only lead to sin, corruption of morals and shame.

5. Promise Of the Resurrection. Perhaps more than any other section of Scripture, 1 Corinthians 15 is frequently used at funerals because it gives us faith and hope for the future.

The promise of the resurrection does more than simply give us faith to sleep at night. The promise gives us encouragement to look death squarely in the eyes when we or our loved ones face the inevitable fate of the end of life. Even more, the promise of the Resurrection gives us a victory not only in death, but also in this life to be steadfast and immovable, to be always abounding in the work of the Lord. 

The Promise of the resurrection gives us a motivation that the work we are doing is not in vain.