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. 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. But back to 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 state 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? (looks at the other gospel writers). HE’S 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 lease among the rulers of Judah; or 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.