MANY VIEWPOINTS, ONE LORD

Yesterday I wrapped up my study of the gospel of Mark in my morning prayer times, and today I began the book of Luke. It's my goal this year to read through all four gospels. In the past, my strategy for Bible study has been to spread it out. So wary of fixating on one section too much, I bounced around for balance's sake: if a gospel, then next a history; if an epistle, then next a prophet. This strategy got me through all 66 books of the Bible over the course of about seven or eight years.

But if there's any subject worth sitting on for awhile, it's the Person of Jesus. To be sure, there's a lot of theology in the gospels, especially in John's account. But I liken the four gospel books to four biographies of Jesus of Nazareth. I've really gotten into biographies in the past couple of years, having read a couple of Theodore Roosevelt, one of Ronald Reagan, and one of Benjamin Franklin. I love how the biographers break down a person's life into recurring themes, and use their highs and lows to tell a gripping story.

So it's been cool to read the gospels from this perspective. Mark focuses on the authority of Jesus -- over nature, demons, and even math -- and emphasizes the fast-paced nature of Jesus' ministry. Because Mark and his source for material, Peter, experiencing profound failure in ministry and even profounder grace in being reinstated back into ministry, the patience of Jesus in teaching His disciples is also stressed. What a remarkable account of a remarkable man's life!

I'm four lines into Luke, and I can tell I'm going to dig his angle on the story, too. He's a historian, you see, committed to telling a logical, sequential, and orderly account of the life of this Person, Jesus of Nazareth. I look forward to getting yet another perspective on my Lord.

And here's the beautiful thing: I can read a biography, admire the subject, and strive to be like him or her. But the gospels are even more than that. They are the Words of Life! In reading them, not only am I getting good literature and a powerful example of transcendant living. I'm getting spiritual nourishment, soul guidance, rebuke for my crooked parts, and life itself. Imagine that: life itself waits for me in the pages of my Bible. Every morning.