Jesus, A Diamond in the Rough
Its a cliche to talk about diamonds having many facets. However, what we find in the gospel stories is Jesus like a diamond. Many faceted, shining brightly, with God's flame in the center. One of the ways this is evident is to read all the different gospel stories. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all present different views on who Jesus was as a man and as the Son of God. In Matthew, Jesus is very much the Jewish Messiah. Jesus came to save the people of Israel, and was very focused on the reform of the Jewish synagogues and fulfillment of Jewish scriptures. In Mark, Jesus is the suffering servant Son of Man from Isaiah, fulfilling the scriptures, not just for the Jewish people, but also for the Gentiles. In John, Jesus is depicted much more as a divine presence in the world, very theological, very spiritual, and very in tune with the overarching story of the whole scriptures. In Luke, Jesus is deeply compassionate, focused on caring for the poor, the marginalized, the broken,...