# Trouble Reading the Gospels



## LeeJUk (Dec 12, 2009)

In all honesty the gospels are the part of the new testament that I get the least out of. I don't enjoy reading them much and I think thats down to the fact I probably don't know how to read them.

I mean I read the gospels, and we see Jesus saying some great parables and such, and thats all great, and we see some greatly profound statements that are amazing, and there are great parts of it but a lot of it I just find to be deadening to my soul. 

I mean I read Jesus healing people, casting out demons, and so on, but it doesn't warm my soul or help me know him or love him more.


What is your approach in reading the gospels? what questions do you ask of passages in the gospel accounts? how does it bless you when reading?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Regards,

Lee


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## jwithnell (Dec 12, 2009)

Lee, I don't know your background, so I'm wondering if you have a good foundation in the Old Testament? To me, the gospels explode with meaning when I see how Jesus fulfilled such passages as the sacrifices made on the day of atonement -- described in Leviticus, or the fulfillment of the prophecies made in Isaiah and elsewhere.


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## Rich Koster (Dec 12, 2009)

In the Gospels/Acts, I see a lot of prophecies being fulfilled that are testifying that Jesus is Messiah. I see a lot of teachings about the law being clarified to perplexed students and false teachers. I see acts of compassion and mercy being done to those who are undeserving. I see miracles from a loving God. It is like looking at a photo album with pictures taken from many different angles. Stop and appreciate each picture for what it is rather than reading it as a play, biography, church history, or narrative. Oh yes, all should be taken in context and not go on some contemplative, mystical rabbit trail.
I also see trying, but failing, believers being restored by grace when they mess things up. That is comforting to me because I mess stuff up A LOT.


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## Prufrock (Dec 12, 2009)

Lee, one thing I might recommend is to "make use" of someone who *does* know how to read the gospels: for instance, pick up a copy of Matthew Henry's unabridged commentary on the gospels, and read it along with Matthew and John -- this will help you see what forms application, instruction, correction, exhortation, encouragement, etc., are drawn from the gospel texts. 

Perhaps more importantly, be sure to attend with a prepared heart to the preaching of the Word: when the gospels are preached, you will not only hear the preached Word, but also become better able to privately read and make use of the gospel accounts, as you will now understand how the texts are "used."


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## Contra_Mundum (Dec 12, 2009)

Having preached through the shortest Gospel, Mark, I came to a new appreciation for the use and purpose of these books.

These are our "introductions" to the Messiah. How do you get to know people? By spending time with them. How do you get to know Jesus? Follow him, spend time with him, sit at his feet, watch him, talk to him.

You do all these things by finding yourself among those who surround Jesus on the way, by asking their questions, by listening to his answers. You are there with the disciples in the boat on the Lake; struggling (and failing) to cast out a certain evil spirit; picking up the twelve baskets of loaves; and all the rest.

If you ever think to yourself, "Boy were those guys dumb! and faithless! etc.," that's when you should stop short, and question whether you really have an accurate sight of yourself. Those were the best men by which Christ would found his church in the New Age; that's why they were born, and brought to Christ. And you think you should have been better than they?

No, but you are still weak and ignorant. You do not realize how much your faith rests on the accomplishments of these men, by the Spirit, through the union they had with Christ. They are giving you the pith of that fellowship, a vicarious experience of walking and communing with Christ in his Incarnation. By Holy Spirit, and the more sure word of phrophecy, you have a superior blessing (according to Peter, who was with him on the mountain of transfiguration!), and are able to experience Christ in no less gracious a manner.

Don't just read the Gospels for "information" about Jesus life and ministry. Read them to "meet with", "listen to", and "follow after", and spend time with Christ, getting to know him on a personal level.


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## Poimen (Dec 12, 2009)

I would like to recommend a book to you that changed the way I read the (synoptic) gospels & helped me to better appreciate them. I believe it would do the same for you:

Coming of the Kingdom: Amazon.co.uk: Herman Ridderbos: Books


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## rbcbob (Dec 12, 2009)

> Don't just read the Gospels for "information" about Jesus life and ministry. Read them to "meet with", "listen to", and "follow after", and spend time with Christ, getting to know him on a personal level.



Thanks Bruce and a hearty Amen! I read the gospels hungrily desiring to know HIM better. I find myself often hanging on His every word; marveling at His manner with men, etc.


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## LeeJUk (Dec 12, 2009)

Thank you guys for all your responses,

So Rev. Bruce your saying I should as it were read it asif I were the leper Jesus was healing, the Peter that Jesus was rebuking and so on?


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## Contra_Mundum (Dec 12, 2009)

I think you can profit both from thinking how those explicit experiences could be yours, and also just as if you were there to experience the event, with the Twelve an observer of Christ's work.


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## Paul Trask (Dec 12, 2009)

You can look at Jesus as the only one who kept every law in Deuteronomy perfectly for us. Notice his actions, his words, who he touches, the miralces where not done for affect; each one had a meaning for us. When is he a sage? When is he the prophet or the king? He uses figurative actions, notice the kinds of questions he asks, he uses riddles, paradoxes, metaphors, similes, puns, and irony.


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