Each Gospel; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; was speaking to a unique community and telling their own unique story of Jesus. They emphasize different things. Luke begins with not one, but two baby stories, plus angels appearing. Matthew begins with a list of Jesus’ relatives (which include some interesting names!) and is the only other Gospel that includes a reference to the baby at all. The angels appear in dreams to Joseph and there is a sense of fear permeating the story. Mark starts in the wilderness with John and a fully adult Jesus, and John takes us back to the very beginnings of the universe. The gift of these four witnesses is that we get a fuller picture of who Jesus is. We don’t need to mush them together and put them on a timeline- we just need to honor that each tells us something important about Jesus. – Pastor Trudy Stoffel
