The growth of the new religion of Christianity- first centuries.
By Stuart Dunstan.
Jesus's death and the subsequent resurrection had given the disciples a great new vigour when they received the Holy Spirit in the upper room.
They had subsequently been in contact or had missions in several cities in Greece and Asia Minor. Also included was the Apostle Paul and his colleagues who had worked with several of the disciples. Paul's mission was to the gentiles, whereas Jesus Christ's initial focus had been on the Jews, especially those most concerned with following the Law laid down by Moses, until the withdrawal to the gentiles. It was likely inevitable that some tensions between the groups would arise, such as Paul's disagreement with Peter, later resolved, arising probably from their differing interpretations and points of view.
Some people have attempted to exploit this apparent split, without any gain, because fundamentally they were in agreement. Many differences would have existed because of language and cultural differences between the Jews and the gentiles, not to forget that the political situations were different for Roman citizens and non-citizens.The Jews, as the Chosen People, varied widely in their understanding and practice of their religion and numbers of them were converted to Christianity during its formation. Some of these converts went back to practicing their earlier religion, causing Paul and his group to follow up on this problem.
The Gospel of Mark, the shortest, simplest, but most action based Gospel was evidently directed to Roman readership and was probably written between AD 55-68.. Mark writes with greater vividness and detail than Matthew and Luke who had also written on similar events in Jesus's life. Mark's gospel. details the last 8 days of Jesus's life to his resurrection, emphasising the passion and resurrection by which his ministry can be measured. After Jesus's resurrection, the identity of the Messiah and the meaning of it was properly understood and the believers were sent into the world 'to tell'- Matt 28:7,8; 18-20;Mark 16:7; Luke 24:9,44-47.
In Matthew 28:19: we have one of the rare instances where the Trinity is spelt out in full in the Bible NIV: 'Therefore go out and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.' The Pharisees in addition to planning to destroy Christ -12:14-21, had also blasphemed the Holy Spirit. 12:22-30.
Matthew gives two other especially valuable pieces of information to Christians:
The Beatitudes 5:3-12, the rewards of living as a citizen of Christ's kingdom;
Practice without hypocrisy 6:1-18, Having the right motives for giving, praying and fasting.
The Gospel of Luke, the most comprehensive of the 4 gospels,covers Christ's ancestry, birth and early life and his ministry, death and resurrection. Although it is anonymous it is generally accepted. that Luke was the author, also of Acts. Likely a Hellenistic Jew, it is uncertain, but the time of writing is about AD 70. A feature of Lukes' gospel is his emphasis on the universality of the Christian message, the Savior of the whole world, and his attention to Jesus's ministry to women, the poor and outcasts, It is relevant to the 21st century as in the past. A prominent feature of Luke is the contrasting of the two Adams, both Adam and Christ facing 3 aspects of temptation.
In 1John 2: 16 there is a further mention of 'the lust of the flesh',' the lust of the eyes' and the 'pride of life'. I conclude it now. Blessings to all. AMEN
By Stuart Dunstan