The New Testament integrates four gospels, each having been written during different time periods and by different minds. When different thought processes and personalities converge into one Bible, it is indisputable that there will be a degree of variation in the presentation of Jesus across the four gospels. The Gospel of Mark portrayed Jesus’ Messiahship through his suffering as a reparation for the sins of his followers. On the other hand, the Gospel of Matthew represented Jesus as the new Moses for the Israelites by drawing parallels between their life stories. After the advent of the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Luke presented Jesus as the teacher and the Messiah with great liking for the poor and vulnerable members …show more content…
Through observation of the life story of Jesus Christ and Moses, it is evident that they both bear great resemblance (JGA 100). When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, King Herod received the word that the King of the Jews was born. This news put him at inconvenience causing him to mandate the massacre of all young boys (two years and younger) of Bethlehem in hopes of killing Jesus (Matthew 2:1-17). Similarly, the birth of Moses was also accompanied by the massacre of the Hebrew baby boys upon the orders of the Egyptian king (Exodus 1:15-16). Through the inclusion of a detailed account of the birth of Jesus Christ and its association with the birth account of Moses, it is perceptible that the author of this text wants the audience to understand Jesus’ importance in their lives. The portrait of Jesus as the new Moses is further strengthened through the delivery of his sermon on the mountain. Jesus taught the gathered crowd about law, adultery, anger, divorce, oaths, retaliation, and loving enemies (Matt 5:1-2). In a similar manner, Moses is also observed to be delivering the Ten Commandments to the Israelites (Exodus 20:18-21). Jesus is again portrayed as the new Moses because he delivers a new law to his followers and provides interpretations for the Mosaic Law (JGA 100). The discussion of similarities between Jesus’ story and Moses’ story may have been there for the purpose of assisting readers …show more content…
In this gospel Jesus is a teacher who harbors great fondness for that specific sector of the Jewish Society. Jesus’ sermon on the plain illustrates his passion to invite the poor and vulnerable members to him and ultimately the Kingdom of God. Jesus declares that “Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours...Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you” (Luke 6:20-22). What further heightens Jesus’ liking of the low social class is his rejection, seen later in the same sermon, of the wealthy members (Luke 6:24-26). Jesus views the lower social class with esteem for their mental strength of being able to resist all temptations of the world, after having been exposed to a greater degree of temptations than the wealthy Jewish community. The idea of higher reverence for the poor is perpetuated in story of the healing of a centurion’s slave. In this miracle story, a slave owned by a centurion fell ill. Subsequently, the centurion took the initiative to have elders of the Jewish community request Jesus to heal the slave (Luke 7:1-4). When Jesus was informed of the illness, he was rejoiced upon hearing that the centurion exhibited care and responsibility towards his slave despite of his social class. Jesus’ passion towards welcoming the lower class of the Jewish community illustrates his desire for a