Jesus Messiah or Universal Savior
Jesus: Messiah or Universal Savior Although the gospels of Matthews and Like are the most similar of all of the canonical gospels, they offer different messages and send differing accounts of the figure of Jesus. Matthew calls Jesus the Jewish Messiah, while Luke does the opposite. Luke calls Jesus the universal savior, and by doing so each writer sets up their gospel to try and explain who they think Christ is by using their writing and knowledge to their advantage. Matthew depicts Jesus to be the king of the Jews by using words such as kingdom and fulfilled. He tries to present evidence as to why Jesus is the promised Jewish messiah. Both gospels contain a genealogy of Christ and in each of them the writer agrees that Jesus is a descendant of Abraham and David. This relationship between Jesus, Abraham and David is essential to Matthew’s gospel. He uses these key Jewish figures to prove that their prophecy has been fulfilled. Luke on the other hand agrees that Jesus is related to both Abraham and David, however, he argues that Jesus is the universal savior and the son of man rather than just the Jewish messiah and he proves this by tracing Jesus’ lineage back to Adam the original Son of God. The main point that each writer raises is that Christ is of importance . I believe that Matthew sets up his gospel so it cannot be proven wrong. One interesting thing that he does is he compares Jesus to Moses in the “Sermon on the Mount” And in that very moment Jesus is like a king to his subjects. “ When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him” (Matthew 5:1 NRSV). In many ways this imagine is just like that of Moses when he came down from Mt. Sinai. Jesus starts interpreting the original Ten Commandments, the old law, and offers new law; which is recalling the revelation to Moses. If Jesus is like Moses, and Moses is a messianic figure then Jesus must also be a messianic figure himself. It is also
Bibliography: 1. The Deviations of Matthew and Luke in the "Sermon on the Mount", by Carl S. Patton The Biblical World © 1916 The University of Chicago Press.