tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6346409181794331060.post1522892151416989293..comments2024-03-20T12:35:12.828-04:00Comments on The Text of the Gospels: The Evangelists' Symbols: Man, Lion, Ox, EagleJames Snapp Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09493891380752272603noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6346409181794331060.post-11019891222257220992023-01-16T19:41:01.045-05:002023-01-16T19:41:01.045-05:00I also prefer the modern Gospel order combined wit...I also prefer the modern Gospel order combined with the Revelation order. The way that I have always seen it explained is that 1) The lion and Matthew represents the "royalty" of Christ. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah, and this matches His fulfillment of the prophecy in Genesis 49:9-10. This Gospel starts out with the royal genealogy of Christ descending through the kings. 2) The ox and Mark represents the "servanthood" of Christ. This contrasts and complements the "royalty" of Christ. He is also the greatest servant in addition to being the King of Kings; Lo and behold. The ox is capable in particular, since it has the most power output of beasts capable of being tamed and doing work on the field. Mark's Gospel in turn focuses on the Lord Jesus being a servant to others (e.g. Mark 9:35 and 10:44), including the extended focus on several of His healing miracles. One could argue it has a focus on servitude in other ways, for example its unique parable in Mark 4:26-29 is about God causing the seed to grow, and thus doing the real brunt of the work for us (see also 1 Cor. 3:7). 3) The man and Luke represents the "humanity" of Christ. This one goes without saying. The genealogy in Luke 3 focuses on the descent of Christ from the woman. This matches His fulfillment of what is foretold in the prophecy in Genesis 3:15 about the seed of the woman. We see the focus in early part on His childhood, and how He "increased in wisdom and stature" and in favor with God and man. And 4) The eagle and John represents the "divinity" of Christ. He is also fully God in addition to being fully man. And John's Gospel focuses the most on the divine nature of Jesus Christ, from the prologue onward. Briefly, among other doctrines, there is a lot of discourse on the nature of His relationship with regard to the Holy Trinity and on His eternal pre-existence. His miracle in chapter 2, with the six water pots signifies the six literal days of creation, both of these represent acts of Creation, and represent His first miracle. These four Gospels can certainly all be seen to focus on certain aspects of the same Christ Jesus. One can find each of these aspects in other Gospels, of course, but I suggest this as a possible explanation.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03466078139557295311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6346409181794331060.post-6592066485422947202021-08-09T22:13:50.644-04:002021-08-09T22:13:50.644-04:00I prefer the Revelation order corresponding to the...I prefer the Revelation order corresponding to the modern gospel order,<br />Revelation 4:7<br />“And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.”<br /><br />Matthew = lion of Judah/Jews, King of Israel, reason of the Abrahamic and Davidic genealogy, also attested that Matthew was written first in Hebrew<br />Mark = ox, servant of Rome, many attest that Mark was written first in Latin<br />Luke = man, perfect man of the Greeks, reason of the Adamic genealogy and that the Greeks looked for the perfect man with their myths, Luke's works are the only ones we know for sure was Greek first<br />John = eagle of God, the Son of God, because John has the highest view of Christ, John's works are purported to be written first in AramaicSamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06359399334377019222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6346409181794331060.post-23450037746032824672018-09-02T17:39:03.750-04:002018-09-02T17:39:03.750-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06949268975350801272noreply@blogger.com