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Christology
The Birth of Christ
The gospel writers each contributed their unique perspective as they recorded events surrounding Jesus' birth. Each writer had a specific target audience in mind, and brought to his writings a perspective which was framed by that purpose, and by the writer's particular experience of Christ. The uniqueness of their record in no way changes the fact that their contribution was the work of God's Holy Spirit thorough them, as some scholars have claimed, but rather God used their individual gifts, talents and perspectives in order to create a full record of his Son's birth, life, and message.
Matthew wrote his gospel to the Jews, and the early church which was mostly Jewish converts. His concern was communicating the message of the messiah to the Jewish people. The messiah had been promised in Old Testament scriptures since Abraham's time, and by demonstrating how Jesus was the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, Matthew focused his message on the Jewish community which was not ready to give up its cultural identity by embracing Christ. The early church understood that Christ was the completion of the Old Testament prophecy, and therefore Christ was the promised Messiah.
John was the last of the disciples to write his gospel. He could have been aware of Mark's letter to the gentile church, Matthew's letter to the Jewish converts, and Luke's well researched gospel which undertook the task of creating a complete and encompassing record. John was 'the disciple whom Jesus loved,' and was the only disciple from within Jesus' inner circle who undertook the task of recording a record of his life. John was likely a disciple of John the Baptist before following Christ, for his gospel does not begin with the birth of Christ, but with the Baptist's affirmation of the Jesus as the Messiah.
John introduces Jesus as the Word of God (john, 1.1), the Lamb of God (john 1.36, the one born of god, and not of man (john 1.13) and the one who would give power to the sons of men to become sons of God. (John 1.12)
Resources:
The Holy Bible, King James Version. (1964) London: BB Kirkbride Co.
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