Theology and Religious Studies

Question: Discuss this statement with reference to one of the four Gospels. Answer: Each of the Gospels was written to meet the spiritual needs of a Christian community. This statement is justified by an incident dictated by John, one of those four gospels. This story has been taken from John 6:1-15. John began his story by saying that Jesus went to the other side of the Galille Sea or Tiberias. John had mentioned the last time note in feast of the Jews.' Five to six months had passed after the Feast of Tabernacles. According to the other gospel, Jesus had sent twelve for ministry tour. They shared their experiences with him after coming back. At the mean time, they come to know that Herod beheaded John. Jesus and his disciples were engaged with the needy people. Therefore, they did not get the time to have something (Goh, 2016). Jesus invited them to go to another place for much-needed rest. With the help of a boat, they crossed the northern end of the Galilee Sea and reached to the area in the north of Bethsaida country. The crowds over there observed them passing the river and running around the lake. The disciples thought that they would never get away from the needy people. However, Jesus realized their compassion, gave them a lesson and healed their pain (Bssing et al., 2013). John noted that a big crowd followed him by seeing the signs, which was present in the sick people. Those people were not following Jesus just because he is the son of God, who can save them from their sins but also they got fascinated by seeing those miracles. Others in that group needed that magical healings for either their loved ones or themselves. The overall reason for following Jesus was superficial and misguided. According to John, after that incident, Jesus went up to the mountain, and he sat with his disciples. There he received Ten Commandments. A parallel was drawn with the Mose, who helped the people to get out of the Egypt after Passover (Sulmasy, 2016). Moses is also used by God to provide manna to the people in the wilderness. Therefore, mentioning the Passover is more than just a time notice. From John's view, Jesus should appear as the better and new moses. He provided himself with the brad of life or permanent manna. The Moses wrote to him. In the case, where the manna was called by Jesus to float down from heaven, he did not agree to do that. By using that magical incident, Jesus trained his twelve followers. John focused on the point where Jesus was asking Philip that where they can buy bred so that they can eat. According to the other disciples, Phillip had told Jesus to dismiss the multitude so that they can go for buying bread. However, pointedly Jesus told them to give something to eat. According to John, Jesus was doing to test them, as he was aware of his work (Ross Austin, 2015). Jesus was showing the way, where Philip and other disciples have to meet their needs along with their woeful inadequacy and all his sufficiency. Therefore, the statement is justified. References: Bssing, A., Janko, A., Baumann, K., Hvidt, N. C., Kopf, A. (2013). Spiritual needs among patients with chronic pain diseases and cancer living in a secular society.Pain Medicine,14(9), 1362-1373. Goh, D. P. (2016). Secular space, spiritual community and the hybrid urbanisms of Christianity in Hong Kong and Singapore.International Sociology, 0268580916643086. Ross, L., Austin, J. (2015). Spiritual needs and spiritual support preferences of people with end stage heart failure and their carers: implications for nurse managers.Journal of nursing management,23(1), 87-95. Sulmasy, D. P. (2016). Christian witness in health care.Christian Bioethics,22(1), 45-61.