https://odb.org/MY/2022/11/21/reading-backwards
For us who don’t know, the Gospels are accounts by four people (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) of the life and ministry of Jesus. While John and Matthew were part of the 12 disciples or Apostles of Christ, Mark and Luke were part of a wider circle of 70 Apostles. Another interesting fact is that the first 3 Gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke – are called Synoptic Gospels because they are written in a similar chronological order, broadly speaking, and narrates similar events albeit in a slightly differen my angle, while John covers a wider time frame and focuses on some core theological matters taught by Jesus.
John 2:2 contains a statement that breaks the chronology of the events when it referred to something at the end at the near beginning by writing on the resurrection of Christ and how after that the Apostles understood what Jesus meant by destroying the temple and rebuilding it in 3 days. It is also interesting to note that the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation which speaks of events of the future and written in a symbolic style was an account by the same John. Besides Peter who is considered the leader among the Apostles, John is regarded as closest to Jesus and John refers to himself as the disciple that Jesus loves.
It is thus a good approach to read the Bible forward and backward, for example, starting at both Genesis and Matthew or even Revelation. In other words, we start at both the beginning as well as the end. Some people read novels by reading the ending first or watch television dramas by starting with the last episode before going to the first. I’m not sure that for novels or TV dramas, we should start at the end but there is certainly nothing wrong to do so with the Bible. When it comes to reading the Bible, the most important point is to read it regularly on a daily basis. Doesn’t matter where we start so long as we do and continue to do so.
Just like to end today’s devotional commentary by saying that even as GE15 had resulted in a hung parliament for Malaysia and although it is not the change that most of us among the more progressive voters were hoping for (compared to the fundamentalists or the far right), I believe we must continue to trust God that He is in control of everything and that if the change we had hoped for doesn’t materialise this time, it will do so in the future. Continue to pray for His will be done here on earth as it is in heaven.
Ronnie's Thoughts 