The Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (2024)
The four Gospels are neither histories of the life of Christ nor biographies. They are portraits of the person and work of the long-promised Messiah, Israel’s King and the world’s Savior. As portraits, they present four different poses of one unique personality.
Matthew by the Holy Spirit presents Christ as King, Mark as Servant, Luke as Man, and John as God. Although featuring Christ as King, Matthew sketches His role as a King in the closest connection with His character as Servant, as Man, and as God (Matthew 13:53-19:30). Likewise, although featuring Him as Servant, Mark depicts Christ’s servant role in the closest connection with His character as King, Man and God (Mark 11:1-16:1-8).
Similarly Luke focuses the spotlight on Christ as Man and John as God, but like other evangelists, they do not separate Him from His full-orbed character (Luke 4:14-9:50, John 1:19- 2:50). The four Gospels narrate, largely, the same things, but with some differences.
Only Matthew and Luke tell of the Birth and childhood of Jesus (Matthew 1:14-9:1, Luke 1:5-4:13). Matthew and Mark dwell on the Galilean Ministry; Luke, the Perean; John, the Judean. John omits most of the Galilean Ministry and records visits to Jerusalem that the others omit (Luke 9:51-19:27).
The others omit the Judean Ministry, except the Last Week, which all four cover rather extensively. The Last Week occupies one-third of Matthew, approximately one-third of Mark, one-quarter of Luke, and one-half of John. John devotes seven chapters, about one-third of his book, to Crucifixion Day, sunset to sunset. Thus all four writers present the one and same Person: the God-Man, Servant of the Lord, King of Israel, humanity’s Redeemer.
The special emphasis of Matthew is that Jesus is the Messiah foretold by Old Testament Prophets. As he quotes from the Old Testament repeatedly, he seems to have had Jewish readers in mind. Mark’s special emphasis is the Superhuman power of Jesus, by demonstrating His Deity by His Miracles (Mark 1:14-9:1). Omits most of Jesus’ lectures. Narrates things Jesus did rather than things Jesus said.
Seems to have had Gentile readers in mind. Luke’s special emphasis is the humanity of Jesus. Representing Jesus as the Son of God. Luke features His kindness toward the weak, the suffering, and the outcast (Luke 9:51-18:27). He seems to have had the Greeks, who represented culture, philosophy, and wisdom, in mind.
John places special emphasis on the Deity of Jesus. Consists mostly of Jesus’ lectures and conversations. Discusses things Jesus said rather than things He did (John 1:1-18). By describing the eternal pre-existence, human birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus the Christ and His life and teachings, the four Gospels present a living, dynamic, unique personality. God became man to work out man’s redemption from sin.
These four portraits present Him as Lord and Savior, rather than describing all He did and in the precise order in which He did it. They introduce us to Him, rather than to His life as a whole. The Gospels are incomplete as a story but marvelously complete and purposeful as a divine revelation of the Son of God, our Savior. And this is faith’s need. It is also disbelief’s stumbling block.
Bibliography
National,”The Holy Bible”, Authorized (King James) Version. Philadelphia: The National Bible Press (1963). Cambridge, “The New English Bible”, The New English Translation. Cambridge: The University Press (1972).
The four canonical gospels share the same basic outline of the life of Jesus: he begins his public ministry in conjunction with that of John the Baptist, calls disciples, teaches and heals and confronts the Pharisees, dies on the cross and is raised from the dead.
, Mark, Luke, and John. The first three of these are usually referred to as the "synoptic gospels," because they look at things in a similar way, or they are similar in the way that they tell the story.
In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts. In the New Testament, they bear the following titles: the Gospel of Matthew; the Gospel of Mark; the Gospel of Luke; and the Gospel of John.
Finally, John's Gospel is wholly different in many ways. It is not presented to convert people to Christianity from other religious traditions, but is written to devoted, committed Christians in the Church that John founded and led.
Already by the year 200, John's gospel was called the spiritual gospel precisely because it told the story of Jesus in symbolic ways that differ sharply at times from the other three. For example, Jesus dies on a different day in John's gospel than in Matthew, Mark and Luke....
According to the majority viewpoint, the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, collectively referred to as the Synoptic Gospels, are the primary sources of historical information about Jesus and of the religious movement he founded. The fourth gospel, the Gospel of John, differs greatly from the first three gospels.
Based on compelling scholarly arguments, I believe that the Gospel of Mark was the first gospel, written around 70 C.E. Moreover, both Matthew and Luke used Mark as a source. After that, the Gospel of John was composed at the end of the 1st century, which makes it the last gospel.
There are, however, important differences between the four: Unlike John, Mark never calls Jesus "God", or claims that Jesus existed before his earthly life; unlike Matthew and Luke, the author does not mention a virgin birth or indicate whether Jesus had a normal human parentage and birth; unlike Matthew and Luke, he ...
Though the Gospel According to Matthew wasn't the first of our gospels to be composed (most scholars now believe Mark is the oldest of the four), already by the second century many Christians were showing their admiration for this book by placing it first in line among those ultimately included in our New Testament ...
Luke is the longest of the four gospels and the longest book in the New Testament; together with Acts of the Apostles it makes up a two-volume work from the same author, called Luke–Acts.
The Book of Genesis has been referenced or alluded to over 200 times in the New Testament, showing its importance. The statistic that the Book of Genesis has been referenced or alluded to over 200 times in the New Testament highlights the significant importance of this foundational text within the Christian faith.
The first book written is thought to be either the Epistle to the Galatians (written around 48 CE) or 1 Thessalonians, written around 50 CE. The final book in the ordering of the canon, the Book of Revelation, is generally accepted by traditional scholarship to have been written during the reign of Domitian (81–96).
These are the first four books in the New Testament, the second of two parts of the Bible. These Gospels are made up of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. While you may be tempted to start with Matthew, you should first try starting with the book of John.
At the Last Supper in the Gospel of John, Jesus gives an extended sermon to his disciples. This discourse resembles farewell speeches called testaments, in which a father or religious leader, often on the deathbed, leaves instructions for his children or followers.
In Christianity, Jesus is believed to be the Son of God as chronicled in the Bible's New Testament, and in most Christian denominations he is held to be God the Son, a prosopon (Person) of the Trinity of God.
According to tradition, St. Luke was a physician and possibly a Gentile. He was not one of the original 12 Apostles but may have been one of the 70 disciples appointed by Jesus (Luke 10).
One eternal or unforgivable sin (blasphemy against the Holy Spirit), also known as the sin unto death, is specified in several passages of the Synoptic Gospels, including Mark 3:28–29, Matthew 12:31–32, and Luke 12:10, as well as other New Testament passages including Hebrews 6:4–6, Hebrews 10:26–31, and 1 John 5:16.
John's Gospel differs from the Synoptic Gospels in several ways: it covers a different time span than the others; it locates much of Jesus' ministry in Judaea; and it portrays Jesus discoursing at length on theological matters.
The four gospels all tell a unique perspective of the same story. They all claim Jesus is the Jewish Messiah who fulfills the Hebrew Scriptures. Mark is widely considered to be the oldest Gospel. The genealogies at the start of Matthew have hidden design patterns in them that unify the Old and New Testaments.
Introduction: My name is Tyson Zemlak, I am a excited, light, sparkling, super, open, fair, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
