Why Do We Need Four Gospels

8/12/2019 Why Do We Need Four Gospels

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Why Do We Need Four Gospels?

At the heart of Christianity is the person and workof Jesus Christ. So we would expect the ChristianScriptures to include an account of Jesus' life. Butwhy do we have four - the Gospels according to

atthew! ark! "uke and John# $sn't thisredundant# Surely one would %e enough#

&n the contrary! our knowledge of Jesus Christ

would %e incoplete if we had only one Gospel. &reven if we had three Gospels %ut were issing one.

atthew! ark! "uke and John each told the story

fro a different perspective! %ecause each had adifferent audience in ind. (e tend to %lur thesefour distinctive portraits of Jesus together. Butknowing how an act or saying of Jesus fits in with

each author's perspective can greatly enhance ourunderstanding of its eaning.

)ere is a %rief introduction to the particularessage and thee of each of the four Gospels.

Because of space liitations! we will usually citelocations rather than *uote verses in full. But if you

look up soe of these verses in the +ew,estaent! you will %egin to see how each Gospel

has a uni*ue essage. ou will also see how allfour work together to %uild a coplete picture of

the life and work of Jesus Christ.


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6# 9./8-" Jesus outlined a code o% conduct thatwould enable his %ollowers to establish andmaintain their new/%ound spiritual relationships#

-# chapters 18/1-" Jesus showed how and whythe old order, with its hypocrisy, must $i+e way to

a new a$e o% peace and 7ustice, in whichri$hteousness would be rewarded and e+ilpunished#

Matthew encoura$ed Jewish con+erts to see their

herita$e in the conte4t o% a $reater law, and theirhistory in the li$ht o% the spiritual (in$dom o% &od#

:or Matthew, Jesus' %ul%illment o% the Scriptures didnot mean that those Scriptures had lost their

si$ni%icance and could there%ore be discarded#;ather, %or Matthew the Hebrew Scriptures $ained

si$ni%icance throu$h Jesus and continue to be parto% the


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Mark 'This is what happened'

MA;?'S &ospel is %ast/mo+in$ and dramatic# 3t readsli(e a series o% eye/witness accounts# *ecause o% this

action/pac(ed style, Mar('s &ospel is an idealstartin$ point %or disco+erin$ who Jesus Christ is andwhat he is all about#

Mar( is more concerned about tellin$ us what

happened, rather than when it happened# He writesmore li(e a 7ournalist than a historian# He cuts to the)uic(, introducin$ Jesus to people who ha+e perhapsheard o% him but don't (now him +ery well yet#

@erbs li(e 'run', 'shout' and 'amaze' abound in thisboo(# Mar('s %a+orite ad+erb is euthus, meanin$'immediately' or 'at once' it occurs ten times inchapter alone"#

Mar( does not delay the action by tellin$ us aboutJesus' $enealo$y, or e+en his birth# ;ather, Mar(

be$ins with the brie%est sur+ey o% the ministry o%

John the *aptist, the baptism o% Jesus and histestin$ in the wilderness by Satan ./8"# Thenthe action be$ins, and continues nonstop %or

chapters# E+ent )uic(ly %ollows e+ent# !n occasion,one story is interrupted to be$in another, and the

%irst story %inished later#


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Mar('s account o% the e+ents leadin$ up to Jesus'trial and cruci%i4ion is especially detailed and +i+id#Mar('s purpose is to show that Jesus is the Son o%

&od ."# When Jesus is baptized, a hea+enly +oiceproclaims, '###Bou are my Son' ."#

Jesus has the authority to %or$i+e sin, a prero$ati+eo% &od alone 1.-/1"# E+il spirits reco$nize Jesus as

the Holy !ne o% &od .16", the Son o% &od 8."and Son o% the Most Hi$h &od -.0/9"#

3n Mar('s &ospel, the authority o% Jesus is stressedby the manner o% his teachin$ .11" and by the

numerous miracles# *ut Mar( also warns hisaudience that miracles could be ambi$uous# A%ter

all, they lead >harisees and Herodians to opposeJesus 8." cause scribes to thin( o% Jesus aspossessed 8.11" lea+e people %rom his home/town unimpressed ./8" cause Herod to ima$ine

that Jesus is John the *aptist redi+i+usDresurrected .6/" and do not eliminate the

disciples' misunderstandin$ .-1 9.0/1" *enWitherin$ton 333, ,he Christology of Jesus, pa$e8"#

The point was, nobody in the human realm %ully

understands this truth# E+en >eter, who ri$htlypro%esses Jesus as the Christ, %ails to realize Jesus'

purpose. to die and a%ter three days rise a$ain9.8 c%# 2.1, 8 5.88, 6-"# The only humanac(nowled$ment that Jesus is the Son o% &od, comes%rom a centurion loo(in$ at Jesus on the cross#


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This, then, is the messa$e o% the &ospel o% Mar( /that we can %ully understand who Jesus is onlythrou$h his su%%erin$, death and resurrection#


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Luke for people like usFG?E, li(e all the e+an$elists, ac(nowled$es that

Jesus was &od, but he also stresses his humanity#

Fu(e shows us that, in Jesus, &od became a part o%his own story, 7ust as some producers will $i+ethemsel+es a small role in their own %ilms# E4cept

that there was nothin$ small about Jesus' role whenhe stepped into history

Fu(e shows us that Jesus was a real/li%e person wholi+ed in &alilee and Judea durin$ the rei$ns o% the;oman Emperors Au$ustus and Tiberius#

Fi(e Matthew, he $i+es us Jesus' $enealo$y and an

account o% his birth# *ut only Fu(e records Jesus'circumcision 1.1", his presentation at the temple1.11/89", his $rowth as a child 1.65", his meetin$at a$e 1 with the reli$ious teachers in the temple

1.6/-" and his continued de+elopment '###inwisdom and stature, and in %a+or with &od and men'

1.-1"# These details establish Jesus as a historicalpersonality#


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At the be$innin$ o% his ministry, Jesus proclaimedwhat his mission was all about. to brin$ $ood newsto the poor, release to the capti+es, si$ht to the blind

and %reedom to the oppressed 6.9"#

Fu(e shows Jesus as e4tremely concerned about thewel%are o% all people, but ha+in$ special empathy %orthose who were despised or under+alued by society.

the ta4 collectors, Samaritans, the poor, &entiles# oclass or $roup was e4cluded Christ's messa$e o%

sal+ation was %or e+eryone# Fu(e seems to ma(e aspecial point o% hi$hli$htin$ Jesus' concern %orwomen#

Fu(e %eatures the responsi+eness o% women 0.8/

-5 9./8 9.69 5.89/61 8.5/0 16./1"#!%ten it is not 7ust a woman but a widow who iscited, since she represented the most +ulnerablestatus within society 1.80 6.1-/1 0.1 9.8,

- 15.60 1.1/8"# Whether in parable or bye4ample, these women show that they are

sensiti+e to the messa$e o% Jesus# Thou$h on the%rin$es o% %irst/century society, they are in themiddle o% Fu(e's story# !%ten they are paired withmen 1.1-/19 6.1-/10 9.65/- .8/81

8.9/1 -.6/5 0.86/8- Acts 1.2/5", a%eature su$$estin$ that the &ospel is %or both

$enders =aniel *oc(, in the ictionary of Jesusand the Gospels, pa$e -5"#Many o% the most poi$nant parables that showrepentance and %or$i+eness o% sin bein$ o%%ered to

e+eryone are %ound only in Fu(e# :or e4ample, the$ood Samaritan 5.85/80", the $reat %east 6.-/


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16", the prodi$al son -./8" and the >hariseeand the ta4 collector 9.2/6"#

Fu(e shows us that &od's concern e4tends to

e+eryone, not 7ust those who are '$ood' or naturallyinclined to reli$ion# 3n Jesus Christ, &od became oneo% us, so that he could sa+e all o% us#


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John 'And now for somethingompletely different'J!H'S was the last &ospel to be written, perhaps5 or more years a%ter the cruci%i4ion# ;ather than

tell the whole story, he selects incidents %rom onlyabout three wee(s o% Jesus' li%e# *ut these he

e4plores in $reat detail#

John wants to let us (now in pro%ound detail who

Jesus Christ was, where he came %rom and what hecame to do 9.6"# He summed it up in what is

perhaps the most o%ten )uoted o% all *ible +erses.


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is a deep mine, with many le+els o% understandin$# 3twill repay a li%etime o% study#

:or e4ample, John de+otes se+eral chapters to Jesus'

last tal( with his disciples John 6/0"# He e4ploresthe relationship between the :ather, Son and HolySpirit# John dwells at len$th on what may at %irstseem to be a minor incident# :or e4ample, the

healin$ o% a blind man chapter 2", or the chancemeetin$ o% Jesus and a Samaritan woman at a well

6./1"#

*ut these +i$nettes were chosen because they

illustrated +ital lessons %or all who would becomedisciples, not only in his time, but throu$h the a$es#

John helps the non/belie+er to belie+e and thebelie+er to come to a deeper le+el o% understandin$#

Whereas Matthew, Mar( and Fu(e show us howJesus tau$ht in parables, there are no parables in

John# 3nstead, he %ocuses on the symbols that Jesusused to describe and e4plain his role as our Sa+ior,each be$innin$ with


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###the way, the truth and the li%e 6."

###the true +ine -."#

Fi(e the other e+an$elists, Johntells us o% Jesus' miracles. hetrans%orms water into wine 1./

", heals a nobleman's son6.68/-6", and a cripple -./",

%eeds the %i+e thousand ./6",wal(s on water .-/1", restoresa blind man 2./6" and raisesFazarus %rom the dead ./6"#

*ut he doesn't call them miracles#To John, they are si$ns, and heshows they ha+e a purpose that$oes beyond the wonder o% the act

itsel%# Each si$n tells us moreabout the o+erall reason why Jesus

Christ came to earth# He came notso that a %ew could be healed, butso that all could ha+e li%e John5.5"#

So, while the other &ospelspresent Jesus' messa$e in terms o%

'the (in$dom o% &od', John pre%ersthe term 'eternal li%e'# Eternal li%e,

althou$h ha+in$ ma$ni%icent %utureimplications, also becomes a

present reality %or the belie+er.'Whoe+er hears my word and


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belie+es in him who sent me haseternal li%e' -.16"#

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Why Do We Need Four Gospels