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Christianity

The Gospels
(written by a student)

Why there are four gospels, all of which say very similar things? Under closer scrutiny, each of them actually gives us a different perspective of just who Jesus was based upon whom the author was writing for. 

The first perspective of Jesus is in the Gospel of Mark. Mark originally traveled with Paul on the first of his journeys (Acts 12:25; 13:5) but returned to Jerusalem before the completion of Paul's mission. Apparently, the two had a falling out because Paul refused to let Mark come with him on his second journey (Acts 15:36-41). Later, Mark and Peter developed a close relationship and it is believed that the bulk of the material for Mark's gospel came from Peter. Mark's audience consisted of the Roman Christians who found themselves facing persecution at the hands of the Roman emperor, Nero. Mark portrays Jesus as the "Suffering Servant" who was Himself falsely accused of wrongdoing, suffered and gave His life. He reminded them that a new life of faith was difficult and that they must be ready to suffer, as Jesus did, for their faith.

Next is The Gospel of Matthew, who was one of Jesus' original apostles. Firstly, he wrote it for a Jewish Christian audience and probably wrote it in Antioch, where many of the original disciples were from. Secondly, he wrote it to remind other Christians that their faith in Jesus was anchored in the Old Testaments. Matthew portrays Jesus as the Messiah/King who fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies. No greater example of this can be seen than during the Sermon on the Mount where he tells the crowd, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled (Matthew 5:17-18)." One of the most important themes in this book is that God expects his people to obey him. This is what Matthew talks about when he mentions righteousness, which is used six times by Matthew (3:15, 5:6, 5:10, 5:20, 6:33, 21:32).

The Last of the Synoptic Gospels is Luke. Luke was believed to be a second generation Christian, a physician, and a disciple of Paul. It is unknown whether he was a Gentile or a Jew but the target audience for his version of the gospel was the Non-Jewish (Gentile) Christian of the Hellenistic world. He described Jesus as the Son of Man who came to save and minister to all people through the power of the Holy Spirit and prayer. He also linked Jesus to all men by tracing his ancestry all the way back to Adam, unlike Matthew who only traced Jesus' lineage back to Abraham.

The final gospel is that of John, one of the closest of Jesus' apostles. John was active in the Jerusalem church and was ranked by Paul as one of its pillars. Unlike the synoptic gospels, John is 98% unique. His audience was also the Non-Jewish Christian of the Hellenistic region. He describes Jesus as the divine Son of God. In this book, we learn a lot about who Jesus was by observing what he said and did when meeting other people. Jesus also refers to himself as "I am" seven times in this book to describe himself as the bread of life, the light of the world, the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life; the way, the truth, and the life; and the true vine.

Just by looking at the purposes for writing these four gospels, we see Jesus as the suffering servant, the Messiah and king, the Son of Man, and the divine Son of God. This is why there are four versions of the gospels contained in the New Testaments instead of just one; to provide us with different ways of viewing Jesus. Though different, these views are not contradictory. Rather, they complement and complete one another. 

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