Bible Study Four Gospels

[for_his_glory]

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are actually supplements of each other as they all give an eyewitness account of Christ in his birth, life, death and resurrection. The four gospels are that of what Christ actually spoke in his teachings, works and preparation of his disciples. The rest of the books, except Revelation which is warnings to the Church of conduct and things which must come to be before Christ returns for his bride, are more about moral standings and our conduct in obedience to the faith which is Christ Jesus as we choose to believe his teachings and that of his work that he instructed all of us to continue in as he prepares all of us before sending us out as he did his disciples. Acts brings us into that of Christ's resurrection and ascending as now Jesus has fulfilled his purpose of God and now sends down the Holy Spirit to teach us and send us out into the world according to Gods commission at the end of Matthews writing.

Matthew - In the first verse announces the fulfillment of Israel hope in the coming of Christ. The book of Matthew is a natural bridge between the OT and NT as it describes the person and the works of Israel's Messianic King. Matthew's structure is revealed in the phrase "It is finished" which is used to conclude the five key discourses of the book IE: the Sermon on the Mount, instruction of the disciples, parables of the Kingdom, terms of discipleship and the Olivet Discourse. Mathew can be outlined as, the presentation of the Christ, the proclamation of the Christ, the power of the Christ, the progressive rejection of the Christ, the preparation of the Christ's Disciples, the presentation and rejection of the Christ and the proof of the Christ. At the cross all is finished for that of the purpose of the Christ.

Mark - In the first verse it centers on the purpose and mission of the Son of God as Jesus being a servant and redeemer of men. Mark directed his words to a more Gentile audience that knew little about OT theology. Mark wrote as a topical narrative of Christ's teachings and works. Mark passes over the birth and early years of Christ and begins with the events that immediately precede that of the fulfillment of Gods Spirit in Christ as he was baptized by John for the purpose of Gods ministry through him up unto the time of the cross as Christ prepared his Disciples within all his teachings so they would be prepared to take what Christ taught them out into the world even though they did lack certain understanding. Mark is outlined in the presentation of the servant, the opposition of the servant, the instruction of the servant, and the resurrection of the servant.

Luke - Luke clearly states his purpose in verse one "to write unto thee in order, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed". Luke wanted to create an accurate chronological and comprehensive account of the unique life of Christ to strengthen the faith of the Gentile believers and stimulate saving faith among the non-believers. Luke also had another purpose in his writings and that was to show that Christ was not only divine, but also human. Luke portrays Christ in his fullest humanity by devoting more of his writing to Christ's feelings and humanity than any other Gospel. Luke chronologically: the introduction of the Son of man, the ministry of the Son of man, the rejection of the Son of man and the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Son of man.

John - The key to John's gospel is to believe that Christ is the Son of God. John writes his gospel for the specific purpose of bringing people to a spiritual life through belief in the person and the works of Christ. John selected the signs he used for the specific purpose of creating intellectual, "that you might believe", and spiritual "that believing ye might have life", conviction about the Son of God. The key verb in John is "believe" and requires knowledge and capability to choose. John's gospel serves as a supplement to the other three gospels. The five basic sections of this gospel are, the incarnation of the Son of God, the presentation of the Son of God, the opposition to the Son of God and the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Son of God.

 

[Malachi]

Another reason for the four Gospels are the four aspects of Christ, corresponding to the four faces of the cherubim (Rev 4:6).
Matthew -- the Divine King -- the lion
Mark - the Servant of God -- the ox
Luke -- the Son of Man -- the man
John -- the Son of God -- the flying eagle

 

[Jim Parker]

Mark is widely considered the earliest Gospel to be written because all the material found in Mark is also found in Luke and Matthew. There is also a body of material found in Matthew and Luke that is not found in Mark of which it has been proposed that there might have been another document from which Matthew and Luke drew but which has been lost. (The "Q" document. "Q" being the first letter of the German word "quelle", meaning "what?" to indicate that a written source is unknown.)

These three Gospels are referred to as "Synoptic" because the "look" similar. (from Gr: sym ~ same and Gr: ophthalmos = eye)

When seeking the purpose of a piece of writing, we most often find a statement of that purpose at the very beginning of the piece.

Of these three, Matthew appears to be addressed to a Jewish audience because of it's many references to messianic prophesies and by the Hebraic literary standard of beginning a story (the story of Jesus the messiah) with a genealogy. In this case, the genealogy traces Jesus' ancestry back through David to Abraham showing Him to be qualified to be the expected Messiah. The genealogy is also divided into three sections of fourteen "begets." The number 14 is the number of the name "David" in the Jewish numerology of the day.

Luke and Acts are written as a report of the facts of Jesus' person which Luke has researched and arranged in the form of a letter to one "Theophilus." (Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-2) The name "Theophilus" means "God lover." ( Gr: Theos = God and Phileo = to love)

Mark presents a very straight-forward and rather "bare bones" account with less material than is included in the other Gospels. He begins his Gospel with the very straight-forward statement: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Mark appears to be a very "no nonsense" kind of guy.

Mark appears to have had additional material added at the end; Mark 16:9-13 and 14-20. (or a single addition of Mark 16:9-20) Whether this material was added by Mark may have originally ended at 16:8. We don't know. But the Church has retained all of it and considered all of it inspired since the earliest days of the primitive church. So, don't spend a lot of time wondering about it unless you're a ThD seminary professor who is being urged by the dean to publish something that will make the seminary appear leading edge. It's what the church has given us. Love it.

John, which was written much later than the other Gospels, makes it very clear that Jesus is the manifestation of God in the flesh. It is as if John was addressing the question of exactly Who Jesus is. John states it very clearly in His opening sentence: "...the Word was God." and then makes the clear statement at v. 14 that God came in the form of a man.

iakov the fool




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