First of all, what all of us need to do right now is to pray. Follow me:
Abba Father in heaven, praised high among all things, good (morning, afternoon, evening, etc.). Thank You for everything You have done for me today. I have received so much from You physically through the food I eat and the air that we breath and spiritually through all the commandments and revelations You have given to me. Thank You Jesus for dying on the cross for me. It’s the best gift I have ever had. Lord, I praise You as my King and Savior. Holy Spirit help me to pray as my words are limited. Lord as I am about to read this bible study, give me wisdom, understanding, and conviction from the Holy Spirit so that through this bible study, these words in Your Bible act as living words that change my life. I will receive new knowledge of You through Your words. I will view the Bible differently and Lord, I will never be the same ever again. Thank You for hearing my prayer Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Second of all, before we start on discussing the background of the Gospels, we must put in mind that the author of all these gospels is Holy Spirit. Without this in mind, these gospels would just be another book or another novel that explains fictions or just a book of righteousness and not a real history of a God that walked the earth, Jesus, and what He did on this earth.
Now, let’s start.
The Gospels as a Whole
The Gospels are all actually talking about the same Person i.e. Jesus. How they differ is just the perspective which they emphasize on. These emphases will be mentioned later on. There are two ways of approaching these gospels or any other parts of the Bible. First, we must view this as a variety emphasizing on different things. Second, we must consider the similarities between these gospels. If we just do on one of the mentioned, we will not be able to combine the differences and the similarities and make it into a whole picture. Again, the theme is different in each gospels and this doesn’t mean that one gospel is wrong or worse than the other.
The Gospels are the nearest things to explaining Jesus’ entire life on earth. But what is a gospel exactly? The original Greek word of gospel is evangelism which is now used to describe people spreading the gospel. So, in that sense, a gospel really means news. Why? Because the purpose of the Gospels is to spread the news of Jesus!! Why are there four gospels? As mentioned in the beginning, the Bible is God-inspired as in all are written by God through men’s own personal style. As in the Old Testament, the book of Kings and Chronicles are actually picturing the same things and events through different perspective. So, since the life of God’s own Son is very important, He wanted a very clear picture of everything happening. It’s like comparing a 2D movie and a 3D movie (in fact, the Gospels actually picture the life of Jesus in 4D because one of them explains more on the Spiritual world as well).
The concept of Who inspired these gospels must be clear as well. All the Bible is God-inspired. This means that God doesn’t dictate and the people just write it down but He gives them inspiration, in this case the life of Jesus, and the authors put that inspiration down on the paper with their own perspective. Therefore it created different themes.
Matthew and Luke – included far more about what Jesus SAID
Mark – what Jesus DID (actions, miracles, death, and resurrection)
John – WHO Jesus was i.e. Jesus’ identity (Son of God)
Through these themes, we now move to the writer’s insight and intention to help us more in determining how to study the Gospels. Insights:
Mark – the first and shortest Gospel, seeing Jesus as Son of Man
Luke – second gospel, seeing Jesus as Savior of the World
Matthew – third gospel, depicting Jesus as the King of the Jews
John – fourth gospel, with Jesus as the Son of God
Intentions (don’t assume if it’s for new, old believers, or unbelievers then it’s not for you to read!! This article is to help you in knowing the background):
Matthew – concerned for new believers and his book is arranged in a way that we will know how to live a disciples.
John – is written for older believers, encourage them to hold on to their faith in Jesus and to counteract the confusion between John the Baptist and Jesus.
Mark – to excite his readers with the news of Jesus so that they might have faith in Jesus.
Luke – the only Gentile (not Jews or Israelites) author in the Bible therefore more concerned about Gentiles believing in Jesus.
There are a few similarities in the Gospels especially the first three Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These three are called synoptic Gospels which means a common view of Jesus. John writes much more independently compared to the other three. These synoptic sometimes overlap but all is based on Mark which is the oldest and earliest gospels. Matthew and Luke expanded their writings based on Mark. This is also the reason why the forum is first filled in the Mark category to get the basic right. This is the basic introduction to all the Gospels and a more detailed one for each gospel will be added later on.
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Abba Father in heaven, praised high among all things, good (morning, afternoon, evening, etc.). Thank You for everything You have done for me today. I have received so much from You physically through the food I eat and the air that we breath and spiritually through all the commandments and revelations You have given to me. Thank You Jesus for dying on the cross for me. It’s the best gift I have ever had. Lord, I praise You as my King and Savior. Holy Spirit help me to pray as my words are limited. Lord as I am about to read this bible study, give me wisdom, understanding, and conviction from the Holy Spirit so that through this bible study, these words in Your Bible act as living words that change my life. I will receive new knowledge of You through Your words. I will view the Bible differently and Lord, I will never be the same ever again. Thank You for hearing my prayer Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Now, let’s start.
The Gospels as a Whole
The Gospels are all actually talking about the same Person i.e. Jesus. How they differ is just the perspective which they emphasize on. These emphases will be mentioned later on. There are two ways of approaching these gospels or any other parts of the Bible. First, we must view this as a variety emphasizing on different things. Second, we must consider the similarities between these gospels. If we just do on one of the mentioned, we will not be able to combine the differences and the similarities and make it into a whole picture. Again, the theme is different in each gospels and this doesn’t mean that one gospel is wrong or worse than the other.
The Gospels are the nearest things to explaining Jesus’ entire life on earth. But what is a gospel exactly? The original Greek word of gospel is evangelism which is now used to describe people spreading the gospel. So, in that sense, a gospel really means news. Why? Because the purpose of the Gospels is to spread the news of Jesus!! Why are there four gospels? As mentioned in the beginning, the Bible is God-inspired as in all are written by God through men’s own personal style. As in the Old Testament, the book of Kings and Chronicles are actually picturing the same things and events through different perspective. So, since the life of God’s own Son is very important, He wanted a very clear picture of everything happening. It’s like comparing a 2D movie and a 3D movie (in fact, the Gospels actually picture the life of Jesus in 4D because one of them explains more on the Spiritual world as well).
Matthew and Luke – included far more about what Jesus SAID
Mark – what Jesus DID (actions, miracles, death, and resurrection)
John – WHO Jesus was i.e. Jesus’ identity (Son of God)
Through these themes, we now move to the writer’s insight and intention to help us more in determining how to study the Gospels. Insights:
Mark – the first and shortest Gospel, seeing Jesus as Son of Man
Luke – second gospel, seeing Jesus as Savior of the World
Matthew – third gospel, depicting Jesus as the King of the Jews
John – fourth gospel, with Jesus as the Son of God
Intentions (don’t assume if it’s for new, old believers, or unbelievers then it’s not for you to read!! This article is to help you in knowing the background):
Matthew – concerned for new believers and his book is arranged in a way that we will know how to live a disciples.
John – is written for older believers, encourage them to hold on to their faith in Jesus and to counteract the confusion between John the Baptist and Jesus.
Mark – to excite his readers with the news of Jesus so that they might have faith in Jesus.
Luke – the only Gentile (not Jews or Israelites) author in the Bible therefore more concerned about Gentiles believing in Jesus.
There are a few similarities in the Gospels especially the first three Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These three are called synoptic Gospels which means a common view of Jesus. John writes much more independently compared to the other three. These synoptic sometimes overlap but all is based on Mark which is the oldest and earliest gospels. Matthew and Luke expanded their writings based on Mark. This is also the reason why the forum is first filled in the Mark category to get the basic right. This is the basic introduction to all the Gospels and a more detailed one for each gospel will be added later on.
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Vincent Najoan
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