The four Gospels are the accounts at the beginning of the New Testament about the saving work of God in his son Jesus Christ. The writers of the four gospels introduced a new literary category into literature.
The gospels are not exactly biographies, because apart from certain events surrounding Jesus’ birth, (Matt. 1-2; Luke 1-2) and one from Jesus’ youth (Luke 2:41-52), they record only the last two or three years of Jesus' life. Moreover, the material included is not written as an objective historical survey of Jesus' ministry.The gospels present Jesus in such a way that the reader realizes that God acted uniquely in Jesus.
The authors of the gospels wrote not only to communicate knowledge about Jesus as a person, but also to call us to commitment to Jesus as Lord. The authors of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all wrote each of their stories in different times and different places.Their tales were told in such a manner that would appeal to the masses in their respective areas. Each author also focused their message on a different characteristic of Jesus, from his portrayal as a teacher to his portrayal as a fulfiller of prophecies to the portrayal of Jesus as eternally divine.
For Matthew and Mark, Jesus was the fulfillment of Old Testament. He was the teacher of Israel. However, both differ in the depiction of the teacher. For Mark, Jesus was an authoritative Jewish teacher.
His actions and miracles, including calming a storm (Mark 4: 39) to curing the blind (Mark 8: 23) to conquering death (Mark 5: 21), were deliberately showing his power. He was mysterious in his ways and purpose, but on the cross, defined his life through his death as a ransom for the sins of his people.Matthew’s version shows Jesus as more prophet like. In his description of Jesus, Jesus is the fulfillment of all Jewish hopes (Matthew 8: 17; 11: 5). Throughout his teachings and life, Jesus sets himself apart as the Song of God.
He is holy and without sin, born of divinity. Within Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus loses much of the emotion Mark had established and instead remains a dignified teacher of Jews and Gentiles across Jerusalem.In much of Luke’s writing, the humanity of Jesus is emphasized and, in later parts of his life, a greater portion of his divinity is revealed. Early parts of Luke’s writings show his humanity by revealing his lowly childhood and humble nature.However, later on, just like the other Gospel writers, he is shown as Israel’s prophecy fulfilled (Luke 4 : 1, 14, 18).
Throughout Jesus’ life, he is referred to often as the Son of God and his direct relation with God is often used also. Luke, too, also shows a soft and sensitive nature of Jesus. In very important situations, Jesus is seen praying intently and fervently. Luke finds Jesus’ divinity as the source of inspiration for his writing.John takes a radically different approach to Jesus and God.
John’s Gospel starts at the beginning of eternity and looks at Jesus as the physical Word of God. John recognizes a higher, fuller, more complete divinity in Jesus. The overwhelming holiness in Jesus is shown in all parts of Jesus’ life in John’s writing, from his young life to the Passion.In all the Gospels, Jesus is meant to be something specific to each one. Because each Gospel was meant to appeal to a different audience, they highlighted a different perspective of Jesus, and each looked to a different point of his life for inspiration.
The four gospels are four perspectives on Jesus the Christ.Assembled into a chronological account we find 250 events detailed in the four books. Some are found in only one of the books others are found in several and a few are found in all four books. Why is it good to study the harmony of the gospels and not rely on just each as a stand-alone text? There are many that seek to discredit the Bible. They seek to find mistakes, contradictions or lies in the text. I have found well over seventy sites with the phrase Bible contradictions.
A few were refuting and explaining perceived contradictions. Most were denouncing the Bible because of a list of contradictions.
