80. Beginner Bible Course: Why are there FOUR Gospels?

Episode 80  The simple Bible overview of…WHY ARE THERE FOUR GOSPELS?

We begin the 27 pieces of the new Testament with the first clump of colors, the gospels Matthew Mark, Luke, and John. The word gospels literally means good news act one. The old Testament closed on a very sober note. As the curtain opens for act two, we're immediately hit with good news for writers. Come on, stage one, after the other, each telling a story, that's very good news. Three of these stories are very similar. They sing a very similar song. One of these stories sings the same song, but a different verse Bible students often wonder why four gospels, if it's the same song, the same story.

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Why not just combine them into one? My simple answer is this. If you ever have sung in a choir, why not just all sing in unison? I mean, it's the same song, right? If you have sung and acquire, you know, something magic happens when it divides into two or three or four or even six or eight parts, harmony can be majestic, essentially. That's the answer to your question? Why four gospels harmony. Let me explain. First the gospel writers each tell their own good news story to a different audience. Matthew addresses his gospel to Jewish people, Mark to the Romans in power, Luke two, all Gentiles non-Jewish people and John to everyone.

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It's very clear when you read through their gospels that their audience determined not only how they gave the good news, but the pieces of the good news that they gave. And in what order these four gospel writers also write with a different purpose. Matthew writing to the Jews seeks to prove that Jesus is the promise King of the old Testament. The key word in his gospel is King. If you're thinking with me, he's going to try very hard to show that Jesus has the re genealogy to be the King. He's especially going to tie him to David the King in the old Testament, that God made that a remarkable promise to any we'll talk about kingdom things.

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What would it be like to be a citizen in Jesus' kingdom? Mark's purpose is to demonstrate that Jesus is the suffering servant of the old Testament. Writing to the Romans who believed in strength, power, and crushing their enemy. Mark is going to show how this suffering servant is going to crush Satan in the power of sin. It shouldn't surprise us verse for verse. Mark has the most miracles of any of the gospels Mark's keywords are serve and suffer. Luke's purpose is to demonstrate to us. Jesus is the son of man. There's kind of a double meaning there. The lesser meaning is Luke wants to show Jesus is fully human.

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Luke's going to talk more about Jesus, the person, his feelings, struggles, and excruciating suffering more than the other gospel writers. But the second and larger purpose of Luke is to demonstrate he's the son of man. The one stated in Daniel chapter seven, there in that view of the parade of human history, there was one like the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven, the one whom God gives all rule and authority to, to rule forever. Luke wants to demonstrate Jesus is that son of man. Then there's John. John wants to demonstrate Jesus is the son of God.

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John comes after everyone shamelessly and in his gospel forces us to make a decision. Who is Jesus? Is he the son of God? Or isn't he? So the four gospels are targeted at different audiences and they have a different purpose. Matthew to prove Jesus as the King, Mark Jesus, the suffering servant, Luke Jesus, the son of man and John Jesus, the son of God. It shouldn't surprise us then with different audiences and different purposes, they organize their book differently. Remember, this is God's word, but human authors also wrote it back in episode two, we learned that God carried along the human writers like water under an inner tube and carried them to a destination point as they wrote in their own style.

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And with their own words, this would extend to how they organize their gospel. As we'll learn in the next episode, Matthew was an accountant, a tax collector. So it shouldn't surprise us that in seeking to prove to Jews that Jesus is the promised King. He organizes his gospel topically think columns in an accountant's ledger. I'll handle Mark. Last Luke written to all Gentiles people who probably didn't know Jesus story at all, arranges his gospel chronologically his story unfolds in time sequence from beginning to end. This makes a lot of sense.

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Since we'll discover Luke was not only a physician, but a master historian. John lays his gospel out evangelistically. He wants to prove to his reader. Jesus is God's son. And so he thinks how can I bring the strongest case, a case that will require people to make a decision on who Jesus really is? He's after our hearts, he wants us to make a choice. You could say to be converted. Then we get to Mark. I like to tell my students, Mark is arranged. Not that's a little unfair, but Mark is a Harold in one heck of a hurry to give you the good news about Jesus.

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00:05:54

The suffering servant, whom he believes is the Stomper from Genesis and the savior of mankind. Mark's favorite word is immediately. It's like he's hopped up on caffeine, but there's a method behind his rushed madness. His story, the shortest gospel is a masterpiece. Why four gospels, different audiences, different purposes, different arrangements together. They harmonized to tell the complete story to all of us about this Jesus born in Bethlehem. The Nazareen the one they claim is the Christ, the King, the savior.

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Now I don't know about you, but before I ever read a book, I look at the back cover and I read the section about the author. I really only want to invest my time reading books from somebody who knows what they're talking about. Somebody I can trust. For example, if somebody handed me two books on say how to respond with compassion and wisdom to the poorest of poor on our planet, one was written by bill Gates and the other by mother Teresa. Which one do you think I had read to me? It matters. Who writes the story? I guess you'd call it credibility. Where Matthew Mark, Luke and John credible, who were they and are the stories they wrote the good news worthy of our time.

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We'll talk about these four gospel writers and answer that question in our next word picture.