On the fourth day of Christmas … four calling birds. This day’s gift in the song can stand for the four Gospels of the Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. You may be wondering: “What is a ‘Gospel’ of the Bible anyways?” Well, it is the great news and authoritative accounts about Jesus Christ and His work for our salvation.
Jesus, the very Son of God, humbled Himself by stepping down from His throne in heaven to be born of a virgin in human flesh, to be the Son of Man. He lived a perfect life of ministry and service to all, suffered and died on the cross for all our sins, raised Himself from the dead, and ascended back into heaven to reign there until the Last Day. He will come again on Judgment Day to take the righteous home to heaven and condemn those who rejected Him. The four Gospels are the very heartbeat of the Bible. In studying the Gospels, we end up studying the rest of the Bible, since Scripture interprets Scripture (2 Peter 1:20) and since Jesus Christ is the key to all Scripture (Luke 24:27).
Are you wondering why there are four different Gospels in the Bible, instead of just one account of Jesus’ life? Well, in the court of law, a single eye witness account can be powerful, but cannot be fully verified. Also, if multiple eyewitnesses give the exact same testimony, down to the exact same details about things that did and did not happen, then their testimonies have most likely been coerced and/or coached instead of genuinely witnessed. Now, if four or more eyewitnesses give a testimony that supports each of the other eyewitness’ testimony, without contradicting any major points of the others’ accounts, then all the accounts given are validated as truth.
But God didn’t want to give us just one or even four perspectives of His truth, He wanted to give us a multitude of eyewitness accounts. Each of the Gospels contains countless testimonies of eye witness accounts. Both Matthew and John were original disciples of Jesus Christ and wrote both their own accounts as well as others’ accounts in their books. Mark and Luke investigated and recorded many eye witness accounts in their books.
Since the Gospels all support one another, we can say with the utmost certainty that all four of the Gospels are the authoritative truth that substantiates not just the Gospels, but also the rest of the Bible as the One Truth: God’s Truth. Jesus fulfilled every single Messianic prophecy from the Old Testament. And because of the multitude of eyewitness accounts recorded, detailing His life from His birth to His death, resurrection, and ascension, we can look back in real time and know that the Bible is the true, spoken Word of God to its authors.
So, who wrote the Gospels? Who were the main audiences? What were the main emphases?
The book of Matthew was written by one of Jesus’ original twelve disciples, Matthew. Before Jesus called him to discipleship, Matthew was a tax collector. During the Roman occupation of Jewish lands, tax collectors were hated more than the Romans. Tax collectors were notorious for charging extra taxes that they would keep for themselves. If the Romans knew about the fraud, they likely ignored it, so long as they got their portion. Why would Jesus then call such a dishonest person to be His disciple? Well, who better to call than a sinner, someone who needs a Savior and true Teacher? “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32 ESV).
Matthew’s Gospel was likely written while he was in Palestine, sometime between the 50s and 70s AD. He wrote it in Greek and his primary audience was likely Greek-speaking Jews, due to the Jewish nature of his writing. His main emphasis was to prove to Jewish readers that Jesus is their resurrected Messiah. Matthew did this by primarily writing about how Jesus’ life and ministry entirely fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in Old Testament Scriptures, which many Jews would know well. Matthew also emphasized Jesus’ Davidic lineage, which was also referenced in the Old Testament Scriptures.
The book of Mark was written by John Mark, who was a close associate of Simon Peter (another of Jesus’ disciples). Mark accurately preserved Peter’s preaching to early Christian communities by recording Peter’s messages and arranging them into an organized fashion. Mark wrote his Gospel sometime in the 50s or 60s AD. He likely was near Rome and his primary audience was Roman and other Gentile (non-Jewish) readers. The main emphasis of Mark’s Gospel was declaring the works (especially miracles) of Jesus. He portrayed Jesus as the “suffering servant” who sacrificed Himself for all sinners to be saved.
In his Gospel, Mark seemed to have a special interest in persecution and martyrdom, which is something that would have certainly aroused Roman interest, allowing his Gospel message to be disseminated and accepted more readily throughout the Roman Empire. This timeframe would have put Mark near or maybe even in Rome at the time of the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD. It is likely that Roman Emperor Nero set the fire himself and blamed it on Christians. Emperor Nero was quite possibly one of the cruelest persecutors of the Christian faith. Yet, in times of trial and tribulation we are reminded of the words that Jesus spoke: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first.” (John 15:18 NIV).
The book of Luke was written by Luke, who was likely born a Gentile, well-educated in Greek culture, and a physician by trade. He accompanied Paul at various times during Paul’s second mission from Jerusalem into Asia and back, as well as to Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome. Luke was a loyal friend who remained with Paul after others had deserted him. Luke wrote his Gospel in the 70s or 80s AD. He may have been in Rome when he wrote it. He specifically wrote it to Theophilus, who was likely a Roman official or someone with a high position and wealth.
Luke was not a first-hand eyewitness of the life of Jesus Christ; however, he investigated and arranged the testimonies of many eyewitnesses in chronological order, making it fluid and easy to understand. The main emphasis of Luke’s Gospel is the nature of Jesus’ Messianic mission: a Savior for all people. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10 ESV). Luke’s Gospel is the only one with a sequel, so-to-speak: the book of Acts. Acts was also written to Theophilus and is written in the same language, style, and structure as the book of Luke, strongly suggesting that Luke also wrote the book of Acts, even though Luke did not take credit.
The book of John was written by another one of Jesus’ original twelve disciples, John (the son of Zebedee). We remember that John is the disciple that Jesus tasked with taking care of His mother, Mary, just before He died on the cross. John was well-versed in Jewish life and customs, as evidenced by his writings. He wrote his Gospel sometime between the 50s and 80s AD. It is also unique in that it contains material not recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s Gospels.
John’s Gospel reaffirms that Jesus is part of the Triune God and was at the beginning when God the Father spoke the universe into existence. He records that Jesus Himself is God’s Word incarnate as human flesh. John’s primary goals were to evangelize and build up believers in their faiths, as well as to convert non-believers to the faith. John clearly stated his main emphasis for his Gospel in his writings: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31 ESV). John also wrote the books of 1, 2, and 3 John as letters to people in the Church, as well as the prophetic, visionary book of Revelation while he was imprisoned on the island of Patmos.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Philip Frank
Please “like” and “share” this post. If you haven’t already, you should “like” and “follow” our church’s Facebook page at: facebook.com/redeemeralpinetx for more. You can also subscribe to my devotion blog at: redeemeralpinetx.com/devotions. You can also search for past devotions on that blog page.
”The Twelve Days of Christmas” song image in the corner is by Xavier Romero-Frias and used under Creative Commons license BY-SA 3.0.
Comments