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Why Four?
Why Four?
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are the first four books of the New Testament and are commonly referred to as the “Gospels.” All four tell the same story about Jesus and His work on earth to save every one of us from the sins we commit against God. He came to this earth, taught His message, fulfilled the promises of the Old Testament by giving His life for each of us, then proved Himself as God by resurrecting Himself from the dead. It’s an extraordinary story; “good news” for all of us. Why did God feel it necessary to tell us four different times, though? Wouldn’t one be enough?
First think of being in a court of law. If one side of an argument is trying to prove a point, they offer evidence, and a form of evidence is an eyewitness to the event in question. Someone who says they saw or were involved with an event or action gives credibility to that event or action as it’s being told. What if there were more than just one person to witness? That’s just proves it even more and could be ironclad truth if all the witnesses told the same story.
In that same court of law, one must worry about coaching. If all the witnesses say the exact same thing, the story will have been rehearsed, and coordinated for the sake of winning a false argument. What is the most convincing about the testimony is if they all differ but tell the same truth. The more they differ in viewpoint, the more convincing the events they all describe are if they are the same event.
Looking at each gospel, we can observe each writer’s own personality, background, perspective, and personal biases:
Matthew – Matthew was a tax collector and would have been hated by his Jewish kin as a traitor. He had a mind for money, and despite being hated, still had a deep-seated belief in his God, knowing the Old Testament as thoroughly as any man who would have grown up in Jewish society, likely going to a Jewish school as a boy. His deep knowledge of the Old Testament scripture even implies he could have been of the tribe of Levi, therefore eligible to be a priest. His testimony draws from the many references in the past to convert Jewish minds to Jesus who would have been looking for the Messiah with the same verses in their mind. He also appealed to the Jewish people who could see the hypocrisy of the current Jewish leadership and heavily noted Jesus’ criticism of that hypocrisy.
Mark – The gospel of Mark is likely the least Jewish yet the most Roman perspective toward Jesus. Mark is the gospel of details, despite being the shortest account, lending even more credibility to the events described in the account. Mark doesn’t focus on Jewish tradition or history as it was irrelevant to his audience. It’s unclear if Mark was an eyewitness, but we believe he was, being a good friend of Peter, even at the time when they were traveling with Jesus, according to many extrabiblical accounts. Some scholars even believe Mark was describing himself in Mark 14:51-52 in an effort to confess his embarrassment for also abandoning Jesus.
Luke – Luke’s gospel is the most logical and ordered of accounts, put together after the fact. Luke, a physician, was an educated man who was no stranger to study and ordered, scientific thinking and analysis. We believe he was not an eyewitness to Jesus, but instead went around after the fact interviewing the eyewitnesses and collecting their accounts. One of the most notable are the intimate thoughts of Mary and her recollections of Jesus as a child. While his gospel was specifically written to a Greek man named Theophilus, Luke’s gospel has a universal appeal, giving answers to many questions which might be asked by gentiles about Jesus and who He was, and puts a heavy emphasis on the role of the Holy Spirit on the gospel message. Luke also notes how the followers of Jesus are rejected by the world. His message has a very broad appeal, both Jew and gentile.
John – While Luke’s gospel has a very wide appeal, John’s is considered the “universal gospel.” John’s gospel account was written later than the rest of the gospels (around 90AD) and seeks to put to rest some heresies which had arisen in the first century about who Jesus was. He begins with a bold statement of Jesus as deity revealing His role in the creation, but also establishing that He came to earth as a man, humbling Himself by choice, but still maintaining His status as Deity. John’s writing is simple and clear and reveals many things about Jesus and His life which are not mentioned in the other three gospels.
Each gospel is written differently with different personalities, perspectives, emphasis, and even the events describing Jesus’ life are different. While only 3% of Mark is unique to him, 20% of Matthew is exclusive to him, and 23% of Luke can only be found in his gospel. Despite these differences, the three are called the Synoptic Gospels because we can synchronize them and discover the accounts line up and still tell the same story despite large differences in their telling. John is the most compelling once his gospel is added into the mix. John’s gospel is 90% exclusive to his account. He reveals so much new information that for it to be still harmonious with the other texts can only be attributed to the guidance of a single Divine Will guiding the writing of the accounts.
So, why four? God never wanted us to be in doubt. We have faith, but our faith is not blind. He encourages and expects us to be as a jury, weighing the evidence and coming to the most logical and correct conclusion. God gives man an enormous amount of evidence of who He is and what He would have us do for our salvation. Giving us four accounts should serve to strengthen our faith and our conviction that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and our hope for eternal salvation.
Lance Byers
- Why_Four_5-17-24.pdf (61.55 kB)
