Understanding the Four Gospels
Looking into the Face of Jesus
The Life of Christ
Outline: Lesson Plan 1
Introduction
A. An important question: why does the NT contain four Gospels?
B. Let us ask some questions that may provide some answers.
I. Who Wrote the Four Gospels?
A. Matthew—a former tax collector and apostle
B. Mark—the John Mark of the Book of Acts, a young preacher
C. Luke—Dr. Luke accompanied Paul on several of his missionary journeys.
D. John—former fisherman and “beloved” apostle
II. Synoptic or Autoptic—Which One?
A. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are synoptic—all present similar views of Jesus. No doubt they were written before AD 70.
B. John is considered autoptic because he took a different approach. His book has more of an eyewitness approach. It must have been that it was written later, perhaps around AD 85-95.
III. How Do the Four Accounts Help Us?
A. They show how important the story of Jesus is. Look at the space.
B. They authenticate the story of Jesus.
1. When there are more witnesses, the evidence becomes more complete.
2. Four men relating perfectly the perfect life of Jesus—what could be better than that?
C. They reveal the multifaceted nature of Jesus.
1. Matthew—the Messiah
2. Mark—the wonder-Worker
3. Luke—the Savior of the world
4. John—the Son of God
IV. How Do the Four Gospels Compare to Each Other?
A. Matthew:
1. He wrote for the Jews. He quoted over 100 OT Scriptures, and he used terms familiar to the Jews.
2. He presented Jesus as a King. The word “kingdom” appears 55 times.
3. He seemed to focus on the teachings of Jesus. He included five teaching sections.
4. He wrote of Jesus’ teachings, kingdom, and authority.
5. Today’s appeal: to the Bible student
6. His purpose: to present Jesus as the promised Messiah
B. Mark:
1. He wrote to a non-Jewish audience. No genealogies were used. He explained Jewish traditions.
2. Many think Mark was writing to a Roman audience. He used Latin phrases.
3. According to Clement of Alexandria, Mark received a request from Christians at Rome to record “The Life of Christ” as he had heard it from Peter.
4. He seemed to focus on what Jesus did versus what Jesus taught.
5. He presented Jesus as a Servant.
6. He focused on His miracles showing the love and care of Jesus.
7. His appeal today: to the average person
8. His purpose: to present Jesus as the powerful Savior
C. Luke:
1. Luke’s account seems to be written for the intellectual—the student.
2. Many believe Luke had a Greek audience in mind. His genealogy goes all the way back to Adam (Luke 3:23–38).
3. He presented Jesus as the Son of Man.
4. He emphasized Jesus’ perfect humanity.
5. His appeal today: to scholars, thinkers, and idealists
6. His purpose: to present Jesus as the perfect Savior of the world
D. John:
1. John’s Gospel had its own special interest—Jesus, the Logos.
2. Erroneous views had risen concerning the nature of Jesus.
3. He presented Jesus as the “Son of God.” He stressed Jesus’ Deity.
4. His appeal today: it is considered the “universal” gospel because it appeals to everyone.
5. His purpose: to present Jesus as the personal Savior, the Son of God
V. How Were They Written?
A. The Gospels supplement one another.
1. We need all four.
a. What would we do without John’s 90 percent new material,
b. Matthew’s teaching material,
c. Mark’s abbreviated material,
d. Or Luke’s historical material?
2. We stand amazed at its composite picture of Jesus.
B. The Gospels sometimes give different information, but a little study resolves the seeming contradictions.
C. However, many worry about how the three Synoptic Gospels are similar.
1. They think they copied one another.
2. We do not know how God wrote the Bible.
3. The great scholar R. C. H. Lenski makes a good statement regarding this question:
These witnesses [the Gospel writers] also had the promise of the Spirit, John 14:26; 16:14. In our explanation of just how the Gospels were written, we dare not omit this divine guidance and control. All purely naturalistic explanations fail from the start. Without the Spirit’s control, all the Gospels, and each by itself, stand as inexplicable phenomena. They simply could not have been produced. But they were produced and stand before us majestically in eloquent silence. The Spirit is back of them. He used each of these writers, taking each as he was, with all the ability and the means each commanded, and enabled them to write, each in his own way, so that the writing was what the Spirit wanted for the church in all the coming ages. No wonder that all inspired writing thus stands in a class by itself, supreme over all other writing and stamped forever as divine.[1]
Conclusion
A. Can the Gospel Accounts be trusted?
B. Read the account of Simon Greenleaf’s study of the Gospels.
One of the greatest American lawyers of the past was Simon Greenleaf, who wrote one of the most important works on the law of evidence ever to appear in the English language. His book, A Treatise on the Law of Evidence, was unsurpassed on the subject for nearly one hundred years. It ran through sixteen editions. When he was a mature lawyer at the age of sixty-three, just seven years before his death, Simon Greenleaf published a volume in which he examined the testimony of the four evangelists to Jesus Christ. He used the same laws of evidence employed in courts of justice in the civilized world. He said, “Our profession leads us to explore the mazes of falsehood, to detect its artifices, to pierce its thickets veils, to follow and expose its sophistries, to compare the statements of different witnesses with severity, to discover truth and separate it from error.” In this book, which ran to 543 pages, Simon Greenleaf came to the conclusion that the Gospels are absolutely trustworthy and that the four evangelists could not possibly have lied about Jesus Christ, for their testimony rings true.[2]
C. Think about the perfection principle. How could four men write perfectly about the perfect life of Jesus?
[1] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Mark’s Gospel (Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg Publishing House, 1946), 15, 16.
[2] John Phillips, Exploring the Scriptures (London: Victory Press, 1965), 189–90.
Discussion Questions
1. What are the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John often called?
2. What is the meaning of “synoptic”?
3. All of the Synoptic Gospels were written before what major event?
4. What is the meaning of “autoptic”?
5. When was John’s Gospel probably written?
6. What are probable reasons for four inspired multiple Gospel Accounts?
7. What is the basic purpose of all four Gospel Accounts?
8. Matthew was written primarily for whom?
9. How many Old Testament passages are quoted in Matthew?
10. How did Matthew present Jesus?
11. To whom did Mark address his Gospel?
12. What is emphasized in Mark’s Gospel?
13. How did Mark present Jesus?
14. Luke wrote for what type of audience?
15. How did Luke present Jesus?
16. How is Jesus presented in John’s Gospel?
17. Which account has been called “the universal Gospel”?
18. What are some differences and similarities among the four Gospel Accounts?
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