|
Why are there four Gospels?
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Why are there four Gospels? Do they contradict each other and why do we need four accounts?
Well, Matthew emphasizes the royal, kingly credentials of the Messiah. I love reading Matthew's Gospel as it is stuffed with prophecy coming to pass! Even the casual reader cannot fail to notice the amount of Old Testament prophecy fulfilled in this Gospel. It is essentially a Jewish Gospel aimed particularly with the Jewish reader in mind who is searching for the long awaited Messiah-King.
Mark's Gospel concentrates on Jesus as the suffering Servant who bore the weight of our sins. Mark's Gospel can be summed up with the statement 'For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.' (Mark 10:45)
Luke who is also the author of Acts was a physician paying careful attention to the miracles Jesus performed and the healings He did. Jesus experienced the temptations that we face when He voluntarily lived on earth during His incarnation.
The above three accounts are known as the synoptic gospels as by and large the bulk of the content covers the same events.
John's Gospel explains the deity of Jesus as the Son of God. The Jews sought to kill Jesus in John 5:19 'because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.' John testified of the Word which was God and which was with God and of whom he had handled and seen.
Also there are parallels between Ezekiel's vision of God in Chapter 1 and the four Gospels. Ezekiel saw four creatures that moved as there were wheels beside them with the rims full of eyes. The creatures were able to move in any direction they wished. The eyes represent the omniscient knowledge and intelligence of God.
As for the four creatures, the lion Ezekiel saw represents the kingship, majesty and sovereignty of the Messiah and also corresponds with the emphasis attributed to the Messiah in Matthew's Gospel. The ox is a strong, yet humble and faithful serving creature and thus relates to Mark's Gospel. The man represents Jesus as the perfect God-Man as similar to Luke's Gospel. Finally the eagle typifies the Spirit as referred to in John's Gospel.
Lastly do the Gospel's contradict each other? They may appear contradictory as the details are not exactly the same, however they are completely accurate and consistent accounts. All the accounts are true and derived from different witnesses. The witnesses reported what they saw. For example if a witness to a robbery saw two robbers making a get away and the other witness saw three both statements may well be true. The difference between the two accounts is that one of the witnesses only saw two out of the three robbers. Furthermore in a court of law, if four witnesses either spoke, or wrote, word for word accounts that were exactly the same, they would certainly be accused of either corroborating the event, or plagiarising in some form!
Four Gospels were required to demonstrate that Jesus was the Messiah, King, Servant, God-Man, equal to God and the Son of God.
Peter recognised that Jesus was the Son of God. Who do you say that He is? |
