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The Unique Introductions to the Four Gospels
A small analysis on the first few verses on the 4 gospels and their themes
A small analysis on the first few verses on the 4 gospels and their themes
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The Unique Introductions to the Four Gospels
06-08-11 10:15 PM
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So I was looking through my external and I found this simple Term Paper that I wrote for my New Testament class. I don't remember what I got on it, but I got an A in the class so I'm assuming I did well. Anyways, I wanted to share this because I think it is pretty important for us to understand why we have the 4 gospels in the Bible rather than 1 account. Each gospel has a specific theme that is evident throughout each account. In this paper, I analyzed the specific theme and purpose of each gospel based on the first few verses of each gospel. It's really interesting that you can see it just from their introductions. Check it out, and look into the topic further! Don't take my word for it.
In terms of the good news of Jesus Christ, we are privileged to not only have one account of the gospel, but the Bible provides 4 accounts of the life and death of Jesus Christ. It may seem redundant to some to have more than one account describing the life of Jesus. Some may even find it discouraging when skeptics claim that there are contradictions between these accounts due to many differences in detail and descr Before going though the life of Jesus, Matthew establishes a background of His origin. The introduction of the Book declares itself as “the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ” (Matthew 1:1). The verses after the introduction contain the genealogy organized as three sets of fourteen generations leading up to Jesus Christ (Gundry 169-170). The structure is set like a story, where before the story can begin, the chief character must be introduced (Carson 907). Even though this seems like a boring way to start the historical account, the beginning of this book supports the purpose of why the book is being written. In the second part of his introduction, Matthew made a profound claim that Jesus is “the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). One cannot just make a claim without any support backing the claim, which is what the purpose of the book is. The purpose of Matthew is to stress Jesus’ fulfillment of the Old Testament laws and the messianic prophecy (Gundry 163). The genealogy of Jesus Christ was evidence that He is the prophesied Messiah. Linking Him to Abraham and King David, Jesus was seen as a true descendant to the origin of Israel and to the first true king of Israel, which illustrates His relation to the royal family and the Jewish culture (Carson 908). This is an obvious difference compared to the Gospel of Mark. Even though it is clear that almost the entire Book of Mark is within the Book of Matthew, no other author of the Gospel has made a stronger connection with the Old Testament to the New Testament than Matthew (Douglas 740). These characteristics are used to depict as that Jesus is the promised King prophesied in the Old Testament. Instead of having an elegant beginning or any additional background information, the Gospel of Mark begins the book with a simple statement stating “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). After this, the book immediately goes into the story of John the Baptist and events that came after it. With this opening as an example, Mark is considered to be the most blunt of all the gospels, or in the words of Carson: “it seems a little ‘rough and ready’ to some” (Carson 946). This is because the gospel of Mark can also be seen as the written record of Peter’s preaching about Jesus (Douglas 728). Since Peter was not an eyewitness to Jesus until the rise of John the Baptist, the gospel of Mark starts with John the Baptist and not the nativity of Jesus Christ. As the first gospel written, this characteristic is important for the other synoptic gospels that took some of its narratives due to its eyewitness accounts. Another unique feature from the introduction is the descr The clear use of detail in the Gospel of Luke can already be seen from the first few lines of the first chapter. The introduction to this book underlines the purpose of writing this account and the method of compiling it together (Luke 1:1-4). From this preface, the purpose of this account is to give an “orderly account” to convince the audience of its reliability (Gundry 208). In comparison to the Gospel of Mark, there are some narratives that are similar in both accounts. However, Luke’s account seems to have more rewritings, which the information seems to be taken from different sources. This reaffirms Luke’s claim that he has done careful research through gaining sources from other eyewitnesses and people who wrote accounts of Jesus previously (Douglas 704). Also, because of his focus of depicting Jesus as a historical figure, he would add extra information to events that were important to him in a historical sense (Carson 979). Overall, the introduction stated Luke’s plan in achieving a thorough historical account. The Gospel of John is unique compared to the other gospels. One can tell from the introduction that the major theme that John is focused on the pre-existent Word, or more specifically, Christology (Carson 1025). From this, one may expect later on in the book that this would be more theology-based rather than narrative-based. In fact, this style would be carried onto the way Jesus talks and acts (Gundry 259). The use of the concept of the Word could be related to the stoic concept of the Word, which is described as “the principle of divine reason and caused the natural creation to grow” (Carson 1025). However, the Gospel of John brings in this uniqueness by stating that “the Word is God” (John 1:1) and later stated that “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14). This understanding of the Word is very different to what John is saying, for he stated the incarnation of the Word. This illustrates that God have became flesh, which is the depiction of Jesus, that He is God. And from this introduction, it sets the bar on what the purpose this book is trying to show to its audience. This does not bring conflict between the synoptic gospels and the Gospel of John. Instead, it is a supplement for emphasizing this aspect of Jesus Christ while other gospels indirectly mention it (Gundry 258). This helps gain a better understanding of Jesus. As one can see just from the introductions of these four gospels, they are very unique in how the gospel is being illustrated. They are different in the way Jesus is being depicted. One shows Him as the Messiah; one shows Him as a savior; one shows Him as a historical man; and one shows Him as God. Not only that, they are different in their focus of theme and purpose. Yet all these differences, it leads us towards one specific target: the completeness of Jesus Christ and the Bible. From these accounts, we do not get one view of Christ, but many different views of Christ. Even though they are all different, they also are all accurate. It is a wonderful thing to see Jesus not just as a historical man, but also as God Himself, who is both the king and the savior of the world. The different purposes of each gospel are to be able to give everyone a complete view of Christ. If one were only able to see one aspect of Jesus, the gospel can broaden the person’s understanding of Jesus Christ. One can apply all this though the practice of evangelism. There are many people who believe that Jesus was a good man, and nothing else. If they read the gospels, they could conclude that Jesus was a good man. However, with the variety that the Gospels bring in on the concept of God, one can see a more complete view and one cannot only conclude that Jesus is only a good man, but also the Son of God. Not only can the Gospels let a nonbeliever see the amazing story of Jesus Christ, but it also confirms the uniqueness and the reliability of the scriptures. According to Matthew, one can see that the gospel is a fulfillment of prophesy; according to Mark, the gospel is an eyewitness account; according to Luke, the gospel is reliably accurate; and according to John, the gospel is unique compared to other sacred writings. If one fully looks into the gospels, one can see that these are not compilations of myths, stories, or fairy tales, but trustworthy accounts about the complete view of Jesus Christ. With this knowledge, one can be strong in their witness for Christ. Work Cited Carson, D. A., et al. New Bible Commentary. 21st Century Edition Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1994. Douglas, J. D., ed. The New Bible Dictionary Revised. 3d ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996. Gundry, Robert H. Survey of the New Testament. 4th ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003. Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Bibles, 2001. In terms of the good news of Jesus Christ, we are privileged to not only have one account of the gospel, but the Bible provides 4 accounts of the life and death of Jesus Christ. It may seem redundant to some to have more than one account describing the life of Jesus. Some may even find it discouraging when skeptics claim that there are contradictions between these accounts due to many differences in detail and descr Before going though the life of Jesus, Matthew establishes a background of His origin. The introduction of the Book declares itself as “the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ” (Matthew 1:1). The verses after the introduction contain the genealogy organized as three sets of fourteen generations leading up to Jesus Christ (Gundry 169-170). The structure is set like a story, where before the story can begin, the chief character must be introduced (Carson 907). Even though this seems like a boring way to start the historical account, the beginning of this book supports the purpose of why the book is being written. In the second part of his introduction, Matthew made a profound claim that Jesus is “the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). One cannot just make a claim without any support backing the claim, which is what the purpose of the book is. The purpose of Matthew is to stress Jesus’ fulfillment of the Old Testament laws and the messianic prophecy (Gundry 163). The genealogy of Jesus Christ was evidence that He is the prophesied Messiah. Linking Him to Abraham and King David, Jesus was seen as a true descendant to the origin of Israel and to the first true king of Israel, which illustrates His relation to the royal family and the Jewish culture (Carson 908). This is an obvious difference compared to the Gospel of Mark. Even though it is clear that almost the entire Book of Mark is within the Book of Matthew, no other author of the Gospel has made a stronger connection with the Old Testament to the New Testament than Matthew (Douglas 740). These characteristics are used to depict as that Jesus is the promised King prophesied in the Old Testament. Instead of having an elegant beginning or any additional background information, the Gospel of Mark begins the book with a simple statement stating “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). After this, the book immediately goes into the story of John the Baptist and events that came after it. With this opening as an example, Mark is considered to be the most blunt of all the gospels, or in the words of Carson: “it seems a little ‘rough and ready’ to some” (Carson 946). This is because the gospel of Mark can also be seen as the written record of Peter’s preaching about Jesus (Douglas 728). Since Peter was not an eyewitness to Jesus until the rise of John the Baptist, the gospel of Mark starts with John the Baptist and not the nativity of Jesus Christ. As the first gospel written, this characteristic is important for the other synoptic gospels that took some of its narratives due to its eyewitness accounts. Another unique feature from the introduction is the descr The clear use of detail in the Gospel of Luke can already be seen from the first few lines of the first chapter. The introduction to this book underlines the purpose of writing this account and the method of compiling it together (Luke 1:1-4). From this preface, the purpose of this account is to give an “orderly account” to convince the audience of its reliability (Gundry 208). In comparison to the Gospel of Mark, there are some narratives that are similar in both accounts. However, Luke’s account seems to have more rewritings, which the information seems to be taken from different sources. This reaffirms Luke’s claim that he has done careful research through gaining sources from other eyewitnesses and people who wrote accounts of Jesus previously (Douglas 704). Also, because of his focus of depicting Jesus as a historical figure, he would add extra information to events that were important to him in a historical sense (Carson 979). Overall, the introduction stated Luke’s plan in achieving a thorough historical account. The Gospel of John is unique compared to the other gospels. One can tell from the introduction that the major theme that John is focused on the pre-existent Word, or more specifically, Christology (Carson 1025). From this, one may expect later on in the book that this would be more theology-based rather than narrative-based. In fact, this style would be carried onto the way Jesus talks and acts (Gundry 259). The use of the concept of the Word could be related to the stoic concept of the Word, which is described as “the principle of divine reason and caused the natural creation to grow” (Carson 1025). However, the Gospel of John brings in this uniqueness by stating that “the Word is God” (John 1:1) and later stated that “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14). This understanding of the Word is very different to what John is saying, for he stated the incarnation of the Word. This illustrates that God have became flesh, which is the depiction of Jesus, that He is God. And from this introduction, it sets the bar on what the purpose this book is trying to show to its audience. This does not bring conflict between the synoptic gospels and the Gospel of John. Instead, it is a supplement for emphasizing this aspect of Jesus Christ while other gospels indirectly mention it (Gundry 258). This helps gain a better understanding of Jesus. As one can see just from the introductions of these four gospels, they are very unique in how the gospel is being illustrated. They are different in the way Jesus is being depicted. One shows Him as the Messiah; one shows Him as a savior; one shows Him as a historical man; and one shows Him as God. Not only that, they are different in their focus of theme and purpose. Yet all these differences, it leads us towards one specific target: the completeness of Jesus Christ and the Bible. From these accounts, we do not get one view of Christ, but many different views of Christ. Even though they are all different, they also are all accurate. It is a wonderful thing to see Jesus not just as a historical man, but also as God Himself, who is both the king and the savior of the world. The different purposes of each gospel are to be able to give everyone a complete view of Christ. If one were only able to see one aspect of Jesus, the gospel can broaden the person’s understanding of Jesus Christ. One can apply all this though the practice of evangelism. There are many people who believe that Jesus was a good man, and nothing else. If they read the gospels, they could conclude that Jesus was a good man. However, with the variety that the Gospels bring in on the concept of God, one can see a more complete view and one cannot only conclude that Jesus is only a good man, but also the Son of God. Not only can the Gospels let a nonbeliever see the amazing story of Jesus Christ, but it also confirms the uniqueness and the reliability of the scriptures. According to Matthew, one can see that the gospel is a fulfillment of prophesy; according to Mark, the gospel is an eyewitness account; according to Luke, the gospel is reliably accurate; and according to John, the gospel is unique compared to other sacred writings. If one fully looks into the gospels, one can see that these are not compilations of myths, stories, or fairy tales, but trustworthy accounts about the complete view of Jesus Christ. With this knowledge, one can be strong in their witness for Christ. Work Cited Carson, D. A., et al. New Bible Commentary. 21st Century Edition Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1994. Douglas, J. D., ed. The New Bible Dictionary Revised. 3d ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996. Gundry, Robert H. Survey of the New Testament. 4th ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003. Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Bibles, 2001. |
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