Mt. Olive African Methodist Episcopal Church Coffee & the Word Mid-Week Bible Study and Fellowship Exploring the Bible: The Gospels and You

The Old Testament prophecies of a coming Messiah were very much on the minds of the first-century Jews, chafing under Roman rule. They were looking for a conquering King to liberate them from the Romans, but they generally misunderstood the prophecies of a suffering Savior. They did not understand that the Messiah would come twice.

The New Testament writers mention Old Testament messianic prophecies more than 130 times, proving clearly that Jesus was the Messiah or Christ. The story of the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist marks the beginning of Jesus' ministry and helps show the seamless connection between the Old Testament and the New.

Why Four Gospels? Do They Contradict Each Other? Why are there four Gospels instead of just one? First, the Gospels are not purely biographies. Each of the four authors is describing what he considers the most spiritually significant elements of Jesus' life and teachings. Of course, each author was inspired by God through His Holy Spirit. There are no real contradictions among the four accounts. The four different perspectives complement each other and help to fill out the whole picture of His perfect life. Therefore, there is harmony, continuity and unity among the four accounts. It's profitable to combine the perspectives into an overall view, but it's also interesting and profitable to focus on one perspective at a time.

Summarizing the particular focus of each author can be challenging, but here is one simplified approach: Matthew announces Jesus as King, Mark presents Him as Servant, Luke focuses on Him as Man and John highlights Him as God. Jesus is our perfect model in each of those roles." The multifaceted view provided by the four Gospel writers enriches our understanding of our Savior. Even seeming contradictions can be helpful in getting a fuller picture.

Matthew Matthew was one of the original 12 disciples of Christ. The Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, intricately tying this first book of the New Testament with all that had gone before in the Hebrew Scriptures (known to Christians as the Old Testament).

Matthew's genealogy answered the important question a Jew would rightfully ask about anyone who claimed to be King of the Jews. Is He a descendant of David through the rightful line of succession? Matthew answered yes!"

Matthew appears to have written his account with the first-century Jewish audience in mind. Matthew's Gospel cites 21 prophecies that were fulfilled in circumstances surrounding the life and death of Christ. Eleven passages point out these fulfillments using such introductions as 'that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of by the prophet…' or 'then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet.

Mark Matthew is formal and stately. Mark is bustling with life; full of action. Matthew collects Jesus' sayings. Mark concentrates on the marvellous things Jesus did and the places he went to. Mark was not one of the original 12 disciples, but tradition says that the apostle Peter was influential in providing information for Mark's Gospel. The outline of events in Mark follows the outline of Peter's sermon to Cornelius (Acts 10:34-43). And Peter tells us that he loved Mark as his own son (1 Peter 5:13).

Mark's Gospel was likely the first one written, and it is the shortest Mark's Gospel was likely the first one written, and it is the shortest. "Only four paragraphs in these 16 chapters are unique to Mark. All the rest appears again in either Matthew or Luke, or both. Yet to lose Mark would be to lose something beyond price. In Mark we see Jesus in action. And as we watch, the things he does convince us that he is the Son of God himself.

Luke Luke never met Jesus, yet chose to follow Him. An obviously educated man who, as Col. 4:14 tells us, was a physician, Luke learned all that he could about Jesus and shared his findings with us. Thus his Gospel provides a 'step back,' a unique perspective on Jesus' birth, ministry, death, and resurrection… Much of the material in chs. 9-19 appears only in Luke; in all, about one-third of the Gospel of Luke is unique.

Luke apparently talked with many eyewitnesses in researching this book (Luke 1:2). The apostle Paul probably also assisted Luke in understanding the life and ministry of Christ. It seems evident that Luke began to accompany Paul in his journeys after joining him at Troas, since it is there that Luke, the author of Acts, begins using the pronoun "we" (Acts 16:8-11). Paul had been directly taught by Jesus Christ during the years that he spent in Arabia (Galatians 1:12, 15-18; 2 Corinthians 12:1-6).

Luke shows Jesus as the Saviour of all men; his coming, a world-event Luke shows Jesus as the Saviour of all men; his coming, a world-event. He lets us see Jesus the Man. And his selection of stories reflects his own warm interest in people, especially the sick and helpless, the poor, women, children, the social outcasts. Luke wrote his Gospel and the book of Acts as a two-part history of Jesus Christ and the New Testament Church.

John John was one of the original 12 disciples of Jesus. John became an exceptionally loving person, and Jesus had a special love for him. It was John whom Jesus asked to take care of His aging mother after Jesus ascended to heaven (John 19:26).

The Gospel of John is a persuasive argument for the deity of Jesus The Gospel of John is a persuasive argument for the deity of Jesus. It concentrates on presenting Jesus as the Word, that is, God (1:1) who became a man (1:14). Thus John meticulously records the statements and describes the miracles of Jesus that can only be attributed to God Himself. "Jesus called Himself the bread of life (6:35, 41, 48, 51), the light of the world (8:12; 9:5), the door for the sheep (10:7, 9), the good shepherd (10:11, 14), the resurrection and the life (11:25), the way the truth, the life (14:6), and the true vine (15:1, 5). Each of these statements begins with the words, 'I am,' recalling God's revelation of His name, 'I AM,' to Moses (see Ex. 3:14)…

Then there are the signs of Jesus' deity Then there are the signs of Jesus' deity. Miracles in the Gospel of John are called 'signs' because they point to Jesus' divine nature. John records seven such signs: changing water into wine (2:1-11), healing a man's son (4:46-54), healing a lame man (5:1-9), multiplying bread and fish (6:1-14), walking on water (6:15-21), healing a blind man (9:1-7), and raising Lazarus (11:38-44). These miracles show that Jesus is God; He possesses power over nature.

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Mt. Olive African Methodist Episcopal Church Coffee & the Word Mid-Week Bible Study and Fellowship Exploring the Bible: The Gospels and You