Gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John: The New Testament
1 Introduction
The four New Testament (NT) gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John present four accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus. Bible scholars and historians assigned the gospel names and their authors as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John respectively.[1] The three gospels, of Matthew, Mark and Luke are known as the Synoptic gospels.[2]
The aim of this paper is to discuss the main themes and focuses of each of canonical gospels and show how they relate to reveal a complete picture of Jesus ' life and work.
2 The Gospels
a) Matthew
Matthew was one of the first twelve disciples. It would appear that his intended audience were Jews, and he presented Jesus mainly as the King, the Son of David and the promised Messiah-King. He records Jesus’ genealogy showing Jesus is descendant from the royal line of David. In (1:1), he also introduces Jesus as the Son of David. Matthew records more teaching concerning God’s kingdom, for example the entire Sermon on the Mount. The term “Kingdom of Heaven” appears 33 times and “Kingdom of God” 4 times.[3] Matthew’s gospel is listed first in the NT because it seems that it is bridging the OT and NT, ushering the Jewish reader from the familiar OT story to Jesus in the NT[4]. Matthew narrates the gospel to convince the Jewish audience of Jesus’ link with the Jewish history and Jesus’ fulfilment of OT prophesies.
The gospel is recognised as the “Teaching Gospel”.[5] When Jesus teaches, he demonstrates His authority as King over physical, psychological, spiritual diseases and even over elements created by God. (5:17, 4:24, 8:1-17, 23-27) Jesus’ authority is recorded, (28:18-20) 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.... '
b) Mark
Mark is the shortest of the gospels, the probable intended audience were gentiles specifically in Rome and he presents Jesus mainly as the Servant. The gospel commences with Jesus as a grown up and does not record the birth and childhood and omits
The four New Testament (NT) gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John present four accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus. Bible scholars and historians assigned the gospel names and their authors as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John respectively.[1] The three gospels, of Matthew, Mark and Luke are known as the Synoptic gospels.[2]
The aim of this paper is to discuss the main themes and focuses of each of canonical gospels and show how they relate to reveal a complete picture of Jesus ' life and work.
2 The Gospels
a) Matthew
Matthew was one of the first twelve disciples. It would appear that his intended audience were Jews, and he presented Jesus mainly as the King, the Son of David and the promised Messiah-King. He records Jesus’ genealogy showing Jesus is descendant from the royal line of David. In (1:1), he also introduces Jesus as the Son of David. Matthew records more teaching concerning God’s kingdom, for example the entire Sermon on the Mount. The term “Kingdom of Heaven” appears 33 times and “Kingdom of God” 4 times.[3] Matthew’s gospel is listed first in the NT because it seems that it is bridging the OT and NT, ushering the Jewish reader from the familiar OT story to Jesus in the NT[4]. Matthew narrates the gospel to convince the Jewish audience of Jesus’ link with the Jewish history and Jesus’ fulfilment of OT prophesies.
The gospel is recognised as the “Teaching Gospel”.[5] When Jesus teaches, he demonstrates His authority as King over physical, psychological, spiritual diseases and even over elements created by God. (5:17, 4:24, 8:1-17, 23-27) Jesus’ authority is recorded, (28:18-20) 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.... '
b) Mark
Mark is the shortest of the gospels, the probable intended audience were gentiles specifically in Rome and he presents Jesus mainly as the Servant. The gospel commences with Jesus as a grown up and does not record the birth and childhood and omits
Bibliography: Bruce, F.F., The New Testament Documents - Are they reliable? (Grand rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 6th. edn. 1981). Drane, John, Inroducing the New Testament (Oxford, UK: Lion,1999). Garrard, David J., New Testament Survey (Garrard and Mattersey Hall, 2006). House, Wayne H., Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,1981). McClaflin, Mike, Life of Christ (Springfield, Missouri: Global University, 3rd.edn.2000). Milne, Bruce, The Message of John (London, UK: Inter-Varsity_press, 1993). Radmarcher, Earl D., Allen, Ronald B. & House, Wayne H., (eds.),Nelson 's NKJV Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles, 1997). Youngblood, Ronald F., Bruce, F.F. & Harrison, R.K., (eds.), Nelson 's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Nelson, 1995). ----------------------- [1] John, Drane, Introducing the New Testament (Oxford, UK: Lion,1999), 170 [2] Mike McClaflin, Life of Christ (Springfield, Missouri: Global University, 3rd.edn.2000), 16 [3] Earl D [6] Drane, 197 [7] David Garrard, New Testament Survey (Garrard and Mattersey Hall: Mattersey, UK, 2006), 28 [8] Radmarcher, Allen & House (Nelson 's NKJV Study Bible, 1997), 1637 [9] McClaflin, 41 [10] Wayne H. House, Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,1981), 96 [11] House, 92 [12] Radmarcher, Allen & House, 1683 [13] John, Drane, 208 [14] Bruce Milne, 21 [15] Radmarcher, Allen & House, 1754-1755