One Gospel: Four ViewsSample

JESUS: FOUR VIEWS (PART 1)

Have you ever wondered why the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are all so different? If they all tell the same story, why aren’t they all the same?

To answer those questions, we need to understand what genre these four books are written in. The Gospels are ancient biographies about Jesus. If you’ve ever read a modern biography, you probably know they are pretty different from the Gospels. Modern biographies attempt to cover all the facts of a person’s life, from birth to death, in chronological order.

Ancient biographies, however, only cover certain events in a person’s life, and they aren’t necessarily in chronological order. Instead, the author chooses different events and facts about the person and arranges them in a certain order to make a point. For example, Matthew arranges Jesus’s sermons into five long segments (chapters 5-7; 10; 13; 18-20; 23-25). Perhaps this is to parallel the five books of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). He makes the point that Jesus fulfilled not just the Torah but the entire Old Testament.

Each of the four Gospels is written to a different audience, so they are arranged in different ways to persuade those particular audiences about the good news of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. They emphasize different facets of who Jesus is based on what would be most convincing to their audiences.

That doesn’t mean the Gospels are untrue. They are designed to make an argument, and the strongest tools in any argument are facts and truth. If the Gospels were full of myths and legends, they would not be very convincing!

Looking at the four Gospels together gives us a more complete view of Jesus and the gospel (good news), which is an incredible gift! Jesus invites us to get to know Him in the way that is most meaningful to us, leading us to the truth and joy of His resurrection.

— Taylor Eising

THINK ABOUT IT

Hearing the truth of the gospel in different ways can click better with different people. What are some ways you have heard the truth of the gospel presented? Which way clicked best with you?

How can reading four people’s accounts of Jesus help us understand Him better?

KEY VERSE

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. John 1:14 (NLT)