1. Meet the Gospel Writers

Meet Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

The New Testament contains four ancient biographies of Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), and altogether they are called “the Gospel”.

Each one tells the story as an announcement of good news that the crucified and risen Jesus is the true ruler of the nations. In this video, we explore why these accounts were written and how you can read them with greater insight.

The Gospel means Good News (Bible Project)

This video explains that “Gospel” means good news and explores how the four ancient biographies of Jesus connect his life into the overall biblical storyline.

1. The Kingdom of God: The good news that Jesus announced was that God’s Kingdom has come near. This summarized the whole biblical story. The story begins with God appointing humanity as representatives to rule a good world, but humanity rebelled. God chose Israel (Abraham’s family) to restart the project, with the ultimate goal of restoring all nations. When Israel failed, the prophets promised that God would personally come and restore Israel, leading to the Kingdom of God—a new creation that restores humanity to its role as God’s partners.
2. Fulfillment of Scripture: A main goal of the Gospels is to show how Jesus fulfills this entire biblical story. The authors constantly appeal to the Hebrew Scriptures. This is done through direct quotes (e.g., Matthew quoting Micah regarding Bethlehem) and by subtly weaving together phrases from multiple biblical texts (e.g., God’s announcement at Jesus’ baptism blending texts to identify Jesus as the royal son of David, the seed of Abraham, and the suffering servant).
3. Four Unique Accounts: The diversity of the four Gospels is purposeful, as each author emphasizes different things about Jesus:
   • Matthew presents Jesus as a greater Moses.
   • Luke highlights Jesus as God’s royal servant from Isaiah, bringing light to the nations.
   • Mark presents Jesus as a new start for humanity, bringing God’s new creation into the present.
   • John focuses on Jesus’ claim to be Yahweh, the God of Israel, become human.
4. The Cross and New Creation: All four accounts tell the same basic story that led Jesus to be crucified as a criminal. The Gospels show that the arrival of God’s Kingdom led to the cross, where Jesus was enthroned as King. His suffering demonstrated that the power of God’s Kingdom comes through love and self-sacrifice. His resurrection is viewed as the dawn of the new creation. The Gospel is designed to persuade readers to participate in this new creation by trusting and following Jesus.

4 Voices, 3 Places, 2 Lenses, 1 Story (SteveThomason)

This video introduces the four Gospels by using the framework of four voices, three places, two lenses, and one story.

1. Four Voices (Gospels): The four Gospels are considered theological biographies designed to paint a theological portrait of Jesus, not scientific chronological retellings.
   • Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke share a “same view” (synoptic), primarily sharing the structure of Jesus’ ministry—largely in Galilee, culminating in a final week in Jerusalem.
   • Theological Portraits: Matthew presents Jesus as a king. Mark shows Jesus as a man of action. Luke paints Jesus as a hero for the underdog and a very human figure. John has a different theological and geographical structure, featuring extensive travel and preaching.
2. Three Places (Sitz im Leben): To understand the Gospels, one must consider three “places in life”: Jesus’ life in his own day, the place/time of the Gospel writers (who wrote decades later), and the reader’s own place today.
3. Historical Context: Jesus lived in a world dominated by the Roman Empire, which had conquered the Greek Empire and was influenced by Persian culture. The Jewish people were suffering under Roman occupation, leading them to constantly ask why God had not delivered them. The society was split into factions around the Throne, Priesthood, and Prophet:
   • Herodians: Supporters of the puppet King Herod.
   • Sadducees: Centered around the Temple; tended to be wealthy; did not believe in bodily resurrection.
   • Pharisees: Believed the Tanakh was authoritative but held that Israel needed to obey the law perfectly to be restored.
   • Zealots: Political extremists who sought violent revolution against Rome and Herod.
   • Essenes: Separatists who believed destruction was imminent (John the Baptist was likely an Essene). Jesus critically engaged with all of these groups.
4. Early Church Issues: The writers were reflecting back on Jesus’ story (which had been preserved primarily through oral tradition for decades) while wrestling with three big questions: how Jews and Gentiles could follow Jesus together, when Jesus would return, and how to respond to Emperor worship. Following Jesus was a political resistance, asserting “Jesus is Lord” over the Roman message that “Caesar is Lord”.
5. Two Lenses: Readers must view the story through the lens of the Hebrew Scripture (the Tanakh) and the lens of 2,000 years of subsequent interpretation (including Western lenses like the Reformation and Enlightenment, and non-Western lenses like Eastern Orthodox and African Christianity).
6. One Story: The story of Jesus, often following the synoptic structure, moves from his baptism and rising popularity (preaching, power, parables) to the climax (Transfiguration/“I am” statements), the journey toward Jerusalem, the Passion Week (execution), and finally the resurrection.

Key Verses in the Gospels

Matthew:

• Mat 4:17  From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
• Mat 5:17  “Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill.”

Mark:

• Mar 10:45  “For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Luke:

• Luk 1:1-4  Since many have undertaken to set in order a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus; that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.
• Luk 19:10  “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”

John

• Joh 20:30-31  Therefore Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.