AN OVERVIEW OF THE GOSPELS

The following verses of Scripture are probably the clearest statements of fact concerning God, Jesus, His Creation and His Word found anywhere in the Bible:

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.
John 1:1-4, 14

These verses finish off all other religions, cults and belief systems which claim to be the way for mankind to reach and understand the mind of God.

These verses close the door and throw away the keys on Atheism and the theory of Evolution which teaches that there is no God and that man evolved after a huge bang in outer space.

These verses put paid to all that mankind can dream up to avoid having to face an Eternal God and give an account of why he has not obeyed his Creator.

The Bible tells us that:

ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof (blame, accusation, reprimand, dressing-down, telling off) for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man (or woman) of God may be thoroughly furnished (equipped) unto all good works.
 2 Timothy 3:16

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament are inspired by God.

The word Testament means Covenant.

A Covenant is a pact between God and His people. It is an alliance, a promise between Him and those who believe.

• The Old Covenant has its centre in and around the Law.
• The New Covenant has its centre in and around the Gospels.

For the Law was given by Moses, but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ.
John 1:17

• The New Covenant is the superstructure of which the Old Covenant is the foundation.
• The Old Covenant was the foreshadow of things to come.
• The New Covenant was the fulfilment.
• The Old Covenant was the promise and the New Covenant was the presentation.
• The Old Covenant was a problem and the New Covenant is the solution.
• The Old Covenant was the beginning and the New Covenant was the end.
• The Old Covenant has its centre in and around the Law.
• The New Covenant has its centre in and around the Gospels.
• The Old Covenant is of the Law.
• The New Covenant is of Grace.
• The one led to the other.

Those who do not believe or refuse to even acknowledge God cannot enter into this treaty and will forever be outside His blessings.

There is a relationship between the Old and New Testaments and you will find that the New Testament is concealed in the Old Testament and the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament.

The New Testament begins with four books known as the 4 Gospels.

1.  Matthew (28 chapters)
2.  Mark (16 chapters)
3.  Luke (24 chapters)
4.  John (21 chapters)

It is in the Gospels that we meet Jesus because they present mid-day of the day which began at dawn in the Garden of Eden.

The Gospels present to us the Christ of prophecy of the Old Testament for us to meet, get to know and love with all our hearts and minds.

The first 3 Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke are called The Synoptic Gospels. The word synoptic means to view from the same angle. They look at the life of the Lord Jesus Christ from the horizontal position. The Gospel of John is known as the Autoptic Gospel, and this is because it has a view from above that is unique and stands alone.

As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
Ezekiel 1:10 and Revelation 4:7

It has always been commonly known and taught that the faces of the Cherubim (angelic beings) are representative of the 4 Gospels.

Each Cherub had 4 faces:

•  The first was the Face of a Lion.
•  The second was the Face of an Ox.
•  The third was the Face of a Man.
•  The fourth was the Face of an Eagle.

THE LION
A picture of Matthew’s Gospel 

THE OX
A picture of Mark’s Gospel 

THE MAN
A picture of Luke’s Gospel

 THE EAGLE
A picture of John’s Gospel

 This picture gives us a view of all 4 representations

1. The Lion is the King of the Beasts and is the emblem of Matthew’s Gospel, in which the Lord Jesus is presented as the King of The Jews.
2. The Ox is the Servant among Beasts and is the emblem of Mark’s Gospel, in which The Lord Jesus is presented as the Servant of Jehovah.
3. The Face of A Man is the emblem of Luke’s Gospel and represents God’s Perfect Man, in which the Lord Jesus is presented as The Son of Man, who has come to seek and save that which is lost.

Now note that the Lion, the Ox and the Man all have the same view: The horizontal view, as they walk the earth. They look straight ahead, and so it is that these 3 Gospels view the life of the Lord Jesus from His Humanity.

• The King
• The Servant
• The Man

They all have Humanity in common and each has their beginning in time, which is not true of John’s Gospel.

The Face of an Eagle is the emblem of John’s Gospel, which looks down from above and represents the Lord Jesus as the Great I Am, coming down to man. John’s Gospel does not start in time, it starts in eternity, and throughout its pages it presents the Lord Jesus as God Manifest in the Flesh.

Remember how John’s Gospel starts:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are 4 records of one Gospel, with the word Gospel meaning Good News. This Good News is that God has manifested or revealed Himself in time, and in the flesh, and that He has done so for the redemption and salvation of all mankind. Each of the 4 Gospels records this Good News.

The best explanation for the fact that there are 4 Gospels is probably that God is seeking to reach 4 distinct groups of people.

•    Matthew was a tax collector.
•    Mark was the son of Mary.
•    Luke was a Doctor.
•    John was a fisherman.
•    Matthew was written to the Jews.
•    Mark was written to the Romans.
•    Luke was written to the Greeks.
•    John was written to the Church.
•    Matthew is related to the Past.
•    Mark is related to the Present.
•    Luke is related to the Future.
•    John is related to all Eternity.
•    Matthew is the Preacher.
•    Mark is the Chronicler or Reporter.
•    Luke is the Historian.
•    John is the Philosopher.

It has been said that we are entirely dependent on these 4 records for our knowledge of Jesus and had they not been written, the Church would probably not have survived!

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

The Gospel of Matthew presents the Lord Jesus as The King, and is known as the Gospel of Power. It was written around 52-56 A.D.

Matthew was one of the 12 Apostles, and had been a tax collector for the Romans before his call to discipleship and as a result of his occupation he was despised by everyone around him.

He wrote his Gospel mainly for the Jews, his countrymen. He uses a lot of references to the Old Testament, to Jerusalem and the Kingdom and traces the genealogy of Christ all the way back to Abraham, which the Jews appreciated.

The Gospel of Matthew has been called Antique Simplicity and Monumental Grandeur and questions have been asked as to how a despised Jewish tax collector working for the Romans could have written a book, unaided and of such immense importance to the whole of mankind and how did he sketch a tragedy of such divine proportions which dwarf the greatest of all earthly tragedies?

The answers to these questions lie in the fact that this book is not as a result of genius, but of revelation. Not because it has artistic value but because it contains the truth. The greatness of the work lay not in the writer but in Jesus Christ, of whom he wrote.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

The Gospel of Mark presents the Lord Jesus Christ as The Perfect Servant and is known as the Gospel of the Servant. It was written around 50-55 A.D.

He is the Servant of Jehovah who was obedient unto death, even death on a Cross. During the Second World War the Y.M.C.A. distributed to the forces, many thousands of copies of the Gospel of Mark, because of all the Gospels it seems the most fitting for the occasion of troops going to war.

•   Matthew’s Gospel made its appeal to the Jewish mind.
•   Mark’s Gospel made its appeal to the Roman mind.
•   Luke’s Gospel made its appeal to the Greek mind

It is interesting that the inscription that was written over the Cross of the Lord Jesus was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek, being the 3 major groups in the world of that day.

1. Hebrew representing those who believed that RELIGIOUS   POWER was the ultimate.
2. Latin representing those who believed PHYSICAL POWER was  the ultimate.
3. Greek representing those who believed that PHILOSOPHICAL POWER was the ultimate.

The picture Mark’s Gospel presents is that of power, discipline and order which appealed to the soldier’s thinking. There was no need for genealogy as found in Matthew and Luke because a soldier and a servant has no need for that, and also because no-one is going to enquire after your pedigree for that type of job. A soldier is employed to do a job and the only thing that matters is: How does he perform? Can he do the job? Is he faithful, competent, effective and is he totally trustworthy? Can he submit to higher authority and does he know how to handle difficult situations without complaining and without breaking the rules?

Mark’s Gospel presented to the Romans the Ultimate Servant, the One who served from the heart with all His Heart. He finished the work He was given to do regardless of the cost to Himself. Such is the picture of the Flawless, Faithful and Fruitful Servant, whose Works and Ways are without fault is what Mark brought to the Roman mind.

The Roman soldiers could not only admire such a One, they could also stand in awe of Him and declare Him more than Man – He must be God!

•  Jesus in His life was the Perfect Servant.
•  Jesus in His death was the Perfect Sacrifice.

He is our example and we should follow in His footsteps.

For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Mark 10:45

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

Luke’s Gospel presents Jesus as The Man and was written around 56-60 A.D. Luke is probably the only Gentile writer in the New Testament and his Gospel is described by some as being:  The most beautiful book that exists.

Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and He shall grow up out of this place, and He shall build the temple of the Lord.
Zechariah 6:12

The third beast had a face as a Man.
Revelation 4:7

Luke’s Gospel tells us that God had made man in His own image and had set him to rule over everything, but this first man, Adam failed. The second Man did not fail. The second Adam brought unimaginable blessings to those who believed and trusted.

Luke presents the 2 offices of our Lord as man:

1. The Prophet or Apostle – God’s messenger to man.
2. The High-priest – man’s messenger to God. He comes from God, and goes to God for us.

The Greeks were always looking for a perfect, divine human being. They relished philosophical and scholarly works and delighted in conversations and debates where deep thinking was the order of the day. It is therefore little wonder that they were drawn to the writings of Doctor Luke, which contained all the values and studious qualities they admired.

Luke makes it very plain that obedience is the organ of spiritual knowledge. It is the vehicle through which spiritual knowledge is obtained and the means through which God responds to those seeking a closer walk with Him.

We must never forget though that a reverential fear of a Holy God accompanies a desire to be obedient.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Proverbs 9:10

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

John’s Gospel presents our Lord and Saviour.

 Behold Thy God.

It is the Gospel of Wisdom and the author is the Apostle John, the beloved disciple, a cousin of Jesus. It was written around 90-100 A.D. and brings the Good News to us from a different viewpoint.

Whilst Matthew wrote for the Jews, Mark and Luke wrote for the 2 great representatives of the Gentiles, the Romans and the Greeks and from among the Jews and Gentiles the Christian Church was to be called and it was to be called through the fourth Gospel written by John, the purpose of which can be summed up in this verse of Scripture:

These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.
John 20:31

Looking forward to the future, John directs everything to prove that Jesus was God. The most memorised and quoted verse in the Bible is without doubt:

For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

This verse contains some surprises:
It contains the 4 most important words in Christianity:

•   World
•   Gave
•   Believeth
•   Life

The following words:

•   God                )
•   Only               )
•   Son                 )    Spells the word
•   Perish            )          GOSPEL
•   Everlasting   )
•   Life                 )

Another interesting thing about this wonderful verse is that there are exactly 25 words in it and would you believe it, the word in the middle is:

SON!

Yes indeed, we can be eternally grateful that God came down to earth in the form of the Man Jesus for the sole purpose of winning us back to Him. He should be the centre of our lives, right in the middle! Because if we give Him His rightful place, when it comes time for us to depart this temporary home we call earth, we will live with Him forever.

Have you any time for Jesus, as in grace He calls again? Oh today is the time accepted, for tomorrow you may call in vain. Room for Jesus, King of Glory, hasten now His Word obey. Swing wide thy heart’s door open,  and bid Him enter while you may.

There are certain things that are common to all four Gospels:

•   All four gospels speak of the ministry of John the Baptist.
•   All four gospels speak of the baptism of Jesus.
•   All four gospels speak of the feeding of the 5000.
•   All four gospels speak of *Peter’s denial of the Lord.
•   All four gospels speak of the arrest and trials of Jesus.
•   All four gospels speak of the crucifixion of Jesus.
•   All four gospels speak of the resurrection of Jesus.

They all point to that blessed person, the Lord Jesus Christ, The Saviour, The Son of God.

                           *Matthew 26:75, Mark 14:30, Luke 22:61, John 13:38