The Gospels

Chapter 2

Day 1

OVERVIEW:   The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) form a unique kind of written document. They present four different perspectives on the life and ministry of Jesus. Aside from the four Gospels, there are only a few writings by historians (Josephus and Tacitus) which discuss the life and activities of Jesus. Most scholars agree that The Gospels were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, because the number of eyewitnesses to the life and ministry of Jesus were dwindling.

On thing we should remember is, the four Gospels were written by four different men from four different backgrounds in four different parts of the world. They had no means of communications other than letters or messenger, so they could not have collaborated on what to write. Did I mention the Gospels were written at four different times spanning from 35a.d to 95a.d. The similarities in the Gospels is proof positive they were inspired by God through the Holy Spirit and the life/ministry of Jesus Christ.

Matthew: Matthew’s name means, “gift of Yahweh.” He was one of the original twelve called out by Jesus to become disciples (Matthew 10:3). Matthew’s office was located on the main highway that ran from Damascus, down the Jordan Valley to Capernaum, then westward to Acre to join the coastal road to Egypt or southward to Jerusalem. His duty was to collect “toll” or “transport” taxes from both local merchants and farmers carrying their goods to market as well as distant caravans passing through Galilee. He was an employee of Herod Antipas. Matthew knew the value of goods of all description: wool, flax, linen, pottery, brass, silver, gold, barley, wheat, olives, figs. He knew the value of local and foreign monetary systems. He spoke the local Aramaic language as well as Greek. Because Matthew had leased his “toll” collecting privileges by paying the annual fee in advance, he was subjected to the criticism of collecting more than enough, growing wealthy on his “profit.” Thus he was hated by his fellow Jews and placed in the same category with sinners (Mark 2:15)

Matthew is the same person as Levi, a tax collector (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27), and thus the son of Alphaeus. James the son of Alphaeus is also listed among the Apostles (Mark 3:18; Matt. 10:3; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). This indicates that both Matthew and his (half) brother were in close association with Jesus. Mary, the mother of James, keeps the vigil at the foot of the cross with Mary, the mother of Jesus (Matt. 27:55-56; Mark 15:40). If the James mentioned here is the same as the son of Alphaeus, then we have a larger family closely associated with the family of Jesus.

Later legendary accounts tell of Matthew’s travel to Ethiopia where he became associated with Candace, identified with the eunuch of Acts 8:27. The legends tell us of Matthew’s martyrdom in that country.

Why did Jesus call Matthew? Because Matthew had the gifts to be trained as a disciple to share with others, could keep meticulous records, and was a potential recorder/author of the Gospel. From earliest times Christians affirmed that Matthew wrote the Gospel that bears his name.

Mark: Mark (John) was an early missionary and church leader; author of second Gospel. He was the son of Mary in whose home the Jerusalem believers met to pray when Peter was imprisoned by Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:12). Mark was sometimes called by his Jewish name, John, and sometimes by his Roman name, Mark.

John Mark was kin to Barnabas (Colossians. 4:10) and may have been a Levite (Acts 4:36). After Barnabas and Saul completed a relief mission to Jerusalem, they took Mark with them when they returned to Antioch (Acts 12:25). When Barnabas and Saul went as missionaries, they took Mark to help (Acts 13:5). They went from Antioch to Cyprus and then on to Pamphylia, where Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). The most likely reason was because Paul had become the dominant missionary and was taking the gospel to Gentiles (Acts 13:4-12). Later, when Paul and Barnabas planned another journey, Barnabas wanted to take Mark. When Paul refused, Barnabas and Mark went together while Paul and Silas went together (Acts 15:36-40).

When Paul wrote Philemon, Mark was one of Paul’s fellow workers who sent greetings (Philemon. 24). Paul wrote to the Colossians to receive Mark if he came to them (Colossians. 4:10). When Paul wrote his final letter to Timothy, he asked Timothy to bring Mark with him because Paul considered Mark a useful helper (2 Timothy. 4:11).

Peter referred to Mark as his “son,” and sent greetings from him near the end of his first letter (1 Peter. 5:13).

The contents of this book and some extra-biblical sources, indicate that Mark’s Gospel was written for the benefit of  those outside the area in which Jesus ministered.

Luke: LUKE Author of the Third Gospel and the Book of Acts in the New Testament, and a close friend and traveling companion of Paul. The apostle called him “beloved” (Colossians. 4:14). Luke referred to his journeys with Paul and his company in Acts 16:10-17; 20:5-15; 21:1-18; 27:1-28:16. Many scholars believe Luke wrote his Gospel and Acts while in Rome with Paul during the apostle’s first Roman imprisonment. Apparently Luke remained nearby or with Paul also during the apostle’s second Roman imprisonment. Shortly before his martyrdom, Paul wrote that “only Luke is with me” (2 Timothy. 4:11).

Early church fathers Jerome (about A.D. 400 and Eusebius (about A.D. 300) identified Luke as being from Antioch. His interest in Antioch is clearly seen in his many references to that city (Acts 11:19-27; 13:1-3; 14:26; 15:22, 35; 18:22). Luke adopted Philippi as his home, remaining behind there to superintend the young church while Paul went on to Corinth during the second missionary journey (Acts 16:40).

Paul identified Luke as a physician (Colossians. 4:14) and distinguished Luke from those “of the circumcision” (Colossians. 4:11). Early sources indicate that Luke was a Gentile. Tradition holds that he was Greek. The circumstances of Luke’s conversion are not revealed. An early source supplied a fitting epitaph: “He served the Lord without distraction, having neither wife nor children, and at the age of 84 he fell asleep in Boeatia, full of the Holy Spirit.”

John: John , the son of Zebedee, the brother of James. Harmonizing Matthew 27:56 with Mark 15:40 suggests that John’s mother was Salome. If she was also the sister of Jesus’ mother (John 19:25), then John was Jesus’ first cousin. This string of associations is so conjectural, though, that we cannot be sure of it. Because James is usually mentioned first when the two brothers are identified, some have also conjectured that John was the younger of the two.

The sons of Zebedee were among the first disciples called (Matthew. 4:21-22; Mark 1:19-20). They were fishermen on the Sea of Galilee and probably lived in Capernaum. Their father was sufficiently prosperous to have “hired servants” (Mark 1:20), and Luke 5:10 states that James and John were “partners with Simon” Peter.

John is always mentioned in the first four in the lists of the twelve (Matthew. 10:2; Mark 3:17; Luke 6:14; Acts 1:13). John is also among the “inner three” who were with Jesus on special occasions in the Synoptic Gospels: the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:37), the transfiguration (Mark 9:2), and the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-33). Andrew joined these three when they asked Jesus about the signs of the coming destruction of Jerusalem (Mark 13:3).

The sons of Zebedee were given the surname Boanerges, “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17). When a Samaritan village refused to receive Jesus, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” (Luke 9:54). The only words in the Synoptic Gospels attributed specifically to John are: “Master, we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not of us.” (Mark 9:38; Luke 9:49). On another occasion the two brothers asked to sit in places of honor, on Jesus’ left and right in His glory (Mark 10:35-41; compare Matt. 20:20-24). On each of these occasions Jesus challenged or rebuked John. Luke 22:8, however, identifies Peter and John as the two disciples who were sent to prepare the Passover meal for Jesus and the disciples.

The apostle John appears three times in the Book of Acts, and each time he is with Peter (1:13; 3:1-11; 4:13, 20; 8:14). After Peter healed the man, they were arrested, imprisoned, and then released. They were “unlearned and ignorant men” (Acts 4:13), but they answered their accusers boldly: “we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). Later, John and Peter were sent to Samaria to confirm the conversion of Samaritans (8:14).

Paul mentioned John only once: “James, Cephas [Simon Peter], and John, who seemed to be pillars” of the church agreed that Paul and Barnabas would go to the Gentiles, while they would work among the Jews (Galatians. 2:9).

The Gospel of John does not mention James or John by name, and it contains only one reference to the sons of Zebedee (21:2). An unnamed disciple who with Andrew had been one of John the Baptist’s  disciples is mentioned in John 1:35, and an unnamed disciple helped Peter gain access to the house of the high priest in John 18:15-16. The disciple in these verses may have been the Beloved Disciple, who reclined with Jesus during the last supper (13:23-26), stood at the cross with Jesus’ mother (19:25-27), ran with Peter to the empty tomb (20:2-10), and recognized the risen Lord after the great catch of fish (21:7). The need to clarify what Jesus had said about the death of the Beloved Disciple (21:20-23) probably indicates that the Beloved Disciple had died by the time the Gospel of John was put in final form by the editor who speaks in John 21:24-25 and attributes the Gospel to this Beloved Disciple.

Five books of the New Testament have been attributed to John the Apostle: the Gospel, three Epistles, and Revelation. In each case, the traditional view that the apostle was the author of these books can be traced to writers in the second century. Neither the Gospel nor the epistles identify their author by name. The author of Revelation identifies himself as “John” (1:1, 4, 9; 22:8) but does not claim to be the apostle. Much of the weight of the traditional view of the authorship of the Gospel rests on the testimony of Irenaeus, bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul (A.D. 130-200).

The origin of the attribution of the five writings to the apostle is difficult to trace. The strongest argument can probably be made for the traditional view of the authorship of Revelation. Its author claims to be “John,” it is associated with Patmos and Ephesus, and in tone it fits 

the character of the apostle who was called “Boanerges.” Justin Martyr, moreover, in the earliest testimony regarding the authorship of Revelation attributes it to John.

Internal evidence from the Gospel and Epistles provides many Bible students reasons to question the traditional view. The Gospel does not mention the “inner three” disciples as a group, nor does it refer to any of the events at which these three were present with Jesus: the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the transfiguration, and the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Clearly, the editor of the Gospel, who refers to himself in John 21:24-25, links the Gospel with the Beloved Disciple. The question is whether that disciple was John or some other apostle.

The author of the epistles identifies himself as “the elder” (2 John 1, 3 John 1), but never claims to be the apostle. Neither does the author of these epistles claim the authority to command the church to follow his instructions. Instead, he reasons with them and urges the church to abide in what it has received and what it has heard from the beginning.

In sum, a strong tradition linking the apostle John to the authorship of these five New Testament writings can be traced to the second century. Modern scholarship has raised questions about the credibility of this tradition, and discussion of these matters continues. Many would agree, however, that the strongest case can be made for the apostolic authorship of Revelation, followed in order by the Gospel and Epistles. Many Bible students continue to follow tradition and attribute all five books to the apostle.

Legends about the apostle continued to develop long after his death. According to tradition, John lived to an old age in Ephesus, where he preached love and fought heresy, especially the teachings of Cerinthus. The tomb of John was the site of a fourth-century church, over which Justinian built the splendid basilica of St. John. The ruins of this basilica are still visible in Ephesus today.

The Apocryphon of John is an early gnostic work that purports to contain a vision of the apostle John. Copies were found among the codices at Nag Hammadi. The work itself must go back at least to the second century because Irenaeus quoted from it.

The Acts of John is a third-century apocryphal writing which records miraculous events, John’s journey to Rome, his exile on Patmos, accounts of several journeys, and a detailed account of John’s death. In theology this work is Docetic, and it was eventually condemned by the Second Nicene Council in 787.

The apostle John also has a place in the martyrologies of the medieval church. A fifth-century writer, Philip of Side, and George the Sinner, of the ninth century, report that Papias (second century) wrote that James and John were killed by the Jews (Acts 12:2), but these reports are generally dismissed as fabrications based on interpretations of Mark 10:39.

Daily Bible Reading

Matthew 1: 1-17