NT SURVEY // UNIT - III // TOPIC - FOUR GOSPELS - MATHEW // MARK // LUKE // JOHN //

 

FOUR GOSPELS - MATHEW

 

I. Matthew - The Messiah-King (the lion)

II. Mark - The Servant (the ox)

II. Luke - The Son of Man (the man)

IV. John - The Son of God (the eagle)

 

THE GOSPEL OF MATHEW

Author                -             Mathew (also called Levi) one of the twelve apostles Mk 2:14, undoubtedly a Jew who

was a publican, or a Roman tax collector (Mat 10:3)

Language            -             Greek

date and time    -             AD 50 – 60 (Dating for the book of Matthew would be sometime before the destruction

of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 A.D. because neither of those events were mentioned within the gospel itself other than in certain prophecies concerning them- with the nature of the scriptural mentions being clearly prophetic in nature.)

The Recipient     -             Primarily to the Jews, especially for Jews Christians

Key words          -             fulfilled and the word kingdom

Apparent purpose of writing – is to show that Jesus of Nazareth was the Kingly Messiah of Jewish prophecy.

Purpose of Writing

a. The Gospel of Mathew exposes the Lord Jesus Christ is a King of the Jews

b. King of the World

c. It is focusing the messianic Kingdom,

Contents of the Book :-

The content of the Book exposes

a. The kingdom of God

b. Thousand-year kingdom

c. spiritual Kingdom and worldly kingdom

 

Key phrase of Matthew: “... that it might be fulfilled ...”

This exact phrase is repeated 9 times in this Gospel and variations of it are used another 7 times for a total of 16 times.

 

This book is also called the Book of the Gospel of The Church

a. Sermon on the Mount

b. Miracles of Jesus

c. Sending the Disciples with authority

d. The Trial and Death and resurrection, and

e. the High commission of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The summery of the Gospel of Mathew

All four Gospels tell about the life of Jesus from the time before his birth to the time after his death and resurrection. Yet each gospel has a distinct emphasis. It is like hearing the same story from four different points of view. Each writer is remembering and focusing on different aspects of who Jeus is and what he came to do. Mathew’s emphasis is that Jesus as the fulfilment of Old Testament prophesy, Mathew also emphasises Jesus as King as prophesied Messiah and descendant from David’s throne.

Characteristics of the book: The book of Matthew has an overall order; however, it is not chronological but rather the bulk of the subject matter is presented in groups.

What Jesus said. (chs. 5-7)

What Jesus did. (chs. 8-10)

The results. (chs. 11-18)

Outline of the book:

I.                    The Birth and Childhood of Jesus. (chs. 1 - 2)

A.      Genealogy (1:1 – 17)

B.      Bethlehem to Egypt to Nazareth (1:18 – 2 : 23)

 

II.                  The Ministry of Jesus. (chs. 3 - 25)

A.      The beginnings of the ministry – In Judea (3: 1 – 4: 11)

a.       John the Baptist and The baptism of Jesus (Ch. 3)

b.       The temptation of Christ (4:1 – 11) Judean

c.       The Galilean Ministry - (4:12 – 18)

d.       The Judaean Ministry - ( 19 – 28)

 

III.                The Passion & Resurrection of Jesus. (chs. 26 - 28)

A.      Events leading up to the crucifixion (26:1 – 27:31)

B.      The crucifixion (27 : 27 – 66)

C.       The resurrection (Ch 28)

 

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

Jesus the Servant

 

The man: Although Mark is not mentioned in the book as the earthly author, positive identification of him as such can be certain because of the mound of evidence ascribing the book to him. All available evidence from tradition and from the writings of the early historians and scholars (Papias- first century; Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria; Origen, Jerome) points to Mark, the companion of Peter, as the author. In general it is believed that this Mark is the John Mark of Acts 12:12, 25; 15:37-39.

The book: Scholars have given various dates ranging from A.D. 50 to 80. However, the lack of mention of the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 would eliminate that late date. (Certain radical scholars would push the date of its composition to the third century. However, there is no credible reason to do so.) The most accepted date of its composition is around A.D. 60.

 

Purpose of the book: The overriding purpose of the book is to show us Jesus at work.

Key verse and central message: The key verse is Mk 10:45 and the central message is that Jesus came to serve.

 

Mark was written to: The Gentile converts at Rome.

 

Striking characteristic of the book: A sense of vigor and urgency permeate the book. We can easily see Mark’s purposeful march from one work to another- one miracle to another- right up to the greatest miracle of all, the Resurrection. Not much in the way of extensive interpretation can be found in the book. Instead, we find more of an eyewitness, on-the-spot quality in the accounts and even a sense of urgency in the very words used in the narrative. Words like “straightway, immediately, forthwith, anon,” which are used some 40 times. The people are “amazed” (7 Xs) and “astonished” (7 Xs) at His words and His actions and His authority. According to Mark’s presentation in this gospel, what Jesus did and what He said was manifest proof of who He was!

Outline of the book:

I. Preparation for the Ministry (1:1-13)

II. Christ’s Ministry in Galilee (1:14 - 6:30)

III. From Galilee to Jerusalem by way of Perea (6:31 - 10:52)

IV. Christ’s Ministry in Jerusalem (chs. 11 - 13)

V. Christ’s Passion and Resurrection (chs. 14 - 16)

 

 

 

LUKE

Jesus the Son of Man

The author: By “author” we of course mean the earthly penman of the book. The uniform consensus of opinion, based on the contents of this book as well as the book of Acts, both obviously written by the same author, as well as by the uniform corroboration of tradition, is that Luke wrote both the book of Luke and the book of Acts.

 

The book: The book itself is the first of a two-volume set which includes the book of Acts. Written before Acts, which was written around A.D. 60, the best estimate for the writing of the book of Luke would have been during Paul’s imprisonment at Caesarea. This would place the date at somewhere around A.D. 56-58, but certainly before A.D. 60.

To whom written and purpose: The book was written to one Theophilus to establish him in the faith. Since Theophilus was a believer, then the purpose of the book was edification of the saint rather than evangelization of the lost. Theophilus had already been instructed, orally, so now Luke wanted him (and us) to have an authoritative, inspired account of the life and ministry of our Lord, Jesus Christ. A new converts manual, so to speak. Jesus- The Son of Man: Matthew had presented Jesus as King and Mark had presented Him as Servant, now Luke presents Jesus as The Son of Man.

Distinctive features: One of the most distinctive features of the book of Luke is that, whereas, Matthew has around 40% exclusive material and Mark only 10%, we find that over 50% of the material in Luke is exclusive to it. And in sheer bulk of material, this book along with its companion volume, Acts which is a continuation of it, together surpass in length the writings of any other New Testament writer including Paul. we may note that the Holy Spirit is mentioned more in Luke than in Matthew and Mark combined- even more than in John. The emphasis of His (the Holy Spirit’s) activities is in connection with our Lord’s human nature and teachings.

 

Outline of the book:

I. Introduction (1:1-4)

II. The nativity, boyhood, manhood (1:5 - 4:13)

III. The travels in Galilee (4:14 - 9:50)

IV. The journey to Jerusalem (9:51 - 19:44)

V. The Tragedy and the Triumph (19:45 - ch. 24)

 

JOHN

Jesus the Son of God

The man and his work and life: The author of the book is, of course, God; however, the earthly writer was the Apostle John. He was known as “the beloved disciple” (21:20, 23, 24) and was the son of Zebedee. His brother’s name was James and the two of them had been surnamed “Boanerges... The sons of thunder” by the Lord Jesus. (Mark 3:17)

 

The book: As to date of its writing, the best estimate, based on internal and external evidence, is that it was written sometime between 85 & 95 AD. Written as the last of the books of the Bible save The Revelation, the Gospel of John brought a necessary conclusion to, and an expansion of, the truths presented in the other books.

 

John and the Gnostics: The books of John, and I, II, III John are the best refutations of the heretical doctrines of the Gnostics in the entire Bible- especially I John which addresses the problem extensively. A recurring statement in the gospel of John to refute Gnosticism is found all through the book- most plainly in Jn 20:31.

 

The key verse & central message: These are found in Jn 1:12.

 

There are seven “I Am’s” that reveal Christ’s deity.

1.         “I am the bread of life” (6:35)

2.         “I am the light of the world” (8:12)

3.         “Before Abraham was, I AM ” (8:58)

4.         “I am the Good Shepherd” (10:11)

5.         “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25)

6.         “I am the way, the truth and the life” (14:6)

7.         “I am the true vine” (15:1)

 

Outline of the book:

I. Prologue. (1:1-18)

II. Public Ministry of Jesus. (1:19-12:50)

III. Private Ministry to His own. (chs. 13-17)

IV. Sufferings and Glory. (18:1-20:31)

V. Epilogue. (ch. 21)

 

Summary: Truly John is the Apostle of love- God’s love. The word “love” and its derivatives occur 39 times in John’s gospel. John emphasizes that it is because of God’s love that He chose to save us; not duty, but love. He also tells us that God commands that we love our brothers and sisters in the Lord EXACTLY the way that He loved us; and that such a manifestation of His love is proof that we truly are Christ’s disciples. John also is the Apostle that expounded the most on the deity of Christ. Therefore, through the hand of John, God the Father shows us love, expressed through God the Son, and continued by God the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. Truly in the book of John, God proves that He has given to us “life, and that more abundantly” through Jesus Christ our Lord.