In the bible there are only these four books that tell the same story. These gospels all say that it has been mentioned in the Old Testament. Before we get into it, what does gospel mean? The word comes from a Greek word euangelion, which means “good news”. It is said throughout these fours books to believe the good news of Jesus. So, what are the differences of these four gospels? It’s all about perspective for these disciples. Matthew, the tax collector, first starts writing about Jesus’ geneology. He does this to show where Jesus is coming from. He also writes his book as Jesus being a greater-than-Moses. He writes Jesus as one who fulfills the promises of the ancient scriptures. Show that Jesus’ resurrection enthroned him as the King of
In Chapter II of The Gnostic Gospels, “One God, One Bishop”, Pagels outline how the Orthodox Christians seek to exclude the Gnostics with a creed that confirms one true God. Pagels intent is to describe how both religions differentiate in their meaning of how God shows his sovereignty. The creed was to help identify the Orthodox from the Gnostics “by confessing one God, who is both “Father Almighty” and “Maker of heaven and earth” (28). The Gnostics claim the Orthodox Christians worship a false God because of their “all-good” God creating a fallen world. Through discovering texts in history, Pagels support a claim from Marcion (a dualist) who believes there are two different Gods.
They were both speaking of how one is to be ‘born again’ in order to see the kingdom of God. After the discussion, Jesus goes into the Judean countryside, where John the Baptist was baptizing. Seeing that Christ was baptizing
For instance, Jesus (Prophet Isa) is a figure who plays a role in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism but is ‘seen’ different to one another based on our interpretations of his qualities and historical texts. Realizing that I know everything about who Jesus (Prophet Isa) was, why he was created, and his existence in Islam as a Muslim, I wanted to learn and expand my knowledge on what Christians beliefs were on Jesus. Therefore, reading the book
Literary – The books are all consecutive and they are the last chapters of the gospel of John. The
God wanted to show man that he too can sacrifice and suffer; therefore he sent Jesus down to dwell among man to show man that God can be flesh. Jesus differs from man in that, he is the word of God and was sent by God as an example of himself for man. Jesus did not have the same flaw of curiosity as man had. Jesus was able to teach and spread God’s word without doubting its context. Jesus was believed to be the Messiah that the people of Israel wanted to free them from slavery.
The New Testament contains the four Gospels, which include Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection. The book of Acts and the epistles (letters) written by leaders of this newly formed faith portray the struggles and persecution the church endured. The last book (Revelation) foretells Jesus’ return to earth to rescue all of his followers, so that we may live on the New Earth (Heaven) with Jesus for eternity.
As I did research on the book of Acts, I found out that Luke actually wrote this book. Some say that the book of Acts is almost like a sequel or a continuation on the Gospel of Luke. Like the the book of Luke, it is also addressed to the same man which is Theophilus. Even though the author was not identified by name in either book, the opinion of the majority of early Christians and the supporting evidence from within the two books do in fact point to Luke. The Holy Spirit inspired Luke to write to Theophilus to fill a need in the church-- specifically to the first Gentile Christians throughout the middle-eastern and Mediterranean regions of the Roman Empire.
In Mark’s gospel we get a clear picture of who Jesus was. Mark opens his gospel by saying “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet” (Mark 1:1). So Mark lets us know from the very opening line that his gospel is about Jesus the Messiah who is the Son of God. The text states that “Christ was a title in Jewish circles, however, as the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew work “messiah” (Ehrman 62).
There were those who listened and followed Jesus, some of which were in the original twelve disciples, who struggled with the duality of this message. Most assuredly Jesus was speaking of a physical kingdom to come. This would be the kingdom in which he will reign victoriously and his followers will reign with him. The failure of previous messiahs is that they too declared a new kingdom, but they failed. Matthew’s first readers would have understood the struggle of those hearing Jesus and longing for him to overthrow Rome and free Israel from the evil empire.
Being one of the four Gospels, the book of Matthew follows Jesus’s life and describes his teachings. Matthew contains many sayings of Jesus throughout the book. This book is diverse because it begins by explaining the ancestry of Jesus, to Jesus and Moses delivering teachings, and lastly to his death and resurrection. This book also gives readers many reasons as to why Jesus is king, and it was written to explain to Jews that he is Messiah.
Yet, while one writer might pick to highlight the parables of Jesus, another writer might skip over the parables and reside on the nature and personality of our Lord. Putting all four gospel books together gives us a more complete and better-off portrayal of the life and effort of Jesus the Messiah. The book of Matthew is the first of the synoptic gospels and it was written to disclose the Lord Jesus as the Savior, the King of the Jews, from the line of David. It also was written to persuade the Jews that Jesus Christ was undeniably their lengthy anticipated Messiah.
The Gospel of John centers his gospel on what Jesus said and did in Jerusalem.
In the Book of Galatians and Romans, the Apostle Paul examines humanity’s relationship with God after the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ (Harris, 2014). Despite Paul’s origins has a Jewish Pharisee, he profusively dismisses the importance of obedience to the Torah, and advises Christians Jesus’ sacrificial death absolved both Jews and Gentiles from Mosaic Law’s penalties. Moreover, given the Jesus’ travels across Galilee, Paul reminds the Galatians they did not receive the Holy Spirit until they not only followed Jesus’ teachings, but also believed is words. Therefore, emphasizing the importance of demonstrating faith in God.
In the fourth Gospel, John’s purpose was to proclaim that “you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in His name” (20:31). Therefore, John presents Christ as the Son of God (1:34, 49); who was sent from God (3:2; 6:46;, etc.) and always spoke the message God gave Him (3:34; 7:16-17). Knowing and understanding this Gospel, it has its divine purpose of words, such as, “life” and “believe,” and the titles “Son” and “Son of God,” are used many more times than in the Synoptic Gospels. However, there are other characteristic words of John are “true,” “truth,” “love,” “witness,” and “world.” However, used forty-two times in the New Testament, “Son of God” affirms the deity of Christ.
The book of John focuses on its own idea that is different from the other three books. It closely captures the idea of Jesus being the Messiah. John shows that “Jesus is the Christ” by highlighting Jesus’ miracles as examples. Miracles are events that can be understood by scientific law. They thus are thought to have come from a higher power.