How are the four Gospels alike?

Answer 1

AnswerThe three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are very similar, but John's Gospel departs from Mark much more than do the other two gospels. Passages where they are more or less in agreement include:

• Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist, although John is ambiguous as to whether Jesus was actually baptised
• John the Baptist was imprisoned and killed by Herod Antipas
• Jesus fed the 5000
• Jesus preached in Galilee and went to Jerusalem for the Passover
• On reaching Jerusalem, he rode a donkey into the city and people waved branches, shouting 'Hozanna', although some details vary from gospel to gospel
• The 'Cleansing of the Temple', although the synoptic gospels place this at the very end of Jesus ministry as the trigger for his arrest, while John places it at the beginning of his ministry, and there are some minor differences from gospel to gospel
• Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemene and was arrested there, although some details vary from gospel to gospel
• Jesus was betrayed by Judas
• Peter denied Jesus three times, although some details vary from gospel to gospel
• Jesus was tried before Pontius Pilate, although Lukesays that Pilate attempted to pass responsibility to Herod Antipas
• Jesus was crucified at Golgotha or Calvary, with some significant details varying from gospel to gospel
• Jesus' body was taken by Joseph of Arimathea for burial
• The tomb was found to be empty on the third day, although who made this discovery, and in what circumstances, varies from gospel to gospel.

The gospels differ most markedly in their description of events following the discovery that the tomb was empty.

Answer 2

AnswerAlthough there are many differences among the four New Testament gospels, the fundamentals are the same. They all deal with the ministry of Jesus, whom they describe as the son of God, although John's Gospel goes further by implying that he actually was God. They all deal with his crucifixion and resurrection. Apart from Mark's Gospel in its original form, they all describe the risen Jesus as being seen by the disciples. The "long ending" of Mark's Gospel, apparently added much later, harmonises Mark with the other gospels by adding appearances of the risen Jesus.

Scholars say the fundamental similarity of the gospels arises because Mark's Gospel was, directly or indirectly, the main source of information about the life and mission of Jesus for the other three gospels. So part of the sameness of the gospels is their common heritage.

Answer 3

The synoptic gospels are the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark and Luke, so called because when laid in parallel and read synoptically ('with the same eye') in the Greek language, it is clear that there is a literary dependency among them. Because of this literary dependency they are moderately similar in their treatment of the story of Jesus. The fourth gospel, the Gospel According to John, is substantially different in content and in its treatment of the story of Jesus. In order to understand the similarities among the synoptic gospels, it is necessary to understand the stages in their development.

Mark's Gospel was written first, and is generally dated by scholars to approximately 70 CE. Matthew's Gospel is believed to have been written in the eighties of the first century, although Raymond E. Brown suggests that an allowance should be made, of up to ten years either way. Luke's Gospel was written late in the century or early in the second century.

The authors of both Matthew and Luke relied on Mark's Gospel for their information on the mission, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. This results in an underlying similarity of the two later gospels, although each author seems to have added some embellishments of his own. John's Gospel is considered to have been 'inspired' by Luke, rather than being a faithful copy of it, since the author felt free to change the original story to suit his theological preferences, as long as he did not directly contradict Luke.

Matthew and Luke contain some additional material that is common to both gospels, but not found in Mark. This is explained by the hypothetical 'Q' document, a sayings document that was used by both authors for parables and other sayings of Jesus. Since 'Q' is merely a sayings document and does not contain any information about when or where Jesus may have spoken these parables, or in what context, the authors of both Matthew and Luke added their own contextual information, which was generally quite different to that of the other author.

As previously mentioned, John's Gospel is markedly different to the synoptic gospels. However some of the apparent diferences are due to timing differences and elaboration. John places the episode of the cleansing ot the Temple right at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, rather than at the end. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus tells the fishermen to cast their nets on the other side and they catch many fish, before his crucifixion; in John's Gospel, the risen Jesus tells the fishermen to cast their nets on the other side and they catch many fish, in his very last appearance. In Luke's Gospel, there is only one appearance of the risen Jesus in the upper room, but in John this is split into two appearances in order to accomodate the "doubting Thomas" episode.

Matthew's nativity story and the genealogy of Jesus are entirely different and inconsistent with those in Luke. Each gospel has a completely different account of the resurrection story. And so on.

Answer 4

They all tell about the words, miracles, and life of Jesus the Christ (Anointed One).