What is special about each Gospel?

Answer 1

In its original form, Mark's Gospel was unique in that there were no appearances of the risen Jesus, with the Gospel ending in verse 16:8 with the women fleeing in fear and telling no-one. This may have created doubt as to whether Jesus really rose from the dead, so the "Long Ending" (verses 16:9-25) was added much later, to more or less harmonise it with Matthew and Luke.

Matthew's Gospel contains a unique nativity account that can not be reconciled with that of Luke. Similarly, Luke's Gospel contains a unique nativity account that can not be reconciled with that of Matthew. The genealogies are also irreconcilably different.

John's Gospel differs to such an extent from the other New Testament gospels that they are labelled 'synoptic' gospels, compared to this one. John is the only New Testament gospel to clearly refer to Jesus as divine and pre-existing. Johnis the only gospel that portrays Thomas as doubting. Johncontains the famous sequence in which Jesus asks Peter whether he loves him unconditionally (agape), but Peter can only offer brotherly love (philia).

Answer 2

Mark, believed to be the first gospel written, and proceeds with a breakneck speed (... and he did that, then immediately he did this, at once he........ etc). It's also the shortest gospel. He concentrates on Jesus' deeds - especially his miracles.

Matthew, written for the Jews. Much of Mark's gospel is included in Matthew, as scholars think that Mark was a starting point for Matthew's account. Matthew concentrates on Jesus' teaching; only in Matthew do we hear the sermon on the mount, for example. He includes many prophesies from the Old Testament to persuade the Jewish readers that Jesus is the promised Messiah.

Luke was a non-Jew (probably born in Antioch and a Greek) who also used much of Mark's words in his account. However, Luke,a gentile himself, writes appropriately for the gentile. being a doctor, Luke is concerned with love, forgiveness and healing. Only in Luke do we hear the parable of the Prodigal Son or the Good Samaritan. Also it is believed that Luke had access to Peter (via his friend Paul) and hence to John the apostle and therefore Mary - as John took Mary into his own home after the crucifixion. This explains why Luke is the only gospel to include the birth stories of Jesus froom Mary's point of view.

John is unique in the gospels. Nearly 90% of John is not included elsewhere in the gospels strongly suggesting that John wrote in isolation from the others. He gives us no biographical account of Jesus at all. Instead, he begins his gospel with a tribute to Genesis 1 where he places a divine Jesus right back at the moment of Creation, stating cearly that Jesus is divine. He then gives us a number of episodes in Jesus' culminating in 'signs' (his term for miracles) of just who Jesus is. These are interspersed with seven great 'I am' statements (echoing God's name in the Old Testament - YHWH 'I am who I am') . John is also the only gospel writer to declare to the reader just why he wrote his gospel - "... so that you too may believe that Jesus is the Son of God"

Answer 3

A:To properly appreciate the message of each gospel, it is first necessary to understand a little about their history, as uncovered by modern scholarship. All the New Testament gospels were originally anonymous, but were attributed by the Church Fathers later in the second century to those they felt were most likely to have been the authors. Two of the attributed authors were disciples of Jesus, but scholars say that none of the gospels could have been written by an eyewitness to the events portrayed. We need to put out of mind that the gospels were actually written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Mark's Gospel was the first to be written and was the major original source for the other three gospels, so it is natural that much of the message in Mark also appears in the other gospels.

Mark

One message that is unique to Mark is that Jesus was wholly human and not in any way divine. We see this in Mark 10:18, when Jesus denies being good, because only God is good. It is also evident in the story of Jesus in the wilderness for forty days (Mark 1:13). There is no suggestion that Jesus could fast for the entire 40 days and being ministered by angels, no reason for him to do so. It was left to Matthew and Luke to make that claim explicitly, although readers of Mark who were familiar with the story of Elijah, to which this story is an allusion, are likely to have assumed Jesus did. We also see the human nature of Mark's Jesus when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemene that God might lift this cup (his destiny from him, then when he cried out on the cross, "My God. My God. Why hast thou forsaken me?" The first evangelist was presumably not comfortable with making any claims of divinity for Jesus.

Matthew

Matthew and Luke do say that Jesus was the Son of God in the sense that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and therefore at least partly divine. More than in any other gospel, the message of Matthew is that Jesus was the fulfilment of the Old Testament.

Luke

One message in Luke is to place Jesus in a historical context, thereby presenting the story of Jesus to his early Gentile readers as highly credible. Another message is the concern of Jesus for the poorest in society.

John

The overriding message of John is that Jesus is wholly divine and pre-existing. This is stated in the very first verses of the gospel. For John, it was inappropriate for Jesus to pray in the Garden of Gethsemene or to call out that God has forsaken him, so Jesus simply says a triumphant prayer before reaching the Garden, saying that his time had come (John 17:1-26) and gives up the ghost with the words, "It is fininhed." John's portrayal is the understanding of Jesus that has come down to us today.

Answer 4

Mark's Gospel is special because it was the first New Testament gospel to be written, and was the main source for development of the other New Testament gospels.

Matthew's Gospel is special because the author drew so much inspiration from the Old Testament.

Luke's Gospel is special because, in the words of Raymond E. Brown (An Introduction to the New Testament), the author likes to set his Christian drama in the context of well-known events from antiquity, although sometimes inaccurately.

John's Gospel is special because it is in this gospel that Jesus is described as divine and pre-existing. It is also special because the author was willing to depart far more from Mark's original than was either Matthew or Luke.