-THE LIFE OF CHRIST - The Gospel Accounts
-When it comes to studying the life of Christ, we probably automatically think in terms of the
Gospel accounts – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
-However, let’s not forget that information regarding Jesus is not limited to the Gospel accounts.
-When Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they
are they which testify of me” (John 5:39), the only scriptures in existence were the Old
Testament scriptures.
-Acts 17:2-3 – Paul used the “scriptures”. Again, this would be the Old Testament scriptures.
-Luke 24:44
-Not only can we find information regarding Jesus prior to the Gospel accounts (the Old
Testament), we can do the same in the books that follow them.
-Jesus is also at the heart of the book of Acts and the epistles.
-By studying these books, we can gain a greater insight into the life and characteristics of
Jesus.
-However, with these things being said, our primary focus in this study will be on the Gospel
accounts.
-General Information
-The word Gospel comes from the Greek word, euangelion, and means “the good news” (Vines).
-The story of Jesus is certainly “good news”! Thanks to His perfect life, death, burial and
resurrection, we can have the hope of eternal life. That’s good news!
-The word Gospel is sometimes used with specific reference to the death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus (1 Cor 15:1-8)
-The word is also used on a wider context to include all that was taught by Jesus. When Jesus
gave the great commission to the apostles, He said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matt 28:18-20, emp. add.).
-What was it that the apostles went out teaching? – the Gospel (Col 1:23)
-It is the Gospel – the teachings (doctrine) of Christ that we are to be obedient to.
-We often times here the first four books of the New Testament referred to as the “Gospels”.
I’m sure no harm is intended at all, but the proper way to refer to Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John are “accounts of the Gospel” or “Gospel accounts”. There is only one Gospel (Gal 1:6-7).
However, there are four accounts of the one Gospel of Christ.
-Harmony of the Gospels
-We will attempt to look at the life of Christ through a harmony of the Gospels. In others words,
we will try to take the information contained in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and put it in a
chronological order. In some instances this is rather easy. However, in others it can be quite
difficult.
-Some things to Remember
-The Gospel accounts were not written for the purpose of supplying a chronology of the life of
Christ. There are details of His life that are not disclosed. Each of these accounts were written
to provide information that would cause others to believe in Jesus as the Son of God. That is
the main point of each of the four accounts. This fact is evident in a number of passages.
Consider the following: Matt 1:1, Mark 1:1, Luke 1:31-32, John 20:30-31
-There are variations (not contradictions) in each of the four accounts due to the fact that they
were written for different audiences.
-“Matthew was apparently writing primarily to the Jews. He quoted over one hundred Old
Testament passages and used terms familiar to the Jews, such as ‘Son of David’ (Matthew
1:1). He presented Jesus as a King who came to set up His kingdom; the word “kingdom”
appears fifty-five times in the book. He put special emphasis on Jesus as the Messiah and
wrote of His teachings, His kingdom, and His authority” (Roper, pg6).
-“Most believe that Mark wrote for a Roman audience. He eliminated matters that would not
interest such an audience, including genealogies. He had little to say about Old Testament
prophecies. He put no stress on the Jewish background of the life of Christ. When he
introduced Jewish words or customs, he usually explained them. He used Latin phrases
where other Gospel writers used Greek…Mark presented Jesus as a man of action…Mark
emphasized Jesus’ miracles, which met human needs” (Roper, pg18).
-“Like Mark, Luke apparently wrote for a non-Jewish audience. However, while Mark’s
account seems directed to the action-oriented Roman, Luke’s account appears to have been
written for the intellectual, the student. Many conclude that Luke had a Greek audience in
mind. His account presents Jesus as ‘the Son of Man’ (Luke 19:10) and puts special
emphasis on His perfect humanity” (Roper, p7)
-“It is supposed generally that John wrote after the three other records had been written, and
that what he wrote was supplementary to them – to give things done and taught by Jesus
that the others had omitted, and to present a phase of the Lord’s character that had not been
fully brought out by the others…It is thought by some that a heresy denying the divine
nature of Jesus had arisen, and that John wrote to counteract and destroy this heresy”
(Lipscomb, pg11).
-Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish as to whether or not certain passages are dealing with
the exact same events or very similar events.
-Some of the variations exist simply because the different writers may have emphasized
different aspects of the same event(s).
-But, in all things, let’s always remember that “all scriptures is given by inspiration of God” (2
Tim 3:16). The words that were written were inspired and were given in accordance with the
manifold wisdom of God.
-Let’s remember what John wrote:
“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not
written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:30-31).