Introduction to Four Major Gospel Series
Religion: Christianity- Introduction to Gospel (Good News)
Each Gospel was written with a different purpose, and the four gave an accurate account of Jesus Christ according to what they gathered from their respective sources. These four gospels were written about Jesus’ teachings of God’s good news to His people. It could be from one person or group of individuals that these writers pieced together all information they received to fit the narrative to be presented according to their intended audiences. This idea was either from the source of the stories or from the writers themselves, which is necessary to convey the message.
The Gospels are made available to us to learn the foundation of our chosen religion—Christianity, and the four portrayals of Jesus in four different characters that may help the audience to grasp the message faster. However, the ideas did not work well for others that showed Jesus’ identity as more than one. This then supported Pauls’s statement of more than one Jesus; “For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, …” 2 Corinthians 11:4. Since people have different talents and spiritual gifts, God does not treat everyone the same. Instead, His Spirit dwells in humans who acknowledge his existence and work according to their needs.
We must understand what the writers were trying to accomplish to make their version more acceptable to the audience. We have to consider that these writers did their work at different times, and most likely, they did not know each other, had different sources, and could also be in different places. When a story moves from one mouth to another, the story changes either they add or subtract the truth of the story, and sometimes it is more of gossip or heard says that lead to a disconnect to the truthfulness of the event. None of these writers were apostles of Jesus Christ except for John, who was also under scrutiny or discussion by the New Testament scholars of modern times.
Each writer wanted to reach the believers with the good news (Gospel) about Jesus, His birth, death resurrection, and ministry, which impressed many hearers and later became committed followers. The Gospel writers aimed for a specific audience, and each writer was selective of the events they knew would lead to a greater harvest. The Gospels are neither the life story of Christ, from the short story of his youth to founding his ministry, nor the misadventure events in His life, which includes the rejection by his hometown, apostle, and his own family.
Each gospel writer looked at the character of Jesus from different angles. Each author presented Jesus with a different personality. In Matthew, Jesus is the king; in Mark, He is the servant; in Luke, He is the perfect man; in John, He is God. Matthew’s Gospel was written to the Jewish people of his time, to be contrasted with Mark’s Gospel, written to the people in Rome; Luke was written to Theophilus, an influential person, and John was written to Gentile Christians with his unique purpose (John 20:31).
Though most believers defend the Bible of its infallibility, there exists the issue of contradictions in the Gospels. Two heads are better than one, and it doesn’t always work; these four individuals possess their agenda to carry on to often relate to issues regarding faith and personal preferences of the believers. When faith collides with personal priorities sometimes becomes problematic. You may find that the help within the Gospel may help solve the conflict of interest.
The Gospels are not intended to be a history or biography of the life of Jesus Christ and not even his heroic deeds that ended on the cross. Yet, today’s preachers refer to the gospels as the story of Jesus Christ, which is like a stand-alone story of Christ from his birth to his death, thus developing a group of Jesus Christ’s only believers. This preaching practice merely removes the real purpose of God’s redemptive work in Jesus Christ.
The good news is the message of God that is manifested in the life, ministry, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. Gospel is not Jesus but the message. Each author is selective in how they portray Jesus, which leads to the question of who Jesus is. Gospel is the whole scripture; no one shall add or take anything away from it. When we focus on the message, the Holy Spirit will guide us, and we will never be wrong. Gospel means good news. It’s proof of God’s love for His creations and the plan to restore humanity’s broken relationship with Himself.
God is all in all.
