As earlier stated, it can be observed that although the authors of the Gospel Accounts were all talking about Jesus, these Gospel accounts have some differences in how they wrote, as well as several similarities. The reason for this is because each writer of the Gospel Accounts had his own separate emphasis as he wrote. They therefore used Jesus’ history to pass across their emphasis:
• Mark presented Jesus as the suffering Servant.
Mark’s Gospel is usually associated with the symbol of an ox (a tireless, ever-working beast of burden) because this is how Jesus is portrayed in his Gospel account. He is tirelessly moving around the world, carrying out the Father’s purposes on the Earth “at once.” The “Jesus” in Mark’s Gospel is a tireless worker.
Mark’s Gospel is particularly concerned with discipleship. He also emphasized the preaching of Jesus about the Kingdom of God (see Mark 1:14-15; 2:18-22; 4:26, 30; 9:47; 10:15, 21, 24). Mark reported more of the actions and less of the teachings of Jesus Christ. It is generally believed that Mark’s Gospel was written first, then the others copied him.
• Matthew is the Gospel of Christ as the King.
Matthew’s account is usually associated with the symbol of the lion (a Jewish imagery of a leader, see Gen. 49: 8-10). His account focused on the Kingdom of Heaven (the same concept as the Kingdom of God). Because he was a Jew, Matthew presented Jesus as the fulfilment of the Old Testament Scriptures, in an attempt to convince his Jewish audience towards faith in Christ. In addition to the actions of Jesus, Matthew added five main sermons, sayings or teachings of Jesus (see Matthew 5:3-7:27; 10:5-42; 13:352; 18:2-35; 23:1-25:46).
• Luke’s Gospel account presents Jesus as God who became Man to save the world.
Luke’s account is usually associated with the symbol of a man. The Gospel Account of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles is his two-part work. The Gospel Account of Luke is part 1. Acts is part 2 or a continuation of his work. Luke was learned and as an educated Gentile (a medical doctor), he took special interest in some themes like the Holy Spirit, marginalized people (women, the sick, the unclean, the rich and the poor) and prayer.
• John’s Gospel Account focuses on the divinity of Jesus.
Quite different from the three Synoptics, the Gospel Account of John is fondly associated with the symbol of an eagle. He focused more on explaining the importance of faith in Christ, than merely telling Jesus’ story. His Gospel Account focused on the divinity of Jesus so that men could believe on Him. In John 20:30-31, he stated his purpose for writing his Gospel account expressly:
John 20:30-31
30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
Thus, each Gospel writer had a separate emphasis, and this would show in HOW they wrote and WHAT they wrote. This is the reason for the seeming differences in their accounts. These differences must however, not be misconstrued or misinterpreted as contradictions. It would take reading all the Four Accounts TOGETHER to get a full picture or understanding of an event.
© Josh Banks Ministries. 2021.
