Why Are There Four Gospels?
Imagine you find yourself at a funeral. The funeral is for a man you never met, but was the father of a close friend so you go to show your support. At one point in the afternoon, you find yourself standing in a circle with three adult grandchildren, all reminiscing about grandpa.
“I remember grandpa for his great sense of humor,” the first one begins. “He was always telling corny jokes and pulling pranks. It used to drive grandma nuts, but deep down we all knew she enjoyed it, too. Every time I think of him, I see that smile on his face and a mischievous grin as he thinks up his next prank. I think grandpa made me laugh harder than anyone. I’m really going to miss him.”
After a brief moment of silence, the second grandchild pipes up. “I remember how patient grandpa was. He and grandma used to watch us when we were young and, well, we were kids and did a lot of dumb stuff. I’ll never forget the time we were jumping around in the shed, which he had told us not to do, and we knocked over the tools, which he had warned us would happen if we jumped around, and a falling shovel scratched his brand new John Deere riding mower. I mean, it gouged the side. Grandpa came over because he heard the crash. I can remember standing there terrified of what his response would be. He looked at the mess and the damage, looked at us, and said in a calm voice, ‘Children, this is why we give the rules we do. It’s not to be mean. You need to learn to trust grandma and grandpa and do what we ask.’ We apologized profusely, to which he simply said, ‘I forgive you.’ We helped him pick up the tools and he drove that John Deere with the gouge in it for the next twenty years and never said a word to us about it. That’s greatness, if you ask me.”
The group reflects thoughtfully before the last person pipes up. “I think I’ll always remember grandpa as someone who helped others. I can remember many times as a kid going to help grandpa when he was doing yard work for someone or helping someone move. It was annoying as a kid, but I realize now how special that was. In fact, at one point I was telling grandpa about some struggles I was having, and I mentioned that finances were tight and at the end of the conversation he put $200 in my hand and refused to take it back. I can’t believe he’s gone.”
Finally, you find yourself so moved that at last you have to speak. “You’re all liars!” The group looks at you startled, but you’re so hot under the collar you aren’t stopping now. “You all just gave three completely contradictory reports. You’re clearly talking about different people. Was your grandpa humorous, patient, or kind? He couldn’t have been all three! I don’t think I can trust anything you guys say, because I don’t know who’s telling the truth about your grandpa!” With that you storm off, leaving some very confused grandchildren in your wake.
The point of this somewhat silly illustration is hopefully quite obvious – different perspectives on the life of a great person give us a better understanding of what the person would have been like. They certainly should not call into question the honesty or integrity of the people sharing. There’s a big difference between contradictory and complementary perspectives on someone’s life.
Some people have wondered why we have four accounts of Jesus – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Others have been bothered that these accounts are so close (especially Matthew, Mark, and Luke), and yet there are important differences. Why four accounts and not just one? If we have four accounts, why do they sound different? Well, because four bibliographies about a person will all sound similar, yet each will likely bring out things that others had missed. Reading all four wouldn’t confuse you, or at least it shouldn’t confuse you, rather it should point out that there is a whole lot more to a person than one recounting of their life can get. Four stories of Jesus should strengthen our faith, not make us question it. We have four different individuals, some of whom interviewed multiple individuals (Luke, Mark), sharing with us the life of Jesus from four different angles.
Matthew writes to the Jews and shows Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament and as the rightful king of the Jews. Mark writes to a Roman audience and shows Jesus as the perfect Servant. Luke is written to a Greek audience and presents Jesus as the ideal man. John is written the latest during a time when questions about the true humanity and divinity of Jesus were under attack, and so John presents Jesus as the Son of God. Each one is another person reminiscing about the life of Christ. These aren’t different people being depicted, but rather different angles on the same Jesus. Each one builds on what we learn from the others so that by the time we’ve read all of them we have a fuller, better picture of who Jesus was.
So why do we have four gospels? Because there’s a whole lot more you can learn about someone by reading four stories of their life, rather than just one.