Overview of the Gospels
There are four gospel accounts: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Gospels are the accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus, the Son of God.
The Gospels are no different than the other sixty-six books in the canon. Why should we study them?
First, it is a moral issue. God has given us His word and we want to do everything possible to carefully study it and glean everything we can to know God as He has revealed himself, not as we want Him to be in our sinful flesh.
So that’s one it’s the word of God.
We talk about this moral reality that we need to get things right, and that’s very important. But prayerfully, we’re doing that out of joy and getting to know Christ. That it’s not just some crazy burden. It’s not boring to us. And if we do have times we’re bored or it’s just words on a page, we’re just going over and over and over, over the same words. We need to ask God for wisdom. He’ll give it to us if we ask Him for strength, that we can walk in the power of His Spirit. God isn’t boring. It’s always an “us” problem rather than Him. That’s one, it’s the word of God. That’s why we study the gospel accounts.
Two, similarly, it’s Jesus. Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. He is the one we are in, we are in Christ. We are followers of Christ. And it’s very similar to number one that we want to understand the true Jesus; Jesus as He actually is God’s son. We don’t want to conjure up a Jesus that is different than what the scripture reveals. And perhaps we sometimes are tempted to do that more than we would think because we do live in a nation that in some ways has had some Christian cultural foundations and ties in different areas.
Many people know something about Christ. Many religions in the world even say something about Jesus, even if it is a false Jesus. Our culture still has a common phrase, “That’s not very Christ-like.” However, the question underlying that is which Christ, which Jesus? Because at times that can mean that’s not very Christ-like, like the Christ of the Bible.
Number three, the Gospel accounts are not any more inspired or any more authoritative than the rest of Scripture. Meaning, that God has given us the whole counsel of Scripture, all sixty-six books revealing who He is.
We can’t put what Paul said in opposition to Jesus’ words found in the Gospels. If we’re thinking that way, we’ve missed something because Paul, who was inspired by God to write Scripture. He would never have contradicted Christ because Scripture is without error, it’s infallible. So if we’re having that kind of cognitive disconnect, it’s because it’s us again, it’s an “us” problem. We have to go back to the drawing board and figure out where we made an error.
All Scripture is given by God. And so that’s where the reality of the whole counsel of God comes in.
Tips For Reading the Gospels
Number one is foundational. The gospel writers were not mere fact collectors, they were authors.
Essentially, the individual Gospel writers had a definitive purpose in writing about Jesus and the way that they arranged and wrote about Jesus differently in different accounts, His miracles, His sayings, His teachings, that speaks a great deal. So we can think of them as evangelists and they’re revealing Jesus to us. But they’re not simply fact collectors. They were authors. And so we can actually take a deeper look at what they were seeking to communicate about Christ. And so one way I like to think that we’re not trying to look at Jesus is simply a tape recorder mentality.
I think I can easily get into a tape recorder mentality when I read John, for example, like Jesus did this and then He did this and He did this and this, then Jerusalem and He was crucified and He rose. And that’s all true. But John had more things in mind in that than this.
Certain things are right after one another to prove certain points. Basically, that’s what I mean when I say, authors. The gospel writers were not just fact collectors, though. What they say is factual, 100 percent. They were authors. They had a definitive purpose in writing.
Number two kind of goes with what I was talking about, the Gospels are arranged topically and thematically rather than strictly chronologically.
Look for repeated themes and words. What is repeated throughout the sections of the Gospel? What ideas are repeated about Jesus?
What is Matthew communicating about Christ in his account? Apart from here are the facts about Him, He came to save us, which is ultimately foundational in all the Gospels.
Number three, observation is key. We’re looking for repetition, observe, observe, observe. And that gets us to key transitions, transition terms in the Gospels like after Jesus had been saying these things, He usually marks there’s something new happening or a shift in focus, perhaps transition terms, repeated words, and phrases.
These kinds of things unlock the author’s intended meaning and purpose. So you observe, observe, observe. Nothing is new there.
The Gospel of Mark
Most of us do not come to reading a Gospel like Mark without already filtering it by my knowledge of what I’ve heard about Christ for a long time.
But, what if you were simply reading this for the first time and you hadn’t ever read Luke or John or Matthew and you’d never really heard anything about Jesus?
Maybe you’ve heard He’s the Lord and Savior and you didn’t necessarily know what that meant. What do we see about Jesus, first off in Mark? With no knowledge of Him, let’s say verse one, “the beginning of the good news about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.”
That’s what we get first. Jesus, the Son of God. If you skip to verse seven, John is speaking and says, “After me comes the one more powerful than I strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie,”
Skipping down to verse 11, the Father speaking, “You are my son with whom I love with you I’m well pleased.” So right off the bat, Mark goes hard after the fact that Jesus is God’s Son, and He is greater than John that He is the promised Messiah. Mark contains no back story about Jesus’ birth or childhood.
Keeping all that in mind, notice in 1:12 after Jesus was baptized. It says “at once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness. And he was tempted by Satan.”
We are looking for key places like the first section, key places that help us get to the root of what Mark is communicating. 1:18 is important, “at once they left their nets and followed him,” verse 20, essentially repeats this, “without delay, he called them. (And the end of that verse) and followed him without delay, they followed him.” 22, “Jesus teaching the people were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority.” 25, “be quiet.” Authority 27, again, repeat, “were also amazed they asked each other, what is this, a new teaching and with what authority?” 28, I believe, is important “news about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.” 29, “as soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew.” 33, “the whole town gathered at the door.” 35, “very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place where he prayed. Jesus has authority.
Simon and his companions went to look for him. And when they found him, they explained, Everyone is looking for you. Jesus replied, Let us go somewhere else to the nearby villages so I can preach there also. That is why I have come. So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, If you’re willing, you can make me clean.
Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. Man, I am willing, He said, be clean immediately. The leprosy left him. And he was cleansed. Jesus sent them away at once with a strong warning, see that you don’t tell this to anyone, but go show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them. Instead, he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news.
As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside and lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.”
Some things you may already have noticed, some things that are very important to all this. I mentioned the quick beginning. Mark jumps into Jesus and who He is. Next verse 12 in chapter one at once is a phrase or an idea that is repeated constantly at once, just as soon we see that in 18, we see that in 20 without delay.
1:29, as soon you may start to notice there is a rapid pace that Mark has set a rapidity of what’s going on in Jesus’ life. We see a fast-paced pursuit of Jesus by His disciples. Very quick He says, follow me.
Everything’s gone. They follow him. Three, something I think you will have noticed is fast-paced fame. Meaning? The way that Mark is arranging his account after Jesus teaches or He heals someone, it says that everyone gathers to Him. He can’t get away from the crowds. You’ll even see that. In 1:33 the entire town gathers at the door.
News about him spread quickly. In 1:22-27, the crowds were amazed. They were amazed at His authority He’s becoming insanely popular with the crowds, and we’re only in chapter one of Mark.
But in 1:37 His disciples found Him and said everyone is looking for you. So Jesus says, let’s go somewhere else, the nearby villages, so I can preach there also.
One thing to be aware of and I’ve definitely been guilty of this is immediately jumping to application. And what I mean by that is a good example of verse 35 in chapter one very early in the morning while it was still dark, just got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place where he prayed. If that’s not a template for a quiet time, I don’t know what it is and it’s, it’s great. That actually is a valid application. We are to imitate Christ. But that’s probably not the first reality that we’re trying to get to, right. And so it’s really easy, I think, to do that.
Has that ever happened? I know for me this verse 35 has been used many times about developing a healthy prayer life, for example, and that is absolutely true, but it is interesting that I’ve never heard too much about what are the overall themes and going on in the Book of Mark, for instance.
So those realities I pointed out, hopefully, you’re starting to see an overall whole that Mark is writing about with Jesus and not just individual parts, which is great because that really opens up the book. The Lord was genius when He inspired Scripture.
Transitioning to chapter two. In chapter two you will see multiple times, there are still large crowds, verse two in such large numbers, the crowds gathered. You continue to see Jesus’s authority that He is, in fact, the Messiah who was to come.
He continues to amaze the crowds too with His authority. And every time He cast out a demon or heals someone, He’s gaining more and more buzz. We know from other Gospels that oftentimes when Jesus did get this, He would say a hard saying, and people would then flee. Such as I am the bread of life in John six. But the buzz, so to speak, is brewing. It’s getting bigger and bigger, bigger.
It’s already here. So quick. That’s that rapid idea you’ll notice in two and three. Another thing that comes along, something else that Mark sort of adds to the stew is persecution. Persecution really begins.
In 2:16, when the teachers of the law saw Him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked the disciples, why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners? 2:6 is the first time He was questioned. In their own minds, they were saying, why does this fellow talk like that, He’s blaspheming who can forgive sins, but God alone, it’s already a bit of pushback persecution.
In 2:24, the Pharisees said to Him, Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath? In 3:2 it escalates. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they are now going from simply questioning to actively scheming, actively scheming in order to catch Jesus because He’s a growing threat. In 3:6 it escalates again when the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
So now we already know their plan. So quickly in Mark’s account, we know that Jesus is the Son of God. We know that He has authority.
We know that when He beckons, someone who would truly become a follower of His quick, they’re going to come with Him. We know that Mark is getting at the fact that the persecution of Jesus and ultimately His crucifixion was very real. And so I hope you’re seeing the way that Mark has arranged this. Things are very quick and tense in Mark, different than the other Gospels. And that’s something he’s getting across.
The Arrangement of Mark
That’s why he arranges it with so much persecution and buzz around Jesus so quickly. You’ll notice with Mark, there aren’t that many early teachings from Jesus. Think about Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew, five through seven. Nothing like that, though in Mark, because Mark was writing from a different angle, a different lane on the road for a different purpose. But that’s why we see a difference there. That’s that kind of horizontal thinking. We even see in 3:21 that His own family says he’s out of his mind, so. That’s no good for Christ there.
Things are really starting to brew poorly for him and 3:22 the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said he is possessed by Beelzebul, by the Prince of Demons.
He is driving out demons, full force. This guy is no good. They’re saying just get Him out of here. This guy is satanic. Get him out.
Jesus would go to a solitary place. And was like, oh, the crowds are here. And so then Jesus would teach, He would heal, Jesus would go and try to pray, but then there would be a crowd. So even despite Jesus, God is sovereign, but despite Jesus’ efforts in His humanity, crowds would still gather. The buzz around him was not going to stop. Essentially, it’s one thing Mark is getting at.
So that’s an unstoppable force. The immovable objects are the religious leaders, the Pharisees, the leaders of the law who were going to be stubborn and were increasing in their hatred. He even condemns them for their stubborn hearts.
But at first, they just start questioning, and then they slightly uptick by saying, OK, let’s kill him. And then they take a little more by saying this guy is Satan, essentially. So these two things, the way that Mark has arranged, things you can already tell we’re three chapters in, it’s going to boom. And so Mark is creating and arranging in this way so that we can understand the nature of Jesus as a suffering servant.
And you’ll see that throughout the rest of Mark that Jesus is the suffering servant. That’s one of the foundational realities of the gospel of Mark. And that’s why you see that Jesus gives and gives and gives, but He will suffer. Another reality that is true of Mark in a continued study is that one of the themes of Mark is the cost of discipleship. But in a strategic point, it says anyone who wants to be my disciple, let’s deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Mark is showing that Jesus is, was a suffering servant and that following him will lead to his followers suffering. Likewise, that there is a cost to discipleship. And I hope you can see that’s a big reason why Mark arranged things this way.
So here are some thoughts I had writing about Mark. And the first three chapters so far, the individual accounts, that is the stories, the healing’s, they’re not primarily stories of the disciples, great faith, Jesus compassion or even his deity, though that is all true.
These are a part of the larger hole that Mark has arranged, the larger hole serves to reveal Jesus as a suffering servant, Messiah, who would be persecuted and crucified for the sins of many. Mark paints a picture of the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object, so hope those were some good insights in seeing. We can really understand the gospels more as a whole and to God’s glory, unbelievable to think about that and see the fact that Christ.
Here are concepts to review in terms of studying the gospels. Authorship rather than just fact collectors in terms of Mark. The Gospels arrangement is very important, where things are put, specific words, repeated words.
Lastly, observe, observe, observe and understand what has been written, then when we can observe right we will interpret and apply well.
Reflection Questions
- What are things to be aware of for observation with the Gospels?
- How can you apply what you learned about historical narrative to reading the Gospels?
- Why are themes so important for the individual Gospel writers?