The New Testament of the Bible tells the story of Jesus. Four evangelists describe the life of Jesus. They mainly focus on the last three years of his life when he performed in public. There are many similarities between the four evangelists. There are also differences between the histories that the evangelists describe. Each of them has their own perspective. Who were these four evangelists who described the story of Jesus and what do we know about them?
The Four Evangelists in the Bible
There are four evangelists in the Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They all tell the story of Jesus in their own way. The word gospel means ‘good news’. Why are there four evangelists telling the story of Jesus? The church father Irenaeus (140-202) stated that there should be four gospels in the New Testament. To him, these four Gospels were for all four directions, North, East, South and West, of the earth. Thus the gospel is for all the peoples of the earth and the church would spread to all four corners of the world.
A harmonization of the gospels In the time of the early church, attempts were made to arrive at one gospel. For example, in a children’s Bible there is a harmonization written about the story of Jesus. In the time of early Christianity, attempts were made to harmonize the four Gospels. A harmonization of the four Gospels was called a ‘ diatesseron ‘ (meaning four). Tatian’s harmonization (from around 170) was best known. Only a few fragments of this harmonization have been preserved. The official church has always opposed official harmonization. She has defended the four evangelists as official proclaimers of the story of Jesus.
The Gospel according to Matthew
The gospel itself is anonymous. So we don’t know exactly who authored the Gospel of Matthew. Early in church history, Matthew’s name is linked to the first Gospel. Matthew is probably one of the twelve apostles. In Matthew 9:9 we encounter him as a tax collector. In the other Gospels he is called Levi (Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27). It could be that this disciple of Jesus has something to do with the background of the first Gospel. The Gospel of Matthew was written approximately in the year 90 AD.
Scribe It is believed that Matthew was a scribe. Perhaps he ran some kind of school of Christian rabbis. For Matthew, the scriptures are of great importance. Time and again in his gospel he shows that something happens ‘according to the scriptures’. Or as he writes in verse 22 of the first chapter of this gospel: ‘All this happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet.’ The fact that he places so much emphasis on this probably has to do with his direct readership. It is probably important for the people for whom he writes his gospel that Jesus is the Christ of the scriptures.
Bridge between Old and New Testament The Gospel of Matthew frequently refers back to the Old Testament, to the scriptures. More than the other three evangelists, Matthew uses quotes from the Jewish Bible, the Old Testament. Although Mark’s Gospel is the oldest, the church has chosen to start the New Testament with Matthew, because Matthew forms the bridge to the New Testament due to the frequent use of quotes from the Old Testament.
The Gospel according to Mark
Mark is the first evangelist. He also wrote the shortest Gospel. He had much oral or written material about the life of Jesus. Like Matthew, Mark does not mention his name in his Gospel. From about the second century AD the booklet has been attributed to Mark. Mark is said to have been an interpreter and translator of the apostle Peter. Sometimes people think this Mark is the same as John Mark, an associate of Paul and Barnabas mentioned in the book of Acts (Acts 12, 13 and 15). This gospel was written around 70 AD.
The Gospel according to Luke
In addition to his gospel, Luke also wrote the book of Acts. Both books were written for a certain Theophilus. It is not entirely certain who the author of both books is. He says of himself in the introduction to the gospel (Luke 1: 1-4) that he is of the second generation of Christians. He did not experience the events he tells about himself. He has the information firsthand, from eyewitnesses. The Gospel is dated between 80 and 100 AD. Luke first wrote his Gospel, then the book of Acts. The book of Acts has many similarities with the Gospel of Luke.
An educated man From reading his books it can be concluded that he is an educated man. The Greek he uses is of a high standard. He can write classical Greek flawlessly. He also understands the art of writing compellingly. He is almost certainly a Christian from the Gentiles. The typical scriptural proofs that are so common in Matthew are therefore missing in Luke, because those scriptural proofs were less relevant to Gentile Christians.
The physician Luke as author Church tradition states that Luke the physician is the author of the third Gospel. Already in early Christianity, reference is made to Paul’s friend and co-worker . We encounter this Luke in several texts in Paul’s letters (Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24:2; 2 Timothy 4:11). A witness from the early church states that Luke was from Antioch. He is said to have written his gospel in Achaia. He was childless and unmarried and died in Boeotia. He was 84 years old.
The Gospel according to John
Immediately from the first reading it is noticeable that the evangelist John tells his story about Jesus in a different way than the other evangelists. It is also difficult to say who exactly John was. In his own Gospel he speaks of the ‘disciple whom Jesus loved’. The gospel makes it clear that this disciple is the source of this gospel. It is not immediately stated who this student is. Church tradition calls him John, brother of James. John, like his brother, is one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. This John would also be the author of John’s letters and of the Revelation to John. The Gospel of John was written at the end of the first century AD.
Johannes’s own accents
John places completely different emphases in his gospel than the other three evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke. This can be seen, for example, in John’s use of words. An example is the word ‘truth’. This word occurs five times in Matthew’s Gospel, six times in Mark, and seven times in Luke. John uses the word “truth” no fewer than fifty-five times in his Gospel.
read more
- The origin of the symbols of the four evangelists
- Similarities between Gospel of Luke and Acts