Matthew, Mark, Luke and JohnTheocentric Studies-Part I February 2, 1996The four Gospels are neither stories of the life of Christ nor biographies. They are portraits of the person and work of the long-promised Messiah, King of Israel and Savior of the world. As portraits they present four different poses of a unique personality. Matthew through the Holy Spirit presents Christ as King, Mark as Servant, Luke as Man and John as God. While presenting Christ as King, Matthew outlines His role as King in close connection with His character as Servant, Man and God (Matthew 13:53-19:30). Likewise, while presenting him as a Servant, Mark describes Christ's role as a servant in close connection with His character as King, Man and God (Mark 11:1-16:1-8). Luke similarly focuses the spotlight on Christ as Man and John as God, but like other evangelists they do not separate Him from His full character (Luke 4:14-9:50, John 1:19-2:50). The four Gospels narrate, for the most part, the same things, but with some differences. Only Matthew and Luke recount the birth and childhood of Jesus (Matthew 1:14-9:1, Luke 1:5-4:13). Matthew and Mark focus on the Galilean Ministry; Luca, the Pereus; John, the Jew. John omits most of the Galilee Ministry and records the visits to Jerusalem that the others omit (Luke 9:51-19:27). The others omit the Judean Ministry, except the Last Week, which all four cover quite extensively. The Last Week takes up a third of Matthew, about a third of Mark, a quarter of Luke, and half of John. John dedicates seven chapters, about a third of his book, to the day of the Crucifixion, from sunset to sunset. All four writers thus present one and the same Person: the Man-God, Servant of the Lord, King of Israel, Redeemer of humanity. Matthew's special emphasis is that Jesus is the Messiah foretold by the Old Testament prophets. As he repeatedly quotes from the Old Testament, he seems to have had Jewish readers in mind. Mark's special emphasis is on the superhuman power of Jesus, demonstrating His Divinity through His Miracles (Mark 1:14-9:1). It omits most of Jesus' lessons. It tells the things Jesus did rather than the things Jesus said. It seems he had gentle readers in mind. Luke's particular emphasis is on the humanity of Jesus. Portraying Jesus as the Son of God. Luke describes His kindness toward the weak, the suffering, and the marginalized (Luke 9:51-18:27). He seems to have had in mind the Greeks, who represented culture, philosophy and wisdom. John places special emphasis on the divinity of Jesus. It consists primarily of lessons and conversations from Jesus. It discusses the things Jesus said rather than the things he did (John 1:1-18). Describing eternal pre-existence, human birth, death,