Jesus: Synoptic Gospels

Throughout the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, it is apparent that there are similarities as well as differences when it comes to portraying the life and times of Jesus the Christ, the general descriptions of who Jesus was, and the sayings and deeds of Jesus during his short stay on this earth. Scripture scholars highlight that each Gospel writer viewed Jesus from a different perspective.

There are many different gospels that tell a similar story. Matthew and Mark are two Gospels written in a similar way but have different audiences. The story is the Last Supper and is about the last meal that Jesus experienced with his Apostles before his Sacrifice. There are many similarities, but not very many differences. Overall, the same story is told, but from two different perspectives.

The gospel of Luke and John are gospels about Jesus and John the Baptist. They have several differences and similarities. The Gospel of Luke describes the conception and birth of John the Baptist and Jesus while the gospel of Luke describes their life after birth. Summaries, variances, and connections of these two gospels are discussed below.

The Synoptic Gospels are composed of the gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke. These three gospels covered many of the same stories; yet, they disagree with each other on various details within certain stories. Also, numerous events that are in Mark, is not in Matthew or Luke and vice versa. Many historians have concluded that Mark was the first of the three gospels written and that Matthew and Luke used Mark as a source to their own gospels. The Synoptic Gospels were first written in Greek, which would suggest to some ambiguity within Mark, Matthew, and Luke due to certain perceptions and translations within the Greek language. One ambiguity that is shown within the Synoptic Gospels dealt with Jesus’s view on marriage and divorce. Using

All of the Gospels describe the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but each author illustrates the stories differently. Scholars believe Mark is the first Gospel written and is symbolized by a lion to denote Christ as powerful and fast-paced. The Book of John, understood to be the last gospel composed, is perceived as an eagle because the story differs greatly and is often more developed than the other Gospels. Comparing John 2 to the Gospel of Mark will depict unique themes and characteristics of Jesus.

All four gospels present Jesus as both the Son of God and son of man. They all record His baptism, the feeding of the 5,000 from five loaves and two fishes, Mary's anointing of the Lord Jesus, His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, His betrayal, trial, crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection. However, each writer

The new testament contains four (4) accounts of the story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection as presented by Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, The 3 accounts are similar, while Johns bible presents Jesus in a unique way. These differences exist because Matthew and Luke got their information from Mark and John got his information from another source, maybe John did not have access to the other gospels or he chose not to use them. No one really knows the source of John’s gospel and we don’t know for sure who wrote the gospels. Scholars refer to the authors as Matthew, Mark, Luke & John, this may not even be their real names. The Gospel were not first hand accounts except for Mark. John did not seem to have known the existence of the other

Beare, Francis Wright. "Mission of the Disciples and the Mission Charge: Matthew 10 and Parallels." Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 89, no. 1, Mar. 1970, pp. 1-13.

Biblical Evidence of Jesus’ Authority Before examining the authority of Jesus in relation to missions, it is crucial to first establish that Jesus did have authority. This section will be devoted to giving a clear presentation of the evidence of Jesus’ authority through taking note of and analyzing people’s response to Jesus’ words and actions. The word “authority” is used twenty five times in the Synoptic Gospels in relation to Jesus throughout His teaching and ministry. These occurrences are all found within seven different instances or events in Jesus’ life which are as follows: people’s response to Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, peoples’ response to His teaching and exorcism in the synagogue at Capernaum, Jesus’ healing of the paralytic, the sending out of the twelve disciples, the sending out and return of the seventy disciples, the questioning of Jesus’ authority in Mark 11, and the Great Commission.

The Gospel of Luke is considered to be the one Synoptic Gospel that is the most emphatic about how Christian disciples are to share their material wealth and possessions to help the poor. Pope Benedict XVI has described Saint Luke as “the Evangelist of the poor, and his ‘preferential option for the poor’ is unmistakable.” This paper will look at the type of relationship that Luke suggests that should exist between the plousios (i.e. the rich or wealthy) and the ptóchos (i.e. the poor).

In the New Testament compounds formed with syn than any other preposition (Lee, 2018, 142), these compound word or phases gives us a clear understanding of God’s word. One example is the vertical syn used in the Synoptic Gospels used to describe the thieves that were crucified alongside of Jesus Christ. One important point that Christians have to clearly understand that when Jesus died on that cross that our sinful debt was paid in full by Him, and sin should no longer have the power to control of thoughts. We should keep our eyes on Jesus and our hearts should be as hard as stone against sin. According to Lee (2018) Christians old self was crucified with Christ on the cross, however, when we get Baptist that is when our old souls should die

When judging the historical reliability of the gospels many factors come into paly. In judging the historical reliability of the Gospels the kind of the gospels is important in understanding the intentions of the writers concerning the historical value of the text. When ranking the following sayings of Jesus:

Throughout the centuries many people, Christians included, assumed that the Gospels were four different biographies of Jesus Christ, and that the only aim of the Gospels were to give us a detailed account of the events in the life of Jesus. This is a misunderstanding, because the Gospels are not mere biographies, they are a very unique literary genre that contain both, historical accounts (factual events) and a theological interpretations, as St. John Paul II stated, they are a “Vision of Faith based on precise historical testimony” (Novo Millennio Ineunte 17).

In the Bible, there are four accounts of the life, death, and in some cases, resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. All four of the Gospels cover the ministry of Jesus, his healings, signs, his crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The first three Gospels, the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are all fairly similar to one another. The Gospel of John on the other hand, is drastically different. Yes there are some key event that are covered in all four accounts, but they are few and far between. But even in this, the Jesus presented to us in the Gospel of John is fundamentally the same Jesus that is presented to us in the Synoptic Gospels.

Additionally, John indicates most of Jesus works in Galilee and Jerusalem while synoptic gospels place it in Galilee and Judea. Jesus’ teachings in the four gospels were mainly in parables and there is account of Jesus speaking with any figure. In contrast gospel of John accounts that Jesus used philosophical speeches in his teachings and interacted with figures like Nicodemus. Another event that distance gospel of