Gospel Study Guide
Four witnesses, one Lord: what each Gospel sees, and why the church kept all four
The four Gospels are four accounts of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, written by four authors for four first audiences, and kept together by the church since the second century. Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King who fulfills the Scriptures. Mark presents him as the Son of God who serves and suffers. Luke presents him as the Saviour of all people, with a special eye for the poor and the outsider. John presents him as the eternal Word made flesh. Matthew, Mark and Luke tell the story in much the same way and are called the Synoptic Gospels; John stands apart.
The word "Gospel" means good news. Before it was the name of a kind of book it was the name of a message, and Mark uses it that way in his very first line:
The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mark 1:1, World English Bible
Nobody planned it. Four accounts were written, in four places, for four groups of readers, and the churches that received them recognized all four as apostolic. By the late second century they were circulating together as a set. Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, writing around AD 180, took the number for granted and argued from it: just as there are four zones of the world and four principal winds, he said, the church has four pillars, and the Gospels can be "neither more nor fewer" than four. He was also the first to match the four living creatures of Ezekiel and Revelation to the four evangelists, though not in the set that later became standard (Matthew the man, Mark the lion, Luke the ox, John the eagle), which is Jerome's and the one in the table below.
The church could have done otherwise. In the same century Tatian wove the four into one continuous narrative, and Syriac churches used his harmony for a long time. But the wider church kept the four separate: four witnesses, each with his own angle, rather than one tidy account. Luke's preface shows why that was never a problem. He knew of other accounts, he worked from eyewitnesses, and he wrote his own ordered narrative for a particular reader:
Since many have undertaken to set in order a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus; that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.
Luke 1:1 to 4, World English Bible
Four Gospels, then, is not a problem to be solved but a gift to be received. The church has read them as four portraits of one face.
Matthew opens with a genealogy that names the two ancestors a Jewish reader needed to hear first: "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Matthew 1:1, WEB). It quotes the Old Testament more than any other Gospel, pausing again and again to say that the prophets have been fulfilled. It gathers Jesus' teaching into five long discourses, beginning with the Sermon on the Mount, and it alone records the Magi, the flight into Egypt and the Great Commission. Its first readers were Jewish Christians, and its portrait is of the promised King. Read the full guide to Matthew.
Mark is the shortest Gospel, sixteen chapters, and the fastest. It has no birth story and little extended teaching; it moves from one deed to the next, and its favourite word is "immediately." Papias, early in the second century, said that Mark had been Peter's interpreter and wrote down what he remembered of Peter's preaching, accurately but not in order. The book turns on Peter's confession in chapter 8, and from there it heads for the cross. Only Mark records the young man who fled from Gethsemane. Its portrait is of the Son of God who came to serve and to give his life. Read the full guide to Mark.
Luke is the only Gospel with a sequel, the Acts of the Apostles, addressed to the same Theophilus. It begins with the birth of John the Baptist, traces Jesus' genealogy back past Abraham to Adam, and gives us the shepherds and the manger. A long central section, 9:51 to 19:27, follows Jesus on the road to Jerusalem and holds most of the teaching only Luke records, including the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. Women, the poor, Samaritans, tax collectors and sinners have a place here that they have nowhere else. Its portrait is of the Saviour whose good news is for everyone. Read the full guide to Luke.
John begins not in Bethlehem but before creation: "In the beginning was the Word." It tells few of the Synoptic stories and many of its own: the wedding at Cana, Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the raising of Lazarus, the washing of the disciples' feet, and Thomas. It has no parables of the Synoptic kind; instead it has long dialogues and the "I am" sayings. Much of its action is in Jerusalem at the feasts rather than in Galilee. And it tells us why it was written:
Therefore Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:30 to 31, World English Bible
Its portrait is of the eternal Son, sent from the Father, who gives eternal life to those who believe. Read the full guide to John.
Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels, from a Greek word meaning "seen together." The name comes from J. J. Griesbach, who in 1776 published a synopsis printing the three in parallel columns, and the fact that they can be printed that way is the point. They tell the same story, largely in the same order, often in the same words. About ninety percent of Mark is paralleled in Matthew, and more than half of Mark is paralleled in Luke. Matthew and Luke also share a good deal of teaching material that is not in Mark at all, such as the Lord's Prayer and the Beatitudes.
Explaining that pattern is what scholars call the Synoptic problem. Who wrote first, and who used whom? Three answers matter for a reader:
Which is right? The argument is technical and good scholars still disagree. For reading the Gospels it matters less than it might seem. Every view agrees that the three are closely related, that each evangelist arranged his material with purpose, and that each book should be read whole in its own right. When all three tell a story, it is always worth asking what each writer kept, left out or placed differently, and that question is open to any reader with three open Bibles and a little patience. You do not need to settle the Synoptic problem to notice that Matthew's Sermon is on a mountain and Luke's is on a plain, or to ask why.
John shares remarkably little with the other three. The feeding of the five thousand, the walking on the water, the anointing at Bethany, the entry into Jerusalem and the passion are in all four; beyond those, John's material is largely his own. There are no parables of the Synoptic kind and no transfiguration; at the Last Supper John gives the foot-washing and the Farewell Discourse. Where the Synoptics place almost all of the ministry in Galilee and bring Jesus to Jerusalem once, at the end, John has him going up to Jerusalem repeatedly for the feasts, and mentions three Passovers, which is why the ministry is usually reckoned at about three years.
The earliest explanation is also the simplest. Clement of Alexandria, around AD 200, said that John, last of all, "conscious that the outward facts had been set forth in the Gospels," composed a "spiritual Gospel." He knew the story was already told; he wrote to show what it meant. His own closing sentence says as much, and says it with a smile:
There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they would all be written, I suppose that even the world itself wouldn’t have room for the books that would be written.
John 21:25, World English Bible
John's strangeness, then, is not a problem for the other three. It is the reason the church needed a fourth.
The dates are estimates; no ancient source gives one. The authors are those named by the early church writers from the second century on, which modern scholars weigh differently. The symbols are the later standard set, not the one Irenaeus used.
| Matthew | Mark | Luke | John | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Author by tradition | Matthew the apostle, the tax collector | Mark, Peter's interpreter (Papias) | Luke, the physician, Paul's companion | John the apostle, the beloved disciple |
| Likely date | AD 60s to 80s | AD 50s to 70 | AD 60s to 80s | AD 80s to 90s |
| Chapters | 28 | 16 | 24 | 21 |
| Portrait of Jesus | The King, son of David, who fulfills the Scriptures | The Son of God who serves and suffers | The Saviour of all, friend of the poor and the outsider | The eternal Word made flesh |
| Opening | Genealogy from Abraham | John the Baptist; no birth story | The births of John and Jesus; genealogy back to Adam | "In the beginning was the Word" |
| First audience | Jewish Christians who knew the Scriptures | Gentile readers, by tradition at Rome; Jewish customs explained | Theophilus and a wider Gentile readership | Any reader, "that you may believe" (20:31) |
| Structure | Narrative alternating with five long discourses | Galilee to Peter's confession (8:29), then the road to the cross | Galilee, a long journey to Jerusalem (9:51 to 19:27), Jerusalem | Signs and discourses (1 to 12), the last night and the passion (13 to 20), epilogue (21) |
| Only here | The Magi, the flight into Egypt, Peter walking on the water, the sheep and the goats, the Great Commission | The deaf man of Decapolis, the blind man at Bethsaida, the young man who fled | The shepherds, the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, Zacchaeus, the Emmaus road | Cana, Nicodemus, the woman at the well, Lazarus, the foot-washing, Thomas |
| Symbol | The man | The lion | The ox | The eagle |
There is no wrong answer, but there are better fits.
A simple plan for a year: Mark, then Luke, then Matthew, then John. By the end you will have read the whole story four times and noticed, without anyone telling you, what each writer saw.
Free study sheets. "The Four Gospels at a Glance" puts Matthew beside the other three on one page, and "The Life of Jesus: A Timeline" shows where each chapter falls in the story. Both are free on the free downloads page.
John Charles Ryle (1816 to 1900) was an English parish clergyman who became the first Bishop of Liverpool in 1880. His Expository Thoughts on the Gospels covers all four Gospels in one voice. It began with Matthew in 1856, went on to Mark and Luke, and finished with John in three volumes, the last published in 1873: seventeen years on the four books. He wrote it, as his prefaces explain, for family reading: short expositions on each passage, plain enough to read aloud, each drawing out the doctrine, the warning and the comfort in the text. It has stayed in print ever since.
Because Ryle worked through all four, his readers get the comparison this page describes without being told about it. The same man, with the same convictions, reads Matthew's Sermon, Mark's hurried miracles, Luke's parables of the lost and John's "I am" sayings, and the differences come through in his comments. Our editions keep Ryle's words and his order and modernize what slows a reader now: the "thee" and "thou," the old spellings, and the Scripture references written out in full. Matthew, Mark and Luke are available now, each with its study workbook; John is in preparation. The books page says more about what changed and what did not.
Because four people wrote accounts of Jesus that the early church recognized as apostolic, and the church kept all four rather than merging them into one. By the late second century Irenaeus could write that there are four Gospels, "neither more nor fewer," and compare them to the four winds and four pillars. Each was written by a different author, for a different first audience, with a different emphasis, and the church has always read them together as four witnesses to one Lord.
The traditional answer, stated by Augustine around AD 400, is Matthew, which is why Matthew stands first in every New Testament. Most scholars since the nineteenth century think Mark was written first and that Matthew and Luke both used it, because about ninety percent of Mark reappears in Matthew and more than half in Luke, often in the same order and wording. No ancient source gives a date for any of the four.
It comes from a Greek word meaning "seen together." Matthew, Mark and Luke tell the same story in much the same order with much of the same wording, so they can be printed in parallel columns and read side by side. The term comes from J. J. Griesbach, who published such a synopsis in 1776. John is not a Synoptic Gospel because it shares little material with the other three.
John tells different stories (Cana, Nicodemus, the woman at the well, Lazarus, the foot-washing), sets much of the ministry in Jerusalem at the feasts rather than in Galilee, has long dialogues instead of short parables, and states its purpose outright: "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God" (John 20:31, WEB). Clement of Alexandria, around AD 200, said John wrote last, knowing the outward facts were already recorded, and composed a "spiritual Gospel." The church has always treated it as the fourth witness, not a rival to the other three.
They differ, and the differences are real: in order, in detail, in which sayings are reported and where. They are four witnesses, not four copies, and each writer chose and arranged his material for his own readers. Luke says plainly that he worked from earlier accounts and eyewitnesses (Luke 1:1 to 4), and John says plainly that he left most things out (John 20:30 to 31). The church has read the four together since the second century, without flattening them into one, and the differences are where much of the richness lies. A good study reads each Gospel on its own terms first, and only then sets them side by side.
Mark, if you have never read a Gospel before: it is the shortest, it moves fast, and it can be read in an evening. Luke if you want the fullest story, from the birth of John the Baptist to the Emmaus road. Matthew if you want Jesus' teaching gathered in large blocks. John if your question is who Jesus is. Whichever you choose, read it through once quickly before you study it slowly.
Ryle's Expository Thoughts on Matthew, Mark and Luke, modernized and annotated, with the study workbook for each. John is in preparation.
Commentary
Ryle's complete commentary on Matthew, modernized for today's reader. Short expositions on every passage, with his doctrine, warning and comfort in his own order, a new biography, and editor's notes where a word or reference needs help.
Ebook $0.99 · Paperback $21.99
Study workbook
One chapter a week through Matthew, with Ryle's exposition printed in each week, observation and discussion questions, the Family Fifteen for households, and room to write. Tracks for 28, 13 or 8 weeks.
Ebook $6.99 · Paperback $21.99 · Spiral-bound $24.99
Commentary
Ryle's commentary on the shortest Gospel, modernized. Every passage of Mark expounded in order, with a new biography and editor's notes.
Ebook $0.99 · Paperback $21.99
Study workbook
Sixteen weeks through Mark, one chapter a week, with Ryle's exposition in each week, questions for groups, the Family Fifteen, and room to write. Tracks for 16, 8 or 6 weeks.
Ebook $6.99 · Paperback $19.99 · Spiral-bound $21.99
Commentary
Ryle on Luke 1 to 10, modernized. The birth narratives, the start of the ministry in Galilee, and the sending of the seventy, passage by passage.
Ebook $0.99 · Paperback $21.99
Commentary
Ryle on Luke 11 to 24, modernized. The journey to Jerusalem, the parables of the lost, the passion and the resurrection, passage by passage.
Ebook $0.99 · Paperback $29.99
Study workbook
Twenty-four weeks through Luke, one chapter a week, with Ryle's exposition in each week, questions for groups, the Family Fifteen, and room to write.
Ebook $6.99 · Paperback $21.99 · Spiral-bound $24.99
Commentary
Ryle's commentary on John, modernized, in three volumes. In preparation.
Coming soon
Study workbook
The week-by-week study workbook for John, with Ryle's exposition in each week. In preparation.
Coming soon