There are four accounts of the life of Christ recorded in the New Testament –
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They all tell us the same story, but from different
viewpoints or with different emphasis. One chooses to emphasize the parable of
Jesus, another one skips over the parables and dwell on the nature and character
of our Lord. Putting all four gospel accounts together gives us a fuller and richer
portrait of the life and work of our Lord Jesus.
Let us look at each Gospel one by one and then compare them all together.
(1) The Gospel of Matthew
Matthew is the writer and is often called as “Matthew the tax collector”
(Matt 10:2). He was a Jew.
The Gospel of Matthew starts with the genealogy of Christ. It focuses on
Jesus as the King, the one who fulfills all the promises given by the Old
Testament prophets, regarding a coming Deliverer for the Jews. There
are more than 40 OT passages quoted in this book.
(2) The Gospel of Mark
It is generally agreed that the writer, Mark, is the same person as the
John Mark mentioned in Acts (12:12, 12:25, 13:5, 13:13). His name also
appears in Colossians 4:10, Philemon 1:24, 2 Timothy 4:11. He was
involved in the ministry with Paul and Peter.
Mark is an action-packed account of Jesus as a servant. The emphasis is
on Jesus’ miracles and actions.
(3) The Gospel of Luke
Luke is the writer and is probably the only Gentile writer in the Bible. He
is referred to by Paul as “Luke the beloved physician” (Colossians 4:14) .
This book has a greater focus on the “human side” of Jesus.
(4) The Gospel of John
John is the writer and clearly makes the statement that he is the disciple
who testifies to these things and who wrote them down (John 21:24).
And he also clearly states the purpose of this book in John 20:30-31 (Jesus
did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which
are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing you may have
life in his name.)
This book often focuses on the deity of Jesus Christ. It focuses on specific
events or details not mentioned in the other three accounts. Much of the
content found in this Gospel is quite unique like the beginning chapter “In
the beginning was the Word, … instead of giving the genealogy of Christ.
Questions regarding the comparison on the four Gospels:
(1) In which Gospel do we find eight Beatitudes?
Answer: Matthew. See Matthew 5:2-10
(2) Which two Gospels give us the most information about Christ’s birth and
very early childhood?
Answer: Matthew and Luke
(3) What is the only gospel that mentions Christ assigning the care of his
mother to one of his disciplines at the crucifixion?
Answer: John. See John 19:26
(4) Which Gospel records the miracle of turning water into wine?
Answer: John. See John 2:1-11
(5) What is the only gospel that records the words of the criminal who was
crucified with Christ?
Answer: Luke. See Luke 23:42
