The Four Gospels
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as Complementary Accounts
John’s gospel though, includes the famous seven I AM statements and expounds the sovereignty of Christ.
Matthew’s Gospel
The royal, kingly credentials of the Messiah are emphasized here. Matthew's gospel recalls prophecy being fulfilled and speaks of things to come. Even the casual reader cannot fail to notice the amount of Old Testament prophecy fulfilled in this gospel. It is essentially a Jewish gospel aimed particularly at the Jewish reader who is searching for the long-awaited Messiah-King.
Mark's Gospel
Mark concentrates on Jesus as the suffering Servant who bore the weight of all sin. Mark's Gospel can be summed up with the statement "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)
Luke’s Gospel
Luke, who was also the author of Acts, was a physician paying careful attention to the miracles and healings Jesus performed. Furthermore, during His incarnation, Jesus experienced the temptations that are common to all when He voluntarily lived on earth during His 33-year earthly ministry.
John's Gospel
John explains the deity of Jesus as the Son of God. The Jews sought to kill Jesus in John 5v19 "because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God." John testified of the Word (Jesus) which was God and which was with God and of whom he had handled and seen.
The Gospels and Ezekiel’s vision
There are also dramatic parallels between Ezekiel’s vision of God in Chapter 1 and the four Gospels accounts. Ezekiel saw four heavenly creatures that moved as if there were wheels beside them with the rims of the wheels full of eyes. The creatures were able to move in any direction they wished. The wheels are a picture of God’s omnipresence and the eyes represent the omniscient knowledge and intelligence of God.
As for the four creatures, the lion Ezekiel saw represents the kingship, majesty and sovereignty of the Messiah. It also corresponds with the credentials attributed to the Messiah in Matthew's Gospel. The ox is a strong, yet humble and a faithful serving creature and thus relates to Mark's Gospel. The man represents Jesus as the perfect God-Man reflected in Luke's Gospel. Finally the eagle typifies the Spirit as referred to in John's Gospel.
Do the Gospel's contradict each other?
They certainly may appear contradictory as the details are not exactly the same word for word. Obviously the witnesses reported what they saw. Consider, then for example that if a witness to a robbery viewed two robbers making a swift get away and the other witness saw three abandoning the scene of the crime it is possible both statements are true. The difference between the two accounts is that one of the witnesses only saw two out of the three robbers. Furthermore in a court of law if four witnesses either spoke or wrote word for word accounts that were exactly congruent they would be accused of either corroborating or plagiarizing!
Four Gospels were required to demonstrate that Jesus was the Messiah, King, Servant and God-Man both equal to God and the Son of God. Peter believed that Jesus was the Son of God.
ReferencesMacArthur, J. The MacArthur Bible Commentary Thomas Nelson Nashville 2005
MacDonald, W. Believer's Bible Commentary Thomas Nelson Nashville 1995
Gospel accounts in the Holy Bible
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