Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38; John 1:1-14    Listen

An Introduction to The Gospels

Why do we have four records of Jesus' life? Isn't that kinda redundant? When you've looked closely at the records of Jesus through the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, you realize that each of them, while recalling for us many of the same incidents in the life of Jesus, approach these happenings from a different perspective...many times recalling varied information about the same incident.

Here's an example. Let's say my wife and I each view the same automobile accident (just a fender bender), but she's on one side of the street, and I'm on the other. First of all, we each may see details about the accident from where we are standing that the other may not. But that's not all. As the drivers emerge from their vehicles, each of us may take notice of different things about the drivers based upon our individual interests and previous life experiences. My wife may notice the clothes the drivers are wearing (and that's likely), but I might focus more on what I think went wrong to cause the accident. She might pay more attention to what the drivers say to each other afterwards while I might be observing the congestion being caused by their automobiles blocking the roadway. Later on that day, when we begin telling the story, our accounts of that story obviously describe the same incident, but her color information is quite different from my own - two different perspectives. That's why we have four accounts of Jesus' life...from four different perspectives. Moreover, the words actually spoken by Jesus and others often vary between the gospel accounts; that's why it is necessary to compare all accounts when studying the ministry of Jesus as conveyed in the parallels of the gospels.

The Gospel of Matthew
Nowhere in the Gospel of Matthew is it explicitly stated that Matthew wrote this gospel account, but from the first century on it was universally agreed that he is the undisputed author. Matthew was one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ whose background was tax collecting prior to following Jesus as his disciple. Also known as Levi, we see his story in Matthew 9:9-13; Mark 2:14-17; Luke 5:27-32 (see notes). Yes...Matthew had been a government worker - and not a very liked one at that! His previous life had been all about money. It appears that this Gospel was written for the Jewish Christians of Palestine. Matthew sets out to prove that Jesus was the promised Messiah, and that in him the prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled. This Gospel is full of allusions to those passages of the Old Testament in which Christ is prophesied.

The Gospel of Mark
Mark (aka John aka John Mark, Acts 12:25, see notes) was not one of the disciples of Jesus as far as we know. He first appears in Acts 12:12 (see notes) where he is mentioned along with his mother, Mary. It appears that their home was a gathering place for the disciples of Jesus. Mark was a cousin to Barnabas (Colossians 4:10, see notes), and seemed to have a special relationship with the Apostle Peter. It would appear from I Peter 5:13 (see notes) that Mark was converted through the ministry of Peter. It is generally believed that Mark wrote his Gospel from Rome some years later and derived his information from the first-hand accounts of Jesus' life through the eyes of Peter and other followers who gathered at Mark's home during the years after Jesus' ministry. Mark was educated. His Gospel seems to have an emphasis which would have been of interest to a Roman audience. He doesn't include the Jewish genealogy of Jesus. He is careful to translate Aramaic words which a non-Jewish audience might not understand otherwise. Mark only quotes from the Old Testament twice in his account.

The Gospel of Luke
Based upon Luke's inclusion with Gentiles rather than Jews in Colossians 4:10 (see notes), it is generally believed that Luke was a Gentile who came to Christ. He was probably a physician. Luke was Paul’s constant companion during his journey to Jerusalem (Acts 20:6). Luke does not claim to have been an eyewitness of our Lord’s ministry, but to have gone to the best sources of information within his reach, and to have written an orderly narrative of the facts (Luke 1:1-4, see notes). Notice the following observation from Easton's Bible Dictionary, “Out of a total of 1151 verses, Luke has 389 in common with Matthew and Mark, 176 in common with Matthew alone, 41 in common with Mark alone, leaving 544 peculiar to himself. In many instances all three use identical language.” It is obvious to those who read Luke's account from the Greek text that his style is more refined and classical than the other accounts; after all, he was a doctor. It is commonly believed that Luke consulted with Paul in compiling his Gospel. Luke traveled with Paul and is also the author of the Book of Acts (see notes).

The Gospel of John
There is no question but that the Apostle John wrote this Gospel. Equally clear is his intention for writing it down found in John 20:31 (see notes), "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 doesn't do the genealogy that Matthew and Luke do, but starts right in with the deity of Jesus Christ in his very first chapter. Likewise, his Gospel does not track very closely with the events covered in Matthew, Mark and Luke; it seems to fill in the gaps with much information not found in those accounts. The Gospel of John appears to order the events of Jesus' ministry chronologically, being careful to mention the occurrence of the four Passover observances during Jesus' ministry.

Four different perspectives
So, you see, in the four Gospels we have four different perspectives of Jesus' life. That's why this commentary, as much as possible, presents all four perspectives of the same incident grouped together in the same section of reading.

The language of the Gospels
Two Semitic languages were common in New Testament times, Aramaic and Hebrew. As a matter of fact, since Aramaic was written using Hebrew characters, the distinction between these two Semitic languages is not always clear. Aramaic was commonly spoken by the Jews in New Testament times. The Gospels record Christ’s words in Aramaic on three occasions: Mark 5:41 (see notes), Mark 7:34 (see notes) and on the cross in Mark 15:34/Matthew 27:46 (see notes). When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane he addressed God the Father as "Abba," Aramaic for "father." We see in Luke 23:38 and John 19:20 (see notes) that the words written on the cross were "in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew." Since Alexander the Great had established his dominion over that region, Greek had become the language of commerce. Later on, the Romans introduced Latin. In Acts 26:14 (see notes) Paul mentions that he heard the risen Christ speaking to him "in the Hebrew tongue," most likely to be understood as Aramaic.

The Gospel accounts were written some time after the ministry of Jesus. There is no evidence that any of these accounts were ever recorded in any language other than Greek. When these writers were recalling the life and ministry of Jesus, they recorded those occasions in Greek from the beginning. There has been some unfounded speculation by credible scholars that perhaps Matthew first recorded his Gospel account in Aramaic from which it was later translated to Greek. However, there is no supporting evidence for that theory. Undoubtedly, Jesus spoke in whatever language was appropriate for his audience on any given occasion - Aramaic/Hebrew to Jews and Greek to Gentiles. The balance of the New Testament was, without question, recorded originally in Greek.

Two genealogies (Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38)

Matthew goes forward through his genealogical account and Luke goes backward through his. Luke goes all the way back to Adam with his, but Matthew seems satisfied to simply show the Jewish ancestry of Jesus back to Abraham. Matthew lists the legal line of descent, probably to demonstrate the validity of the Messiahship of Jesus. Luke, on the other hand, lists the actual physical ancestry of Jesus in great detail. Both genealogies make a path from Abraham to Jesus, but Luke's list completely departs from that of Matthew after David. The records converge for only two generations between David and Joseph. I've provided a chart taken from both Gospel accounts.

There's something quite interesting about Matthew's genealogical record here - the inclusion of the names of women. There are five of them altogether. Of course, it is completely understandable why Mary, the mother of Jesus would be included. However, the other four seem to be there to make some sort of a point to his readers.

As mentioned in the introduction, Matthew had been a tax collector (publican) before he dropped everything to follow Jesus. To the Jews of his day, that was a sinful way to make one's living. As a matter of fact, the category "publicans and sinners" (KJV) is found in nine different verses in the Gospel accounts. So, what does that have to do with the mention of women in Matthew's genealogy? Maybe nothing, but pay close attention to the only women (with the exception of Mary) who get honorable mention in his record: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba.

Let's take a moment to briefly look at these four women to see if they have anything in common with the exception of being ancestors of Jesus.

• Tamar: Her story is found in Genesis 38 (see notes). She was the widowed daughter-in-law of Judah (Jacob's son). Tamar's first husband (Er, Judah's oldest son) died, and Judah directed his second son (Onan) to take Tamar as wife to provide an heir for his dead brother. Onan took the opportunity for pleasure, but passed on providing the heir. We are told that God killed Onan just as he had killed Er, for wickedness. Judah then promised that when his third son, Shelah, was old enough, he would father a child for Tamar. This Jewish custom was called a Levirate marriage. However, Judah reneged on his deal with Tamar, leaving her childless. Subsequently, Tamar tricks Judah into having a night of pleasure with her for the purpose of providing an heir for her when she poses as a prostitute. Subsequently, when Judah learns that she is expecting, he decrees that she should be executed by burning...that is until he discovers that the child is his. So, the son of Judah and Tamar, Perez (aka Pharez) ends up being in the lineage of King David and Jesus. As with Matthew, Tamar had a societal blemish back in her day.
• Rahab: We all know who Rahab is. She's first seen in Joshua 2 (see notes). Her profession in Jericho was that of a prostitute. However, this Canaanite woman was delivered from the destruction of Jericho because of her assistance to the Hebrew spies resulting in the successful campaign. Subsequent to her integration into Hebrew life, she married a Jewish man named Salmon, and they bear a son (Boaz) who is also found in the lineage of King David and Jesus. There's no question that Rahab had a societal blemish in her previous life before embracing the God of the Jews as her own.
• Ruth: She was a Moabite who married the Jewish son of Naomi in Ruth 1 (see notes). It was forbidden for a woman from Israel to marry a Moabite man, but it was permissible for a Jewish man to take a Moabite woman as a wife according to Mosaic Law. Later on, however, the returning exiles in Ezra (around 520-510 B.C.) determined that no more marriages would be permitted between Jewish men and Moabite women. They even insisted that the men who had already done so divorce their Moabite wives. They considered this a move that was necessary to put them back into favor with God. Incidentally, that was not a God-directed move; they determined to do that on their own. Then, the story of how Ruth came to marry Boaz is quite interesting in itself - another Levirate marriage. It's safe to say that the first-century Jews considered Ruth to have a societal blemish as well. Yet, there she is in Matthew's account of the genealogy of Jesus.
• Bathsheba: She's famous - wife of King David and mother of King Solomon. However, that's not the first thing that pops into your head when you hear her name. She committed what is arguably the most well-known act of adultery in the Bible, found in II Samuel 11 (see notes). Nonetheless, when Matthew lists the genealogy of Jesus, he makes certain to mention her part in the lineage.

Now consider this: Sarah's not mentioned, nor Rebekah, nor Rachel, nor Leah. Interestingly enough, Matthew (with his own questionable background) only mentions female ancestors of Jesus (except Mary) who had questionable backgrounds. It would appear that Matthew wants his readers to know that God uses people who surrender themselves to God and not necessarily those who meet up to societal expectations. That, by the way, was a recurring theme in the teachings of Jesus.

John just starts with the deity of Jesus (John 1:1-14)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

No physical ancestry for Jesus is listed in John's account. He heads straight for the heart of the matter. Two verses in this passage sum it up, 1 and 14.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Everything in between those two verses is self explanatory. Jesus is God in the flesh, the creator of the universe; it is undeniable based upon these first 14 verses of John alone. We see the role of John the Baptist mentioned; that will be developed later. Verses 12-13 outline the clear intent of John's Gospel - to point people to salvation through Jesus Christ. These two verses clearly state the necessity of receiving Jesus Christ as one's personal savior and thus be given the power of a child of God. Verse 13 makes it clear that this is a spiritual-birth experience.

Verses 2-3 make a special point that Jesus was was the creator of "all things." Genesis 1:26 (see notes) says "Let Us make man in Our image..." Could this be a reference to the Godhead? Many scholars think so, and I'm comfortable with that view as well. However, that interpretation is not universal among fundamental Bible scholars. Paul uses the word "Godhead" in the context of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in one in Colossians 2:9 (see notes) when he says of Jesus, "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;" That passage conveys the same doctrine of Jesus as the creator. Notice these other notable verses on the same issue written by Paul in Colossians 1 (see notes):

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,

There can be no scriptural dispute regarding the identity of Jesus. He is very God - a member of the Godhead. John goes on in verses 4-9 to emphasize the mission of Jesus' manifestation on earth; he came as "the light of men." John the Baptist is mentioned here as well. He's the forerunner of Jesus - the one who announces Jesus. For more on John the Baptist, click here. Verses 10-11 summarize the rejection of Jesus, but with the promise of verses 12-13 that for those who do receive Jesus as their personal Savior, they receive the privilege of becoming "the sons of God." The term "believe on" in verse 12 literally means to "exercise faith in." That's what scriptural salvation is - trusting (exercising faith) Jesus as one's only means for getting to Heaven. Click here to read the article entitled, "What the Bible says about eternal life."