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Professor: Dr. Edwin Broadhead

GSTR 310

October 18th 2010

Fall semester

First describe, then compare and contrast the structure, content and purpose of the

synoptic gospels.

The New Testament consists of gospels, letters and acts which makes a total of twenty

seven books. Matthew, Mark and Luke are the first three gospels in the New Testament. The

word gospel came from the English word “god spell” meaning “good news”. Matthew, Mark,

Luke and John’s collection of stories are called gospels because they bring good news to the

world by focusing on Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Jesus’ arrival is “good news” to

humanity.

The first three gospels are commonly known as synoptic gospels because they give

common accounts of life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus. In many cases the same story

in Mark is repeated in Matthew or Luke with a different emphasize. Thesis statement: These

three gospels are very similar in their content yet completely and uniquely different in their

structures and purposes. But it is crucial to understand that all three gospels supplement

each other and each makes a unique contribution to a rounded view of Jesus.

Before we contrast the differences between the synoptic gospels, it is important to

understand a little about each gospel. The gospels are not arranged in chronological order; they
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are arranged in canonical order. Mark is believed to be the first gospel written(Bloom 12).

However, Matthew is placed as the first gospel in the New Testament as per canonical ordering.

Matthew was highly regarded by the fathers of the early church (Argyle 1). Although, Matthew

is not the oldest gospel, it is surely regarded as the most influential and most used gospel. The

gospel of Mark is extensively used as a source for Matthew, in fact ninety percent of Mark can

be found in Matthew. Therefore, we can look at Matthew as the revised version of Mark with a

detailed narrative of Jesus’ genealogy. Matthew gives special importance to certain themes in

the gospel. For Matthew, it is very important that Jesus fulfills the prophecies in the Old

Testament. It is reflected in the phrases that he uses and he frequently tells us how Jesus and

aspects of his ministries (McGrath 88) fulfills the Old Testament’s great expectations and do not

abolish them (Matthew 5:17). Matthew highlights Jesus’ Jewish heritage, and in doing so, he

associates Jesus with Jewish religion, law and institution. One of the special characters of this

gospel is its first two chapters, where we are reminded that Jesus is the descendent of David, the

great hero king of Israel (McGrath 88). It is not known exactly when Matthew was written or

who wrote it. But we should look at it as a collection of different stories by the writer. In many

books, Matthew is depicted as a tax collector who left everything to follow Jesus’ teachings

(Argyle 4).

Mark is placed as the second in the gospels, although it is considered the oldest gospel. It

is probably written shortly after the fall of the temple in 70 CE (M.Jack Suggs, 1992) to Jesus’

followers who have some connection to the Galilee (McGrath 88). Mark serves as the primary

source for both Mathew and Luke. Lacking a birth history, it is the shortest and fastest paced

gospel. It moves straight into Jesus’ baptism and his ministries. This gospel is known for its

practical language and visual demonstration of the stories. Mark depicts Jesus as the powerful

servant of God whose authority is demonstrated in his healings, his teachings, his debates and his
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willingness to suffer for a greater cause. In Mark, the word “immediately” is used almost forty

times. The gospel was written for a Gentile audience to remind them of Jesus of Nazareth, the

son of God, who died and suffered for them. An early church father ascribed this gospel to Mark

who is an interpreter of Peter, the cousin of Saint Barnabas and companion of Barnabas and

Saint Paul on their first missionary journey. It is believed that he wrote this shortly after Peter

and Paul died (The Essential 433).

Luke is the third gospel in the New Testament. It is the longest and most beautifully

written among the gospels. It is so long that it is divided into two parts; the second half is the

Acts of Apostles. When combined together, they form the largest writing in the New Testament;

twenty-five percent of New Testament is occupied by Luke and Acts. Many scholars claim that

Luke’s intended audience are the Gentiles, but it is also possible his audience could be the late

first century churches of diverse composition (Tannehill 24). The gospel of Luke is also known

as the chronological gospel for the way narratives are written in consecutive orders. The

importance of chronology was also depicted by the fact that events he described are accompanied

by references to historical figures (Luke 1:5, 2:1-2, 3:1-2). Luke depicts Jesus and his followers

in a worldwide context that Jesus is the one who fulfills the prophecies in the Old Testament.

This gospel shows an interest in roles played by women in Jesus’ life starting from his birth

narrative. Luke and Acts are dedicated to a man named Theopilus (McGrath 89), who may have

been a wealthy and influential Christian sympathizer in Rome. The writings suggest that Luke

was educated and had a great command of written Greek. He was a physician and the travelling

companion of Paul.

Having briefly introduced the synoptic gospels, it is important to understand how the

gospels differ and share similarities. Their contents vary in how they portray Jesus and how each
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has their unique emphasize. Jesus is depicted differently in all three gospels, yet Jesus is

uniformly referred as “Son of God” in these gospels. According to Mark, Jesus is a powerful

teacher/savior whose authority is demonstrated in the wonders he works, which Mark supports

by recording eighteen of Jesus’ miracles. Jesus is depicted as the Messiah whose words and

deeds are signs that the kingdom of God is near. His title as both the son of David and son of

God can only be understood in the light of his suffering and his execution.

Gospel of Mathew presents Jesus as the royal descendent of David and the son of Israel,

thus authenticating Jesus’ heritage as a Jew. Mathew place special importance to Jesus as a Jew,

and it is emphasized by the fact that the first two chapters of this gospel are solely dedicated to

his genealogy. Jesus is presented as faithful Jew who teaches his followers to fulfill the law of

God. He is presented as human and divine, as the Messiah and as the Son of God. On the other

hand, Luke presents Jesus as a humble Jew who is also a descendent of Adam, the father of all

humanity (Broadhead); meaning Jesus is the god of everyone. Jesus is presented as a

compassionate and articulate preacher who wants his ministries to stretch across Roman Empire.

Each gospel has its own turning point, Mathew and Mark share the same turning point, which is

the confession of Jesus’ Messiah-ship by Peter at Caesarea Philippi ( Mathew16:13-20)( Argyle

3). This led Jesus to speak openly to his disciples about his coming suffering and the prediction

of his own death. Mathew takes it further into another passage, and we came to know about Peter

and the churches. One Mathew’s recurring themes is his concern for church, “an institution

within which people must be disciplined to live now”. This community is for the believers that

believe Jesus, the risen Lord, is here now. We can refer to this at Jesus’ final appearance to his

disciples when he promises that he will always be there for those believe in him (Mathew 28:20).
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In Luke special importance is given to “Holy Spirit”. It is mentioned here more than the

other gospels. In Luke, the Holy Spirit is related to stories of Zechariah; Gabriel; and Mary,

Elizabeth and Simeon. For Luke, Jesus and his ministries lived through the enablement of Holy

Spirit. These are some of the distinctive characteristics of each gospel.

Each of the gospels has differences and similarities in their structure of writing. Without any

argument, Mark is the shortest gospel, and Luke is the longest one. The content in each gospel is

presented not so much in chronological order but more in their own unique choice of how each

writer wanted to present the story base on their emphasize. This is, as mentioned before, a story

of Jesus written from three different perspectives. Matthew is placed first in the New Testament,

primarily due to its clear, orderly way in which it describes events and records teachings of

Jesus. Unlike others, Matthew begins with a detailed genealogy and narratives which are

followed by five clearly marked and well-defined sections. In each section, an event or teaching

related to an event is given followed by a collection of sayings or parables. The division of five

sections after the narratives suggests a similar to the structure of the first five books in Old

Testament. One can also perceive that this is Matthew’s way of leading us to the path of showing

that Jesus, the Messiah, who fulfills the prophecies in the Old Testament. Matthew is also known

as the “teacher’s gospel”(McGrath 88) because the teachings of Jesus are neatly organized.

However, it is totally a different case in gospel of Mark. Sticking to his characteristic

fast-paced and action oriented style, Mark does not have a genealogy of Jesus. He moves straight

into Jesus’ baptism and ministry. His urgency can be also detected in his choice of words. He

likes to use the words “immediately” (McGrath 88) or “at once” a lot. Mark’s style of writing is

very elementary; his writing reflects oral story telling. Although his written language is very

simple, the theological concepts in the gospel are not always easy to understand (The Essential
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400). For instance, the way he shows Jesus as the paradoxical symbol as son of God and the

suffering he endured.

In terms of story writing, Luke is the complete opposite, and is known as the most

beautiful gospel every written. His Greek command is extremely rich and it is very well

exhibited in the gospel. Based on Luke’s command of Greek, scholars have guessed that he is

probably someone educated, which he is. Writing in chronological order was important to Luke,

and it is evident from the way his events were often accompanied by reference to historic figures.

(Luke 1:5, 2:1-2, 3:1-2). Although Luke also begins with Jesus’ genealogy, it is very clear that

Luke and Matthew have different emphases. Luke’s infancy narratives emphasize Jesus as the

son of Abraham, Noah and Adam, not as the son David the heroic king of Israel. By doing so,

Luke outlined his theological concept of Jesus: Jesus as the descendant of humanity, a

descendant of spiritual heroes from the days of creation, which is the image of Jesus from Luke’s

perspective as the “Holy Spirit”.

Much has been said and speculated about the purposes and intended audience of these

synoptic gospels. The gospels differ significantly on their purpose and audience.

The gospel of Matthew talks a lot about the conflicts between the early Christians and the

Jews between 70 and 100 AD. There is a speculation that Matthew wrote this gospel as a form of

mediation for Jewish Christians who are torn between following Christ and their devotion to

their Jewish traditions. Therefore, one of the recurring images of Jesus it establishes is the son of

David and ultimately the son of Israel. Jesus’ historical background is also emphasized with

relation to Jewish religion and tradition.

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The audience of Mark’s gospel is not clearly indicated. Looking at his written language

he probably did not intend his work to play major role as one of the gospels on New Testament.

It is probably meant for Greco-Roman people since it is written in Roman and his use of Roman

time. But it is clear that he wanted to show the suffering of Jesus as not accidental but as a

necessary apocalyptic event that led him to believe that Jesus is the “son of God”.

Both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts are dedicated to the same unknown

individual called Theopilus. In McGrath, Theopilus is described as wealthy and influential

Christian sympathizer. But we are to understand that Theopilus represents the “diverse group of

people” (Tannehill 3) that Luke intended. He meant this gospel for people with different ethnic

and religious backgrounds, social status and wealth. This leads us to understand how Luke

wanted to portray Jesus in his perspective as “Jesus Christ for all people, not just for Jews”.

Just by looking at the intended audience and purpose of the gospels, we can see a

growing diversity of people who are starting to believe in Jesus’ teaching. In that way, we can

see how the synoptic gospels assist us in understanding the spread of Christ’s teaching.

This is how the similar gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke combines together to give us a

rounded view of Jesus and his teaching with their unique emphases. Although, they have a

similar story to tell, it is told in different way. This is evident in their unique content, their unique

structure of writing, and their unique intended audience. When combined together, they all

supplement each other and fill in Jesus’ story that each fails to include due to their emphases.

Bibliography
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Argyle, A.W. The Gospel According to Mathew. Cambridge: Cambridge university press,

1963.Print

Tannehill, Robert. Luke. Nashville: Abingdon press, 1996.Print

McGrath, Alister E. Christianity: An introduction. Malden: Blackwell publishing, 2008.Print

Stanton, Graham. The Gospels and the Jesus. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Print

Reynolds, Price. The Three Gospels. New York: Scribner publishing house, 1996. Print

Viviano, Benedict Thomas. “God in the Gospel according to Mathew”. Interpretation: A journal

of bible and theology. Vol 64, 4.October.2010:341-355.Print

Suggs, Jack M, Katherine Doob Sakenfeld and James R Mueller, eds. The oxford study Bible:

revised English Bible with Apocrypha. New York: Oxford university press, 1992.Print

The Essential Bible Handbook. Nashville: Abingdon press, 2009.Print

Kirby, Peter. "Gospel of Mark." Early Christian Writings. 2006. 2 Feb. 2006,

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/mark.html