Free Custom «The Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John» Essay Paper

The books of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John are put together in a collective unit referred to as the Gospels. The title is sprung from an old English term meaning “good tales” that can also be called “good news”. Gospel, as a word, is utilized to describe the first four books of the New Testament that offer a presentation of the life of Jesus. Since the word “gospel” was used to mean good news, it is evident that the life and deeds of Jesus are really good news. The paper will focus on the four first volumes of the new tribute, or the Gospels, to discuss the intended audiences for the Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John.

Matthew

The Gospel in reference to Matthew, the Son of God, was the boded Messiah. He is the king of the Jews. It was inscribed by Matthew, who was initially a tax collector in Capernaum. Matthew was also known as Levi. He was called by Jesus to become an apostle despite being wealthy. Matthew intended to spread the gospel to the Jews. His main target consisted of the individuals from the Jewish community, who were aware of the prophecies made in the Old Testament. It is the reason the custom of the Jews is not explained in Matthew and in many occasion the Law of Moses is mentioned. As seen in Matthew 27:37, he wrote to the Jews with an intention of convincing them that the prophesied Messiah is Jesus (Jones 63). At the beginning of the book Matthew presents a genealogy as a way of proving that the Son of God originated from the household of King David.

Initially, the Gospel according to Matthew was written to the Jews to convince them to have faith in Jesus. The same book is today used to address the believers and to make them believe that Jesus is the Son of God. It is used to inform people about the Kingdom of God and the temptations awaiting for one, as well as to teach them on the ways to handle situations as taught in the parables. The collection of teachings in Matthew explains Christians the way to greatness, mysteries, mission, and kingdom’s law.

Mark

Mark shows Jesus as a retainer of God, who was suffering, but was still powerful. It is well explained in Mark 10:45. Through outlining the miracles performed by Jesus, his gospel indicates that Jesus was teaching with authority. The gospel of Mark was written to the Romans. It is seen because in his gospel he gave several explanations of the Jewish words, places, and customs, which he mentioned. It is a clear indication that he was addressing non-Jews, who could not understand the customs of Jews, as well as Jewish vocabularies and places. In addition, in the book of Mark, the author used roman time that is different from many biblical writers, who used Hebrew time. It was also indicated through translation of some words into Latin considering that it was the language used by Romans. He omitted the early life of Jesus and jumped to his baptism and life in ministry (Nineham 35).

Today, the gospel according to Mark is an important account used to preach the good news to all non-Jewish communities in the world. It is used to enlighten Christians that despite their residence of source, they are portion of the kingdom of heaven, if they manage to follow the steps of Jesus.

Luke

The gospel in reference to Luke shows Jesus as the only savior of mankind. In Luke 19:10 he discusses Jesus as the Son of man. Luke wanted the Gentiles to believe in Jesus and focus on the kingdom of heaven. The gospel took into attention the services offered by women in other communities. As seen in Colossians 4:14, Luke was a physician. The target audience for Luke for both of his books, that are Luke and Acts, is a person, whose name means a person, who loves God. In addition, Luke intended to reach the Gentiles, probably in Palestine, to make them believe that Jesus is the savior of mankind. In several occasions, the customs of Jews and diverse places in Palestine are explained. Since Luke was an inspired historian and a doctor, he wrote the book to keep a record for the historic purposes (Brown 92).

Today, the book is used to extend the Gospel to the diverse societies including those that have different customs from the Jews, such as the Gentiles, to enlighten them about the kingdom of God. Luke intended to reach the neighboring societies, especially those, whose customs and traditions were against the Jews. His intention was to make them understand that they are all welcome in the kingdom of heaven and the Son of God is the only way that human beings can be saved.

John

John is a book among the first four books of the New Testament that are commonly known as the Gospels. Many Christians recognize the Gospel according to John as the Gospel of belief. It was inscribed by John, a follower of Jesus, to shed the light on the world, where Christ is the Son of God. In John 3:16, he notifies the world that God the Father sent his Son Jesus to give his believers eternal life. John was a fisherman, and son to Salome and Zebedee. As seen in Luke 5:10, he was selected to accompany Jesus showing that he was the favorite disciple of Christ. The Gospel in his book was directed to the Gentiles and other Christian audience (BeDuhn 112). It is evident since in many occasions he gave an explanation to the customs of Jews and on a regular basis described different places in Palestine. As written in John 20:31, his purpose of writing was to make non-believers believe and give their lives to Christ.