The beauty of witnesses.

I have recently begun to read the New Testament’s synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) as well as the book of John and they have been very enlightening so far. I have come to appreciate the different perspectives that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John bring while exposing the life of Jesus. It is fascinating how many stories told by these apostles are the same yet written from a different perspective or at least with a different goal.

For example, Matthew’s goal is to show that Jesus is the Messiah that the Jews were waiting for and that He is the one of whom the Law and prophets have spoken about. I am only in chapter 7 of Matthew, but this theme is so evident because he always takes care to let the readers know what scriptures Jesus fulfilled by doing this or that act. So for Matthew, a Jew reading his book would have been able to see the link between the prophecies, the Law of Moses and Jesus being the fulfilment of it all. It is evident that Matthew’s audience was Jews who knew and understood the Torah.

Luke on the other hand, is the physician (Colossian 4:14) who writes to a very different audience than Matthew’s. Luke’s audience seems to be gentiles. He writes mainly for Theophilus who is probably a wealthy man belonging to a high class in the Greek society. I did not do a background check to see whether Theophilus was wealthy or not, but he definitely had a high status in the society which can be inferred from the way Luke addresses him: “most excellent Theophilus” (Luke 1:3). Luke’s goal is plainly laid out in the book and it is to “know the certainty of the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:4). Moreover, Luke states that he has carefully investigated everything from the beginning therefore what he is about to write will stand the test of careful examination. Luke’s story telling ability is wonderful, as he narrates Jesus’ life, he is meticulous in the details. Every detail he adds is a detail that can be verified. Whenever he introduces a character, we are always told about the provenance of the characters. For example, Zechariah who is John’s father is given details about his profession, and the division he worked in. As a priest, it would have been easily verifiable who the Zechariah Luke was referring to was especially with the division added. In the same manner, Elizabeth is introduced as Zechariah’s wife and also belonging to the lineage of Aaron. Luke ensures that what he writes can be checked by anybody. He wants his own account of Jesus to compel people to believe with proof. He would have been friends with the Bereans.

Mark takes a different approach to his writing and he seems to want to show that Jesus is not just any man, that Jesus has power over demons, evil spirits, the supernatural, diseases, infirmities, nature, and sin. Mark takes a special interest in showing that Jesus has authority over sin, that he can forgive sin thereby equating him with God (Mark 2:5). Obviously, this fact did not sit well with many Jews at the time, but Mark did not shy away from the truth. Even today, many still do not believe that Jesus is able to forgive sins, but that unbelief does not hinder his ability to do so. There is no stopping this Jesus and Mark portrays that very well. The authority of Jesus as shown by Mark knows no bound. Every knee will indeed bow at the name of Jesus.

Finally, John’s account of Jesus is very different than that of Matthew, Mark and Luke. His approach is to show the pre-existence of Jesus before the foundation of the world. He wants the readers to meet with Jesus as God-the son. It is in John that we are given reference to Jesus responding to the Samaritan woman by saying that He is God (John 4).  Moreover, John seeks to establish the relationship Jesus had with His Father and how obedient He was to His Father even unto death. Additionally, John is also interested in the shepherding character of Jesus, how He keeps what the Father has entrusted him, how He ensures those with Him keep on flourishing, and that they have life. Clearly, John wants us to see Jesus as the only one through whom we can have eternal life, the son of God who takes away the sins of the world. Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark and John do not seem to have a specific type of audience. Their writing seems to be geared at everybody.

As you can tell, I am not yet deep inside these books to be able to give you a more in-depth understanding of the different perspectives and approaches of these remarkable apostles, but this is a good start. I believe having four different encounters with Jesus increases our understanding of Him as well as the understanding of where the authors were coming from as they wrote those accounts. We have four friends who had different experiences of Jesus and give us their understanding of who He is. What is truly beautiful is that none of these perspectives are contradictory, none of them show a different Jesus, rather they seem to amplify the person of Jesus and complement the many facets of the man Jesus to us as we savour Him in the scripture. I simply wanted to show that we are privileged to have the bible which presents these different narratives of Jesus to us because it helps us know Jesus deeper. Imagine what our world would look like, our politics and our country’s leadership if we had different accounts of leaders running for office prior to election? That would give us voting citizen the ability to make an informed decision as we vote. The fact that you can have four different people write about the same person and their writing not contradicting each other’s speaks volume not only to the person of Jesus but also to the validity of his life on this earth. You cannot make this stuff up as the saying goes. The bible is an exceptional book!

So then, whenever you read the New Testament and particularly the synoptic gospels, remember to ponder upon the different perspectives the writers brought out in their narrative and see how those deepen your understanding of Jesus. As you read, be inquisitive, expectant, thirsty for knowledge and I am sure the Holy Spirit will give you a fresher understanding of Himself, the Father and the Son.