The Four Gospels 

The four Gospels of the New Testament consist of the books of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John.

Mark is, in fact, John Mark, the young “boy of all chores” who was present at numerous events in Jesus' life. His Gospel record is the earliest and the simplest of the records in the New Testament. It provided the basis from which all subsequent records were created. Mark’s Gospel was greatly influenced by the apostle Simon Peter, who urged Mark to write it soon after Peter's death in 67 CE. It has undergone numerous changes.

Although attributed to Matthew, the book of Matthew was not written by him but by Isador, a disciple of Matthew. This work was based on Matthew’s personal remembrances of Jesus, including some of the sayings of the Master that he wrote down after Jesus’ crucifixion. Isador also had in his possession four-fifths of Mark’s Gospel from which to draw information. He began his work on this Gospel in 71 CE.

Luke was the physician of Antioch in Pisidia and a convert of Paul, from whom he learned about Jesus’ life and teachings. In some ways, his Gospel record is more the Gospel of Paul. However, Luke was able to include other information that he gathered through interviews with scores of eyewitnesses to events in Jesus’ life. He also had a copy of Mark’s record, Isador’s record, and a separate record of the apostle Andrew’s recollections from which he drew when he began his writing in 82 CE. Luke is also the author of “The Acts of the Apostles.”

The Gospel according to John, although not actually written by the apostle John Zebedee, was inspired by him. John did oversee the writing of this Gospel, which was written by Nathan, a Greek Jew from Cesarea, beginning in 101 CE. With John’s encouragement and direction, Nathan used material from John’s memories and also from the records already in existence.

These are all honest portrayals of Jesus as the writers saw, remembered, or learned of him. They were also influenced by their subsequent acceptance of Paul’s Christian doctrinal beliefs. And as imperfect as these portrayals may be, these records have steered the course of earth’s history for over 2,000 years.

Mark is none other than John Mark, the “boy of all chores” who was in the background of many events in Jesus’ life. Mark was the young boy who was in charge of the apostolic party’s food supply during the events of the feeding of the 5,000. He spent one day alone with Jesus near the end of his life, and Mark was ever watchful and protective of the Master in his final days. John Mark remembered Jesus as a man among men and a minister. His Gospel is the earliest, simplest, and shortest record of Jesus’ life.

The Gospel of Mark was greatly influenced by Simon Peter and, later, by Paul. Initially, Mark was reluctant to make a record of the Master’s life, knowing that Jesus always refused to leave any written records. But Peter prevailed, feeling that the church in Rome needed a written narrative of Jesus’ life. So, Mark finally conceded and took many notes of Peter’s recollections before Peter died in 67 CE. These notes, along with his own memories, were collated into an outline that was approved by Peter. After Peter died, Mark began the writing of his narrative, finishing his work in 68 CE.

The latter one-fifth of John Mark’s original manuscript was lost before it was ever copied; many passages of this section were removed, many changed, and other material was added.

John Mark's record, along with Andrew’s and Matthew’s notes, became the basis from which all later narratives of the life and teachings of Jesus drew.

The Gospel of Matthew was written for the benefit of Jewish Christians in mind. There are many references in this record that are an attempt to demonstrate that much of what happened in Jesus’ life was so that "it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet." Jesus is portrayed as a good Jew and a son of David who respected the law and the prophets.

But this Gospel was not written by the apostle Matthew. Instead, it was written by a disciple and pupil of Matthew named Isador. But there was no intention to deceive; it was common practice in those days for pupils to write something that they later accredited to their teacher. In his writing of the Gospel, Isador employed Matthew’s personal recollections of the Master's life as well as a written record that Matthew made of Jesus’ sayings, a record that he wrote right after the crucifixion.

Matthew edited and amended his original, private record in 40 CE, prior to his evangelistic preaching tour. The last copy of it was destroyed in a fire at a Syrian monastery in 416 CE. But in 70 CE, Isador took a copy of Matthew's notes to Pella, and it was there that he wrote the Gospel of Matthew in 71 CE. Along with Matthew’s notes, Isador also took with him the first four-fifths of John Mark’s Gospel.

Luke was a gentile physician of Antioch in Pisidia. Luke was converted by Paul in 47 CE, and much of his Gospel is influenced by Paul, who taught him about Jesus’ life and teachings. For a period of nearly twenty years, he kept notes on Paul’s teachings about Jesus. His Gospel presents a quite different story than Mark and Matthew; he shows the Master as a “friend of publicans and sinners," and he kept the “grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” in his record.

Luke began his writing in 82 CE in Achaia, after Paul’s death. It was after this time that he formulated his many notes into the Gospel. These notes became the foundation of his writing, making his story almost a Gospel of Paul, but he also used material from interviews that he conducted with scores of eyewitnesses who were present during many events of Jesus' life. In addition, he had a copy of the first four-fifths of Mark’s Gospel, Isador’s narrative (Matthew’s Gospel), and another record made by a believer named Cedes, made in Antioch in 78 CE. Luke also had a highly edited copy of notes that were thought to have been made by the apostle Andrew.

Luke planned to write three books regarding Jesus and the history of Christianity, but he died in 90 CE, having finished only his Gospel and the second of the three planned works, the “Acts of the Apostles.”

The Gospel of John is supposedly penned by John, the apostle and son of Zebedee, but he did not write it. However, he did inspire it, and he directed that it be written by Nathan, a Greek Jew from Caesarea and an associate of John’s. In several subsequent edits, the Gospel has been made to appear that it is the work of John himself. This Gospel contains records of the Master’s life that are not included in the other Gospels (e.g., records of Jesus’ work in Judea and around Jerusalem). John had copies of the other Gospels and saw how much had been left out. So, in 101 CE, he encouraged Nathan to begin writing it all down. He supplied Nathan with his own memories, which he had never written down, and he referenced the other Gospels. He also added an Epistle. It is known today as “First John,” and John wrote this himself as a covering letter for the Gospel that Nathan wrote under his direction.

There is a reason that the four Gospels lack many of the purely human experiences and attributes of Jesus. The writers of these works truly believed in the divinity of Jesus, and they also were sincerely expectant of his imminent return to establish the kingdom of heaven. Even Peter in his writing only once reverted to the personal religious life of his Master. Their strong experiences of the risen Christ colored their recollections and their writings. Similarly, the humanity of Jesus was largely omitted from the subsequent development of Christianity. The advancement of the risen Christ above all – and the strong belief in his immediate return – became pillars of its doctrine.