A study of Matthew · Mark · Luke · John

The Four Gospels

Four accounts of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, written within roughly two to seven decades of his crucifixion. Each was written for a different audience and paints a different portrait of the same man.

When were they written?

Timeline of composition

None of the gospels carries a date. Scholars estimate them from internal clues, especially how each one treats the Roman destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in AD 70, and from how early writers quote them. Solid bars show the range most scholars favor; dashed lines show the wider range of proposals, including the earlier dates held by many traditional scholars.

Most-favored range Wider range of proposals Historical anchor
The first gospel in the New Testament

Matthew

Jesus the promised Messiah and King
Chapters28
SymbolMan
Writtenc. 80–90
Author, by tradition
Matthew, also called Levi

The early church writer Papias (c. 110–130) said Matthew collected Jesus’ sayings in the Hebrew language. Many modern scholars see the author as an unnamed Jewish-Christian teacher, possibly in Antioch, Syria.

Relationship to Jesus
One of the Twelve apostles

A tax collector for Rome, a despised job among fellow Jews, whom Jesus called from his tax booth with the words “Follow me” (Matt 9:9). If the tradition holds, he was an eyewitness.

Audience

Jewish Christians. Matthew assumes his readers know Jewish law and customs and leans heavily on the Hebrew scriptures.

Sources

Uses nearly all of Mark, plus a collection of sayings shared with Luke (scholars call it “Q”) and material found only in Matthew.

Focus of the book

Matthew’s central claim is that Jesus fulfills the promises of Israel’s scriptures. Again and again he pauses the story to say “this was done that it might be fulfilled,” pointing to a prophecy. The book opens with a genealogy tracing Jesus to Abraham and King David, establishing him as the rightful heir to David’s throne.

Matthew presents Jesus as a new Moses. Jesus delivers his teaching on a mountain, and the book is organized around five long speeches, echoing the five books of Moses. Matthew is also the gospel of the church: it is the only one that uses the word.

Distinctive material

  • The visit of the Magi and the flight to Egypt ch. 2
  • The Sermon on the Mount, including the Beatitudes and Lord’s Prayer ch. 5–7
  • Five great discourses ch. 5–7, 10, 13, 18, 24–25
  • “Kingdom of heaven,” used over 30 times
  • Peter as the rock on which the church is built 16:18
  • The Great Commission: “make disciples of all nations” 28:19

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Matthew 5:17 · KJV · Jesus’ words in red
The earliest and shortest gospel

Mark

Jesus the suffering Servant and Son of God
Chapters16
SymbolLion
Writtenc. 65–73
Author, by tradition
John Mark

Papias reports that Mark was Peter’s interpreter and wrote down what Peter remembered of Jesus’ words and deeds, though not in order. Tradition places the writing in Rome.

Relationship to Jesus
Not a disciple. Peter’s companion

His mother’s house in Jerusalem was a meeting place for early believers (Acts 12:12). He traveled with Paul and Barnabas, and Peter calls him “my son” (1 Pet 5:13). Some suggest he is the young man who fled naked at Jesus’ arrest (14:51–52).

Audience

Gentile Christians, likely in Rome, facing persecution under Nero. Mark explains Jewish customs and translates Aramaic phrases for his readers.

Sources

Most scholars believe Mark was written first and that Matthew and Luke both used it. This view is called Markan priority.

Focus of the book

Mark is a fast, vivid story of action. There is no birth story; the book opens with the adult Jesus at his baptism and rushes forward, using the word “immediately” about 40 times. Jesus heals, casts out demons and confronts authorities, yet often tells people to keep quiet about who he is.

The turning point is Peter’s confession, “Thou art the Christ” (8:29), after which Jesus repeatedly predicts his death. Roughly a third of the book covers his final week. The irony is sharp: the disciples keep misunderstanding, and the first human to call Jesus the Son of God is the Roman centurion at the cross (15:39).

Distinctive features

  • The “Messianic secret”: Jesus silencing those who recognize him
  • Raw portrayal of the disciples’ fear and confusion
  • Three predictions of the passion 8:31, 9:31, 10:33
  • Jesus’ human emotions shown openly: anger, grief, compassion
  • Earliest manuscripts end at the empty tomb with the women afraid 16:8; verses 9–20 were added later

For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Mark 10:45 · KJV · Jesus’ words in red
The longest gospel · Part one of two

Luke

Jesus the Savior of all people
Chapters24
SymbolOx
Writtenc. 80–90
Author, by tradition
Luke the physician

The same author wrote the Book of Acts, and both are addressed to a man named Theophilus. Luke was probably a Gentile, making him likely the only non-Jewish author in the New Testament.

Relationship to Jesus
Never met Jesus. Paul’s companion

Paul calls him “the beloved physician” (Col 4:14). The “we” passages in Acts suggest he traveled with Paul. Luke openly says he investigated the events and drew on eyewitness accounts (1:1–4).

Audience

Gentile readers across the Greco-Roman world. Luke writes polished Greek and ties events to Roman emperors and governors.

Sources

Uses about half of Mark, the “Q” sayings shared with Matthew, and a large body of material found only in Luke.

Focus of the book

Luke shows Jesus reaching the people society pushed aside: the poor, women, Samaritans, tax collectors and sinners. His genealogy runs all the way back to Adam, presenting Jesus as Savior for all humanity, not Israel alone.

Luke gives special attention to prayer, the Holy Spirit and joy. He tells the birth story from Mary’s point of view and includes the songs sung around it. A long central section follows Jesus as he travels to Jerusalem (9:51–19:27), where much of Luke’s unique teaching appears.

Distinctive material

  • Birth of John the Baptist, the shepherds and the manger ch. 1–2
  • Mary’s song, the Magnificat 1:46–55
  • The boy Jesus in the Temple 2:41–52
  • Parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son 10, 15
  • Zacchaeus the tax collector 19:1–10
  • The road to Emmaus 24:13–35

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Luke 19:10 · KJV · Jesus’ words in red
The fourth gospel · Not one of the Synoptics

John

Jesus the eternal Word made flesh
Chapters21
SymbolEagle
Writtenc. 90–110
Author, by tradition
John, son of Zebedee

Irenaeus (c. 180) wrote that John produced the gospel while living in Ephesus late in life. Many scholars think it took shape in a community shaped by the Beloved Disciple’s testimony, with more than one stage of writing.

Relationship to Jesus
Inner circle of the Twelve

A fisherman with his brother James, he was one of three disciples, with Peter and James, closest to Jesus. Tradition identifies him with “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” who leaned on Jesus at the Last Supper and stood at the cross (13:23, 19:26).

Audience

A mixed community of believers, written so readers would come to faith and keep it (20:31).

Sources

Largely independent of the other three. About 90 percent of John’s material appears in no other gospel.

Focus of the book

Where the first three gospels ask “What did Jesus do?”, John asks “Who is Jesus?” It opens before creation: “In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God” (1:1), and that Word “was made flesh” (1:14). John’s Jesus speaks openly about his identity in long, reflective conversations.

Instead of many short miracle stories, John selects seven signs that point to who Jesus is, and pairs them with seven “I am” sayings. John also mentions three Passovers, which is why Jesus’ ministry is usually said to have lasted about three years.

The seven “I am” sayings

  • The bread of life 6:35
  • The light of the world 8:12
  • The door 10:9
  • The good shepherd 10:11
  • The resurrection and the life 11:25
  • The way, the truth and the life 14:6
  • The true vine 15:1

But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

John 20:31 · KJV · The author states his purpose
Side by side

The four portraits compared

MatthewMarkLukeJohn
Jesus asKing & MessiahSuffering ServantSavior of allSon of God, the Word
Writtenc. 80–90c. 65–73c. 80–90c. 90–110
AuthorMatthew (Levi)John MarkLukeJohn, son of Zebedee
Eyewitness?Yes, apostleNo, via PeterNo, researchedYes, apostle
AudienceJewish ChristiansRomansGentilesAll believers
Opens withGenealogy from AbrahamJohn the BaptistPrologue to Theophilus“In the beginning was the Word”
Birth storyJoseph’s view, MagiNoneMary’s view, shepherdsNone; eternal origin
Key wordFulfilledImmediatelySalvationBelieve
SymbolManLionOxEagle
Length28 ch · ~18,300 words16 ch · ~11,300 words24 ch · ~19,500 words21 ch · ~15,600 words

Word counts are approximate, in the original Greek. Symbols come from the four living creatures of Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4, as assigned by Jerome.

Going deeper

Two questions scholars debate

Who really wrote them?

None of the four gospels names its author in the text. Titles like “The Gospel According to Matthew” were attached in the second century. The earliest names come from Papias (c. 110–130) for Mark and Matthew, and Irenaeus (c. 180) names all four.

Many modern scholars hold that the authors were unnamed second-generation Christians. They point out, for example, that an eyewitness like Matthew would not need to copy so much from Mark. Traditional scholars respond that the names were remarkably consistent across the early church, and that no one inventing authors would choose two figures, Mark and Luke, who were not apostles.

Why do three look so alike?

Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels, from Greek for “seen together,” because they share the same outline and often the same wording. John stands apart in structure, style and content.

The most widely held explanation is the two-source theory: Mark was written first, and Matthew and Luke each used Mark plus a lost collection of Jesus’ sayings called Q (from German Quelle, “source”). Some scholars argue instead that Matthew came first, or that Luke used Matthew directly with no Q at all.