The four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – all tell the story of Jesus, but each one is a little different! Sunday School Lady and Phil explain the similarities and differences between the four Gospels in this video from Buck Denver Asks … What’s in the Bible? Volume 10: Jesus is the Good News! (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).
SUNDAY SCHOOL LADY
Mark wasn’t one of Jesus’ disciples – his twelve followers. He was a good friend of the disciple Peter, though, and we believe the Gospel of Mark is his record of ALL the stories Peter told him about Jesus. Now Matthew WAS one of Jesus’ disciples, and he wanted to add to the stories in Mark’s book with more stuff that he remembered. 90% of Mark’s stories show up in Matthew, plus stories about Jesus’ birth and great teaching like the Sermon on the Mount! Then comes Luke! Luke was a very bright guy – we think he was a doctor – who set about writing HIS gospel like he was a historian! He used about half of Mark’s stories, but then talked to eyewitnesses and other people who had known Jesus to add even more. Luke was such a good historian that he went on to write the history of the early church – the book we call The Acts of the Apostles. Between the book of Luke and the book of Acts, Luke wrote 1/4 of the entire New Testament!
Wow! So there’s a lot that’s the same in Matthew, Mark and Luke! Cut to Brother Louie.
That’s why we call them the Synoptic Gospels! Cut to Chuck Waggin.
What’s that mean? Cut to Pastor Paul.
The prefix “s-y-n” means “the same.” “Optic,” means “to see.” So “synoptic” means “to see the same way.” The three Synoptic Gospels see the life of Jesus the same way!
So what’s the fourth gospel, and how did HE see Jesus?
The fourth gospel is the Gospel of John. John was one of Jesus’ closest disciples. He didn’t use Mark’s writing to write his own book – and he kind of had a different purpose in mind.
SUNDAY SCHOOL LADY
That’s right. John’s gospel may be the most popular book in the entire Bible, and it’s been translated into more languages than any other book!