The Gospels and Acts
Four accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the story of how the church spread from Jerusalem to Rome.
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Card 1 of 7
What is a gospel, and why does the New Testament have four of them?
Gospel means "good news". The four Gospels are four accounts of Jesus's life, death, and resurrection, each written for different readers and bringing out different sides of who he is.
They are not four copies of one biography with contradictions to be ironed out, nor modern biographies that try to cover a whole life. Each writer selects and arranges his material to make a point. Reading them side by side, like four portraits of the same face, gives a fuller picture than any one could.
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What are the Synoptic Gospels, and how is John different from them?
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which share much of the same material and order. John tells the story largely with different events and long speeches.
Synoptic means "seen together": the three can be laid out in parallel columns. Most scholars think Matthew and Luke both used Mark. John has no parables and no birth story, but it has events the others lack, such as the wedding at Cana and the raising of Lazarus, and it spends nearly half its length on Jesus's last week.
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What is the Gospel of Matthew about?
Jesus as the promised Messiah and king of Israel, who fulfils the Old Testament and teaches with authority.
Matthew is written with Jewish readers in mind. It opens with a family tree tracing Jesus to David and Abraham and keeps saying "this was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet". Its teaching is gathered into five long speeches, including the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5-7. It ends with the Great Commission: go and make disciples of all nations.
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What is the Gospel of Mark about?
Jesus as the powerful Son of God who came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Mark is the shortest Gospel and probably the first written. It moves fast, using the word "immediately" again and again, and spends about a third of its length on the last week of Jesus's life. Early tradition links it to the apostle Peter's preaching.
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What is the Gospel of Luke about?
A carefully researched account of Jesus as the Saviour of all people, with special attention to the poor, women, Samaritans, and outsiders.
Luke was a companion of Paul, traditionally a doctor, and the only Gentile writer in the New Testament. He opens by saying he has investigated everything carefully. Several of the best-known parables, including the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son, appear only in Luke. It is the first half of a two-part work that continues in Acts.
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What is the Gospel of John about?
Jesus as the eternal Word of God who became human, shown through seven signs and his "I am" sayings, so that readers may believe and have life.
John opens not with a birth but with "In the beginning was the Word", echoing Genesis 1. Jesus describes himself in seven "I am" sayings, such as "I am the bread of life" and "I am the resurrection and the life". John states his purpose plainly near the end. It also contains the best-known verse in the Bible, John 3:16.
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What is the book of Acts about?
The spread of the good news about Jesus from Jerusalem to Rome, through the apostles, mainly Peter in the first half and Paul in the second, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Its full title is the Acts of the Apostles, and it was written by Luke. Jesus's words in chapter 1 set out the plan of the book: Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, then the ends of the earth. It includes Pentecost, the first martyr Stephen, Paul's conversion, and his missionary journeys, and it ends with Paul under house arrest in Rome, still preaching.