Lesson 11: The Gospels – Description

The four Gospels all describe Jesus’ life here on earth. Many of them describe the same events but give different details of these events. Some people say these different details mean none of these writings can be trusted – but that’s not true. Think about how you would describe an event you witnessed today to different people. If you told it to your parents, or to a brother or sister, or to a police officer – would your description not be different to each one?

The same is true for these four people describing the story of Jesus. For example, only Matthew and John were Jesus’ disciples. Mark was a young boy when Jesus was on earth. Luke was not a Jew, so he wasn’t even in the country.

Also, each of the four books is written to a different audience or person. Each is also written with a different purpose in mind:

Matthew – Jesus is presented as the prophesied Messiah/King. This book was written to the Jewish people who would have understood all the prophecies mentioned. They were anxiously looking for their promised King to come. Matthew, a former tax-collector, wrote this book to show the Jewish people that Jesus was truly the King/Messiah they were waiting for.

Mark – Jesus is presented as the Servant of God. This book was written to believers in Rome, most of them Gentiles who knew very little about the Old Testament. Many of these people were also slaves and servants – so this book is written from the point of view of Jesus coming to do the will of God the Father. There is always action happening. Peter is seen in a different light in this book, so many believe Mark worked with Peter to write this book.


Luke – Jesus is presented as a human being, the “second Adam.” This book was written to a man most probably of some importance. Luke is the only non-Jewish writer of any of the Bible books, and he was a doctor. Note the human details in this book – it tells Mary’s point of view of Jesus’ birth. It describes Jesus as the human being He had come to earth to be.

John – Jesus is presented as logos, the eternal Word of God. This is the last of the Gospels to be written, possibly as much as 60 years after Jesus’ earthly life. John was one of Jesus’ disciples, and describes himself in this book as the “disciple Jesus loved” in many places. It was written to believers in established churches throughout the Roman Empire, specifically written to show Jesus truly was God as He had claimed to be. About half of this book takes place in the last week before Jesus died and recounts His teachings to His disciples in those last few days.

*Which book of these four is your favorite place to go see Jesus in action? Why?