Open The Word | Fungua Neno

⏱️ 8 minutes.

Greetings, friends of God,

Today, let’s take a moment to understand the purpose of the Gospels we find in the Bible:

Therefore many other signs Jesus also did in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
— John 20:30-31

In this verse from the Gospel of John, the apostle clearly lays out the reason why he wrote the Gospel. What’s interesting is that the same purpose is shared by all the other Gospel writers. In simple terms, the purpose of all the Gospels is to validate Christ and to tell of His account and events that were long before prophesied.

This purpose goes further; it extends to the whole of Scripture. All Scriptures are inspired by God to equip believers for all good works. The Scriptures tell the story of man’s redemption by the hand of God.

One might wonder why we need four different books telling the same story. The answer is that through the inspiration of God, the Holy Spirit was pleased to deliver these narratives to us. Each Gospel is written uniquely to focus on a specific element of this redemptive story. Let’s explore each Gospel and its specific purpose.

Matthew: Jesus The King

Matthew wrote his Gospel specifically for the Jews. His narrative of Christ’s birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension was targeted toward proving to the Jews that Jesus Christ was the long-awaited King. We first see hints of this by the way Matthew traces the genealogy of Jesus:

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
— Matthew 1:1

Matthew specifically drafts out the genealogy of Christ to point back to the patriarch Abraham through King David, who was of high repute among the Jews. We also see this in Matthew’s intense use of Old Testament quotations to verify the prophecies made in the Old Testament Scriptures.

Abraham was the father of Isaac,
and Isaac was the father of Jacob,
and Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
— Matthew 1:2

And Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
— Matthew 1:16

Matthew goes to great lengths to connect Jesus’ lineage back to the tribe of Judah, from whom the king was promised.

The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes,
And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
— Genesis 49:10

Even as Jacob was giving his final words to all his children, he spoke of a coming ruler who would be connected to this lineage. Jacob specifically says that “to him shall be the obedience of all the peoples,” which speaks to Jesus’s reign as King over all His people.

Mark: Jesus The Teacher and the Suffering Servant

In the Gospel of Mark, we see a focus on Jesus’s teaching ministry. Like every other Gospel, Mark highlights that Jesus was indeed the Son of God:

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
— Mark 1:1

Unlike Matthew, Mark solely focuses on the ministry of Jesus. He does not take time to tell the narratives about His birth or upbringing. Mark’s main focus was Jesus’s ministry. At the very beginning of this Gospel, we see Jesus about to be baptized right before He begins His ministry.

Mark is also the shortest Gospel among the four, and the majority of the text of Mark is less about the narrative and more about the words of Jesus Himself.

Luke: Jesus The Man

Luke takes another approach in telling the story of Jesus. His approach highlights the humanity of Christ. The best presentation of this is seen in Luke’s take on the genealogy of Christ. His version of the genealogy actually goes past David, past Abraham, and all the way back to Adam and Eve.

When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli,
— Luke 3:23

the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
— Luke 3:38

Luke’s focus was simply to make sure that his readers understood that Jesus was indeed fully man. It is also in Luke’s account that we see more details on Jesus’s birth. While other Gospels might mention the birth of Christ, which was a miraculous event, they skip from childhood all the way to the beginning of His ministry. However, Luke mentions some details about Jesus’s upbringing.

And when He became twelve years old, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast;
— Luke 2:42

John: Jesus The God

In the apostle John’s case, he does not take time at all to narrate the events around Jesus’s birth or upbringing. Instead, he opens his Gospel by directly stating that Jesus is God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
— John 1:1

At every turn, John mentions those attributes of Jesus Christ’s narrative that point towards Him being God. A good example is Jesus’s exchange with the Pharisees in chapter 8.

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
— John 8:58

We also see that John often highlights elements from Jesus’s speech that point towards His proclamation of His deity:

I and the Father are one.
— John 10:30

Finally, John tells us clearly his reason for his Gospel is so that everyone would believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that in believing, we may have life.

But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
— John 20:31

Understanding the Purpose of the Gospels

One might wonder why it’s important for us as Christians to understand the purpose of these books. The main reason is so that we may come to a place of correctly reading and understanding Scripture. We need to understand that in the end, all of Scripture is designed to glorify God. Whenever we read Scripture, we need to understand that all Scriptures are inspired by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit points towards Christ.

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
— John 14:26

We see this actually happen by the way the Holy Spirit inspired the apostles to put pen to paper and write the various texts in the New Testament.

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.
— John 16:13-14

When we read the Holy Scriptures, we need to understand that there are parts of Scripture meant to explain the supremacy of Christ, and there are parts that give direct instructions to us as believers. These are descriptive texts and prescriptive texts.

Descriptive (Indicative) Texts

These texts are primarily written to describe an event or concept we need to understand as believers to be equipped for every good work. These texts are not for us to act out but to understand certain elements in the text to make sense of what we are supposed to do in the prescriptive texts. Examples of this include Jesus’s death on the cross. When reading about Jesus’s death on the cross, it is not an instruction for us to go and die on the cross. However, it is important for us to understand as Christians to know what our former state was and what Jesus did for us.

Prescriptive (Imperative) Texts

These texts’ primary function is to tell us what we must do in response to the descriptive texts. These are basically commands that the Holy Spirit gave through the inspired authors. It’s important to note these texts because they are our call to action. If we fail to identify these texts, we will not know what is expected of us. A good example of this can be found in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians:

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor.
— 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4

Upon reading this text, we understand that it is God’s will for us to be sanctified and exercise self-control.

Here are some key take aways:

• The bible is the revealed word of God.
• The scriptures remain without error in as long as they are interpreted accurately and in context.
• The gospels along with the rest of scripture is meant to glorify God and point us to the true and living God.

I pray that this text, which shows us the main purpose of all the Gospels, will help us know how to read the Bible as it was intended to be read.

Your beloved brother in Christ,
Paul