The New Testament: The Synoptic Gospels and the Jesus in these Gospels

 

By: Rev. Tony Costa
Payatas Baptist Church, Quezon City
B.A., M.A., PhD (cand.) Toronto, Ontario

The word “Synoptic” comes from two Greek words meaning “syn” (together) and “optic” (eye), in other words, seeing together through the same eye. Three of the Gospels constitute the Synoptic Gospels, namely Matthew, Mark and Luke. The reason for this is because these three share a lot of common material. The Gospel of John on the other is quite different, and seems to share material unique to itself.

The Synoptic Gospels while share similar material also has material unique to each other. For example, only Matthew has the story of the Magi coming to Jesus (Matthew 2). Only Luke has the story of the shepherds in the field on the night Jesus was born (Luke 2). Only Luke has the parables of the Good Samaritan, Prodigal Son, Lost Sheep, etc.

Some of the stories while similar in the Synoptics also are recorded differently. Why? What does this mean? What we have to realize is that Matthew, Mark, Luke and even John for that matter wrote to respective audiences and as such had to arrange material that was relevant to such audiences.
The audiences that the Gospel writers addressed were the following:

Matthew- wrote to the Jews.
Mark – wrote to the Romans.
Luke – wrote to the Greeks.
John – wrote to Christian believers.When we understand and appreciate this we can observe how the Evangelists wrote their Gospels. Let us take a look at 3 parallel accounts in Synoptic Gospels and see how this was done. Let us take the Confession of Peter as recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:13-16)

Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.” (Mark 8:27-29)

Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” (Luke 9:18-20)

If you notice, this is the same account, but recorded differently. Can you see why each of the Gospel writers presented this story to their audiences? They all agree that Jesus is the Christ/Messiah, but some told us more, like Matthew who also tells us Jesus is the Son of God. This is like 3 reporters writing 3 different accounts about the same story.