What are the Synoptic Gospels Good for?

The three Gospels that are known as the Synoptic Gospels are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Each Gospel was written by the men whose names they bear. It is believed that these books were written between 50­­­–95 A.D. The purpose for all four Gospels can be found in Luke. Luke writes “so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:4 NASB). The Gospels were given so that believers could have an understanding of the life and ministry of Jesus while He was on earth. This is because, without His sacrifice and resurrection, there would be no hope of salvation for today.

There are a few different theories present about which Gospel was written first. Some include a “Q” document that scholars believe was used to cite some information from, however, a document like this awaits archeology discovery. The scholars that hold to this theory also believe that Mark was written first and that Matthew and Luke cited from his Gospel. This could be because Mark only about three percent of this Gospel is unique. The other Synoptic authors that cited from Mark and the supposed “Q” document would have been able to use a majority of Mark’s writing for their Gospels.

Many benefits come from the supposed Synoptic problem. One of which is that a clearer understanding of Who Jesus really was can be grasped. Another advantage is that the Synoptics help readers understand the validity of the Gospel accounts. While there may be some challenging parallel passages that seem to be contradictory to one another, these can usually be settled with only a few minutes of careful observation and interpretation. “The four gospels [the Synoptics and John] were written to cover four aspects of the life and ministry of Jesus. Each gospel writer wrote from a different perspective to a different audience. They each looked at the character of Jesus from different angles. Thus the number of four arises from the four different perspectives we have given about Christ's life and ministry” (BlueLetterBible). Like eyewitnesses in a court case, the slight differences in the wording of each Gospel account helps to strengthen their validity.

Works Cited

NASB. New American Standard Version. The Holy Bible. Lockman, 2013.

Stewart, Don “Why are There Four Gospels?.” BlueLetterBible, https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_188.cfm. Accessed 29 Mar. 2021.

This article was originally written for Assignment 2-1 of The New Testament and Theology taught by Professor Joel Jupp (Moody Distance Learning)