I believe that it is extremely important to know what is in the word of God. It is helpful in Bible study to have an idea of the background of the books of the Bible. For the next several weeks my goal is to do a string of articles giving a quick overview of the books of the Bible. This week we will start with the gospels. I hope that these will be useful to you in your personal Bible study.
The Gospel according to Matthew
Author: Matthew aka Levi, the tax collector and apostle.
Audience: Jews
Purpose of Book: To show that the Old Testament has been fulfilled; Jesus is the Messiah, the King of the Jews.
The Gospel according to Mark
Author: Mark, aka John Mark. This is the same John Mark who went on the 1st missionary journey with Paul and dropped out.
Audience: Romans
Purpose of Book: To show Jesus as the suffering servant, to call the readers to action.
The Gospel according to Luke
Author: Luke, the Physician (He wrote his book in chronological order, and was probably the only non-Jewish writer in NT).
Audience: Theophilus (Luke 1:3), Greeks
Purpose of Book: To show that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).
The Gospel according to John
Author: John, the Fisherman, apostle and brother of James, the apostle. John wrote 5 books in New Testament.
Audience: Gentile Christians
Purpose of Book: “but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31).”
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