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John and the Synoptic Gospels
Explaining the Differences Between John and the
Synoptic Gospels
3 explanations for the unique structure and style of John's Gospel
by Sam O'Neal
Most people with a general understanding of the Bible know that
the first four books of the New Testament are called the Gospels.
Most people also understand on a broad level that the Gospels
each tell the story of Jesus Christ -- His birth, ministry, teachings,
miracles, death, and resurrection.
What many people don't know, however, is that there's a striking
difference between the first three Gospels -- Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which
are known together as the Synoptic Gospels -- and the Gospel of John.
In fact, the Gospel of John is so unique that 90 percent of the
material it contains regarding Jesus' life cannot be found in the other
Gospels.
There are major similarities and
differences between the Gospel of John and the Synoptic
Gospels.
All four Gospels are complementary, and all four tell the same
basic story about Jesus Christ. But there's no denying that John's Gospel is
quite different from the other three in both tone and content.
The big question is why? Why would
John have written a record of Jesus' life that is so different from the other
three Gospels?
Timing Is Everything
There are several legitimate explanations for the large
differences in content and style between John’s Gospel and the Synoptic
Gospels.
The first (and by far the simplest) explanation centers on the
dates in which each Gospel was recorded.
Most contemporary Bible scholars believe that Mark was the first
to write his Gospel -- probably between A.D. 55 and 59.
For this reason, the Gospel of Mark is a relatively fast-paced
portrayal of Jesus' life and ministry.
Written primarily for a Gentile audience (likely Gentile
Christians living in Rome), the book offers a brief but powerful introduction
to Jesus' story and its staggering implications.
Modern scholars aren't certain Mark was followed next by Matthew
or Luke, but they are certain that both of those Gospels used Mark's work as a
foundational source.
Indeed, about 95 percent of the content in Mark's Gospel is
paralleled in the combined content of Matthew and Luke.
Regardless of which came first, it's likely that both Matthew
and Luke were written at some point between the late 50's and early 60's A.D.
What this tells us is that the Synoptic Gospels were likely
written within a similar time period during the 1st Century
A.D.
If you do the math, you'll notice that the Synoptic Gospels were
written about 20-30 years after Jesus' death and resurrection -- which is about
a generation.
What that tells us is that Mark, Matthew, and Luke felt pressure to record the major events of Jesus'
life because a full generation had passed since those events had occurred,
which meant eyewitness accounts and sources would soon be scarce.
For these reasons, it makes sense for Matthew, Mark, and Luke to
follow a similar pattern, style, and approach.
They were all written with the idea of intentionally publishing
the life of Jesus for a specific audience before it was too late.
The circumstances surrounding the Fourth Gospel were different,
however.
John wrote his account of Jesus' life a full generation after
the Synoptic authors had recorded their works — perhaps even as late as the
early 90's A.D.
Therefore, John sat down to write his Gospel in a culture in
which detailed accounts of Jesus' life and ministry had already existed for
decades, had been copied for decades, and had been studied and debated for
decades.
In other words, because Matthew, Mark, and Luke succeeded in
officially codifying Jesus' story, John did not feel their pressure to preserve
a full historical record of Jesus' life -- that had already been accomplished.
Instead, John was free to construct his own Gospel in a way that
reflected the different needs of his own time and culture.
Purpose Is Important
The second explanation for John's uniqueness among the Gospels
has to do with the major purposes for which each Gospel was written, and with
the major themes explored by each Gospel writer.
For example, the Gospel of Mark was written primarily for the
purpose of communicating Jesus' story to a generation of Gentile Christians who
had not been eyewitnesses to the events of Jesus' life.
For that reason, one of the main themes of the Gospel is the
identification of Jesus as the "Son of God" (Mark 1:1; 15:39).
Mark wanted to show
a new generation of Christians that Jesus really was the Lord and Savior of
all, despite the fact that He was no longer physically on the scene.
The Gospel of Mathew was written with both a different purpose
and a different audience in mind.
Specifically, Matthew's Gospel was addressed primarily to a Jewish
audience in the 1st century -- a fact that
makes perfect sense given that a large percentage of the early converts to
Christianity were Jewish.
One of the major themes of Matthew's Gospel is the connection
between Jesus and the Old Testament prophecies and predictions regarding the
Messiah.
Essentially, Matthew was writing to prove that Jesus was the
Messiah and that the
Jewish authorities of Jesus' day had rejected Him.
Like Mark, the Gospel of Luke was originally intended primarily
for a Gentile audience -- in large part, perhaps, because the author himself
was a Gentile.
Luke wrote his Gospel with the purpose of providing a
historically accurate and reliable account of Jesus' birth, life, ministry,
death, and resurrection (Luke 1:1-4).
In many ways, while Mark and Matthew sought to codify Jesus'
story for a specific audience (Gentile and Jew, respectively), Luke's purposes
were more apologetic in nature. He wanted to prove that Jesus' story was true.
The writers of the Synoptic Gospels sought to solidify Jesus'
story in a historical and apologetic sense.
The generation that had witnessed Jesus' story was dying off,
and the writers wanted to lend credibility and staying power to the foundation
of the fledgling church -- especially since, prior to the fall of Jerusalem in
A.D. 70, the church still existed largely in the shadow of Jerusalem and the
Jewish faith.
The major purposes and themes of John's Gospel were different,
which helps to explain the uniqueness of John's text.
Specifically, John wrote his Gospel after the fall of Jerusalem.
That means he wrote to a culture in which Christians experienced severe
persecution not only at the hands of Jewish authorities but the might of
the Roman Empire, as well.
The fall of Jerusalem and the scattering of the church was
likely one of the spurs that caused John to finally record his Gospel.
Because the Jews had become scattered and disillusioned after
the destruction of the temple, John saw an evangelistic opportunity to help
many see that Jesus was the Messiah -- and therefore the fulfillment of both
the temple and the sacrificial system (John 2:18-22; 4:21-24).
In a similar way, the rise of Gnosticism and other false
teachings connected to Christianity presented an opportunity for John to
clarify a number of theological points and doctrines using the story of Jesus'
life, death, and resurrection.
These differences in purpose go a long way to explaining the
differences in style and emphasis between John's Gospel and the Synoptics.
Jesus Is the Key
The third explanation for the uniqueness of John's Gospel
concerns the different ways each Gospel writer focused specifically on the
person and work of Jesus Christ.
In Mark's Gospel, for example, Jesus is portrayed primarily as
the authoritative, miracle-working Son of God. Mark wanted to establish Jesus'
identity within the framework of a new generation of disciples.
In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus is portrayed as the fulfillment of
the Old Testament Law and prophecies. Matthew takes great pains to express
Jesus not simply as the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament (see Matthew 1:21), but also as the new Moses (chapters 5–7), the new Abraham (Matthew 1:1-2), and the descendant of David's royal line (Matthew 1:1,6).
While Matthew focused on Jesus' role as the long-expected
salvation of the Jewish people, Luke's Gospel emphasized Jesus role as Savior
of all peoples.
Therefore, Luke intentionally connects Jesus with a number of
outcasts in the society of His day, including women, the poor, the sick, the
demon-possessed, and more.
Luke portrays Jesus not only as
the powerful Messiah but also as a divine friend of sinners who came
expressly to "seek and save the lost" (Luke 19:10).
In summary, the Synoptic writers were generally concerned with
demographics in their portrayals of Jesus -- they wanted to show that Jesus the
Messiah was connected with Jews, Gentiles, outcasts, and other groups of
people.
In contrast, John's portrayal of Jesus is concerned with
theology more than demographics.
John lived in a time where theological debates and heresies were
becoming rampant -- including Gnosticism and
other ideologies that denied either Jesus' divine nature or human standing.
These controversies were the tip of the spear leading to the
great debates and councils of the 3rd and 4th centuries (the Council of Nicaea, the Council
of Constantinople, and so on) -- many of which revolved around the mystery of
Jesus' nature as both fully God and fully man.
Essentially, many people of
John's day were asking themselves, "Who exactly was Jesus? What was He
like?"
The earliest misconceptions of Jesus portrayed Him as a very
good man, but not actually God.
In the midst of these debates, John's Gospel is a thorough
exploration of Jesus Himself.
Indeed, it's interesting to note that while the term "kingdom"
is spoken by Jesus 47 times in Matthew, 18 times in Mark, and 37 times in Luke
-- it is only mentioned 5 times by Jesus in the Gospel of John.
At the same time, while Jesus utters the pronoun "I"
only 17 times in Matthew, 9 times in Mark, and 10 times in Luke -- He says "I"
118 times in John.
The Book of John is all about Jesus explaining His own nature
and purpose in the world.
One of John's major purposes and themes was to correctly portray
Jesus as the divine Word (or Logos) -- the pre-existent Son who is One with God
(John 10:30) and yet took on flesh in order to "tabernacle"
Himself among us (John 1:14).
In other words, John took a lot of pains to make it crystal
clear that Jesus was indeed God in human form.
Conclusion
The four Gospels of the New Testament function perfectly as four
sections of the same story.
And while it's true that the Synoptic Gospels are similar in
many ways, the uniqueness of John's Gospel only benefits the larger story by
bringing additional content, new ideas, and a more thoroughly clarified
explanation of Jesus Himself.
Sam
O'Neal
Introduction
Author
or co-author of The Bible Answer Book and three other books
Content
editor for Lifeway Christian Resources
Editor
for "Christianity Today"
Experience
Sam
O'Neal is a former editor for Christianity Today and LifeWay Christian
Resources. Currently, Sam works as a senior editor at Thomas Nelson Publisher.
Sam has authored four books on Bible studies, including "The Bible Answer
Book."
Education
Sam
graduated from Wheaton College in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in English
literature. He is currently pursuing a master's degree in Christian Studies at
Union University in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Publications
The Spiritual World of The Hobbit (co-authored with
James Bell)
The
Bible Answer Book (co-authored with James Bell)
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