16 For I am not
ashamed of the Gospel (Good News about God and His Son, Jesus Christ), for it
is the power of God (Spirit at work) for salvation to everyone who
believes, to the Jew first and to the Greek (Gentiles or non-Jews). 17
For in it (the Gospel) the righteousness of God (how God makes us right in His
sight) is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall
live by faith.”
Romans 1:16-17, English Standard Version
As
we study the Gospel of John, many people may ask, "What is a Gospel?"
For centuries, scholars have debated the meaning of a gospel. In the New
Testament, there are four kinds of literature: (1) Gospels; (2) book of Acts;
(3) the Letters, also known as Epistles, from Paul and other authors; (4) the
book of Revelation, also known as apocalyptic literature. The New Testament
defines the "Gospel" as both the Gospel of God and the Gospel of
Christ (e.g., see Romans 15:16; 2 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 3:2). God
promised this Good News long ago through His Old Testament prophets because the
Gospel is about God's only begotten Son, Jesus the Messiah (see Romans 1:2-4).
In
the Old Testament, the word "bisar" is the Hebrew verb which means
"to proclaim good news." Bisar was used to describe the report of
victory in battle (e.g., see 2 Samuel 4:9-10). The ancient Israelites believed
the living God reigns and rules as King (e.g., see Psalm 24:1-2, 7-10), and the
living God was actively involved in their lives (including battles and wars) to
deliver then out of all their troubles, hardships, and pain and to bring them
into salvation and ultimate victory (e.g., see 1 Samuel 17:45-47; 2 Kings
6:16-18; Psalm 40:9-10; Isaiah 52:7). Then in the Old Testament, the Gospel
also meant the coming deliverance, victory, and salvation of God through the
Messiah (Christ, Anointed One)[1]
(e.g., see 2 Samuel 7:12-16; Isaiah 11:1-10; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Ezekiel
34:23-24).
The
Greek word most used for bisar was euangelizesthai. Like the Hebrew word bisar,
euangelizesthai was a word used to announce and proclaim victory in battle. Christians
increasingly used euanggelion (the noun derived from euangelizesthai) to
describe the Good News of Jesus. The English editions of the Bible used the
Anglo-Saxon word "godspell" to translate the noun euaggelion.
Godspell was used because the story about Jesus was Good News. As English
developed, the term was shortened to "Gospel." Today, the Gospel and
the Good News are used interchangeably when referring to Jesus the Messiah
(Christ). Christians use the word Gospel or Good News as the message of God's
saving activity through the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of God's
unique Son, Jesus.
Through
faith in Jesus the Messiah (Christ), the living God has given EVERYONE (Jews,
Gentiles, blacks, whites, Muslins, Hindus, gay, straight, young, old, rich,
poor, male and female) the privilege and power to become His children and to be
made right in His sight (e.g., see John 1:12-13; Romans 1:16-17). Even more
through Jesus the Messiah, we receive God's grace and connection to heaven
(e.g., see John 1:14, 16-17; John 14:6; John 15:1-8).
Jesus
announced this Good News when He came into the first century Roman-occupied
Palestine. In Palestine, Jesus proclaimed that His Father, the living LORD God
of heaven and earth, and God's Kingdom had come into the world through Him
(e.g., see Mark 1:14-15; John 1:1-5, 18). Jesus the Messiah and His Father, the
living LORD God, are One (e.g., see John 10:30; John 14:9-10). Furthermore,
Jesus declared that everyone must REPENT (turn from their sins) and TURN to His
Father, the living LORD God, who reigns and rules the whole universe (e.g., see
Matthew 4:17). Then, Jesus announced that through faith in Him everyone would
receive God and the goodness of God's Kingdom NOW, which includes God's
healing, forgiveness, and salvation, and in the future at His second return to
earth (e.g., see Matthew 4:23-25; Luke 6:17-20; Matthew 25:31-46).
The
four Gospels were written primarily for first-century churches that were facing
certain problems and hardships. Many of these issues in the first century are
the same issues that today's churches are facing. The Gospels, then and now,
are pastoral (caring) documents designed to encourage, teach, rebuke, as well
as comfort believers in God and His Son Jesus dealing with everyday problems
and situations. Thus, the message of the Gospels is timeless.
There
are four Gospels that declare the message of Jesus. These Gospels are Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John. In the second century, Tatian sought to combine and
harmonize the four Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — into one story of
Jesus's life and death and create one Gospel narrative. This collapsed Gospel
written by Tatian was called the Diatessaron. The Diatessaron was widely
circulated in the early churches. Eventually, the early churches rejected the
Diatessaron by Tatian. They believed the Gospels about Jesus should not be collapsed
and should be preserved as a four-fold collection of Jesus' life and death.
Throughout
the years, the Gospel message about Jesus has been defined in many ways. For
centuries, many scholars taught the Gospels were a straightforward biography of
Jesus's life and history. But by the 18th century, many scholars began
rejecting the notion that the Gospel was a biography of Jesus because the four
Gospels omitted the first 30 years of Jesus' life. Even more, these scholars
noted the four Gospels give little biographical information about Jesus. The
four Gospels provide few details about Jesus' family life, and only two Gospels
– Matthew and Luke, give Jesus' birth, and even then, Matthew and Luke's birth
story about Jesus vary and differ.
Mark
begins his Gospel with Jesus' public ministry in first-century Palestine, while
John's Gospel begins his message about Jesus with eternity. John's Gospel
begins his Gospel with the same words as Genesis with "In the
beginning." For the most part, the public ministry of Jesus is where all
four Gospels center their story starting with Jesus' baptism by John the
Baptizer (see Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:29-34) and
ending with Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension as Savior of the world
(see Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-11; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-18).
However,
some scholars argue that the four Gospels are simply a collection of the
teaching and preaching of the church. Radical form critics such as Rudolf
Bultmann, a German theologian, argued the Gospels have little historical value
of Jesus as a historical person but only give what the early church had come to
believe about Jesus during the period of oral traditions. This view was popular
from 1900 through 1950. Such form critics argued the Gospel writers used mostly
oral and some written sources about Jesus that were shaped and modified by the
early church to create the Gospels. Form critics such as Rudolph Bultmann
argued the oral traditions about Jesus from the early church were substantially
changed during the period of oral transmission. By the time of the first Gospel
in approximately A.D. 70, these form critics believed the Gospels gave very
little about the historical Jesus in the four Gospels.
For
many years, the stories and teachings of Jesus were communicated primarily by
word of mouth. Literacy was uncommon in the ancient world. Books and writing
equipment were expensive, and the education needed to use them was usually
reserved for the rich. Such an oral system may seem fragile and unreliable by
modern standards, but ancient societies trusted the methods and forms they
developed to sustain the process. Thus, scholars such as Joachim Jeremias
argued that the Gospels with the stories about Jesus maintained a sacred nature
and not merely rumors and gossips, as contended by Rudolf Bultmann. The
teaching of Jesus possessed an authority by the early church, and the early
church did not modify the oral teachings of Jesus. Such scholars as Joachim
Jeremias argued that those who passed on the oral traditions of Jesus in the
early church were faithful to those oral traditions. These early believers of
Jesus did not radically modify nor create traditions about Jesus.
Some
scholars have argued that the Gospels are like Roman biographies. In Roman
biographies, the authors would write about the Roman Emperors' long discourses
or speeches, and the character of the Emperor was revealed through their words
and statements. Similarly, the Gospels, particularly Luke and John's Gospels, are
filled with Jesus' long discourses, sermons, or speeches. The heart of John's
Gospel is the speeches and lectures from Jesus. Thus, some scholars have argued
that the Gospels are an imitation of the Greco-Roman biographies of Roman
Emperors.
Nonetheless,
some scholars see the Gospel as a unique creation with similarities and
parallels to Greco-Roman biographies. However, in the Greco-Roman biographies,
everyone praised the Emperor. In the Gospels, Jesus is ultimately rejected, and
Jesus' enemies seemed victories.
Therefore,
most scholars today see the Gospels as merely a theological portrait of Jesus.
A theological portrait is an interpretation of Jesus by each Gospel writer.
Most scholars now believe the four Gospel writers used both written and oral
traditions about Jesus' life and ministry during the forty years after Jesus'
ascension to heaven in approximately A.D. 30 to create their theological
portrait of Jesus (e.g., see Luke 1:1-4). The four Gospel writers retell the
story of Jesus, and each writer emphasized aspects of Jesus to guide, care, or
shepherd the early church. John's Gospel states that there were many stories
and miracles about Jesus. Like other Gospel writers, John gave only selected
stories and miracles of Jesus to help his congregation (see John 20:30; John
21:25). Each Gospel writer created Jesus from a bias that Jesus is the Messiah
(Christ) and the Son of God (e.g., see Matthew 16:16; Matthew 17:5; Mark 1:1;
Luke 1:29-37; John 1:41, 49; John 20:31).
The
four Gospels were probably sent to early Christian churches that met in small
house churches. These early Christians lived in a hostile environment and
suffered persecution from both their fellow Jews and the Romans. For the most
part, the Gospels were pastoral documents to help believers of God and His Son
Jesus handle difficult discriminations, false teaching, and the Gospels were
sent to teach, rebuke, and encourage Jesus' followers.
The
four Gospels do not give a daily travel log of Jesus' public ministry nor a
complete history of Jesus' life. Interestingly, the New Testament writers do
not give an objective biographical account of Jesus. The four Gospel writers
were evangelists that presented a story of Jesus to influence and convince
faith on Him. The content of the Gospels discusses the historical Jesus, and
the Gospels are sacred stories about Jesus. However, each Gospel writer gives
their portrait of Jesus' public life, teaching, and ministry.
The
first written Gospel appeared around A.D. 70, which was 40 years after Jesus'
ascension and return to heaven in approximately A.D. 30 (see Acts 1:9-11). The
Gospels simply did not drop from the sky! In A.D. 70, the first Gospel
appeared, and many scholars believe the Gospel of Mark was the first Gospel
written. Mark, who was a second-generation Christian, was not an eyewitness of
Jesus. However, the early church believes Mark used Apostle Peter, an original
eyewitness of Jesus' public ministry on earth, as his source for his Gospel.
Mark's Gospel record the life and message of Jesus as he heard it from Apostle
Peter. Many scholars believe the Gospel of John, written by the Apostle John,
was the last Gospel written. Between these Mark and John's Gospels, the Gospels
of Matthew was written by Apostle Matthew, and then the Gospel of Luke was
written. The Gospel of Matthew is the most Jewish of the Gospels, and Matthew
regularly presented Jesus as the fulfillment of Hebrew prophecy. For instance,
the purpose of the nativity story in Matthew is to present Jesus as the royal
Messiah from the family of David (see Matthew 1:1-17). The Sermon on the Mount
portrays Jesus as a new Moses who teaches God's Law (see Matthew 5:1-20). Luke
was a travel companion of the Apostle Paul and the only Gentile author. The
Gospel of Luke is generally accepted as the only Gospel written by a Gentile
(non-Jew). As a non-Jew, Luke wanted to explain that Jesus was the Savior of
all people. The Gospel of John was the last Gospel written. John's Gospel is
undoubtedly the most insightful and the most theological of the four Gospels.
John wrote his Gospel to both a Jewish and Gentile (Greek) audience. These four
Gospels were eventually becoming canonized as Scriptures. The early church
recognized God's Holy Spirit in the four Gospels to proclaim the message of salvation
and victory through Jesus!
However,
there were other gospels written about Jesus that circulated during the
church's early history. These rejected "gospels" often lacked Jewish
interpretations of Jesus, or Gnostic heretics heavily influenced them. Some of
these other gospels were written much later than the four Gospels included in
the New Testament. Most of these other gospels were written between A.D. 120
and 150. Nevertheless, these other stories of Jesus would eventually become
written down into the Apocrypha gospels. The Apocrypha gospels are several
writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus, and many of these
gospels were written up into the 5th century and written by authors who were
not eyewitnesses of Jesus' public ministry.
From
the time of Jesus' death and ascension into heaven in A.D. 30, the stories,
teachings, and miracles of Jesus were circulated orally by His disciples. In
addition to the fact of limited learning, members of the early church believed
Jesus would return soon, so they felt no urgency to write down His teachings
for the future. Jesus' disciples who eyewitness His public ministry expected
Jesus to return to earth soon to establish His military Kingdom as reflected in
Acts 1 at Jesus' ascension into heaven.
About
thirty years after Jesus' ascension, three interrelated crises began to impact
the church. First, there was persecution by Nero and other Romans against
Christians that led to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in A.D. 70,
which ended the Jewish sacrificial system and Temple worship. Second, the
eyewitnesses of Jesus' public ministry started were dying. The early church
placed a high value on the eyewitnesses of Jesus' miracles, teachings, and life
(e.g., see Luke 1:2; 1 John 1:1-3). Third, many Christians began to realize
that Christ would not return soon to earth, and they needed to preserve Jesus'
message. As a result, individuals responded to the leadership of God's Spirit
to write down the teachings, stories, and message of Jesus into what we call
the Gospels. Because Jesus had not yet returned, early Christians believed
there was a need for the traditions of Jesus to be written down by Jesus'
eyewitnesses.
From
approximately A.D. 70 until A.D. 90, four individuals responded to the inspiration
of God's Spirit by writing down the message about Jesus. These four individuals
wanted to strengthen, educate, comfort, and encourage those suffering from
persecution with the Good News of God's protection through Jesus. Moreover,
these four individuals wanted to use a written form of the Gospel as an
additional tool for evangelism to spread faith in Jesus as the Messiah (Christ)
and the Son of God (e.g., see John 20:30-31). Many people wished the four
Gospel writers included additional information about Jesus' home life, His
youth and teen years, or some other area of interest. However, the Gospel
writers' primary interest was not to produce great works of literature, nor was
their intention to write a biography about Jesus. Their principal goal was to
persuade, convince, and lead people to faith in Jesus as the Messiah (Christ)
and the Son of God (e.g., see Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 1:1). Each Gospel writer
gave a theological portrait of Jesus as influenced by each writer's personality
and first-century audience. Out of several gospels and other accounts of the
life of Jesus, God led the early church to choose four which He had inspired –
Matthew; Mark; Luke; John (e.g., see Luke 1:1-2).
References
Butler, Trent C. Holman Bible
Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1991).
Dr.
Loyd Melton, Ph.D., Senior Professor of the New Testament (Due West, SC:
Erskine Theological Seminary, Summer 2020).
[1]
The word Messiah (Hebrew term) and
Christ (Greek term) both means "Anointed One" (Matthew 1:17; John
1:41; John 4:25).
