--The first four books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are commonly referred to as “The Gospels.”
--But if the Gospel is a single thing God did in history, why are there four Gospels in the Bible?
--It’s a great question, which is further complicated by the fact that the first three (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are all very similar in narrative content to each other and therefore called the “Synoptic Gospels” (for synopsis), whereas the Gospel of John is radically different from them in style and content.
--That being said, what’s the same in them is the fundamental message of God come in the flesh to live perfectly, die unjustly, and be resurrected from the dead for our salvation.
--But still, there’s this question about which Gospel is “the real one.” And the answer is that they all are.
--See if, as Christians believe, the Gospel is really God’s sweeping plan for personal, moral, and community restoration, then it’s going to look a little different in the life of each person and community and also sound a little bit different as they describe it to others.
--That’s not because it isn’t a single thing. It’s because that’s exactly how God works to take that single thing and use it in and through each of us to bring a nearly infinite variety of lives into conformity with His intended purpose.
--And sometimes, our language can be a bit misleading about this.
--For instance, linguistically, it’s probably not ideal to say, “The Gospel of Mark.”
--Instead, if we were willing to take the time to do so, we should really say, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ as understood and told by Saint Mark.”
--And once you say it that way, you should immediately see that every single one of us who has encountered Christ has a gospel of our own to tell, or what Christians sometimes call a testimony or witness.
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