Having completed my series on “The Sign of Four”, we shall now consider the Four Gospels in a different arrangement, one that has been understood through many years, and which is of vital importance in understanding why we have four separate accounts of our Lord’s life on earth.
Here is the arrangement, based on the normal presentation of the Gospels, and the order of the Cherubim in Revelation.
| MATTHEW | MARK | LUKE | JOHN |
| Lion | Ox | Man | Eagle |
Matthew presents Jesus to the Jewish Nation as their King, “The Lion of Judah”. Papias, bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, wrote,“Matthew, at any rate, used the Hebrew language in his exposition of the Gospel, and each one translated it as best he could.” Matthew gives us a genealogy of Jesus beginning with Abraham. He divides it into three groups of fourteen, the first from Abraham to David, the second from David to Josiah, and the third from Jeconiah to Jesus. Five names were omitted in this genealogy for reasons we shall not enter into here, except to say that it was “according to the law”. The list is therefore a ROYAL LINEAGE, as befitting a King, rather than a normal genealogy. The Magi came to honour “the King of the Jews”. Matthew, the former tax collector, is ideally suited to this task.
Mark presents Jesus as the Ideal Servant of Jehovah, just as the Ox is the servant of man. There is no genealogy because a servant must be assessed by his CHARACTER rather than his lineage. It is required of a servant that he should obey his master “straightway”, or “immediately”. The Greek word is EUTHEOS, and 11 times in Mark we find Jesus acting with immediacy, as against 4 in Matthew, once in Luke, and once in John. Mark travelled with Peter, and his Gospel could be called “the Gospel according to Peter”, from whom he wrote as dictation. Peter, set out to be “first” had learned to be “servant of all”.
Luke presents Jesus as truly Man. He gives us a typical human genealogy going right back to Adam. He gives us valuable information about Jesus’ birth. He presents his Gospel to mankind, not just to the Jewish nation as with Matthew. This is why we find a selection of parables that have far wider application than those in Matthew. Luke “the beloved physician” is himself of Gentile origin, and spent his ministry days with Paul, the “apostle to the Gentiles”.
John presents Jesus as truly God. Hence there is no genealogy, but an immediate declaration that “the Word is God”. Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I AM”, using another divine name from the Old Testament. Just as the Eagle flies in the aerial heavens, so the Son of God shows forth His heavenly nature more particularly in John’s Gospel. John, the mystical apostle, understanding the heart of Jesus, is anointed for the task. That is why the Gospel is so different to the other three, which have been called “synoptic”, a word meaning “viewing the same events”.
To sum up, we must insist that the four Gospels were all necessary, each giving us a different view of the Person and Work of the Son of God. We shall not be suggesting that Luke and Matthew were copying Mark. Instead we believe that each Evangelist received direction “from Above”, as Luke himself declared at the beginning of his Gospel. Once again “the fingerprints of the Almighty” are clearly observed in these four accounts of the life of Jesus. And just as four aspects of Jesus’ life are recorded, so also the four great Levitical offerings show forth the four aspects of His death.
The Old Testament referred to the Coming Messiah as “the Branch”, and it is instructive to see that each of the four presentations in the Gospels was prophesied beforehand, and why all four had to be written.
“Behold I will raise unto David a righteous BRANCH, and a KING shall reign and prosper.” (Jer.23:5-6, 33:15)
“Behold I will bring forth my SERVANT the BRANCH.” (Zech.3:8)
“Behold the MAN whose name is the BRANCH.” (Zech.6:12)
“In that day shall the BRANCH of JEHOVAH be beautiful and glorious.” (Isa. 4:2)
