The Gospels writers
And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen (John 21:25).
The Holy Spirit of God chose not only the subjects of Scripture but the writers of Scripture. The four Gospels give four views of Christ. The first one, Matthew, presents Jesus as the Messiah King. Matthew was a tax collector, running a despised but very profitable business in a partnership with the occupying Roman authorities. As far as his fellow countrymen were concerned, he had betrayed his country for financial gain. The Lord Jesus simply says to Matthew, “Follow Me.” He chose a man who was so far from God to be part of the small group of men who were eyewitnesses of His life and work in this world. The Spirit of God uses this converted tax collector to write the Gospel which presents the Messiah King of Israel, great David’s greater Son.
Mark was a bright young Christian at the very centre of the early church. He became one of the first missionaries with Paul and Barnabas. But he found the mission field a hard place and returned to Jerusalem. Paul refused to take him on his second missionary journey because he felt Mark was unreliable. Barnabas took Mark to Cyprus and by means of his pastoral care helped his young relative. At the end of Paul’s writings in 2 Timothy, we see John Mark restored and Paul commending him with affection as a useful servant of God. The Spirit of God uses Mark, a failed but restored servant, to write about Jesus as the Servant of God. Isn’t God’s grace extraordinary?
Luke is the only Gospel writer who was a Gentile. We don’t know how he came to the Saviour. As a doctor, he lived in a world without a National Health Service, a world in which even the simplest of diseases could become life-threatening. He knew first-hand about human suffering and his own limited resources. There were no anaesthetics, no antibiotics. The Spirit of God uses this tender-hearted physician to introduce us to the Saviour, who could meet all the needs of a suffering world and remove all the distance between God and man. Through his words, we are brought into the presence of Jesus as the Son of Man.
John refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. He had a very close relationship with the Saviour as did his brother James, together with Peter. It is John that the Lord speaks to from the cross and asks to take care of His mother. To this faithful, young devoted and caring disciple, the Spirit of God would one day say, “You write about the Son of God.” John conveys the wonder and glory of Christ’s deity and the wonder and glory of the Person and work of the Son of God in the world He had made.
The writings of these four very different men bear testimony to the Lord Jesus, which has continued over 2000 years. They present details of the Saviour which are still bringing salvation to the lost, and transforming lives, moving us in service and worship. They remind us, too, of the ability of the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, to write His story upon our hearts and to move us to follow the Lord like Matthew, to serve Him like Mark, to love Him like Luke and to worship Him like John.
