We all know that Alexander had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. It was so bad that, according to Judith Viorst, Alexander wanted to move to Australia. But that is not all we know. We also know that Mark had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad ending. Unfortunately, we can’t ship Mark 16 off to the Land Down Under and hope that all our problems go away. No, we have to do something. We already know the extended version (vv. 9-20) is not authentic, and we made a pretty good case that verse 8 is not as bad of an ending as we might have thought at first blush (just like calling our favorite country to the south, “Straya,” is not as bad of a name as we originally thought). But there are two other options that we have not yet considered. But to grasp those arguments, you really need some background on how the four gospels were composed. That’s the question we want to ask today, but depending on your perspective, you are either in for an enjoyable thought experiment or a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. That’s right. It’s a script. . . .
Four Gospels
Narrator: Today, we want to look at how the four gospels were composed. And what better way to do that, than to have our four authors tell us exactly, “How they did it.” So here are Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. Ladies and gentlemen, the gospels!
John: Let me just say at the onset here, that we are really pleased to be here, having been dead for—what, 2000 years. It’s nice to be interrupted and brought back to be with friends (turns to Mark). Hi! Have we met? You don’t look familiar. My name is John, and you are?
Mark: I’m John Mark. I’m Barnabas’ cousin and close associate of Peter.
John: Oh, I remember you! You were with us in the garden. I just didn’t recognize you with your clothes on! You were the guy who ran away stark naked when the guards came to arrest us. I remember you now! How could I forget? (turns to Luke) You should have seen him, one moment he is dressed in a sheet; and the next minute, that sheet is gone and there he goes—streaking through the garden. I guess that’s what they call the naked truth.
Mark: Yeah, thanks for remembering me. Cute, real cute. Hardly anybody remembers that.
Narrator: Well, actually everybody remembers that. But let’s not dwell on that. Let’s talk about how the gospels were written. Now, we all know that Mark was the first to compose his gospel.
Mark: That’s right. I was the innovator here. I composed the first gospel account of the life of Jesus.
Narrator: And then, Matthew wrote his gospel by using Mark’s gospel as a template.
Matthew: That’s true. I took large swatches of Mark’s gospel and his chronology of events and used that as the framework for my gospel.
Mark: Wait a second? You did what?
Matthew: No biggie. I used your gospel as my framework, basically importing most of it into my account.
Mark: You COPIED my gospel?
Matthew: Copied is such a strong word, but yes, I “used” your gospel.
Mark: You COPIED my gospel?!?!?
Matthew: As I said, copied—is—such—a—strong word. I USED your account, edited out the excess words, added things that you left out, tightened things up a bit, gave it some good direction and movement, and put an ending on it that was upbeat and encouraging and meaningful; but yes, besides that, I copied your gospel.
Mark: That’s plagiarism! That’s my intellectual property!
Luke: Oh, get over it! After all, all you did was record Peter’s memories and put down on paper HIS thoughts. It’s not like what you did was uniquely you. We call your gospel, “Mark,” but if we wanted to be perfectly honest about things, maybe it should be called “Peter.”
Luke: Give the kid a break. Let’s call it, “Peter Mark.”
Matthew: That’s a horrible name! Now, “John Mark” sounds nice, but “Peter Mark” sounds horrible. How about calling it, “Mark Up?” Or “On Your Mark?” Or maybe “Off the Mark?” Or maybe we could call it, “That will leave a Mark!”
Luke: Come on, now. Give the kid some credit. He did have the idea to write an account of Jesus’ life. And he did organize everything. That ought to be sufficient grounds for claiming authorship. Plus, where would we all be if it wasn’t for his groundwork in doing this?
Matthew: Fair enough. I will grant that Mark is the author. And, you are right. We all used Mark’s gospel as the foundation, and then we improved it by adding our own emphases and insights and structure.
John: Maybe you did, but I didn’t. I figured three gospels that looked very similar were enough. I figured I would write one that was different, refreshing and more theologically deep. You synoptics are so predictable, following each other so closely, and so I thought I would do something completely different. It’s called John, and it is the gospel that stands alone.
Matthew: I think if you ever read the three of us, you would see that we disagree significantly about all sorts of things, not about Jesus and who he was, but all sorts of other things. For instance, you can read my gospel to see all FIVE of Jesus’ major sermons, including and most importantly, his Sermon on the Mount.
Luke: The what? Don’t you mean the Sermon on the Plain? Yes, Jesus said a few things on a mountain, but if you want a real sermon, you have to be on a plain. Geography is everything in my gospel; and if you want the very best in sermons, you need to look no further than the Sermon on the Plain with its, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.” And “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”
Matthew: Wait a second. Wait a second! That’s not how they go! Look it up. ME chapter 5 verses 3-12: “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. And blessed are the meek.” Luke, you don’t even have a blessing for the meek! Isn’t it bad enough that they get short-changed on everything else in life? And now, you don’t even have the decency to give them a Beatitude!
Luke: Oh, let him who is without sin cast the first stone.
John: Hey, that’s mine! I wrote that! You can’t just take a line from my gospel without giving me a proper citation! You need to say, “Like John said in his gospel, let him without sin. . . .”
Matthew: Yeah, right! You know as well as I do that you didn’t write, “Let him without sin.” That line is in chapter 8, and the best manuscripts don’t have John 8—which means you didn’t write it! And I can’t cite you if YOU didn’t write it in the first place! It would be like me citing Mark for those things in chapter 16 and arguing that Mark wants us to pick up snakes and drink deadly poison!
Mark: I promise, I never said that! I never wrote any of that! I promise I didn’t. I don’t want to pick up a snake. I hate snakes!
Luke: My point is this: I may have different beatitudes, but at least I have them! YOU don’t have any “WOES.” You know: “Woe to you who are rich. Woe to you who are well fed now. Woe to you who laugh now.” Where are your woes, Matthew? Where are your woes? Here’s what I think: You can’t handle the woes!
Matthew: That’s not true! I have plenty of woes. I throw woes on Chorazin and Bethsaida! And have you not read Me, chapter 23? It is full of woes! In fact, there are seven woes there. I woe the teachers of the law and the Pharisees and whole host of other blind guides. I woe them all down!
Luke: Fair enough, but I think if you count them up, you will see that I have fourteen woes scattered throughout my book. You only have twelve. You are two woes short, my friend. Two woes short!
Matthew: Oh, woe is me!
Narrator: Okay, we don’t need to get into the nitty-gritty here. The point is we have four gospels; and while they are similar, they are also very different. For instance, look at the beginning of your gospels.
Matthew; What better way than to start with a genealogy? Who doesn’t like a list of 41 names arranged in groups of 14?
Mark: Boring! I have the best intro ever! I started with John the Baptizer, and you can’t beat John the Big B for excitement.
Luke: No, this is the story of Jesus so you have to start with his birth. Everyone loves Christmas.
John: Mark, seriously? You think you have the best intro ever? Not even close. Just listen to this: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Wow, that’s good writing!
Narrator: I know each of you has a favorite verse. Mark, what is your key verse?
Mark: Me 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew: I’ve got that. Me 20:28—“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Narrator: Some minor differences, but very close.
Luke: Me, too. Luke 22:27—“For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”
Mark: That’s not even close! And you left out the whole “ransom for many” part! That’s like making a pizza and forgetting the cheese! And the pepperoni!
Luke: It suited my purpose, so leave me alone!
John (a little scolding): Children, let us love one another.
Mark: I couldn’t agree more. We must love God and love our neighbors as ourselves.
Luke: Absolutely. It’s the Greatest Commandment.
Matthew: I fully agree. Our calling is to love God with all of our hearts and love our neighbors as ourselves.
John: Sorry, I didn’t include that. But I’ve got a lot of “Love one another’s.”
Mark: How could you NOT include the Greatest Commandment? It’s the greatest!
John: We all made choices and adapted things to serve our purposes in writing. Every one of us did that. Think back on what Jesus said when we were in the boat and there was that horrific storm and we were all afraid. What did he say?
Mark: I remember that. He said, “Do you have NO faith?”
Matthew: Not exactly. He said, “O you of LITTLE faith.”
Luke: I think he said, “Where IS your faith?”
Narrator: This is not the time to get caught up on semantics, we need to talk about bigger ticket items. For instance, the parables. Who has the parables?
Mark: I’ve got chapters of them!
Matthew: Me, too!
Luke: Really? Do you have the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the Parable of the Lost coin, the Parable of the Prodigal Son or the Parable of the Unjust Steward? No, you don’t! Let’s face it, when people want a good parable, they come to me. I’m the Parable guy.
John: Yeah. Sorry. I chose not to have any parables. They are just so . . . parabolic.
Narrator: Well, how about the cleansing of the temple?
Mark: I’ve got it. Me 11. Right after the Triumphal Entry.
Matthew: Me, too. Me 21 right after the Triumphal Entry.
Luke: I’ve got it, too. Luke 19, right after the Triumphal Entry.
John: Yeah, me too, but . . .
Narrator: But what?
John: Yes, I’ve got it, but it’s just that I have it in Me, chapter 2, right after Jesus turns the water into wine.
Luke: Wait? What? You put it there? What were you thinking? It happened after the Triumphal Entry, not when Jesus was just starting his ministry!
John: It’s an important theological event! I wanted to put it right at the beginning!
Narrator: Well, how about the Lord’s Prayer?
Matthew: Check! Chapter 6. Right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount!
Luke: Of course, I have the Lord’s Prayer. “Father, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. Amen.”
Matthew: Amen? Amen? That’s it? What? Were you running out of paper and need to cut something out? I mean this prayer is kind of important! It’s only the Lord’s Prayer! And you leave half of it out! What were you thinking?
Luke: Well, at least I included it! Mark doesn’t have it at all!
Mark: So? Are you expecting an apology or something. It’s not going to happen! As the author of my gospel, I decided not to include it which was my right. So there!
John: Children! Let us love one another!
Narrator: Okay, everyone, take a breath. I guess what we are saying is that there are many differences between the four of you and that each of you highlighted different things to suit your goals in writing. You all left things out that didn’t serve your purposes in writing and included other things that did. More than anything else, your commitment was to help your readers understand all that Jesus said and did; and you felt free to rearrange some things so that who Jesus was would be clearly seen and felt. I get that. And while you are all different, each of your gospels share the same overarching message in a beautiful, powerful and unique way. So, if you had one final thing to say to our audience today about why they should read your gospel, what would you say?
Matthew: Not only do I have THE Sermon on the Mount, but I’ve got the Great Commission, the Greatest Commandment and the great parable on the sheep and the goats. No one else can say that, and I am strong on the resurrection. So, please read me.
Mark: If you want to understand how a weak and failing belief can be transformed into a bold and dynamic faith, look me up. I’m the best guy on God’s grace in spite of our discipleship failure. Please, read me.
Luke: I’m the gospel for compassion. I highlight the marginalized and the outcast because God’s grace is bigger than social barriers. If you want to develop a heart of compassion like Jesus has, read me.
John: The Sermon on the Mount is great, but the Farewell Discourse, Jesus’ words to his disciples on the night that he was betrayed, is simply the best. It is Jesus’ marching order to us until he returns. And it is all about love. If you want to know about how to follow Jesus, read my gospel because it’s all about loving one another.
Narrator: Anything else you would like to say?
Matthew: Yes. Yes, there is. Thank . . .
Mark: you . . .
Luke: for . . .
John: Love one another.
Narrator: The right answer was reading, but that’s close enough!
