LIBBY GROUPIE: So, what are you reading?
KAI GROUPIE: Oh, I'm reading Aron Ralston's autobiography.
He's the guy who got trapped in a canyon
and had to -- LIBBY GROUPIE: Oh, yeah.
And he had to cut off his own arm to get out, it's crazy.
KAI GROUPIE: Yeah. Did you read it?
LIBBY GROUPIE: Oh, yeah, no, I saw the movie, well, parts of it,
the parts in the trailer.
I saw the trailer, I get the gist.
KAI GROUPIE: Oh, well, you really should read it.
It's a firsthand account, totally inspiring.
What are you reading?
LIBBY GROUPIE: Oh, you know, The Gospels. The New Testament.
KAI GROUPIE: Oh yeah, great great, yeah. LIBBY GROUPIE: Yeah, yeah.
KAI GROUPIE: Yeah, yeah, those are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
LIBBY GROUPIE: Yeah, sure, you betcha.
KAI GROUPIE: That's most important books
to Christians in the whole Bible.
LIBBY GROUPIE: That's right, you know, and for the same reasons, you know,
firsthand account of the teaching
and life and death of Jesus, you've read 'em.
KAI GROUPIE: Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean I saw the TV miniseries, parts of it.
I get the gist. LIBBY GROUPIE: Oh, Heavens.
(upbeat music)
KAI: I'm Kai. LIBBY: And I'm Libby.
Welcome to Catholic Central.
Today we're taking a look
at the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
KAI: You might think the Catholic translations
of the Bible have a whole lot of books.
LIBBY: 73 books.
KAI: 73 books on a whole lot of different topics.
So, what's the big deal for Christians
about these four books?
And why should even non-religious people care about them?
LIBBY: Unlike all the other books of the Bible,
the Gospels are accounts of Jesus's life
and ministry here on earth.
KAI: They're based on the experiences
of people who knew Jesus personally,
and were eyewitnesses to His Resurrection around 33 AD.
At first, they were passed down orally,
then written down in stages by the early Christian community
between 70 and 100 AD.
LIBBY: And unlike most of the Old Testament,
which was written in Hebrew,
the Gospels were written in Greek.
KAI: And that's because both Jews
and non-Jews could read it that way.
Back then Greek was a common language like English is today.
LIBBY: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are called
the Evangelists, from the Greek meaning "good messengers."
KAI: And the word gospel itself comes
from the Old English "God-spell," meaning "good news."
LIBBY: So what the good messengers, Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John wrote wasn't just lists of things Jesus did,
but it was good news to share with the whole world.
KAI: And the good news was this: That the whole universe
was made by an infinitely loving Creator,
who came to Earth and became one of us -- Jesus.
LIBBY: Catholics call this the Incarnation.
KAI: And more good news, while on Earth Jesus taught
that the Kingdom of God is at hand.
That God is with us here and everywhere, now and forever.
In other words, life does have ultimate meaning.
LIBBY: Catholics see this good news
as the fulfillment of the Old Testament,
where God promises to send an Anointed One,
the Messiah, to transform the world.
KAI: The Gospels show God keeping that promise
through the person of Jesus.
LIBBY: But the biggest part of the Gospels is the part
that makes a lot of people uncomfortable:
That Jesus says He is God and offers eternal life
to those who take up their cross and follow Him.
KAI: It made the leaders of His time so uncomfortable
that they condemned Him to death
and crucified Him for blasphemy.
Plot twist though, three days after His death,
eyewitnesses confirmed that He rose from the dead,
as He had promised.
HIPSTER KAI: But wait a minute, don't Catholics believe
the whole Bible was written by God?
Then why do the Gospels
have to be based on eyewitness accounts?
LIBBY: We never said that God literally
wrote the Bible word for word.
Instead, Catholics believe that the Gospels were written
by human beings with inspiration from God.
KAI: This means that God influenced each of the four authors,
as well as the community of followers that each author had
to help complete the Gospels as we know them today.
HIPSTER KAI: But what about all the discrepancies?
If God inspired all the Gospels,
why don't they agree on all the facts?
KAI: The man has a point. I like this guy.
LIBBY: Matthew says that Jesus preached His famous sermon
on a mountain, but Luke says it was on a plain.
I like to think about it this way.
If you take four painters to the Eiffel Tower
and tell them to paint what they see,
you'll get four different impressions
and four different styles.
One might include details another has missed,
or captured a different quality of lighting,
or portrayed a different mood.
KAI: If you want to understand the Eiffel Tower,
the next best thing to going to Paris yourself is looking
at as many different paintings as you can. Or, you know, at least four.
LIBBY: That's why the leaders of the early Christian Church
decided to put these four Gospels in the Bible.
Each one contributes a valuable perspective
on who Jesus is and what He means.
KAI: So, let's take a quick look at each one,
starting with Matthew.
LIBBY: Matthew's Gospel was aimed
at early Jewish audiences.
It was written to answer questions about Jesus
from a Jewish point of view.
So it stresses how Jesus fulfilled the promises
of the Hebrew Scripture.
KAI: What we call the Old Testament
was the only Testament back then.
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law
or the prophets, I have come not to abolish but to fulfill."
Mark was the first Gospel to be written
and focuses on the suffering of Jesus.
Mark shows us how, through Jesus,
God shares our pain and carries us through it.
Mark also shows how even good people really struggled
to realize who Jesus, is and what His message means.
LIBBY: "For the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many."
KAI: And Luke,
KAI V/O: Don't make a Star Wars joke.
Don't make a Star Wars joke.
KAI: Um, Luke's Gospel is written more to non-Jews
who were hearing the good news about Jesus,
but without having a background in Hebrew scripture.
Luke focuses on ideas like mercy, justice,
and compassion for the poor.
LIBBY: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because He has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor."
We call these three,
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the Synoptic Gospels.
KAI: From the Greek for "seen together."
LIBBY: Because they're so similar to each other
and drew on a lot of common source material.
KAI: And then there's John. LIBBY: Oh, yes, John.
KAI: John's is the most philosophical of the four Gospels.
Instead of focusing on the "this happened,
then that happened" narrative of events,
John emphasizes the spiritual significance of Jesus.
LIBBY: But there's another side to John, too.
In the Bible accounts,
he's often called the Disciple Jesus loved:
Apostle and best friend of Jesus.
Best friends often know a lot about us,
and that's how it is in John's Gospel,
which shows us a deeply human personal side of Jesus,
while also describing Jesus as the divine pattern
of all created things.
KAI: For example, the intimate moment John reveals
in chapter 11, verse 35,
which by the way is the shortest verse
of all 31,173 verses in the Bible, "And Jesus wept."
Fully human, Jesus weeps when He sees
his friend Lazarus in the grave.
Fully divine, Jesus will raise him from the dead.
So John knows his friend Jesus well,
the foster son of Joseph, the son of Mary,
the son of David, the Son of Man, the Son of God.
LIBBY: By reading all four Gospels
you can see Jesus through each of these different lenses.
KAI: So, here are the takeaways.
What are the Gospels?
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the books of the Bible
that present stories from the life of Jesus,
describe His ministry and teachings,
and give accounts of His death and resurrection.
LIBBY: Why is that such a big deal?
Because the Gospels provide the starting point
for Christian faith and spirituality.
All other books of the Bible
are understood in light of these.
KAI: Catholics believe the Gospels are inspired by God,
but reflect the different personalities
of the authors and their communities.
LIBBY: And the Gospels have in turn inspired some
of the greatest artists and philosophers throughout history.
You can't understand the art and culture of Europe
and the Americas without knowing the Gospels.
KAI: So, no matter what your faith or belief system,
if you want to understand the Christian worldview,
Gospels at the heart of it.
LIBBY: See for yourself. Just read one Gospel,
all the way through. Not the miniseries, the book,
and encounter all of this first hand.
KAI: Like in Luke, God basically reminds us,
I am your Father.
LIBBY: Just couldn't hold it in.
KAI: I went rogue.
For Catholic Central, I'm Kai. LIBBY: And I'm Libby.
KAI: See you next time.
(upbeat music)