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* SOURCES * MATTHEW AND JOHN BASED THEIR GOSPELS ON WHAT THEY HEARD AND SAW (MATTHEW 23:31, ACTS 2:32). MARK RELIED ON PETER'S RECOLLECTIONS FOR HIS BOOK. LUKE, HOWEVER, COMPILED HIS BOOK NOT ONLY FROM EXISTING RECORDS, BUT ALSO FROM THE PLETHORA OF WITNESSES WHO WERE STILL ALIVE (LUKE 1:1 - 4). LUKE INTERVIEWED THE APOSTLES STILL IN JERUSALEM AS WELL AS JESUS' MOTHER MARY. SHE WOULD HAVE RELAYED INFORMATION ONLY SHE KNEW WHICH SHE KEPT IN HER HEART (LUKE 2:19). LUKE 1:5 TO 2:38, FOR EXAMPLE, CONVEYS ITS EVENTS FROM MARY'S POINT OF VIEW. THIS SECTION RECORDS DETAILS NOT FOUND IN THE OTHER GOSPELS. * GOALS AND AUDIENCE * LUKE BOOK, OF ALL THE ACCOUNTS, HAS THE BROADEST GOALS AND AUDIENCE IN MIND. MATTHEW, WHO TARGETED JEWISH READERS, EMPHASIZED JESUS' ROLE AS THE PROPHETIC MESSIAH. MARK WROTE FOR A GENTILE AUDIENCE. HIS GOAL WAS TO SHOW JESUS AS A MIRACLE WORKER AND SOMEONE WHO OVERCAME SATAN THE DEVIL, SIN AND DEATH. JOHN'S GOSPEL WAS DIRECTED AT CHRISTIANS WHO WISHED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CHRIST. HE FOCUSED HIS WRITING ON JESUS AS BOTH MAN AND GOD. LUKE'S GOAL OF BEING THOROUGH (LUKE 1:3 - 4), HOWEVER, LED HIM TO PRODUCE THE GREATEST OVERALL COVERAGE OF JESUS' LIFE. HE WANTED TO REACH THE WIDEST AUDIENCE POSSIBLE. LUKE, UNLIKE THE OTHER WRITERS, WAS NOT JEWISH. HE WAS AN OUTSIDER, A GENTILE WHO CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY. GOD STILL USED HIM, HOWEVER, TO PRODUCE THE BIGGEST GOSPEL, WHICH IS MORE ORDERLY, DETAILED AND THOROUGH THAN THE OTHERS. |
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