HOW THE GOSPELS CAME TO BE WRITTEN
[Illustration: (drop cap B) Early Christian Lamp]
But how did the story of the Saviour's life on earth come to be written?
We have seen that many years passed before any one thought of writing
it down at all. The men and women who had really seen Him, who had
listened to His voice, looked into His face, and who knew that He had
conquered death and sin for evermore, could not sit down to write, for
their hearts were all on fire to speak.
But as the years passed, the number of those who had seen Christ grew
less, and the need of a written Gospel became ever greater. Precious
words would be forgotten, precious facts passed over, unless they were
collected together and put down in black and white. Some of those,
therefore, who had seen and heard Christ began to write down all they
remembered of His life.
They had no thought, as yet, of a New Testament being added to their
Bible; the Old Testament Scriptures were still the 'Bible'[1] to them.
These early Christians, as we remember, did not read the Bible in the
original Hebrew, but in its Greek translation. They loved it and
searched its pages eagerly, as they realized that all its words spoke
of Christ!
But about the time that St. Paul was imprisoned at Rome we think that
the Gospel according to St. Mark was written.
Most of you know that Mark was a young Jew who began his work for God
by travelling with Paul and Barnabas (Acts xii. 25), but who left them
when the work grew dangerous. (Acts xiii. 13.) Paul was so grieved at
his failure, that for a while he refused to trust him again; but
Barnabas, who believed in his repentance, gave him another trial.
(Acts xv. 37-39.) That Mark proved himself even to Paul we find from
the Apostle's last Epistle to Timothy, when he writes: '_Take Mark, and
bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry._' (2
Timothy iv. 11.)
Before that time, however, Mark had lived and worked for many years
with the Apostle Peter, who in his letter written from Babylon speaks
of him as '_Marcus my son_.' (1 Peter v. 13.)
Now a Christian writer, named Papias, who lived about sixty years after
this time, tells us that Mark wrote his Gospel story from what Peter
had told him about Christ; so we think this Gospel writing is really
the Apostle Peter's account of our Lord's life on earth.
Very likely, as Mark journeyed with the Apostle from place to place,
and heard him tell and retell the wonderful story of His Master's life
on earth, the thought came into the young man's mind, 'Why not write
down what Peter says, so that his words shall not be forgotten?'
And so fresh and vivid are the words of Mark's Gospel, so full of
little natural touches, that most people agree that old Papias must
have been right. The very things St. Peter would have noticed are
mentioned by Mark.
Matthew, the writer of the Gospel which comes the first in our New
Testament, was a Levite; that is, he belonged to the tribe of Levi, and
this tribe was specially chosen in the time of Moses to learn the Law
and serve God in His Temple. Matthew, therefore, was very learned in
the books of the Law, and in the writings of the old prophets. As you
all know, the Lord Jesus chose Matthew to be one of His special
companions; and as Matthew followed his Master day by day, he saw more
and more clearly how all the old prophecies which he knew so well
pointed to the coming of Christ.
[Illustration: A FRAGMENT OF PAPYRUS-PAPER WITH ANCIENT WRITING]
So, when the Holy Spirit called Matthew to write what he knew of the
Lord's life on earth, those ancient prophecies, and the wonderful way
in which they had come true, were still in his thoughts. This is why
we find in the Gospel according to Matthew more quotations from the Old
Testament than in the writings of any of the other evangelists.
'See, My Book has always spoken of the coming of My Son.' This is the
wonderful message which God gave to the world through Matthew's
knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures.
Years passed, and those who had seen Christ in His earthly life had
nearly all died, while Gentile Christians everywhere were asking
eagerly for the written story of His life.
Twenty years after Matthew's Gospel was written, God called a Greek
scholar, named Luke, to write what was to be a most important part of
our Bible. The Jews of old hated and despised the Gentiles; we have
seen how bitterly they persecuted Paul because he declared that God had
sent him to preach to the heathen nations; think, therefore, how
impossible it would have seemed to a Jew of this time, that a Gentile
could, at God's bidding, write two Books which should become even more
precious and sacred than the Books of the Law, which the Jews rightly
prized as the greatest treasure of their nation!
Those who work in heathen lands to-day tell us that the Gospel of St.
Luke is always the favourite book of the converts, and that if they can
only afford to buy one Gospel they always ask for that of Luke. This
is because the whole work is written from the Gentile point of view--it
is the world's history of Christ.
St. Luke wrote his Gospel as an historian, and in dedicating his work
to Theophilus[2] in a kind of preface, he followed the Greek custom.
'_Many,_' he says, '_have taken in hand to set forth in order a
declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us_'
(Luke i. 1), but their records have disappeared, while that of Luke
remains.
He was a physician, as we know (Colossians iv. 14), and besides being
highly educated and gifted, he took infinite pains with his work. He
collected all the information he could both from books and
eye-witnesses--either from the Saviour's Mother herself, or from some
of her relations--and to him we owe many of the most beautiful and
touching facts of our Lord's life on earth.
Written last of all, we have the good news--that is, Gospel, told by
St. John.
When the Saviour ascended into Heaven, John was still a young man, but
he lived to be older than all the other Apostles. By the time that St.
John wrote his Gospel, Jerusalem had been destroyed and her inhabitants
slain or scattered. He was able, therefore, to mention details, and
give the actual names of people and places, which, if told earlier,
might have endangered the lives of those of whom he wrote.
Many instances of this will be found by those who read carefully. He
alone mentions the name of the Apostle who struck off the ear of the
High Priest's servant, and the story of the raising of Lazarus is given
only by St. John as though it would have been dangerous to record it
earlier.
So filled with love was the Apostle John that before he died his spirit
became altogether one with Christ's spirit, and the sayings of Jesus,
which he had only half understood whilst his Master had walked this
earth, grew quite clear to him, so that he remembered them distinctly.
Therefore, that others might understand also, God's Spirit called John,
when he was an old man, to write out those precious words of Jesus
Christ's which were always echoing in his heart, and which the other
writers had not known, or had forgotten. It is in John's Gospel that
we learn most about the love of Christ.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John--let us thank God for them all.
[1] The name 'Bible' is derived from the Greek word 'Byblus,' i.e.
'Papyrus,' the paper reed on which the New Testament was written.
[2] The name 'Theophilus' means 'God's friend.' Most people believe
that he was a notable convert of those days, though unknown to history.